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MEDIA RELEASE: Judge Refused to Repeal Deportation of Mairead Maguire
(Tel Aviv), October 1, 2010 ¬– An Israeli judge today denied an appeal filed by lawyers to overturn the Israeli government’s decision to ban Nobel Peace Laureate Mairead Maguire from entering Israel. However Judge Rami Amir did give Maguire’s lawyers an additional 48 hours to petition the Supreme Court—and ruled that Maguire would continue to stay in the Ben Gurion International Airport, instead of a detention facility for illegal aliens.
Maguire was in Petah Tikva District Court in Tel Aviv today, after her lawyers appealed on Tuesday for an injunction preventing Maguire’s immediate deportation.
Maguire arrived in Israel from Frankfurt on Tuesday to join American Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams for a women’s peace delegation. Maguire and Williams are co-founders of the Nobel Women’s Initiative, a global organization started by six women peace laureates to promote nonviolence in conflict situations. The purpose of the delegation is to highlight the work of Israeli and Palestinian women peace builders.
Williams and the other members of the delegation have already visited Jerusalem, Ramallah and Hebron—and will also be visiting Haifa and Nazareth. Members of the delegation are deeply disappointed at the court’s ruling.
“The women we are talking to on the ground here in Israel and in the West Bank tell us that the response of the Israeli government to Mairead’s peace activism is consistent with their own experiences,” said Williams. “How do we resolve this conflict if nonviolent protest is met with unconstructive responses that don’t ultimately advance peace?”
Last June, Maguire was detained after Israeli naval commandos intercepted and illegally boarded the Irish cargo ship MV Rachel Corrie in international waters. Israeli officials sent Maguire back to Ireland after holding her for several days in a detention center outside of Tel Aviv. At the time she was sent back to Ireland, officials told her she was being ‘repatriated’ and that there is no official deportation order against her.
Her lawyers from the Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel are expected to be filing an appeal to today’s court decision on Sunday. After today’s hearing, Maguire said she will continue to actively resist deportation. This past Tuesday, Maguire sat and refused to move when immigration officials tried to escort her to a flight leaving the country.
For more information, please contact:
Rachel Vincent
Nobel Women’s Initiative (in Canada)
613-276-9030
rvincent@nobelwomensinitiative.org
Maguire was in Petah Tikva District Court in Tel Aviv today, after her lawyers appealed on Tuesday for an injunction preventing Maguire’s immediate deportation.
Maguire arrived in Israel from Frankfurt on Tuesday to join American Nobel Peace Laureate Jody Williams for a women’s peace delegation. Maguire and Williams are co-founders of the Nobel Women’s Initiative, a global organization started by six women peace laureates to promote nonviolence in conflict situations. The purpose of the delegation is to highlight the work of Israeli and Palestinian women peace builders.
Williams and the other members of the delegation have already visited Jerusalem, Ramallah and Hebron—and will also be visiting Haifa and Nazareth. Members of the delegation are deeply disappointed at the court’s ruling.
“The women we are talking to on the ground here in Israel and in the West Bank tell us that the response of the Israeli government to Mairead’s peace activism is consistent with their own experiences,” said Williams. “How do we resolve this conflict if nonviolent protest is met with unconstructive responses that don’t ultimately advance peace?”
Last June, Maguire was detained after Israeli naval commandos intercepted and illegally boarded the Irish cargo ship MV Rachel Corrie in international waters. Israeli officials sent Maguire back to Ireland after holding her for several days in a detention center outside of Tel Aviv. At the time she was sent back to Ireland, officials told her she was being ‘repatriated’ and that there is no official deportation order against her.
Her lawyers from the Legal Centre for Arab Minority Rights in Israel are expected to be filing an appeal to today’s court decision on Sunday. After today’s hearing, Maguire said she will continue to actively resist deportation. This past Tuesday, Maguire sat and refused to move when immigration officials tried to escort her to a flight leaving the country.
For more information, please contact:
Rachel Vincent
Nobel Women’s Initiative (in Canada)
613-276-9030
rvincent@nobelwomensinitiative.org