Witnesses to war crimes
Greg Rollins, 30, an international peace activist with Christian Peacemakers Teams (CPT) was released from Ramleh Prison in Israel on 4 June where he was detained for 17 days without charges. Rollins was arrested on 18 May by Israeli troops while monitoring the arrests of Palestinians. He was released after the Israeli High Court overturned a deportation order against him, giving the IOF until 20 June to respond to a petition challenging his arrest. Rollins was held in a 12 sq metre prison cell with five others and allowed outside for only 30 minutes per day. He reflects on his time in prison.
The walls of prisons are thick. I believe they are built that way not only to keep the prisoners in, but also to keep prayers out. When I was in prison I prayed a lot, sometimes by myself, sometimes with friends who visited me, sometimes with a group of West African men who were being deported for working in Israel without a permit.
But it was not my own prayers that gave me the strength I needed. It was the prayers and support of the people on the outside that helped. I would go on and name them, but there are too many to list. Besides, I don't even know 95 per cent of the people who supported me.
All of the men I was imprisoned with were foreign workers who had overstayed their visas and had little support from outside. Yes, their wives or parents knew of their detentions, but were not in any position to help them other than send money. Other men had expired passports and could not have them renewed because their government would not issue them new passports, or their embassies no longer existed in Israel.
Unlike these men, there are others here who might have support, but not know why they are jailed. Palestinian prisoners often have support outside of prison, but do not know why they are in jail. Under Israeli law, it is legal to detain a Palestinian for up to six months without him knowing why. Because I was also held without knowing why, for 17 days, I can relate to how some Palestinians must feel when they are detained.
For me, this feeling was one of absurdity. I found it ridiculous that I was arrested by Israelis for being in a Palestinian city. Israel often claims they want the Palestinian Authority (PA) to be accountable and take care of its own problems within Palestinian areas. If that is the case, then it should be up to the PA, not the Israeli government, to decide whether or not internationals can enter their cities.
In the end, what helped me change my focus from anger at the absurdity of my situation to one of patience was knowing that there were people outside who supported me and CPT in general. Whether this support came through prayer, faxes and phone calls to various embassies and members of parliament, or words written to let people know what was happening, I am grateful for all the work done on my and CPT's behalf. As we say in CPT Hebron, I owe you all a lot of chocolate.
Greg Rollins
7 June 2003
Christian Peacemaker Teams is an initiative among Mennonite and Church of the Brethren Congregations and Friends Meetings in the US that supports violence reduction efforts around the world (http://www.prairienet.org/cpt/hebron.php).
