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Today's Paper | May 08, 2026

Published 27 Nov, 2023 02:01pm

Israel deports human rights defender documenting Palestinian home demolitions

Alison Russell, a Scottish-born Belgian citizen and human rights defender, was detained by Israeli authorities while documenting the demolition of a house in Masafer Yatta in the South Hebron Hills of the occupied West Bank, Mondoweiss reports.

Israeli police alleged in a public statement that Alison “supported a terrorist organisation”. Her attorney pointed out that this claim had no basis.

Nevertheless, the presiding judge issued a verdict couched in fiery nationalist rhetoric, claiming that “There are many faces to Hamas terror. There are various kinds of terrorists. Some terrorists wield guns and bombs while others use a computer keyboard”.

Russell was taken to the Ben Gurion Airport, and deported, with a decree issued to bar her re-entry.

The report quoted Itamar Ben-Gvir, the minister of police in the Netanyahu government, as issuing a personal statement celebrating the “deportation of the Belgian terrorist supporter who had supported the Hamas Nazis” and “congratulating the Judea and Samaria Police for their good work”.

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