Activist returns home to Wales from Israeli prison
Stephen Price
A woman who had been detained by Israeli police in Palestine is set to return to her home in Swansea today, according to an activist group.
Irish national D. Murphy, aged 70, is scheduled to arrive back in Swansea today after having fought the decision to deport her for ten days from within an Israeli prison.
Ms Murphy, was arrested by Israeli authorities in the southern part of the occupied West Bank on Saturday (May 31).
The pensioner who hails from Cork in Ireland but now lives in Swansea had been volunteering with the Palestinian anti-occupation group since May.
Before her arrest, she had joined other international activists in protecting the small Palestinian village of Khalet al-Daba’a which has been targeted by Israeli forces.
Ms Murphy was arrested alongside a 48-year-old Swedish activist Susanne Björk after the pair were accused of being in a closed military zone.
Ms Murphy, who was the founding member of Swansea Palestine Community Link, had been in Palestine for three weeks after joining the International Solidarity Movement.
Demolitions
This morning, Israeli bulldozers returned to Khalet Al-Daba’a, the West Bank village in the demolition-plagued region of Masafer Yatta where Murphy was arrested.
The forces have once more raided the village with the intent of razing it in its entirety after the previous demolition there.
According to the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), Murphy was unlawfully brought in front of a Detention Review Tribunal last Wednesday, June 4, without legal advice or representation, despite her requests for them and multiple attempts by her lawyer to get in touch through the prison service.
The next hearing for her deportation case was scheduled for next month. The lawyer has since managed to visit her once but did not hear back from the prison service regarding her request for release on behalf of Murphy.
Murphy, who has been involved in Palestinian solidarity for over two decades and has a long history of community organising, was arrested with Björk on May 31 simply for standing in solidarity with Palestinian communities in Masafer Yatta, in the southern occupied West Bank.
According to ISM, Israeli forces are now demolishing the houses and water systems left in Khalet Al-Daba’a, together with makeshift tents.
These communities face an ongoing and escalating campaign of ethnic cleansing and forcible displacement being carried out by Israeli settlers with the full support of the Israeli state. Murphy and Björk were accused of being in a military area and were removed while Israeli settlers were allowed to remain and continue to harass Palestinian residents.
Humanitarian crisis
Dale Ryan, Murphy’s son, said: “As a family we are all very relieved to have my mother home. The past 10 days has been intense and we have had to trust that the Israeli authorities would treat my mother fairly and ensure her basic needs were met. From their treatment of the Palestinians over the past several decades, this was not something we had the most confidence in.
“My mother did not want to be detained or deported, she wanted to be in Masafer Yatta with her friends, helping them in any way she could, but I do know that she would have been pleased that her situation helped to draw some more eyes to the appalling treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank and the humanitarian crisis we are witnessing in Gaza.
“I know after a day’s rest my mother will be back gathering support for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for the fair treatment of all Palestinians, after me and all her family give her a massive hug.”
A spokesperson from the ISM added: “It comes as no surprise to see that Murphy’s rights under Israeli custody were undermined, a complete disregard for the rule of law.
“This happened to a western 70 year-old woman, while Palestinians are being tortured in Israeli prisons with our governments refusing to aknowledge this or act. It is a harrowing development that as she is deported, the Israeli forces are finishing to demolish what was left of the village of Khalte Al-Daba’a, where she and Björk were arrested.
“Murphy’s case has served to remind us that the international community not only has an obligation to stop trade and relationships with Israel, but also to take decisive steps to bring the genocide and occupation of Palestine to an end.
“We are equally sorry to see a shy response from both the Irish and British governments.”
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Glad to hear she is back but sad to hear what she went through and what she witnessed.