The Israeli Interior Ministry confirmed Friday the expulsion of eight Belgian citizens who were planning to attend a conference in the reoccupied West Bank town of Ramallah. Four other foreigners, among them three Brazilians, were in custody Friday at Ben-Gurion airport awaiting deportation. The Belgians were among a 12-member group planning to take part in a four-day World Social Forum in Ramallah, Palestinian sources said. They were detained by Israeli immigration officials when they arrived in Israel on Thursday. Among those expelled was Pierre Galand, chairman of a Belgian-Palestinian association. Forum organizers said another 10 people who arrived at Ben Gurion Friday had not been allowed out of the airport and could also be turned away. The Palestinian social forum, based on the model of the World Social Forum held in Porto Alegre, Brazil last February, nonetheless opened as scheduled on Friday.
World Social Forum is a gathering of leftists, anti-globalists, and other usual suspects. Sponsors include the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. They're against "neoliberalism." I think they're also against paleoliberalism, too. |