Anne Barker reported this story on Monday, February 8, 2010 12:38:00

ELEANOR HALL: The lawyer for an Australian woman who was arrested in the West Bank says her detention is part of a campaign by the Israeli Government to silence pro-Palestinian foreigners.



Israeli soldiers arrested 22-year-old Bridgette Chappell in a pre-dawn raid and she is now being held in an immigration jail in Israel. The Government says she overstayed her visa.



Middle East correspondent Anne Barker reports.



ANNE BARKER: Bridgette Chappell was apparently in the West Bank studying Arabic and politics at Birzeit University. But she was also active in the International Solidarity Movement - or ISM - a pro-Palestinian organisation committed to resisting Israel's occupation of the West Bank.



She was sharing an ISM apartment with two other activists - a Spanish woman and an American man, Ryan Olander. He says about 12 soldiers broke down the door in the dead of night and burst in with M16 rifles.



RYAN OLANDER: At about three o'clock this morning we were woken by sounds of someone, ah, fumbling with the door. It sounded pretty violent and about five minutes after that they had used a crowbar to break the lock. There was about 12 Israeli military soldiers, armed with M16s, flashlights and a camera.



ANNE BARKER: Israel says Bridgette Chappell was arrested because she'd overstayed her visa. Her Israeli lawyer Omer Shatz says he's been denied access to speak to her - and fears she may be deported before he can bring her case to court.



OMER SHATZ: Usually what they do is they try to deport her within 24 hours, using techniques of intimidation and threatening, saying that if you won't sign a paper that's saying she is willing to leave now, or within a few hours, you will be staying there for months, and they know that they don't want to be in jail for a long period of time.



ANNE BARKER: Israeli authorities also say both women were known to be involved in illegal riots and interfering with Israeli military activity.



But Palestinian authorities say Israel has no jurisdiction over Ramallah, and therefore had no right to raid the apartment. Indeed, at the time of her arrest the Australian woman wasn't in Israel at all.



And Omer Shatz says if she overstayed her visa it's only because Israeli forces captured her and took her to Israel to accuse her of breaching her visa.



OMER SHATZ: The Minister of Interior has no authority outside Israel and if she was brought into Israel for example by the army, she didn't commit any offence because they put her inside Israel, so they turned her into an illegal stay, alright?



ANNE BARKER: The International Solidarity Movement says the women's arrests are really aimed at stifling protests against Israel's occupation of the West Bank.



It's common for Palestinian activists to face arrest or detention for their roles in anti-Israel activities. But Mr Shatz says in recent months Israeli authorities have begun using these new tactics against foreigners also taking part.



OMER SHATZ: Foreigners like Bridgette, they take part sometimes in nonviolent demos, and the worst crime is that they also report to their homeland - Australia, Europe, United States.



ANNE BARKER: Israel has confirmed the two women are now in an immigration jail, but refuses to say any more.



Omer Shatz has lodged a petition in the Israeli Supreme Court against Bridgette Chappell's arrest on the grounds it was illegal. He's hoping judges will decide the case in a few days - if, of course, she's not deported first.



This is Anne Barker in Jerusalem for The World Today.