Israel Expels Eight More Palestinians

Israel deported eight more Palestinians to Lebanon today, accusing them of taking part in violent protests during an eight-month uprising in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The eight Palestinians were visited by their families at Jneid Prison in the West Bank before being driven away, relatives said.

Among the deportees was a journalist with Jerusalem’s Arabic language Al Fajr newspaper, Loui Abdo, who was accused of leading a Palestine Liberation Organization-linked youth group in the West Bank city of Nablus, security sources said.

Other deportees included a lecturer from the Bir Zeit University near Ramallah and a labor leader from nearby El Bireh, they said.

Violent Demonstrations

“The deportation orders were carried out for being involved in organizing and carrying out violent demonstrations in Judea, Samaria and Gaza,” an Israeli army spokesman said.

“All had served jail sentences in the past for terrorist activity and incitement.”

Judea and Samaria are the biblical names used by Israel for the West Bank.

The expulsions brought to 29 the number of Palestinians deported since the beginning of the Arab uprising.

Four of those expelled today received deportation orders April 11. The four others received their expulsion orders July 8.

Appeal Possible

Palestinians may appeal their deportation orders, but no Palestinian has ever won a reversal of an expulsion order.

On April 19, Israel deported to southern Lebanon eight Palestinians, including six men suspected of involvement in an attack on a group of Israeli hikers that left a Jewish teen-ager and two Palestinians dead.

Deportations and administration detentions, where Palestinians can be held without charge or trial for up to six months, are among the measures Israel has used to try to crush the Palestinian uprising. Thousands of Palestinians have been placed under administrative detention since the start of the uprising Dec. 9.

Two-Day Strike

The army’s new expulsions, the first since April, took place on the first day of a two-day strike called by underground leaders of the uprising in protest of the policy of deportation.