F.C. Peace Activist Held in Tel Aviv

Last Sunday, at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, Falls Church native and Jewish-American peace activist Jamie Spector was detained by Israel security officials when she refused to return to America after being banned from entering the country. She had arrived to take part in non-violent demonstrations against Israel’s erection of a wall in the West Bank. As of press time she remains in custody awaiting an extradition hearing.

Spector is one in a growing number of human rights activists who have been stopped by the Israeli government and turned away from the occupied Palestinian territories.

This case has garnered particular attention internationally because it contradicts Israel’s traditional open door policy to Jewish visitors.

Rather than letting Israel’s decision stop her, Spector has continued pushing her message inside the detention center. “Because we’ve been denied the opportunity to take non-violent action outside, we’ve decided to take our demonstrations inside,” she said in an exclusive interview with the Falls Church News Press from her detention location yesterday.

Through sporadic communications with her lawyer and friends she has managed to speak out against her detainment while drawing attention to, what she says, is another example of Israeli injustice.

The protests that Spector was to take part in were against the building of the wall, which the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) calls the “Apartheid Wall,” in the occupied area of the West Bank.

The ISM says that over the past year three of their members have been killed by Israeli action, including 26 year old American Rachel Corrie, who was run over by a bull dozer in March of 2003, while trying to protect a Palestinian home.

In the long hours of waiting in detention Spector told the News-Press that she has had time to think about what led her into a life of activism.

Spector’s life in the City of Falls Church began when her family arrived here when she was two years old. She spent her young life in the city attending Falls Church schools and going to temple at Rodef Shalom.

She said her interest in social activism was supported at a young age by the community of Falls Church. She learned very early on that she had the power to make a difference. “Since I was living in a community where a lot of people were involved in civic actions I grew up with a feeling that I could impact my community,” she said.

She remembered a time as a teenager in Falls Church when she was able to see community activism first hand.

The State Theater, which showed old movies for 99 cents, had been sold and there were questions about what was going to be done to it. Spector, along with other youth and adults in the community spoke out against the loss of the theater. “It was a great place for young people to gather,” she said.

Although the theater no longer shows 99 cent movies, the building still stands, and serves as a thriving live performance venue.

While a seemingly small cause, that event helped shape Spector’s future, and led her into a life of activism.

After graduating from Catholic University with a Master’s Degree in Social Work, she sold many of her possessions to sponsor her own trip to Bosnia during the Balkan conflicts of the mid-90s, where she worked to find peaceful reconciliation between the feuding sides.

When she returned from Bosnia she became interested in the Israel-Palestine conflict and starting working with the ISM and Jews for a Free Palestine, organizations focused on creating a peaceful resolution to the conflict.

“I had been frustrated for a long time by the human rights violations perpetrated by the Israeli government,” she said. Spector saw her work as a chance to support Palestine and work directly to resolve the conflict. “I tend to be someone who wants to see something with my own eyes.”

Her desire for direct involvement first took her to Israel in 2002 where she worked with the ISM to help Palestinians protect 1,000 year old olive trees during the harvest. The trees were being cut down by Israeli militants because they were said to be too close to the border between Israel and Palestine.

On her second visit to the country this month, she hoped not only to take part in non-violent demonstrations, but also to meet with activists in the region, visit family and even do a little sight seeing.

Instead, she was stopped at the airport and denied entry to the country.

Detained with fellow activist Christina Grafer, the two petitioned the Tel Aviv District Court to overturn the Interior Ministry’s decision to bar them from the country.

She said they have been locked in a small temporary holding cell since Sunday, unaware of when they might be released. She has only been able to make brief contact with people outside the center, including conversations with her lawyer and a meeting with her cousin who lives in Israel.

Eric Romann, friend and fellow member of Jews for a Free Palestine, talked with the News-Press in a phone interview Tuesday, from San Francisco. He criticized Israel’s decision to deny Spector entry into the country.

Citing the Israeli Law of Return, which grants Jews from around the world the right to enter and apply for citizenship in Israel, Romann said that Israel’s refusal, “draws attention to the hypocrisy of some of the laws and policies of Israel.”

According to the American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, the Law of Return, enacted in 1950 under Prime Minister David Ben Gurion, states that “Every Jew has the right to come to this country as an oleh,” an oleh defined as an immigrant to Israel.

The law also dictates that it would not apply to those Jews who the Ministry of Immigration determines, “is engaged in an activity directed against the Jewish people; or is likely to endanger public health or the security of the State.”

The Israeli government is citing those exceptions as their reason for keeping Spector from entering the country, despite the fact that she has no history of violent action.

Romann emphasized that Israel’s refusal is based on Spector’s affiliation with ISM, which has yet to be identified as a dangerous organization within Israel and has always worked solely through non-violent action and protest.

Romann, also Jewish, talked about the frustration that Jews for a Free Palestine has had with Israeli policy regarding Palestine. “We’re horrified that Israel claims to be doing this in our name,” said Romann.

Spector’s parents, Stephen and Annette Spector, 30 year residents of Falls Church, have continued to support their daughter’s entrance into Israel.

In a conversation with the News-Press, Annette Spector expressed her concern about the denial of entry for her daughter. “The fact that her affiliation with ISM is labeling her as a criminal or security threat is absolutely ridiculous,” she said.

Along with promoting peace in the region, Mrs. Spector said that her daughter was planning to see the country and visit relatives. She argued that by refusing to allow her daughter into the country, Israel was unfairly keeping her daughter from rights afforded to other Jews, simply as a result of her beliefs.

For three days Spector’s parents have tried to contact her, only to be denied by Israeli officials. “We’re not very hopeful that she’s going to get in,” said Mrs. Spector.

Last week, the International Court of Justice in the Hague, Netherlands, declared sections of the Israeli wall illegal according to international law, saying that it impeded Palestinians’ rights to self determination. The ruling, while it indicates international opposition to Israel’s actions, cannot legally force the country to desist from its plans.

Israel has continued its construction, ostensibly designed to insulate Israeli settlements from Palestinian attacks, despite international objections.

Romann charged that under the guise of providing security to Israel, the wall represents an intentional land grab to annex what should be Palestinian territory.

As Spector awaits a decision on whether she can enter Israel, she is asking for people to send letters to Israel’s Minister of the Interior and the Prime Minister, saying that they know her, are concerned about her arrest and pending deportation, and hope Israel will change its mind and allow her to enter the country.

Spector pointed out, though, that she didn’t want the attention to be on her. Rather, she wanted to make people look at the tragedies taking place between Israel and Palestine and what they each can do in their own lives to make a difference .