O'Luain to get Palestinian passport
Fiachra O'Luain, the Carndonagh-based political activist, is to receive a Palestinian passport.
O'Luain was arrested, had his passport seized and was deported from Israel after the aid ship he was travelling on was raided off the coast of Gaza.
He told the Donegal Democrat/People's Press this week that the Palestinian government have offered him a passport and he intends to accept it.
"The Israelis put me on a plane at gunpoint even though I insisted that I wanted to stay and have my case go through the Israeli legal system.
"The Israelis have confirmed that they held my passport longer than they held others and I've yet to be told why. I'm still asking Foreign Affairs Minister Michel Martin to get an answer. I'm also asking him to expel, or at least threaten to expel this Israeli ambassador until this matter is sorted.
"As things stand, the Irish passport I have has to be taken on faith.
"I've no guarantee that it hasn't been cloned.
"Imagine my shock when I got back from Israel and found at that a Russian spy had been using a passport that had been cloned from one belonging to a man who lives in the same townland as me in Carndonagh.
"If the Israelis and the Russians can clone biometric passports, how can the Irish government guarantee that Irish citizens can travel safely on Irish passports?"
O’Luain, and fellow Gaza aid activist Dr Fintan Lane, addressed a public meeting in Donegal town on Saturday on the current situation in Palestine.
O’Luain praised the event organisers, North West Solidarity, for “such a positive meeting”.
He added: “Fair play to them, the people who came along were knew what they were about, made good contributions and are willing to help, both in their own locality and with the next flotilla, which will be heading out for Gaza in October.”
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Wednesday 08 February 2012
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