HEROES : WOMEN JOURNALISTS

NEW YORK : CFWIJ spoke with Susan Abulhawa after she reached her home in the United States: ''Israel always has all sorts of bureaucratic reasons for the crimes, whether demolishing homes, murdering people, or deporting Palestinians,'' she says.

''There is no free speech for Palestinians in Israel. See the case of Dareen Tatour, who was imprisoned for writing a poem. Sabotaging literature festivals is tantamount to book burning.''

The Coalition For Women In Journalism strongly condemns the detainment and deportation of   Susan Abulhawa.

The Palestinian-American writer was detained at Israel's Ben Gurion Airport and later ordered deported back to America where she resides, after appealing the order through the lawyer.

Abulhawa was traveling to attend the Kalimat Palestinian Literature Festival, which is held in Jerusalem, Haifa and around the West Bank.

Israel's Immigration Authority spun news coverage on the detention, telling local media that  Abulhawa was not refused re-entry.

However, through our network of journalists covering the region we have learned that detention of Palestinian voices have been increasing, often because of involvement in the boycott, divestment and sanctions [BDS] movement against Israel.

''Detentions are one of the modern methods used by countries to silence free speech,'' says CFWIJ  founding director Kiran Nazish.

''It is not only to limit travel and access to the country itself, but also to set a procedure of hurdles, discouraging the larger community. It works effectively, and we have seen a stark increase worldwide.

It should be treated as a core method of intimidation by the international community that strives for a transparent world, and condemned with the seriousness that these methods require to be discouraged.''

She adds, ''We recognize that Palestinian writers play a key role in representing the under told stories of each square meter of that land, where news we know is controlled  and silenced on a daily basis.