Portion of story below; whole thing here: http://www.metimes.com/International/2008/08/27/israeli_peace_activist_and_siege_breaker_arrested/2834/GAZA CITY, Gaza -- Jeff Halper, an anthropologist, and head of the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions (ICAHD), who together with over 40 international activists from 17 different countries broke Israel's naval blockade of the Gaza Strip by sailing from Cyprus to Gaza on Saturday, despite Israeli warnings, was arrested Tuesday as he tried to return to Israel.Israeli police confirmed that Halper had been taken into custody as he crossed the heavy militarized Eretz crossing from Gaza into Israel.
He was taken to a police station in the southern town of Sderot were he was questioned and later released. A police spokesman said a decision would shortly be made as to whether to charge Halper, an anthropologist at Israel's Ben Gurion University.
In addition to breaking Israel's naval blockade of Gaza, Minnesota-born Halper is also accused of going into Palestinian territory, which is off limits to Israeli citizens according to Israeli law.
Initially Israeli security officials refused to let Halper pass through the Erez crossing, telling him that he could leave Gaza the same way he had entered, i.e. via boat back to Cyprus and then back to Israel even though Halper lives in Jerusalem which is about an hour's drive from the Erez border.
Halper said that eventually they relented and let him enter the border crossing where he was subsequently arrested. He added that although he had expected to be questioned he hadn't expected to be harassed.
Halper, who has dual American-Israeli nationality, is no stranger to controversy and standing up for Palestinian rights, and in his capacity as the leader of ICAHD has been arrested and detained on numerous occasions as he attempted to stop Israeli security forces from destroying Palestinian homes allegedly built without permits.
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