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USA Warschawsky defence meeting LEA TSEMEL, the well-known Israeli defence attorney who often defends Palestinian victims of Israeli repression, spoke to an audience of over 100 people, including many young people from Arab countries, at Columbia University on June 30. Tsemel was in New York as part of a delegation from Israel testifying at the United Nations. The week before she had participated in a panel discussion in Greenwich Village, attended by over 150 people.
Speaking at the Columbia meeting in front of a large banner that read "Defend Victims of Israeli Repression," Tsemel explained the plight of the Alternative Information Center (AIC, the legal translating and news service which was raided by Israeli security forces on February 17). In that raid, AIC personnel were arrested, and its doors padlocked. [See IV issues 115/6/ 7, March and April 1987.]
Though the other staff members were released within several days, the Cenler's director, Michel Warschawsky — a well-known Israeli left-wing figure and a leader of the Revolutionary Communist Party, the Israeli section of the Fourth International — was held in solitary confinement and denied access to reading and writing materials for two weeks until he was released on bail. His release was largely a result of an international campaign in support of Warschawsky and the AIC. No trial date has yet been set.
Tsemel and Berta Langston of the US Committee to Defend Michel Warschawsky and the AIC also spoke about the Center, pointing out that in spite of the confiscation of their printing equipment, the AIC newsletter News From Within has continued to publish. AIC activists are trying to raise the $20,000 plus expenses they have incurred in legal fees and the cost of replacing equipment. They have appealed to all those who defend the AIC's rights to continue their activities to help this effort. Towards this end, thoser at the meeting donated $187.
Tsemel also focused her remarks on the plight of Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories 20 years after the Israeli occupation of the West Bank of the Jordan River. She described how even the most elementary democratic rights were denied to Palestinians. * [From the September issue of the US journal, Bulletin in Defense of Marxism./ BRITAIN Stop the deportations! BRITISH immigration laws came under the international spotlight when over 50 Tamil refugees from Sri Lanka staged a protest by undressing at London's Heathrow airport in order to avoid deportation. Only the interference of the courts made it impossible for the Tory government to deport the
After this, the Tamils were imprisoned on the ferry Weymouth. have gone on hunger strike, not only in protest against the terrible conditions on the prison ship, but also to force the government to reconsider their plea for asylum. Recently, the government decided to deport five Tamils. But, once again, the courts decided that four of these should stay while
The British government has consistently argued that it is safe for all Tamils and Sinhalese to return to Sri Lanka if they are not wanted for criminal offences. The argument is that the Sri Lankan government is a democratic one, and that it has given such guaran-
AROUND THE WORLD tees to Britain.
Since the so-called peace accord in Sri Lanka, the British goverment has been arguing that no refugee from Sri Lanka need be admitted to Britain. This is despite the riots which occurred in Sri Lanka since the accord, the assassination of a "liberal" Sinhalese member of parliament and an attempt to kill the prime minister. The peace accord has not brought stability to the island.
The same arguments have been used to justify the deportation of Viraj Mendis. A Sinhalese revolutionary who has been living in Britain for 14 years, Viraj Mendis took sanctuary in a church in Manchester in December this year to avoid deportation by the Home Office. [See IV 112, January 26, 1987]
They are determined to deport Mendis because his case has become a national symbol of the fight against the immigration laws. The media have been forced to report on his case thanks to a nationwide campaign. On July 11, 4,000 people demonstrated chester in support of Mendis.
The Viraj Mendis Defence Campaign has been able to mobilize support from the Church, including from the Bishop of Manchester. Such support has made it difficult for the Home Office to send police into the church to arrest and deport Viraj Mendis.
But since the June general election, moves appear to be underfoot to do just that. The Home Office and police have been intent on breaking the links between the defence campaign and the Church, using pressure, slander tactics and even physical attacks.
The defence campaign is continuing to build support for Mendis' right to stay. Letters of support are needed to step-up pressure on the Home Office to reverse their deportation decision. Send copies to the Bishop of Manchester, Bishop Court, Bury New Road, chester M7 OLE, GB; and to the Viraj Mendis Defence Campaign, c/o North Hulme Centre, Jackson Crescent, Manchester M15, GB. *
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September 14, 1987 • International Viewpoint