Vigil for Salah Afifi

national | miscellaneous | news report Thursday August 08, 2002 17:13 by MG

The Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign has organised a vigil outside the Israeli Embassy in Dublin this evening in protest at the arrest of an Irish activist during a demonstration near the West Bank city of Nablus yesterday.

25-year-old Salah Afifi, an architect from Ranelagh in Dublin, was arrested by Israeli police while participating in a peaceful protest at the Huwara Junction against the Israeli curfew of Palestinian towns and cities.

He was detained along with three US citizens and five French nationals and is expected to be deported in the coming days.

Lynn Jervis, a spokesperson for the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said Mr Afifi has committed no crime and is not facing charges.

She also said he is not being mistreated. “We haven’t spoken to Salah directly. We have spoken, however, to embassy officials in Tel Aviv,” she said. “They report that he is fine and one of the Irish officials has been to see him this morning. He says that his spirits are good, he’s physically okay, but we’re all extremely worried about him. Obviously we want him home safe and sound as soon as possible.”