Peace cyclists detained in Israel

Respect MP George Galloway has today written to the Foreign Secretary calling on the British government to intervene over the outrageous harassment by the Israeli authorities of peace campaigners, including four of his constituents, who have cycled to Palestine.

The 24 campaigners taking part in the Peace Cycle from Britain to Palestine have been detained three times – twice for more than six hours – by Israeli forces since they crossed into the West Bank on Wednesday.

Four of the cyclists live in Galloway’s constituency of Bethnal Green and Bow: Liane Wimhurst, Claire Ranyard, Assim Mirza and Jeremy Veeks. Galloway has insisted that the Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett call on the Prime Minster to raise the matter of the campaigners’ treatment with the Israeli government when he visits the Middle East this weekend.

Galloway said: “The detention of these peace campaigners is an outrage. Tony Blair brought shame on this country when he refused to call for an immediate ceasefire during the recent conflict in Lebanon and instead backed Israel’s aggression.

“He has the opportunity in dying days of his premiership to a least start to recant. A good step would be demanding that the Israeli government stop harassing my four constituents and the 19 other campaigners who have entirely legally, imaginatively and at great effort chosen to highlight the cause or peace in the region.”

Below is the text of the letter sent to Margaret Beckett.

Pictures are available (sorry I dont have any yet (NW) ).

For further comment from George Galloway contact Kevin Ovenden 020 7219 2874 and 07930 532 952

Liane Wimhurst can be contacted on +44 7815 800498, Claire Ranyard on +44 7801 263322.

Laura Abraham, media contact for the Peace Cycle, is on 07941 056616.



Text of letter to Margaret Beckett

8 September 2006

Dear Foreign Secretary,

I write urgently regarding my constituent Liane Wimhurst who, along with 22 other campaigners, has spent the last five weeks engaged in a Peace Cycle from Britain to Palestine as a group. In this time they have cycled over 2000km overcoming various obstacles including the Alps and the extreme heat of Syria and Jordan in order to reach Palestine.

Arriving on Wednesday 6 September, they have been detained three times by Israeli forces in their first two days in Palestine, on two occasions for more than six hours, being denied the right to even go to the toilet on one occasion. They are doing nothing illegal, merely seeking to visit Palestine. They have now been forced out of Palestine and into Israel against their will.

As the British Prime Minister is visiting Israel this weekend I ask you as a matter of urgency to convey to his office my concerns at the disgraceful treatment these cyclists, 21 of whom are British citizens, have received, and to ask him to raise this matter with the Israeli government and relevant authorities.

According to the campaigners, on Wednesday 6 September


‘[t]he cyclists arrived at the Jordanian side of the "Allenby Bridge" crossing point at 11.30 this morning local time. On the Palestinian side of the border, their coach and tour guide waited for them...and waited. The cyclists, 21 of them British, two Austrian and one Palestinian, were held at the border by the Israeli authorities and were given no information or explanation, although they were eventually given a sandwich.
‘The Palestinian man among the group was taken away and questioned for almost three hours before he was allowed to enter the West Bank, where he lives with his family in a village near Ramallah. He had taken part in the Peace Cycle so that he could "tell the world about life under occupation" in his country.
‘At 6pm the border crossing officially closed for the night, with the remaining group of cyclists still being held in no man’s land between Jordan and Palestine, by a frustrated Israeli border staff who admitted they "just wanted to go home". Eventually, eight hours later, and after frantic phone calls between the Peace Cycle’s London office and the British Consulate in Jerusalem, the cyclists were allowed through to the Palestinian side of the border. Tired and hungry, they were relieved to finally board their coach and look forward to a meal in El Fa’raa in the north of the West Bank, where the villagers had planned a welcome dinner for them.
‘However, their relief was to be short lived when they encountered first hand experience of military occupation, just outside the village of El Fa’raa. As their hosts awaited them, the cyclists’ coach was stopped at an illegal Israeli checkpoint just minutes away and the group was told it could not proceed. Spurious explanations were given by the soldiers on duty, and despite phone calls to the Israeli authorities from the British Consulate and an Israeli Knesset (Parliament) member, the peace group was held for three hours and then told they would not be permitted to cross the checkpoint, indefinitely.
‘The group had no choice but to divert to Jerusalem where they will spend the night before attempting to restart their tour of the West Bank tomorrow morning.’

As the British Prime Minister is visiting Israel this weekend I ask you as a matter of urgency to convey to his office my concerns at the disgraceful treatment these cyclists, 21 of whom are British citizens, have received, and to ask him to raise this matter with the Israeli government and relevant authorities.
I also ask that the British Embassy takes appropriate steps to protect the safety of the peace cyclists and to ensure their right to move freely without hindrance is upheld.

Yours sincerely,



George Galloway MP
cc His Excellency Simon McDonald, Ambassador to Israel
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Sent by the Respect Supporters Blog at:
 http://respectuk.blogspot.com/