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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Banned from Israel for 10 years, US Jewish peace activist feels ‘sense of betrayal’ |
| 2025-11-08 |
| [IsraelTimes] Leila Stillman-Utterback, 18, says her deportation for entering closed military zone to help Palestinians facing settler violence sends message that, for Israeli authorites, she’s not ‘right kind of Jew’ No, sweetie, you’re the kind of Jew who thinks the laws don’t apply to you, which has nothing to do with Judaism, except you were ignoring the rabbinic injunction to render unto Caesar. Along with the other woman deported by Israel, Stillman-Utterback had come to Israel this fall as a part of the Achvat Amim program, which is connected to the socialist Zionist youth group Hashomer Hatzair. The five-month volunteer program in Jerusalem focuses on “self-determination of all people.”Stillman-Utterback joined half a dozen harvests before the one that led to her deportation. Before the latest and last action, the activists were stopped by Israeli soldiers at a “flying checkpoint” at the entrance of the village of Burin. An organizer was handed a closed military zone order, prohibiting the group from entering the area. According to one of the volunteers, they decided to take another route to join the harvest in an area that they believed was not included in the order. Shortly after arriving at the new area, organizers learned that their bus drivers had been detained by the IDF, with their keys confiscated. Upon hearing this, they decided to bring the group to the soldiers, according to one volunteer present. The volunteer asked for anonymity because Israeli authorities later demanded the activists sign a statement promising not to speak publicly about the incident. After the activists were held for 90 minutes by the soldiers, the Israel Police arrived and announced they were detaining the entire bus because the participants were aware they had entered a closed military zone. The volunteers were escorted to the police station in the settlement of Ariel. Those with Israeli citizenship or with visas other than a student or tourist visa were released shortly thereafter. According to Michal Pomerantz, the lawyer for the deported women, Stillman-Utterback and another Jewish-American woman on tourist visas were brought to an immigration tribunal in Ramle. With the proceedings carried out in Hebrew, they were unaware that it was a deportation proceeding and that the man they were speaking to was a judge, according to Pomerantz. Israeli authorities say the participants ignored the initial warning and were aware they were in a closed military zone. One of the other detained participants said the group believed they had moved to an area that was not under the order. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #2 |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2025-11-08 09:52 |
| #1 |
| Posted by: Grom the Affective 2025-11-08 03:20 |