Coloradans join protesters in Israel
Group tears down roadblocks to Palestinian villages
By Virginia Culver
Denver Post Religion Writer
www.denverpost.com

Monday, December 24, 2001 - Despite threats of arrest and taunts from Israeli citizens, an international group of protesters has continued to tear down roadblocks in the West Bank, according to two from Colorado.

The Coloradans said in phone interviews that the group also met Yasser Arafat, president of the Palestinian Authority, on Dec. 18, and he commended them for their efforts.

The group of up to 100 members from the United States and Europe went to Israel to show their support for the Palestinians in their struggle against Israel.

Val Phillips, a member of the Colorado delegation, said she told Arafat, "We support the Palestinians' legitimate right to resist the illegal and brutal occupation."

Arafat greeted each activist personally and said he appreciated their actions. He wasn't specific about his plans, but told the group he wanted to continue the peace process, said Mark Schneider, organizer for the Colorado Campaign for Middle East Peace, which is sponsoring the five Coloradans.

Since their arrival in Israel on Dec. 13, the protesters have spent most days trying to take down roadblocks placed on streets leading to Palestinian villages.

The activists use small garden implements given to them by Palestinians to tear down the high roadblocks but Israeli soldiers and police rebuild them before they finish.

At each site, police and soldiers, armed with guns and tear gas, have told the protesters to move, the Coloradans say. Once they shot guns into the air.

At one point the protesters lay in the road in front of a tank. The tank didn't move until the protesters left, the Coloradans said. Authorities arrested one protester, a student in Israel, but freed her after a few hours.

Near the village of Ariel, a protester was grabbed by an Israeli settler who tried to drag her by her hair, the Coloradans said. Police quickly pulled the man away. The settlers yelled, "You're a bunch of losers," "Nazis" and "Go home" at the protesters.

Phillips said the protesters' Palestinian bus driver has been fined several times by the police. "But he's willing to keep driving us around."

Repeated efforts to reach the spokesman for the Israeli police, Gil Kleiman, were unsuccessful.

The protesters plan to join a march from Jerusalem into Bethlehem, accompanied by Christian Palestinians, on Christmas Day.

Despite the difficulties encountered by the protesters, Phillips, an astronomy student at the University of Colorado at Denver, said, "We feel successful. The Palestinian people are grateful we're here."

The Americans, who are staying in Palestinian homes, will be in Israel until Jan. 8.