[News] Tito Kayak arrested in Palestine

[Anti-Imperialist News]

Press Release: april 22-2007

Contact Info: Mary Anne Grady Flores
Mobile Phone in Bil'in, Palestine:
(from US: 011) -050-305-3265

For Immediate Release:

Tito Kayak, Puerto Rican Activist for Palestine:
Still Held in Israeli Military Prison

Alberto De Jesus, a Puerto Rican activist know as Tito Kayak,
was arrested Friday, April 20th, after unfurling a Palestinian flag
on top of an Israeli surveillance tower of the Apartheid wall,
next to the village of Bil'in, Palestine. His non-violent action
took place simultaneously with a press conference at the weekly
non-violent demonstration of the Apartheid wall.

Tito Kayak is being held under military
code in a prison in Beth El Settlement, near the city of Ramallah.
He will possibly be held the full 96 hours routinely meted out to
Palestinians under this code. His lawyers, Gaby Lasky and Lymor
Goldstein are negotiating for his early release
so that he can return to the US with his delegation from Puerto Rico
on his scheduled flight tonight at midnight. We heard from
Mr. Goldstein that Tito sends his greetings
to the people of Bil'in and all Palestinians from prison.

Nobel Peace Prize winner, Mairead Corrigan Maguire from Northern
Ireland, and Minister of Information for the Palestinian Authority,
Mustafa Barghouti were the speakers at the press conference addressing
the need for the removal of the wall and other issues caused by the
occupation.

Five hundred where joined by two hundred and fifty internationals for
the weekly march to wall. The afternoon demonstration was marked by
violence initiated by the Israeli soldiers who fired rubber bullets,
tear gas and used a water cannon on the crowd of over 500 participants.
Mairead Maguire was hit by a rubber bullet in the leg and a Channel 4,
British TV camera man was left unconscious until the next day after
being hit by a soldier's batton.

This is the first incident where an international has been held under
military code for non-violent civil disobedience. All other internationals
who have been arrested have been released after 24 hours.


Tito joined many internationals, including people from South Africa,
Sweden, France, Spain, England , Germany, and those notables
mentioned above at the invitation of the people of Bil'in to the Second
Annual Conference on Popular Resistance. The village is a symbol of
the non-violent struggle for the removal of the Apartheid Wall, the
reclaiming of Palestinian lands, and the demand for an end to the military
occupation of their towns and villages.  Bil'in has had 60% of their land
taken from them in 2005.

The Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
(415) 863-9977www.freedomarchives.org 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20070423/2348299b/attachment.htm>