Peace seekers inside Israel are increasing, will that pay before it is too late?

BRUSSELS, December 27 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Eight Belgians heading to a Palestinian social forum in Ramallah were expelled from Israel Friday, December 27, the Belgian Foreign Ministry said.

The expulsions came after the Belgian government "took steps" Thursday, December 26, to seek permission for their entry into Israel via Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion airport, said ministry spokesman Didier Seeuws, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Four other Belgians were allowed into Israel but the eight left Israel by a Lufthansa flight early Friday, he said, adding that Belgium had not formally protested the expulsions.

Israel has given no explanation for the decision, the spokesman said.

For its part, the Israeli Interior Ministry confirmed the expulsion Friday.

Four other foreigners, among them three Brazilians, were in custody Friday at Ben-Gurion airport awaiting deportation, according to Israeli daily Ha’aretz.

An Israeli government spokesperson said that the interior ministry had information that the foreigners, among them six women, "were likely to disturb the peace".

The Belgians were among a 12-member group planning to take part in a four-day "World Social Forum" in Ramallah, Palestinian sources said.

They were detained by Israeli immigration officials when they arrived in Israel on Thursday.

Israel has in recent weeks banned scores of foreign anti-globalization activists seeking to express solidarity with the Palestinian people from entering its territory and the occupied Palestinian territories.

Women For Peace Coalition

In a separate related development in Tel Aviv, several hundred Israeli pacifists rallied against the policies of their government Friday, accusing Premier Ariel Sharon of opposing peace for both Israelis and Palestinians.

Tamara Bojeniesky, a former Israeli MK (Member of Knesset), and a member of the Women for Peace Group (a coalition comprising ten Israeli and Palestinian peace movements), said "Sharon is the real enemy of peace; for us (Israelis) and them (Palestinians).

"These barbaric practices (by the Israeli army) and the occupation of land will never yield anything," she was quoted as saying by al-Jazeera Satellite Channel.