Posted on 05/11/2002 2:38:21 PM PDT by blam
US activist in Israeli jail collapses from hunger strike
An American activist imprisoned in an Israeli jail has collapsed nine days into a hunger strike.
His lawyer says Trevor Baumgardner from Seattle is protesting his detention.
He was among a group of pro-Palestinian activists who attempted to enter the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem on May 2.
Ten made it into the church in defiance of Israeli troops who had surrounded the shrine.
Thirteen others members of the International Solidarity Movement, a group devoted to focusing attention on the Palestinians, were arrested, nine of whom have been deported.
The remaining four, all US citizens, are on a hunger strike in an Israeli jail.
The 10 who made it into the church were arrested on Friday after the 39-day standoff between Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen holed up inside the church was resolved.
Their refusal to leave at the end of the standoff delayed Israel's troop withdrawal from Bethlehem by several hours.
Georgina Reeves, a spokeswoman for the group, said three activists from the group have already been deported.
The activists said they entered the church to bring food to the Palestinians and priests holed up inside, to describe conditions there and to act as human shields to prevent the Palestinians from being harmed.
However one priest, who asked not to be identified, said the activists desecrated the holy site built over the traditional birthplace of Jesus by smoking and drinking. Another priest accused the activists of treating the church as a cafe.
Story filed: 20:47 Saturday 11th May 2002
If he lives, that's okay, too. So far, American society has been remarkably resilient to the presence of card-carrying mental midgets in our midst. Some are even in Congress. Witness Cynthia ("Dumb as a Hoe Handle and Proud of It") McKinney. She happens to share the political views of this "maroon," but she is well-paid for her stupidity. He's doing it for free, which makes him even dumber.
And then there's the fact that this report comes from the lawyer for this pond scum. Maybe the lawyer is lying. Probably, but who cares? (As I type this, I am playing the world's smallest violin over my shoulder,)
And by the way, I resent the application of the word "activist" only to leftist morons who wear loafers because tieing their shoes would complicate their day. I AM AN ACTIVIST. I seek to enforce the US Constitution in the US Supreme Court. Should I consider going on a hunger strike to get the Supreme Court to accept my arguments?
Guess I ought to stop this rant before I get hostile....
Congressman Billybob
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Heck, their "aid" probably caused the standoff to drag out for two weeks longer than it would have otherwise, causing that much more damage and desacration to the church.
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwnnnn!
1. Georgina Reeves, a spokeswoman
2. Trevor Baumgardner, Seattle
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It was time, anyway. She's marrying Adam Shapiro, her International Solidarity Movement squeeze, next month in New York.
The names & nations of the 10 activists with the church were posted on another thread, I'll go find it.
Unfortunately this moron will be taking up Israeli medical resources, though, because the Israelis will figure they can't afford the bad publicity.
They should send the bill to the US state department, who can turn it over to the treasury for collection.
Not even for a second.
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