Israeli "Justice": Paul Larudee Denied Entry to Palestine by Israel

UPDATE, 2pm, 18th June: Since this article was posted, Judge Pilpel has ruled that Paul will be denied entry. Paul now has 24 hours to decide whether or not to file an appeal against this decison.



Israeli friends who came to attend the court hearing Thursday of Paul Larudee, Ph.D., a 60-year-old piano tuner from California, were shocked at how the so-called trial transpired. After opening statements from both the defence and prosecution lawyers, Judge Pilpel requested a private conference in the judge's chambers with secret service agents who presented her with "secret evidence" explaining why Paul should be denied entry to Israel.

Paul's denial of entrance to Israel means denying Paul access to the occupied Palestinian territories where he was planning to support Palestinian nonviolent resistance with the ISM (the International Solidarity Movement) and has twenty engagements scheduled for tuning pianos. Israel continues to control all the border crossings in and out of the West Bank plus the only border crossing for use of internationals in and out of Gaza. Israel has denied entry to thousands of peace activists in the past three years and completely denies foreign nationals the right to visit Gaza.

To the dismay of Paul's attorney, Gaby Lasky, Judge Pilpel came back from her session with the secret service saying that she thinks that there is no reason to discuss the other points brought up in the defence. The reason for Paul's detention was not questioned nor presented to the public. This kind of "trial" is common in Israel's military legal system, through which thousands of Palestinians have been sentenced to renewable periods of "administrative detention" based on secret charges that are, in turn, based on secret evidence.

It is inevitable that democratic values in the Israeli civil legal system, such as an individual's right to defend himself in court, have been eroded under such a system. Democratic values cannot co-exist in an apartheid system. The Israeli civil court system cannot respect human rights as long as there is a parallel military legal system in which the human rights of Palestinians are disregarded.

Paul has been held in detention since the 4th of June. Judge Pilpel will give her decision on Sun June 18th at 8:00 AM

From his holding cell, Dr. Larudee made this statement,

"Am I a security threat to Israel?"

"Numerous ISM volunteers have been denied entry, for no more than the infamous 'secret security' reasons that no one is allowed to see. Case closed.

"What could the mysterious security reasons for my detention be? Perhaps there are clues.
Let's assume that it has something to do with my participation in the International Solidarity Movement, which practices nonviolent resistance against Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights. First, let's acknowledge that Israeli authorities are no fans of the ISM. We support Palestinian nonviolent resistance to the occupation on a regular basis. This may be against Israeli regulations, but that is the nature of nonviolent civil disobedience, and our actions have spared lives, both Israeli and Palestinian.

"Let me acknowledge that my treatment here is not onerous. The cells are as comfortable as one could reasonably expect in what is, in effect, a prison. The guards are courteous and make every effort to accommodate special needs. There are, however differences between my treatment and that of other detainees. I have been isolated from the rest of the population and am usually the only person in a single cell. Second, I am not permitted use of any mobile phone, while all others have this privilege. More than once, I have been told "not to talk to journalists." Finally, I was not even permitted paper and pencil until a flood of calls and a visit from the US Consul managed to reverse that draconian condition. These restrictions point towards suppression of free speech and dissent as the real motivation, not security concerns."

For more information, contact:

Neta Golan at the ISM Media Office: 02-297-1824
Attorney Gaby Lasky: 05444 18 988

ISM Volunteer Paul Larudee in Detention in Israel

Israel Needs to Promote Harmony in Pianos and Politics
Statement from Paul Larudee

For more than 40 years, I have visited the geographic region of the Middle East known as Palestine, part of which became Israel in 1948, and the remainder coming under Israeli military occupation in 1967.

I confess that I am in love with the place and have dear friends both Israeli and Palestinian, numbering possibly in the hundreds. During my last visit in 2004 I stayed with a friend who worked at the Ramallah Cultural Palace, an events center built with Japanese funding.

Being a piano technician by trade for the last 15 years, I was asked to help find a concert instrument for the center, an assignment that revealed the absence of any piano technician among the millions of Palestinians living in the West Bank.

My visit, however, was not about pianos. I am also a very active volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement a Palestinian led group dedicated to non-violent resistance against the Israeli occupation, the confiscation of Palestinian land, the replacement of indigenous Palestinian populations with Jewish immigrants, and other violations of Palestinian rights.

For its efforts the ISM has been vilified by its detractors as a protector and supporter of terrorism, and ISM volunteers have been denied entry, arrested, expelled, beaten, shot, and, (in the cases of American Rachel Corrie and Briton Tom Hurndell,) even killed by Israeli soldiers. What happens to us, however, pales by comparison with the thousands of mostly unarmed Palestinians killed and tens of thousands disabled and imprisoned.

Despite the accusations however, no charges have ever been brought against the ISM and we are not an outlawed group under Israeli law. Although we engage in civil disobedience, our violations of Israeli law do not go beyond that and we consider ourselves proud successors to the Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Cesar Chavez and other human rights champions who were also vilified in their own time, however much we revere them today. We have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for the Nobel Prize multiple times in our five-year existence.

Several months ago I decided my next visit should combine my love of pianos, Palestinians and Israelis, as well as participation in the ISM. This would mean establishing a branch of my piano business in the west bank and spending up to three months there each year. After months of planning and long days of sorting tools and supplies I prepared to make this dream come true.

Sadly, the Israeli immigration authorities chose to turn me away this time for reasons that have not yet been revealed to me. As I write from a detention facility near the airport, my lawyer is appealing the decision in Israeli court. At best, I can possibly hope for a resolution that restricts my activities to piano work. At worst, I may join millions of Palestinians living in exile who may never again see the land they love. This would be a missed minor opportunity among many major ones for Israel to show compassion and promote constructive solutions and Israel needs to be generous and to take risks if it ever hopes to achieve peace and reconciliation.

In this small instance at least some Palestinian pianos will know harmony after a long period of discord. Israel should also welcome non-violent resistance groups even if it disagrees with them and suffers inconvenience as a result of their efforts. It is part of being a free and tolerant society and it promotes alternatives to armed struggle.

More important, Israel should try releasing Palestinian funds, restoring Palestinian land and property rights, welcoming Palestinian exiles to return, releasing Palestinian political prisoners, and correcting a host of other violations of Palestinian rights. Palestinians will view any of these as an act of good will, so that Palestinian and Israeli people, and not merely their pianos, may also know harmony after a long history of discord.

Dr. Paul Larudee is a former Fulbright-Hayes lecturer in Lebanon, and contracted as US advisor to Saudi Arabia who was among seven unarmed ISM volunteers wounded by Israeli military gunfire during a nonviolent protest in the West Bank on April 1, 2002. He lives in El Cerrito, California.

Israel Tunes Out: Denies entrance to piano tuner from California

ISM MEDIA GROUP —"This is something small I can do to make life under occupation just a little more bearable for people, so I do it."

Paul Larudee, Ph.D, a 60-year-old piano tuner from El Cerrito, California travels with the tools of his trade and had twenty piano-tuning engagements scheduled around the occupied West Bank.

However, when he got off the plane in Tel Aviv Sunday night, Israeli authorities pulled him from the line, interrogated him about his political beliefs, not about his ability to tune pianos, and took him to an immigration detention center at Ben Gurion Airport. They intend to put him back on a plane today.

Dr. Larudee has visited Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories four times and has lived in the region. He has a PhD in linguistics from Georgetown University. Although never arrested or detained in the past, Israeli authorities have now decided to deport him based on his outspoken support for the work of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and the Palestinians’ right to nonviolently resist occupation.

Israeli attorney Gabi Lasky stated: "The policy of blacklisting a nonviolent peace activist as persona-non-grata, then denying them access to the Occupied Territories because of their nonviolent activities raises questions regarding Israel's intentions to resolve the conflict through dialogue and nonviolent means".

While airport officials routinely forbid entry to anyone involved with ISM, such denials run counter to Israeli policy. The Ministry of the Interior openly states that it does not seek to stop those involved with ISM from entering the country.

Dr. Larudee will refuse to get on a plane to be deported against his will, while attorney Lasky is appealing the deportation order on his behalf. His family and friends are concerned for his health while he’s in detention, since he is diabetic and has specific dietary and medical needs.

The International Solidarity Movement calls on Israel's Department of the Interior to honor its stated policies and not discriminate against peaceful individuals such as Sr. Larudee on the basis of their beliefs.

For more information, please contact

Neta Golan at the ISM Media Office: 011-972-2-297-1824
Attorney Gabi Lasky: 011-972-5444 18 988
ISM Media representative, Greta Berlin, Los Angeles 310-422-7242