GAZA, December 22, 2008 (WAFA)- Neta Golan, an Israeli citizen and co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), has been arrested by Israeli police while attempting to leave the Gaza Strip through the Beit Hanoun (Erez) crossing.

Neta Golan, 38, arrived Gaza on December 20, along with 17 human rights observers on the SS Dignity, the fifth boat to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza, organized by the Free Gaza Movement.

She will be taken to court, Tuesday December 23, in Kiryat Gat. Neta Golan's lawyer, Adnan Aladdin, condemned the arrest, saying 'Ms Golan's actions in no way constitute a crime. Her actions in entering Gaza were acts of necessity based on the international law and a rejection of the policies of collective punishment pursued by the Israeli Government'

Under the Geneva Conventions of 1949, collective punishment is deemed a war crime; Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states; 'No protected person may be punished for an offense he or she has not personally committed,' and that 'collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.'

Neta Golan spent three days in the Gaza Strip observing the effects of the Israeli siege on Gaza. She visited schools, hospitals and farmers who's lives have been devastated by Israel's policies of collective punishment.

She stated; 'How can an act against the collective punishment of over 1.5 million people be a crime? The policies of the Israeli State towards the people of Gaza is the real crime'.

'I feel it is my duty to come to Gaza and attempt to raise awareness as to what the Israeli state is doing to the people here. We broke the siege on Gaza, now it is time for more from the international community to do the same in solidarity with the Palestinian people.' 

Neta Golan is one of the co-founders of the International Solidarity Movement which was nominated twice for a Nobel Peace prize. She has actively resisted the occupation, participating in hundreds of demonstrations against the wall and the illegal colonizer roads. She is married and lives in Ramallah with her Palestinian husband and two children.