Showing posts with label Three. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Three. Show all posts

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Three Israel protest women home

14 July 2011 Last updated at 15:08 GMT Fiona Williams Fiona Williams from Swansea was on hunger strike for 48 hours Three of the four Welsh women detained in Israel as part of a so-called "flytilla" protest are back home.

They had been held at a detention centre south of Tel Aviv since arriving at Ben Gurion Airport last Friday.

The remaining protester, Dee Murphy from Swansea, is still in Israel but it is hoped she will return later on Thursday.

Shortly before their release, the Israeli embassy said authorities were looking after those being held.

Other UK protesters were deported but the Welsh women had initially refused, saying they had done nothing wrong.

The activists had planned to attend West Bank events in support of Palestinians but were detained.

Some of the protesters, including Fiona Williams, 46, and Ms Murphy, 56, both from the Swansea Palestine group, went on hunger strike after they say they were prevented from making phone calls.

They accepted food again after 48 hours when they were allowed to call home.

Ms Williams said after returning home: "I'm glad we did what we did.

"I don't feel we got anywhere because they [the Israeli authorities] seem to be a law onto themselves.

"We went to test our right to visit people in Palestine - we were invited as friends - and we weren't able to do that."

Pippa Bartolotti, 57, deputy leader of the Wales Green Party, and Joyce Giblin, a member of the Socialist Labour Party from Newport, were also detained on Friday.

Speaking from the plane at Ben Gurion airport, Ms Bartolotti said she had bruises and had been handcuffed "very roughly" shortly after her arrival.

She said the group had been treated badly and were asked to sign a statement that was written only in Hebrew.

Earlier, Amir Ofek, spokesman for the Israeli embassy in the UK, said of the protest: "The Israeli authorities went beyond basic necessities in ensuring the comfort of those being held, providing regular contact with their families at home, and issuing passengers with any medication that they might need.

"Consular support from the British embassy was immediately requested, in the form of visits from British staff."

He said Israel was a democratic country where heated debates occurred every hour of the day across a range of issues.

"They do not take place however in an airport, one of the most sensitive buildings in the country, where the security threat is real. No other state would tolerate this and neither will we," he added.

The timing of the action, as a flotilla of ships trying to break a blockade on the Gaza Strip was prevented from leaving Greece, led some to call it a "flytilla".

Organisers denied the protest was linked to the attempt to break the blockade.


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Monday, July 11, 2011

Three week tyre fire finally out

8 July 2011 Last updated at 15:48 GMT Fire scene The former Mettoys factory where the shredded tyres were being stored was largely demolished so firefighters could gain access to the burning material A fire that has been burning for more than three weeks at a factory in Swansea used to store shredded tyres has been finally put out.

Around 5,000 tonnes of rubber has been alight at Fforestfach since 16 June.

The former Mettoys factory was largely demolished so fire crews could remove the burning waste before immersing it in large water-filled tanks.

Firefighters said it was the first fire of its kind in Wales and had presented challenges they had not faced before.

Group manger Roger Thomas of the Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service said: "This was a very complex fire which has posed a number of unique challenges for the agencies involved.

"Similar fires elsewhere have burned for many months because the burning material is so difficult to extinguish.

Fire scene The fire had been burning for 22 days

"It would have been impossible to extinguish this fire using traditional fire-fighting techniques.

"We had to develop new methods to extinguish the fire.

"This has been a fantastic team effort and by working collaboratively in such an effective way we have resolved this incident much quicker than we first anticipated."

He thanked nearby residents and businesses for their patience.

Officers from Swansea council and Environment Agency Wales will remain on-site to carry out a clean-up operation.

Jorg Hoffman, a consultant in health protection at Public Health Wales, said: "We are very pleased that the fire is out and the exposure to the smoke plume has come to an end.

"The advice for residents is to continue washing any food produce from gardens and allotments in the affected areas.

"The recent heavy rain may have helped to wash away significant amount of soot deposits."

The remaining extinguished waste will be transported off-site during the early part of next week and will be temporarily stored at Tata Steel's secure landfill facilities at Margam.

The cause of the fire is being jointly investigated by police and the fire service.


View the original article here