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UK writer gets limited entry
By HILARY LEILA KRIEGER
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BRITISH FREELANCE journalist and activist Ewa Jasiewicz sits next to a policeman before a hearing in her deportation case at Tel Aviv District Court yesterday
Photo: AP

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British journalist Ewa Jasiewicz will be allowed into Israel but not into the territories, and must post a NIS 30,000 bond ahead of her release Friday, according to a Tel Aviv District Court decision received by her lawyer, Yael Berda, late Thursday. She also cannot participate in any protests or events that might involve the IDF.
Berda said her client might appeal the decision since she needs to enter the territories to conduct research for the articles she had planned to write.

Jasiewicz, 26, has been detained since August 11 on security grounds related to her connections and past activism with the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement, according to the rationale presented by the state at a hearing Wednesday.

The document said Jasiewicz "had been in contact with members of terrorist organizations" on a previous trip to Israel, stressing that her entry denial was "not at all connected to her opinions and/or the content of her journalistic writing."
"If she had links to terror, the judge wouldn't have let her in," Berda told The Jerusalem Post Thursday night. "It's a terrible thing to put the mark of terrorism on journalists and activists."
Press organizations wrote letters Wednesday backing Jasiewicz and demanding that she be let in the country.

"We believe that journalists should be allowed to go about their work without hindrance or intimidation. The intention of the Israeli Defense Ministry to deport Ms. Jasiewicz is an attempt to suppress objective reporting and to manipulate new coverage of the government's actions and policies," John Toner, freelance organizer for the UK-based National Union of Journalists, wrote. He confirmed that Jasiewicz is accredited by the union and the International Federation of Journalists.

The National Federation of Israeli Journalists sent a letter to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon arguing that, "The arrest of foreign journalists and the limiting of their journalistic work causes damage to the good name of Israel. This damage is 10 times greater than biased or even hostile reporting.... Israel takes pride in being the only democracy in the Middle East and for its freedom of the press. It needs to allow this freedom also for foreign journalists."

In the past Jasiewicz has written about left-wing causes in pieces critical of the American-led occupation in Iraq and in support of labor unions. Her stories have appeared in a variety of on-line and print publications, including the British Labour Party's internal magazine.

Berda said that Jasiewicz came to the country to write pieces about the Israeli left's views on the security fence so that her readership could see the many perspectives that exist.

Update on British Journalist Ewa Jasiewicz Barred Entry into Israel
and Occupied Palestinian Territories

Judge's Decision Handed Down:
Released From Israeli Detention with Restrictions
Will Appeal Decision

Judge Kobo of Tel Aviv District Court has ordered British journalist
Ewa Jasiewicz be released from detention on the conditions that she
not enter the Occupied Palestinian Territories nor engage in any
activities or events that may involve the Israeli Army.

Secret evidence was presented to the judge by the Israeli secret
service that, according to her attorney, Yael Barda, "had deemed her
a terrorist." However, the credibility of the evidence provided by
the secret service is in question if the judge has decided to allow
the journalist to be released.

From the detention center in Ben Gurion, Ewa declared that the
judges' decision was "a partial victory," and that "real victory
will be won when I am is allowed to travel where ever I feel it is
necessary to carry out my work as a journalist."

"I will fight the decision," stated Ewa, Thursday night before her
release. "As a journalist I should have the right to go into every
part of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories." She added
that she believes that restricting her movement within the Occupied
Territories "is an attempt to blind me, and readers of my work, to
some of the realities of life under occupation for Palestinians."

Ewa considers herself an advocacy journalist whose goal is to
enforce and promote human rights. "If the Israeli Army is truly
acting within the boundaries of International Law then they would
have no reason to restrict me." However, she added, "Israel doesn't
want me to witness it's continued violation of human rights."

Ewa is expected to be released the morning of August 20.

The National Union of Journalists, (NJU), in Great Britain, is
backing Ewa and put out a press release condemning the Israeli
Government decision to deny her entry. Ewa's case has been supported
by journalist unions from Europe and Australia.

Ewa Jasiewicz, Journalist and human rights activist from Great
Britain was barred from entering Israel and was detained last
week at Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion Airport by security authorities.
Ewa is a freelance journalist and writer who has also worked as
a human rights activist in Palestine and Iraq. She has worked with
women's organizations and workers unions. Two years ago in Nablus,
Ewa witnessed the killing of a young boy by the Israeli Army.

For more information contact:

Attorney Yael Berda: (972) 50-874-30-83
ISM Media Office: {972} 2-277-4602 or 547-358-579

I have just spoken to Ewa in prison and she has NOT been released. She was granted bail on the conditions she did not enter the West Bank or go near any military installation, but before she could be released, the prosecutors lodged an appeal against the court decision.

This means she remains in jail until at least Sunday, when she appears before the Supreme Court.

In the meantime, the NUJ (among others) will do all it can to secure her release - please do likewise.