Urgent: Bethlehem University Student Deported

Recently returned from the Holy Land (Friday), what I experienced on this trip makes me more committed than ever to advocating for changes in US policy that will free Palestinians from the endless oppression of permits and checkpoints. Unbeknownst to our group of traveling pilgrims, the incident described below occurred while we were in Bethlehem. The story of Berlanty Azzam reminds me of another young woman, Angie, whom I met while she was studying at the University of Bethlehem and who now works as the communications officer for Pastor Mitri Raheb at the International Center in Bethlehem. Angie has been unable to begin studies in America because she cannot get permits to travel, or even permits to go to Jerusalem to apply for the permit to travel.

Read last week’s CNN story about Berlanty Azzam below. You can also take action, as described following the news item:

Berlanty Azzam, a senior at Bethlehem University, was blindfolded, handcuffed, and brought in the night from Bethlehem to Gaza Wednesday, Oct 28.
She was born in Gaza City and moved to Bethlehem in 2005 to study at Bethlehem University. She is not accused of any crime or any security infractions whatsoever!

Here is a CNN article:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/10/31/west.bank.college.student/

A petition against Berlanty's deportation has been filed in Israeli courts. The courts have ordered attorneys for the State of Israel to submit a preliminary written reply to the petition by Tuesday, 3 November 2009. Your support matters! If you can, it would be helpful if you would contact your own elected representatives and Secretary of State, Secretary Clinton. The US State Department Website is
http://www.state.gov. Click on this link. Scroll down to the bottom of the page .. the very bottom. In the middle, you will see "CONTACT US" Click on that link. Then click on the BLUE TAB on the top that says "EMAIL A QUESTION OR COMMENT" Fill in the form and submit it.

Here is the link that will take you directly to the form - it is a long URL.
http://contact-us.state.gov/cgi- bin/state.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php?p_sid=94yLvOLj&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPSZ
Your message might say something like:

I am writing to you regarding the case of Ms. Berlanty Azzam, a fourth year student at Bethlehem University, who was detained in Bethlehem and deported to Gaza by the Israeli military on October 28, 2009. Ms. Azzam, 21 years old, is only few months away from completing her four year Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. A petition against Berlanty's deportation has been filed in Israeli courts. The courts have ordered attorneys for the State of Israel to submit a preliminary written reply to the petition by Tuesday, 3 November 2009. Your support matters! I ask that you request the government of Israel on compassionate and humanitarian grounds to allow this young woman, Ms. Berlanty Azzam, to return to Bethlehem to complete her studies. She has not been accused of being a security threat and has committed no crime. I believe permitting her to return to Bethlehem to complete her degree would also be in the spirit of the „Agreement on Movement and Access negotiated between the Palestinian Authority and Israel in 2005 and facilitated by then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.