1-ISM ACTIVIST ABDUCTED AND BEATEN TO BE DEPORTED TO CANADA AT 12:40 AM 2-Update on Jaggie's Deportation 3-The Canadian Foreign Affairs Department wont object to Israel beating Canadian Jaggi Singh. 4-Peace Mission to Palestine Fundraising Banquet 5-prayer request- James Delaplain 6-The Dilemma of Israeli Arabs

note from Ghassan Andoni We all Love you and Miss you Jaggie. I had the chance
to work
closely with Jaggie while he was in Palestine. an amazing peace
activist full of energy and hope. his determination was inspirng to us
all. I am totaly outraged that a hand can be layed on such a
wonderful and peaceful man. Jaggie, we can only assure you that your
presence with us made us stronger, more hopeful, and full of energy and
determenation to fight for peace and justice. even if your
government wont protest against the dirty hands of the gangesters
gangesters who abducted you, we assure you that peace and justice, which
you dedicated your life for will prevaile and Palestine will soon be
free.
===================================================================
1-ISM ACTIVIST ABDUCTED AND BEATEN TO BE DEPORTED TO CANADA AT 12:40 AM

INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT (ISM)
For Immediate Release
January 9, 2003

Contacts:
Janice 972 52 360 241
Shamai Leibovitch 972 64 414 505 or 972 3 670 4170

Flight info:

Air Canada flight 887
Departs Ben Gurion at 12:40 AM, January 10th
Arrives in Toronto at 6:10 AM, January 10th

[Jerusalem] - On January 8, 2003, at 6 PM, Jaggi Singh, Canadian
citizen and ISM activist, went to visit a friend in West Jerusalem.
When he arrived at the doorstep, he was ambushed, forced into an
unmarked vehicle, and taken to the Russian Compound in Jerusalem by
three plainclothes Israeli secret service agents.

Jaggi Singh reports having been beaten by the Israelis as they were
transporting him to the Russian Compound. An officer by the name of
Aaron slapped his face several times and pulled his hair in an
attempt to interrogate him. Jaggi Singh's lawyer, Shamai
Leibovitch, was not allowed to talk with or visit him at Russian
Compound. On January 9, 2003, Jaggi Singh was transferred to
Maasiyahu Prison in Ramle.

Jaggi was to be deported to Canada for visa violations. The
Canadian Consulate visited him in prison and provided laisse passé
documents for his return to Canada. Jaggi is now at Ben Gurion
airport waiting for his 12:40 AM flight to Canada.

Jaggi arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on December 14th and was
initially refused entry by Israeli officials for `security reasons'. His
attorney took his case to court and Jaggi was eventually given a one
week visa with the condition that he not enter the occupied
territories.

Jaggi is from Montreal, Canada and traveled to the occupied
territories to write about the realities of the Israeli occupation of
Palestine. Jaggi is well known in Canada and abroad for speaking out
against injustice in the many forms it takes.
===============================================================2-Update
on Jaggie's Deportation

just got of the phone to jaggie. He is currently at the airport and will
be sent out on the flight tonight although a delay is always possible.

Regarding his arrest, he said that from where the three undercovers were
positioned it was clear that they had been staking out my house.

he said that after he was driven off, he was taken to the Russian
Compound, and was interrogated by about 10 different people over the
course of his "stay". He also spent some time at the ministry
of the interior. The 3 undercovers who grabbed him were part of an
immigration snatch squad who's job it is to grab people so they can be
deported.

At one point during his interrogation, one of the higher ranking
officers came into his cell and beat him up. He was chocked, slapped and
knocked around, his hair pulled etc. etc. He says he is okay now, and
sounded it, but i gather the experience was very scary at the time He
was asked what he was doing here, who he met with and blah blah blah.
He had refused to answer questions until he could contact a lawyer
(which he was not allowed to do).

He also claims that he intended to take me out for dinner before he was
nabbed, which is really convenient for him. just thought you
would want to know,
jonathan
================================================================3-The
Canadian Foreign Affairs Department wont object to Israel beating
Canadian Jaggi Singh.

http://www.montrealmuslimnews.net/scottfa.htm

January 9, 2003 - By Scott Weinstein <scottweinstein@netzero.net>
Montreal International Solidarity Movement Below are the transcripts of
two phone conversations about Jaggi Singh this afternoon with the
Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa. We tried to call their
Embassy in Tel Aviv, but they are closed, and our calls got re- routed
back to Ottawa.

The Canadian Foreign Affairs Department doesn't appear to object to the
Israelis beating Canadian Jaggi Singh who visited the Palestinian
territories in defiance of the Israeli authorities. The following
transcripts clearly indicate Canada is avoiding taking any meaningful
action to protect or even object to the Israeli about Singh's
beating by his Israeli captors.

We in the Montreal International Solidarity Movement strongly
denounce this complicity by the Canadian authorities with illegal and
politically motivated abuses by the Israelis of a Canadian who has every
legal right to visit the Palestinian territories.

If Canada does not officially recognize Israel's illegal occupation of
the territories, then Canada must also take clear diplomatic
action to ensure that Palestinians are able to receive Canadian
visitors - despite what the Israeli occupying forces determine.
Canada must object to any Israel action that prevents or punishes a
Canadian from visiting the Palestinian territories.

Canada's practice of accepting Israel's illegal treatment of Mr.
Singh, essentially negates it's official policy of non recognition of
Israel's occupation, by granting it legitimacy.

This is a shameful period for Canada. Canada's complicity with
Israel's beating and imprisonment of Jaggi Singh demonstrates to the
world that Canada is a pushover - allowing it's foreign policies and its
citizens to be violated by other nations.

We just received word from Jaggi that he is being deported back to
Canada this afternoon.

It is still important that you call the Canadian Foreign Affairs
Department and STRONGLY protest their lack of protection to both
Jaggi, and their abandonment of the official Canadian policy of not
recognizing Israel's illegal occupation and control of the
Palestinian territories.

Solidarity, Scott Weinstein member: Montreal International Solidarity
Movement
===============================================================4-Peace
Mission to Palestine Fundraising Banquet

On January 18, 2003 – 6:30pm – at the Heritage Manor in Dearborn,
Michigan the International Solidarity Movement will be holding the Peace
Mission to Palestine Fundraising Banquet. Get Tickets Now!! Pick them up
at the ADC-Dearborn office or call Danielle at
734/994-5479 - more info below

· Huwaida Araff and Adam Shapiro of the ISM will talk & Thom Saffold
will show a video of ISM actions.

The ISM is using non-violent direct actions to stand up to the
Israeli occupation and help the Palestinians in their struggle for
freedom. Volunteers from all over the world travel to Palestine; are
placed in Palestinian homes to live and experience daily life under
occupation. The Israeli government needs to know that the world is
watching, documenting and videotaping their crimes. Please help the ISM
continue its great work.

Some of these actions include protecting homes from demolition,
dismantling roadblocks and checkpoints, protecting civilians during
invasions, riding in ambulances to increase patient safety,
delivering food and medicine to people who are imprisoned in their
homes, photographing and documenting violations of International
Law, befriending journalists and encouraging them to devote more air
time to the crisis in Palestine and all these actions show the
Israeli government and the Israeli people that people from all over the
world are coming and seeing the IDF War Crimes and we will not be
silenced and we will not buy into their propaganda.

These actions are essential because they give Palestinians the
opportunity to resist non-violently. ISM actions also give moral
support to a people who feel largely ignored by the International
community. This Banquet will help fund an ISM peace delegation that will
travel to Palestine in Feb. Upon the ISM activists return, we will give
speeches and tell people what life is like under occupation I ask you
today, to sponsor this great movement, The ISM. One day…… justice, human
rights, dignity and freedom will be part of a
Palestinian state. Until then we are helping people on the ground and we
are making a difference and will continue to do so with your help.

If you can't come please donate all you can!
Dinner tickets are a $40 donation
Gold Sponsor- $500-$999 donation gets table and name in flyer
Platinum Sponsor- $1000+ donation gets table, ad in flyer & ISM video We
have a fundraising goal of $50,000. Please help us meet it.
Please make checks out to "The Jerusalem Fund" and send them to "ISM
Banquet" c/o ADC office-Danielle - 13530 Michigan Ave – Suite 228 –
Dearborn, MI, 48126 – Tickets can be picked up at the ADC office or
mailed to you. For more information contact Danielle Smith at
daniellecs@excite.com 0r leave a message for Danielle at the ADC
office (313)581-1201
For info on the ISM ---- website http://www.palsolidarity.org
===========================================================5-prayer
request- James Delaplain

Story printed in the El Campo Leader-News on Jan. 1, 2003

By CHRIS BARBEE

Urgent: James Delaplain, brother of Don Delaplain, among those
attacked by Israeli settlers near Nablus. Prayers needed and greatly
appreciated.
-Gloria Delaplain

The above prayer request was sent out in late October on the e-mail
prayer chain overseen by members of First United Methodist Church of El
Campo, which was pastored for eight years by the Rev. Don
Delaplain. Delaplain retired from FUMC-EC in June 1996, and as El Campo
Hospice chaplain in May 2002, but continues to fill pulpits in the area,
most recently in Garwood and Eagle Lake.

He and his wife, Gloria, live in El Campo. On Sunday, Oct. 27, James
Delaplain, age 74, a retired professor of English at the University of
Wisconsin at River Falls, was one of five people injured by
Israeli settlers while trying to protect Palestinian olive growers.

He was repeatedly hit in the face and head with rifle butts, which left
a wound under his left eye and massive swelling. He was kicked in the
back and both the right and left rib cage, leaving him with broken ribs
and a collapsed lung. He had had pneumonia only two
weeks before, and had been coughing since, so the beating,
especially in the rib cage, left him in a weakened state.

Delaplain returned home to River Falls, Wis. soon after the beating, but
according to his brother Don, hopes to return to Palestine when
physically able to do so. James last week joined a class action
lawsuit in the U.S. against the Israeli government charging it with not
protecting American citizens in Israel and the occupied areas.

Also injured while protecting the olive harvesters were peace
activists from Israel, Ireland, Sweden and an American-British
citizen.

A statement issued by the International Solidarity Movement peace group
said in addition to Delaplainıs injuries, which occurred with Israeli
soldiers watching, Mary Hughes-Thompson, 68, the dual
American-British citizen, may have had both arms broken. Also, her
passport was stolen, and the bag of olives she had was stolen.

President George W. Bush was written about the incident, and the
U.S. State Department was asked to investigate and hold accountable
those responsible for the assault by James Delaplainıs Wisconsin
congressman, Rep. Ron Kind.

On Oct. 6 one young Palestinian man was reportedly shot to death in his
olive field, but this was apparently the first time for settlers to
attack internationals in the area.

According to a news account, the five people were injured when
settlers from Itamar attacked peace activists and Palestinian
olive-pickers from the nearby village of Yinon. In what appeared to be a
response to a suicide bombing in Ariel at a gas station that resulted in
four deaths (including the bomber) and 18 injuries, a group of armed
settlers left the settlement of Itamar and headed
toward an olive grove, where Palestinian residents, aided by peace
activists, were harvesting the crop of olives.

The settlers, numbering between five and seven, pelted the
olive-pickers and activists with stones, and beat them using their guns.
The injured were taken to a private clinic in the nearby
village of Akraba. A Palestinian couple and their two children and four
of the five peace activists were treated in a hospital for
injuries.

Rabbi Arik Ascherman, executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights,
said the settlers had ³exploited² the Ariel blast as a pretext to resume
violence to ruin Yinonıs farmers financially and drive them out. Israeli
security forces reportedly did not arrive on the scene to investigate.
The activists and the settlers both filed complaints against each other,
but a preliminary police investigation suggested the olive pickers were
within the boundaries of the grove, in an
area where picking is permitted.

The week prior to the incident, dozens of settlers reportedly
attacked West Bank villagers and prevented them from picking their
olives by firing guns in the air and toward the Palestinians and
dozens of peace activists who had thronged to support them.

Lissa Caldwell, of Waynesville, N.C., wrote to President Bush about the
assault on Delaplain.

...³This brave man has done what too few in our government are
willing to do - take a real stand for truth, justice and peace.
³As an American citizen who was very nearly shot and killed in an
unprovoked attack by the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) at the
Bethlehem checkpoint in March, I would like to know what the
American government is doing to protect American citizens from
attacks by the Israeli army and its citizens. The state of Israel is
suppose to be our great ally, yet it is the only country in the
world where I have felt real fear for my personal safety,² she wrote in
part.

On Nov. 1, in a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell,
Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wisconsin) called for the immediate investigation of
the attack. ³...I request that U.S. officials bring this
situation to the attention of Israeli leaders and law enforcement,²
wrote Kind. ³The alleged settlers that assaulted Mr. Delaplain and the
other victims in this situation must be held accountable for
their actions.²

The Rev. Don Delaplain said he is saddened by the state of affairs in
the Holy Land. ³Itıs a sad story for us to know there are tanks
surrounding the church where Jesus was supposedly born. It is not open
to us. Itıs sad for me to know that the land where Jesus was born, grew
up and taught has come to this today,² he said.

He said there is hope in the fact that many Jewish Israelis are
standing side-by-side with non-militant Palestinians, including
Christian Palestinians, in trying to resolve the differences so they all
can live in peace.

-Story compiled from various e-mails.
================================================================6-The
Dilemma of Israeli Arabs

Los Angeles Times January 8, 2003

As long as the state remains 'Jewish in essence,' they cannot be
equal citizens.

By Azmi Bishara

JERUSALEM -- The cornerstone of liberal democracy is citizenship, not
ethnicity, religion or race -- even that of the majority -- a fact the
civil rights movement made evident in the United States. But in Israel,
where bitter arguments still rage over the
question "Who is a Jew?" the question "Who is a citizen?" has yet to be
seriously addressed.

Israel's Arab citizens, who make up nearly 20% of the population, are
effectively prohibited from participating in this debate. In
fact, thanks to a decision last week by the Israeli Central
Elections Committee, even Arab citizens who serve in the parliament, or
Knesset, cannot run for reelection Jan. 28 if we dare to suggest that
Israel should become a state for all its citizens.

I am an Arab citizen of Israel and have been a member of the Knesset for
six years. Over the last year and a half, Israel's attorney
general has indicted me for voicing political opinions, lobbied to have
my parliamentary immunity revoked and, most recently, requested
disqualification of the party I represent from participating in the
upcoming elections. In agreeing, the Central Elections Committee
cited an amendment to the elections law that says that no party or
candidate can challenge the Jewish and democratic nature of Israel. The
Israeli Supreme Court is scheduled to rule Thursday on our
appeal.

Israeli Supreme Court Justice Menachem Elon once said, "Israel is Jewish
in essence and democratic in character." How can a state that defines
itself as essentially Jewish also characterize itself as a democracy
when it has a sizable non-Jewish minority? This is a
question that many Israeli liberals and their supporters abroad do not
like to ask. An honest liberal would say that Israel should be
democratic in essence and Jewish in character, given that it has a
Jewish majority that defines itself in national terms.

Having lost our Palestinian homeland in 1948, we Arabs became a
minority in our own country and were granted citizenship, which we did
not choose, in a state that does not define itself as ours but says it
is the state of the Jewish people. If we demand that the
citizenship we received in place of our homeland be full
citizenship, we are accused of "threatening the Jewishness of the
state."

Increasingly, Arabs and Jews have come to understand that Israel
cannot separate religion from state or grant full equality to its
non-Jewish citizens unless it defines itself as the state of all its
citizens. And just as we recognize the Jewish majority's right to
self-determination despite our disagreement over the historical
processes that brought it about, we demand that the Palestinian
people receive similar recognition: self-determination in the part of
their homeland occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West
Bank and Gaza.

One need not be Arab to identify with the Palestinian struggle
against Israeli occupation. Resisting occupation is a legitimate,
internationally recognized right, which many Jewish and Arab members of
the Knesset before me have affirmed from the podium of the
occupying state's parliament without it being considered "support for
terror." It is our civic and moral duty to oppose violence
against civilians, even in an anti-occupation struggle. Still, it is not
our place to dictate to the Palestinians how to conduct their struggle
against that occupation, when what is needed is an end to the occupation
itself.

Since we raised the demand that Israel become a citizens' state, the
Israeli establishment has regarded the Arab population with
increased suspicion. Many interpret the idea as opposition to the Jewish
character of the state or as a cover for an "Arab
nationalism" bent on destroying Israel "from within." They cannot fathom
that one might be, simply, both Arab and democrat. And maybe that's the
real threat: demanding a citizens' state challenges
Israel's regional monopoly on "democracy."

Since the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, an Israeli prime minister who
dared to rely on Arab votes to form a parliamentary majority, the
Israeli right began a systematic campaign to delegitimize the Arab vote.
They do not include Arab parties in their coalitions,
despite the fact that we are natural allies on peacemaking. The
official consensus, it is clear, does not include the Arab minority.
They insist that any political settlement be based on a "Jewish
majority."

This is how the disenfranchisement of Arabs started, and, like any
racist incitement against minorities in a time of political crisis, it
developed a dynamic all its own.

The biggest threat to Israeli democracy is the racist and violent
political culture engendered by the occupation itself. Disqualifying
those of us who are struggling to democratize Israel from
participating in free and fair elections means barring a liberal
democratic worldview that posits that a state should serve and stand for
all of its citizens equally.

Azmi Bishara is a member of the Knesset from the Balad Party.