wfn.org | United Methodist pastor freed from Israeli prison

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Nov. 20, 2002	News media contact: Linda Bloom7(212) 870-38037New York    
10-21-71B{538}

NOTE: For related coverage, see UMNS story #531. 

A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*

Despite his ordeal in an Israeli prison, the Rev. Gordon "Gordy" Hutchins
said he is not as concerned about his own treatment as he is about the
continuing plight of the Palestinian people.

That concern drew the 46-year-old United Methodist pastor from Tieton, Wash.,
to the West Bank, where he was arrested Nov. 15 with other international
demonstrators. "We were there as peacekeepers, as nonviolent advocates for
discussion and trying to bridge the gap between the Israelis and the
Palestinians," he told United Methodist News Service during a Nov. 20
telephone interview from his hotel in Jerusalem.

In one respect, he said, the demonstrators succeeded. He explained that no
one was badly injured when a group of Palestinian villagers in Jayyous tried
to stop Israeli bulldozers from clearing land for a "separation wall" that
the villagers say will illegally annex much of their fertile farmland into
Israel. But the incident also led to a prison stay for Hutchins and three
other men.

He was abruptly released from Massyahu Prison in Ramle around 9 p.m. Nov. 19,
but he has no idea what his status is with the Israeli government. "I haven't
seen one word or heard one word or been told anything officially," he said.

Hutchins was in a front row of seated demonstrators, including a few
Palestinian women, during the Nov. 15 incident. When soldiers fired tear gas
in the direction of the women, the pastor tried to help, but he found himself
temporarily overcome by the "excruciating pain" caused by the gas. "The three
minutes I couldn't breathe were the worst minutes of my life," he recalled.

Once he recovered, Hutchins and other demonstrators tried to get between the
Palestinians and Israeli soldiers. One demonstrator, Thomas Linner of Canada,
had been hit in the stomach with the butt of a gun and was being further
abused when a Palestinian woman came and stood between him and the soldier.
"That was probably the most courageous thing I've ever seen," Hutchins said.

He noted that the commander of the military in that area, who was present,
seemed particularly sadistic in the treatment of the protestors.

When the soldiers tried to arrest the lone Israeli demonstrator, Hutchins
grabbed his arm and would not let go. In the end, 10 demonstrators were
arrested.

The aftermath was a lesson in endurance for Hutchins. After a couple of hours
at a military base, the demonstrators were taken to another police station
and then to the police station at Ben Gurion airport. By then, the women had
been released, and five men, including an Irish citizen who was soon
deported, were left in shackles there.

At about 4 a.m. Nov. 16 - after little food and no sleep since early the day
before - the remaining four men were led to a paddy wagon to sleep. But in
reality, Hutchins said, they were regularly disturbed by police to prevent
any sleep and finally driven to the Massyahu prison, where they arrived at
7:15 a.m. Two hours later, they were strip-searched and interrogated again.

"What they were trying to do, I'm firmly convinced, was to make one of us
lose our cool so they would have an excuse to punish us further," he
declared.

Pleas to call an attorney or the U.S. consulate were ignored. The four men
were separated and moved to different cellblocks. For a day and a half,
Hutchins sat in a cell with seven other men, none of whom spoke English.
Finally, on the afternoon of Nov. 17, he was able to buy a black market phone
card and call an attorney, the U.S. state department, and United Methodist
Bishop Elias Galvan of Seattle.

When a state department representative came to visit the next afternoon,
Hutchins was still wearing the same clothes from three days earlier. The
representative was able to get him a towel, soap and water. The next night,
the pastor was called to the gate and released without explanation.

Hutchins has since rejoined the Lutheran group that he had traveled with to
Israel and the Palestinian territories. He said he had been to the area nine
times before as a tourist, pilgrim and group leader, but this time he wanted
to see for himself "what really was happening here."

The pastor is totally disheartened by what he found. "The people of Palestine
are being systematically destroyed," he said. "The objective of Israel is
ultimately to be the only people in this country."

Hutchins admitted that he knows his words are harsh, but added that he has
witnessed the encroachment of Israel upon the Palestinians over the years.

"I love Israel and the people of Israel, but something's gone terribly,
terribly awry."
# # #

*Bloom is United Methodist News Service's New York news director.

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org