Israel holds Irish citizen in prison prior to deportation

An Irish citizen is in Israel's Ramleh prison awaiting deportation following his arrest on Wednesday during a demonstration against Israel's security policies.

Mr Salah Assisi (25), from Dublin, was detained at the northern West Bank village of Huwarra along with five French and three US nationals during a protest at a checkpoint.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said it was making efforts to have him returned home as soon as possible.

But a spokesman explained that Israel refuses on principle to pay the fares of deportees, so efforts are being made to locate Mr Assisi's own airline ticket, which is with the rest of his belongings is in Nablus.

Mr Assisi, whose mother is Irish and whose father is Palestinian, joined foreign activists and villagers to call for the withdrawal of Israeli forces and an end to the occupation.

Israeli troops gassed, struck and arrested the protesters. Ms Huwaida Arraf, the co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), was knocked out and her husband, Mr Adam Shapiro, a leading spokesman for peaceful protest, was among those detained.This was the first visit to the West Bank by Mr Assisi, who was born and brought up in Dublin and now works for an architectural firm.

Yesterday Mr Assisi was visited at Ramleh prison by an Irish consular official, and found to be unharmed and in good spirits.

A second Irish national, Mr Colm Breathnach (38), also from Dublin, has been staying along with two US citizens in a house slated for destruction in the densely populated al-Farra refugee camp near Nablus.

The three storey house belongs to the Ghul family whose son died in a suicide bombing.

A vigil was held last night outside the Israeli Embassy in Dublin in support of Mr Assisi.