By Oz Rosenburg
Jerusalem - Israel Border Police expelled a group of 55 students from
Harvard University from a Palestinian village after a confrontation
erupted along the separation fence near Jerusalem.
According to Border Police, the
confrontation occurred after a bus full of Harvard students who were
touring the area began traveling along a route inside the village of
Walaja which is intended solely for Israeli security vehicles.
“They arrived on a Palestinian bus and traveled along the
route of the fence,” said a Border Police spokesperson, calling the
incident a “clear transgression.” The spokesperson also stated that none
of the students were detained for question, but were forced to leave
the area.
Border Police forces detained the
tour leader and Walaja resident Shereen al-Araj for questioning. She
was taken to a police base in Atarot and was released on bail after an
investigation which lasted several hours.
According to al-Araj, the bus was
on the way to look at one of the houses that is slated for demolition
so that the security fence can be built. Once the bus arrived at the
house, the students exited the bus, only to be met by a private security
firm employed to protect bulldozers.
“The security guards approached us and said that we could
not be there because it was a “closed military zone,” despite the fact
that Israel’s High Court established that it is not.”
According to al-Araj, the private
security guards called the Border Police, which eventually escorted the
bus out of the village, but not before taking the I.D. cards of the
Palestinian students on the bus, as well as that of the driver.
The students, who study at the
Harvard Kennedy School, were part of a yearly tour to Israel and the
West Bank which is put on by the Palestinian Committee.
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