JOYCE — A former resident departed Monday for Israeli-occupied areas of Palestine to protest violence in the war-torn region.
Prior to leaving, Forrest Deuth, 26, of San Francisco, Calif., said he intends to support peace efforts in Gaza and the West Bank.
The two areas have been the focus of recent intensive Israeli incursions targeting Palestinian terrorists groups.
“I’m going as part of the peace protest group International Solidarity Movement,” Deuth said Monday morning before his departure. “I want to support non-violent activities with Palestinian groups.”
Deuth’s departure comes only two months after another man with ties to Clallam County was released from an Israeli prison for his support of Palestinians during the siege of Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity.
Nathan Mauger, 25, of Spokane, the son of Peninsula College professor Jeff Mauger of Port Angeles, was imprisoned for nearly a month after attempting to deliver food May 2 to Palestinians holed up in Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity during the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.
Israeli officials released Mauger and deported him in June.
Mauger, who has since returned home, is prohibited from returning to Israel for 10 years.
Like Mauger, Deuth said he plans to deliver food, water and medicine to Palestinians in war torn areas.
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The rest of this story appears in the Tuesday Peninsula Daily News. Click on SUBSCRIBE to get the PDN delivered to your home or office.