connecting flight. Israel Maguire first visited Israel at age 40 in 1984. She came then as part of an interfaith initiative seeking forgiveness from Jews for years of persecution by Christians in Jesus' name. Her second visit was in June 2000, this time in response to invitations from Rabbis for Human Rights and the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. The two groups had taken upon themselves to defend Ahmed Shamasneh in an Israeli military court against charges of illegally constructing his home in the West Bank town of Qatanna, and Maguire traveled to Israel to observe the court proceedings and support the Shamasneh family. In a 2013 interview, she omitted any mention of her 1984 trip to Israel, saying that "I first went to Israel/Palestine at the invitation of Rabbis for Human Rights and the Israeli Committee against House Demolitions" and "was absolutely horrified" at Palestinians' living conditions. It was after that visit that she "started going on a regular basis" because she was "very hopeful that there is a solution to the Israeli/Palestinian injustice. In Northern Ireland, people said there would never be a solution. But once people begin to have the political will and force their governments to sit down, it can happen". Maguire has at times been fiercely critical of the State of Israel, even calling for its membership in the United Nations to be revoked or suspended. She has accused the Israeli government of "carrying out a policy of ethnic cleansing against Palestinians...in east Jerusalem" and supports boycott and divestment initiatives against Israel. Concomitantly, Maguire has also said that she loves Israel and that "to live in Israel for Jewish people, is to live in fear of suicide bombs and Kassam rockets". A 2013 profile of Maguire in The Progressive noted that "she hasn't lost her passion yet" and that "it is the Israeli occupation of Palestine that has occupied much of her attention in recent years". Mordechai Vanunu advocacy Maguire has been a vocal supporter of Mordechai Vanunu, a former Israeli nuclear technician who revealed details of Israel's nuclear defence program to the British press in 1986 and subsequently served 18 years in prison for treason. Maguire flew to Israel in April 2004 to greet Vanunu upon his release and has since flown to meet with him in Israel on several occasions. In an open letter addressed to the Israeli people in July 2010, after