Israel Matzav

Flytilla 2?

Between 1500 - 2500 pro-'Palestinian' 'activists' plan to make their way to Israel on April 15-16 in another effort at a 'flytilla.' April 15-16 are two of the busiest days of the year at Ben Gurion airport - the two days after the Passover holiday ends. A similar effort last year resulted in most of the 'activists' not being allowed to board their flights because Israel said that they would be sent back to Europe at the airlines' expense.

“The point is to show the world that Israel is preventing people from visiting Palestine,” said Qumsiyeh who is a professor at Bethlehem University.

“By entering Palestine through Ben-Gurion airport, hundreds of people over 48 hours will send a message that we want Israel to recognize the basic human right ... of those who want to visit us,” he said.

“We call on our elected representatives and our government to ensure that we shall be normally and properly treated on our arrival in Ben- Gurion airport, as are Israeli citizens when they come to our countries,” he said.

On Tuesday Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said that Israel was working with other governments and foreign airlines to identify activists and stop them from boarding planes.

But Qumsiyeh told The Jerusalem Post that after last summer’s event, judges in France and Germany told the airlines they could not collectively bar people from boarding planes.

“I think that this year they will be able to get on the planes,” he said. “The question is, what will Israel do when they land,” he said.

“I think that Israel should just let them in. They are not coming to protest. They are coming to see the situation for themselves and to experience what Palestinians experience,” he said.

What could go wrong?

Labels: Ben Gurion Airport, flytilla

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:52 PM