Israel deports last pro-Palestinian fly-in activists

The last 10 pro-Palestinian activists who were in Israel as part of the "flytilla" campaign were on Friday deported to France, an interior ministry spokeswoman told Agence France Presse. "Ten French pro-Palestinian activists were released from the prison in which they were detained and boarded a plane bound for Paris at 1300 local time (1000 GMT)," Sabine Haddad said. "There are currently no activists in Israel detained for this action," she said of last Sunday's "Welcome to Palestine" fly-in campaign. Israel prevented a total of 79 foreigners from entering the country as part of the fly-in. They were detained upon landing and gradually put on planes back to their countries of origin. Campaign organizers had hoped to welcome up to 1,500 people, but Israel warned airlines they would be forced to foot the bill for their immediate return home, prompting many European carriers to cancel hundreds of tickets. The "Welcome to Palestine" campaign, in its third year, aimed to show support for Palestinians and to denounce Israeli control of the Palestinian territories.