THE story of peace activist Alice Coy has gripped the imaginations of many readers. A young, Jewish woman who had enjoyed a comfortable upbringing in a Worcestershire village, 27-year-old Alice has seen her friend die in horrific circumstances, she has been shot at by Israeli soldiers, and spent much of the last week in solitary confinement in an Israeli jail. Here, for the first time, she explains why she became a human shield in the Gaza Strip.

PEACE activist Alice Coy is wearing the same trousers she wore when one friend died in her arms and another was shot in the head.

One leg is patched up after being ripped shortly before American activist Rachel Currie was crushed by a bulldozer protecting houses in the Israeli city of Rafah.

The other leg is stained with blood from British activist Tom Hurndall who was shot in the head as he tried to take children to safety when Israeli Defence Force soliders opened fire in a street.

Alice has spent her adult life fighting social injustice wherever she found it.

She moved to Leigh Sinton with her family when she was 12 and after attending Dyson Perrins School, she won a scholarship to study A-levels at Malvern Girls College.

As well as working as a computer programmer, she has taken part in a variety of campaigns from recycling computers to make them more accessible to taking part in the anti-capitalist demos on May Day and the IMF demonstration in Prague in September 2000.

It was the suffering of the Palestinian people that drew Alice, who is Jewish, to the Gaza Strip.

Political turmoil engulfs this part of the world torn apart by conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Israeli Defence Forces - the IDF - have been launching attacks on Palestinians in the Palestinian-administered Gaza Strip, because it is believed to be the source of suicide bombers.

Alice flew out on Wednesday, January 8, with a plane ticket valid for two-months but no clear idea of what she was going to do when she arrived.

She met other peace activists and eventually joined the International Solidarity Movement, which trained her and sent to the city of Nablus.

"There are a lot of problems with check points with people being held for hours on their knees in the mud," said Alice.

"People would be refused hospital treatment and ambulances would be shot at. But just by being there, observing, things are still bad but you know it would be worse if you weren't there.

"Running up to the soldiers shooting at kids and shouting 'stop, stop' could be enough to get them to stop firing.

"It was very frightening and really, really upsetting because there are so many people you can't help.

"The IDF is the most disorganised army in the world and the soldiers know they can do whatever they want with impunity."

Being transferred to Tulkarem, Alice rode with ambulances that are frequently fired on by the IDF.

From there she went to the city of Rafah, which she described as a "huge refugee camp."

Workers trying to repair aquifers, which supply the city with water, would often come under fire from soldiers.

So Alice and other internationals would walk with workers waving banners an announcing over a loud hailer that they were observers to try and deter the soldiers from firing.

But this did not always happen.

Because the families of Palestinian suicide bombers are also punished by the Israelis, one of Alice's roles was to sleep in their homes to deter attacks.

"It was a strange feeling sleeping a room where a boy thought: 'Tomorrow I'm going to kill myself and as many other people as possible'," she said.

Another role of the peace activists was to stand in front of houses to stop Israeli forces from demolishing them.

It was during one of these actions that 23-year-old American activist Rachel Currie was crushed by a bulldozer that did not stop.

"When the bulldozer finally reversed she was curled up underneath it with her legs in an unnatural position above her head," said Alice.

Rachel was still alive when Alice reached her, but dark bruises appearing rapidly around her head indicated she was haemorrhaging.

"She died in my arms," said Alice.

Although Alice has told this story dozens of times before, the raw pain is just below the surface and this is one moment when she has to stop, compose herself and fight the tears.

"When she died it was if her spirit had passed into those of us that were there. The fire inside us burned more strongly," she said.

Rachel's death led to a renewed resolve and determination in Alice and other activists which kept them in Rafah.

As news spread, more activists arrived in the area, including a 21-year-old British man, Tom Hurndall, who had recently been in Iraq.

"He was a very intelligent boy and an amazing photographer," said Alice.

In another deterrent to stop soldiers shooting in a street in Rafah, activists made a visible presence with Palestinians.

"When they started shooting the Palestinians and those of us who had been there long enough reacted quickly by getting out of there and running around the corner," said Alice.

"But Tom was still in the street. He was trying to lift children behind an earth mound.

"He was shot in the temple by a sniper."

Alice, a first aider, rushed to his side.

"I don't remember screaming, but the photos taken show I did."

It then became a fight against bureaucracy to take Tom to a hospital.

Amazingly Tom is still alive, but he remains in a coma. On Sunday, April 27, she was detained without charge by Israeli authorities at a checkpoint.

"Special forces tried to interrogate me and I spent three days in solitary confinement," she said.

She showed me the blisters she still has on her hands from banging on the cell door all night. After five days she was released and deported.

"I didn't fight the deportation because I wanted to fly back and have the IDF pay for the ticket."

She returned to her family who still live in the county on Tuesday, May 13.

She plans to continue her work in civil disobedience and opposing social injustice.

A documentary about the peace activists in Gaza, featuring Alice, is being screened on Channel 4's Dispatches programme tomorrow at 9pm.