Tipperary man deported from Israel

An Irish artist who was arrested with 9 other international activists during a demonstration yesterday in the West Bank has arrived…

An Irish artist who was arrested with 9 other international activists during a demonstration yesterday in the West Bank has arrived in Dublin following his deportation from Israel.

Michael McGrath, 32, was taken to Tel Aviv airport in the early hours of this morning and is understood to have been restrained with shackles prior to his expulsion.

The activists were accompanying a group of about 200 Palestinian civilians in the West Bank farming village of Jayyous on the second day of a protest against Israeli confiscation of their farmland and the destruction of olive trees.

Ten activists were arrested and detained for 7 hours in an army base and at a police station in the Ariel settlement where it is alleged the activists were physically assaulted.

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Mr McGrath, originally from Tipperary, was working in Palestine with the International Solidarity Movement, which engages in non-violent direct action against the Israeli occupation under the direction of Palestinian communities.