LONDON
- Eight British peace activists who were trapped in the
West Bank city of Ramallah during the Israeli offensive returned
home Sunday to the cheers of about 100 Palestinians at Heathrow
Airport.
"Victory
to intifada," or Palestinian uprising," the Palestinians
shouted. Referring to Israeli leader Ariel Sharon (news - web
sites), they also screamed: "Sharon, you will see, Palestine
will be free," and "Sharon, terrorist."
At one
point, the supporters of the Sussex University students also shouted
insults at Orthodox Jews who were passing through the terminal.
Many
of the crowd held Palestinian flags, Union Jacks and clutched
red roses that they threw toward the activists. The boisterous
crowd, monitored by police officers, ignored requests to stop
shouting.
The eight
activists had joined the Palestinian General Medical Relief Council
and been trapped in Ramallah when it was placed under curfew by
the Israeli military offensive in the city.
The International Solidarity Movement aims to support the Palestinians
by working in a nonviolent fashion to bring about change.
One of
the Sussex University students, Salma Karmi, 21, of London, said:
"We went out on March 28 as guests of the Palestinian people
and the very next morning the city of Ramallah was invaded. We
were curfewed, and tanks and snipers watched every move anyone
made. The Palestinian people are being treated like animals —
if not worse than animals."
Dan Glazebrook, 24, president of Sussex University Students Union,
said: "We went there to document the Israeli occupation of
Palestinian territories. Nothing short of a campaign of terror
is being waged against the Palestinian people by the Israeli armed
forces."
Other
British peace campaigners still living in the West Bank have said
they are determined to remain there, despite warnings from the
British Consulate that they may be in danger from Palestinians.
Liz Yates,
a 61-year-old member of the International Solidarity Movement
from Wateringbury in Kent, is one of an estimated 10 to 20 Britons
living in three Palestinian refugee camps in Bethlehem.
The retired
nurse said, "We are staying with Palestinians. They are feeding
us and looking after us. I don't think there's any danger. I would
be absolutely amazed if a Palestinian came up and did anything
to me."
