International Solidarity Movement

ISM North Carolina Endorses the US Boat to Gaza

2010-08-08T11:02:00.000-07:00

ISM North Carolina is proud to endorse the US Boat To Gaza effort. The next Freedom Flotilla is being planned now and you can help send a US boat.

Dear Friends,

This is an important moment in history. In the aftermath of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla massacre and increased world-wide scrutiny of Israel’s blockade of Gaza, the Israeli government has mounted a huge public relations campaign spreading the lie that by letting a few more items into Gaza the blockade has been lifted. This is not the reality. Gaza is still under siege, vital building materials and other supplies are banned, exports of goods from Gaza are denied and neither ships nor people can travel without permission from Israel, permission which Israel will not give. Gaza is essentially an open-air prison under a U.S.-backed Israeli blockade.

We are planning to launch a U.S. boat to Gaza, joining a flotilla of ships from Europe, Canada, India, South Africa and parts of the Middle East due to set sail in September/ October of this year. In order to succeed in this essential but costly human rights project, we need significant financial support.

Citizens around the world have responded to the plight of the Palestinian people and are taking action to help break the blockade which is suffocating the lives of the people of Gaza and denying them their liberty. The U.S. government is complicit through established policies that uncritically support Israel in its brutal attack on the Palestinian people and on those who attempt to intervene on their behalf. We in the United States must continue to step up and do our part. We must join with others from across the world to support an end to the collective punishment of 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza.

We turn to you to help make the U.S. boat, The Audacity of Hope, a reality. We must raise at least $370,000 in the next month. These funds will be used to purchase a boat large enough for 40-60 people, secure a crew, and cover the licensing and registering of the boat. In addition, the funds will subsidize some other costs of sending a U.S. delegation. We can make this happen together. For example, with 370 people giving $1,000, or with 3,700 people giving $100, we will have raised our full amount.

We have already received donations ranging from $10 to $10,000. So, give what you can and give generously. From the deck of The Audacity of Hope, we will be in a powerful and unique position to challenge U.S. foreign policy and affirm the universal obligation to uphold human rights and international law. Let us act now because every moment counts and every dollar counts. Together we will contribute to the great effort to end the blockade of Gaza and the illegal occupation of Palestine.

Please spread this appeal letter far and wide, so that others will contribute as well.

Thank you for your generosity.

US Boat to Gaza

News14: Israel to army: Explain shooting of Chapel Hill activist

2006-09-21T17:38:00.000-07:00

JERUSALEM -- Israel's Supreme Court on Wednesday called on the army to respond to accusations that it did not properly investigate the case of a U.S. activist who accused Israeli troops of shooting and seriously wounding him in the West Bank three years ago without provocation.

Brian Avery, of Chapel Hill, N.C., was shot in the face in the West Bank town of Jenin on April 5, 2003, where he was working as part of a contingent from the International Solidarity Movement, a pro-Palestinian group whose activists often insert themselves between Palestinians and Israeli forces to disrupt military operations.

Avery said he and a colleague were wearing bright red doctor vests and were standing still with their hands over their heads when soldiers in approaching military vehicles opened fire with no warning shots. An internal army inquiry said his allegations were baseless.

Last year, the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the army to reopen the investigation. On Wednesday, Avery's lawyer, Michael Sfard, asked the court to open a criminal investigation into the shooting.

The court agreed to allow the case to proceed and gave the army 45 days to respond to Avery's request.

"Today marks a major turning point in the case," said Sfard, adding that the decision should send a message to soldiers that "there are still people who are asking the army for accountability."

Yuval Roytman, the Justice Ministry lawyer representing the army, said that a criminal investigation would not add anything to the 2003 army investigation,

"The army field investigation that was conducted was very thorough and independent," he said at the hearing. "The army thinks it's the way to investigate events that occur in war time. One has to remember that the incident occurred in the middle of 2003 when there was a lot of fighting in Jenin and all over the West Bank."

Avery's disabilities from the shooting include impaired vision in his left eye and several missing teeth. Avery had bone grafts to reconstruct his upper left jaw bone, and his left eye also was damaged.

His shooting was one of three incidents in which ISM activists were seriously injured by members of the Israeli military in the spring 2003.

On March 16, Rachel Corrie, 23, of Olympia, Wash., was crushed to death trying to prevent a military bulldozer from tearing down a home in Gaza. Her parents lived in Charlotte, N.C., at the time.

Thomas Hurndall, 21, of Britain was shot in the head during fighting April 11 and rendered brain dead as he helped children to safety.

Protest Against Israeli Occupation and Attaks Against Civilians

2006-07-17T19:21:00.000-07:00

Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 16, 2006

Stop Israeli Occupation and Aggression!

We, concerned North Carolinians, call on the state of Israel to immediately halt its military assault on Lebanon and Palestine. Israel has bombed Beirut's airport runways, the national highway to Syria, power facilities, bridges and other targets. It has blockaded Lebanon's ports. These are forms of collective punishment against vulnerable civilian populations, and we call on Israel to cease these actions immediately.

In Palestine, Israel's rockets have killed 90 Palestinians in the last two months. Israel currently holds about 9,000 Palestinians as political prisoners, including nearly 400 children and a quarter of the Palestinian Parliaments' members. The current military assault on Gaza only represents an escalation of a continuing war on Palestinians.

We also call on the US government, which funds Israel with billions of dollars every year, to cease its sponsorship of Israel's crimes.

On Tuesday, July 18th, from 4:30-6:00pm we will rally to oppose Israel's violence against Lebanon and Palestine on the corner of Eugene and Market St. in downtown Greensboro, NC. We will be joining a worldwide condemnation, including some 1,500 Israeli's who rallied against the war in Tel-Aviv on July 15.

Sponsoring organizations include:

Muslims for a Better North Carolina
International Socialist Organization (ISO)-Greensboro
North Carolinians for Truth and Justice in Palestine
International Solidarity Movement (ISM)-North Carolina

Contact:
Olla Mustafa (336) 362-3056
Julie Southerland (336) 420-3987

Gaza Action Alert

2006-07-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

A bridge destroyed by Israeli warplanes on a main road in the northern Gaza Strip, near Gaza City, June 28th. Credit: AP Photo/Hatem Moussa.

28th June: Last night the Israeli Occupation Forces began the grotesquely named “Operation Summer Rain” on the Gaza Strip. Rafah, scene of the May 2004 Rafah massacre by Israel, was re-occupied by Israeli tanks.

Gaza City was bombed by Apache helicopters and F16 and V58 fighter planes. Gaza's only power plant was bombed as was the water reticulation plant. Almost 750 000 of Gaza’s residents have no water or electricity today. Three main bridges which connect different parts of the Strip have been destroyed, slicing the Strip into two parts, and separating its people from each other, their places of work, schools, colleges and universities.

In addition, the Israeli military used powerful sonic bombs throughout the night and during the day. These bombs damage eardrums, create extreme feelings of fear and anxiety and prevent the whole Gaza Strip population from sleeping at night. They also induce feelings of terror in children and babies, who are already exhibiting anxious and clinging behaviour.

These air-strikes and sonic bombs which damage essential infrastructure and terrify and kill the civilian population are a form of collective punishment against the Palestinian people and are war crimes which are forbidden under international humanitarian law, especially the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prescribes the manner in which armies must treat civilians during times of conflict.

We call on the international community to exert pressure on the Israeli military to conduct itself within the boundaries of international humanitarian law and ensure the protection of all Palestinian civilians.

We also demand the immediate halt of the Israeli Occupation Forces’ attacks on the Gaza Strip and an end to the closure and isolation of the Strip, both of which are exacerbating an already desperate humanitarian situation inside the Strip.

University Teachers’ Association

Gaza Strip

*** RECOMMENDED ACTIONS ***

- MEDIA: Please contact your local media and request that they do not act as a mouthpiece for Israel by asserting that the aim of the Gaza invasion is to rescue the captured soldier. At the very least, they can say that this is what Israel claims is the reason, or they should use the word "allegedly". It should also be made clear that the primary victim of this assault is the Palestinian civilian population, and that this constitutes collective punishment of a captive population, which is a direct (and repeated) violation of the Geneva Convention.

- LOBBYING: Please contact your elected representatives and ask them whether they support Israel's barbaric crimes against innocent Palestinian civilians. If they oppose these atrocities, ask them what they're doing about it. Make your voice heard.

- PROTEST: Protests are needed at Israeli embassies and consulates throughout the world. Even a one-person protest with a simple sign such as "Stop Israeli Terrorism" can be good at bringing attention to the situation and letting Israel know that there is widespread opposition to its continued and escalating crimes against the Palestinian people. Believe it or not, Israel does care about its image, and if the government receives reports of a number of protests, they will feel pressured to limit the operation. Please take action on this TODAY - for the sake of the innocent civilians in Gaza.

Israeli Press: Army May Ban Tourists From Holy Sites

2006-07-01T20:50:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Israeli army says it will forbid entry foreign visitors access to all of the the occupied territories in the West Bank, according to a June 22nd article in the Israeli newspaper Ma'ariv. Although the apparent goal for this seemingly impossible task is to keep international visitors from entering the occupied territories in support of Palestinian non-violent resistance, if it is implimented it could also stop tourists and religious pilgrims from visiting Biblical sites.

"The [Israeli] army will issue a decree forbidding the entry of foreign citizens into Judea and Samaria" reads a Hebrew-only print article in Ma'ariv published on June 22nd 2006. "Judea and Samaria" is Biblical terminology for the occupied Palestinian territories in the West Bank. Tourists including Christian pilgrims may find themselves banned from many important holy, Biblical and tourist sites, such as the Christian communities in Bethlehem, Aboud and Jericho, and the Samaritan community near Nablus. In Aboud, the shrine of St. Barbara is threatened by Israel's wall.

According to the article, the purpose of the ban is to "prevent the 'Summer of Peace' [Freedom Summer] event which is planned by the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a pro-Palestinian organization which is active in the territories on behalf of the Palestinian population". Through Freedom Summer, Palestinians in communities throughout the occupied territories invite internationals and Israelis to participate in non-violent demonstrations and direct actions against the annexation of Palestinian land.

A similar ban has been in effect in the Gaza strip since April 2003. Very few foreign visitors have been allowed to visit Gaza. Certain journalists and workers for select international organisations have been granted time-limited permits by Israel, but even these are not easy to obtain. This ban has remained in effect after Israel's unilateral "disengagement" from the Gaza strip. Only Palestinians with Israeli-issued ID cards are permitted to access through the Rafah crossing, even though it was supposedly transferred to Palestinian control with European observers. All other entry and exit points to the Gaza strip remain under Israeli control.

The announcement of this ban comes at a time when foreign aid workers and foreign nationals of Palestinian origin and their families are experiencing increased Israeli restrictions on their right to reside in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. A number of individuals residing for long periods in the Occupied Territories for work or family reasons who had been renewing three month Israeli visas by periodically leaving the country and returning were recently denied entry by Israeli authorities or told they will not be allowed to return.

For more information call:
ISM media office: 02-297 1824

Updated 12:30pm, 1st of July

South Hebron Villages Persist to Resist

2006-07-01T20:49:00.000-07:00

"We call on the international community to intervene and stop settler violence against us."

by Zadie

Today, June 30th, the people of Qawawis accompanied by people from Tuwanwi and other neighboring villages as well as Israeli and international activists demonstrated against the settlements and the wall. About 50 people gathered and marched to the wall. The Israeli group Rabbis for Human Rights also donated ten bales of hay that will be used to feed the sheep to replace what was burned by the settlers earlier this week.

The settlers have a history of aggression towards people in Qawawis and neighboring villages. They have damaged villagers' wells and harassed and attacked children and farmers.

One month ago an inner barrier was built along the road that passes Qawawis. This barrier separates farmers from their lands and makes it hard for tractors and sheep to pass.

There were very few army and Border Police present and no journalists representing any of the local or Arab media because of the attention on Gaza. Despite this fact, the people of Qawawis continued to demonstrate their resolve to resist the illegal settlements and the wall.

Israeli "Justice": Paul Larudee Denied Entry to Palestine by Israel

2006-06-18T08:40:00.000-07:00

UPDATE, 2pm, 18th June: Since this article was posted, Judge Pilpel has ruled that Paul will be denied entry. Paul now has 24 hours to decide whether or not to file an appeal against this decison.

Israeli friends who came to attend the court hearing Thursday of Paul Larudee, Ph.D., a 60-year-old piano tuner from California, were shocked at how the so-called trial transpired. After opening statements from both the defence and prosecution lawyers, Judge Pilpel requested a private conference in the judge's chambers with secret service agents who presented her with "secret evidence" explaining why Paul should be denied entry to Israel.

Paul's denial of entrance to Israel means denying Paul access to the occupied Palestinian territories where he was planning to support Palestinian nonviolent resistance with the ISM (the International Solidarity Movement) and has twenty engagements scheduled for tuning pianos. Israel continues to control all the border crossings in and out of the West Bank plus the only border crossing for use of internationals in and out of Gaza. Israel has denied entry to thousands of peace activists in the past three years and completely denies foreign nationals the right to visit Gaza.

To the dismay of Paul's attorney, Gaby Lasky, Judge Pilpel came back from her session with the secret service saying that she thinks that there is no reason to discuss the other points brought up in the defence. The reason for Paul's detention was not questioned nor presented to the public. This kind of "trial" is common in Israel's military legal system, through which thousands of Palestinians have been sentenced to renewable periods of "administrative detention" based on secret charges that are, in turn, based on secret evidence.

It is inevitable that democratic values in the Israeli civil legal system, such as an individual's right to defend himself in court, have been eroded under such a system. Democratic values cannot co-exist in an apartheid system. The Israeli civil court system cannot respect human rights as long as there is a parallel military legal system in which the human rights of Palestinians are disregarded.

Paul has been held in detention since the 4th of June. Judge Pilpel will give her decision on Sun June 18th at 8:00 AM

From his holding cell, Dr. Larudee made this statement,

"Am I a security threat to Israel?"

"Numerous ISM volunteers have been denied entry, for no more than the infamous 'secret security' reasons that no one is allowed to see. Case closed.

"What could the mysterious security reasons for my detention be? Perhaps there are clues.
Let's assume that it has something to do with my participation in the International Solidarity Movement, which practices nonviolent resistance against Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights. First, let's acknowledge that Israeli authorities are no fans of the ISM. We support Palestinian nonviolent resistance to the occupation on a regular basis. This may be against Israeli regulations, but that is the nature of nonviolent civil disobedience, and our actions have spared lives, both Israeli and Palestinian.

"Let me acknowledge that my treatment here is not onerous. The cells are as comfortable as one could reasonably expect in what is, in effect, a prison. The guards are courteous and make every effort to accommodate special needs. There are, however differences between my treatment and that of other detainees. I have been isolated from the rest of the population and am usually the only person in a single cell. Second, I am not permitted use of any mobile phone, while all others have this privilege. More than once, I have been told "not to talk to journalists." Finally, I was not even permitted paper and pencil until a flood of calls and a visit from the US Consul managed to reverse that draconian condition. These restrictions point towards suppression of free speech and dissent as the real motivation, not security concerns."

For more information, contact:

Neta Golan at the ISM Media Office: 02-297-1824
Attorney Gaby Lasky: 05444 18 988

ISM Volunteer Paul Larudee in Detention in Israel

2006-06-10T16:31:00.000-07:00

Israel Needs to Promote Harmony in Pianos and Politics
Statement from Paul Larudee

For more than 40 years, I have visited the geographic region of the Middle East known as Palestine, part of which became Israel in 1948, and the remainder coming under Israeli military occupation in 1967.

I confess that I am in love with the place and have dear friends both Israeli and Palestinian, numbering possibly in the hundreds. During my last visit in 2004 I stayed with a friend who worked at the Ramallah Cultural Palace, an events center built with Japanese funding.

Being a piano technician by trade for the last 15 years, I was asked to help find a concert instrument for the center, an assignment that revealed the absence of any piano technician among the millions of Palestinians living in the West Bank.

My visit, however, was not about pianos. I am also a very active volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement a Palestinian led group dedicated to non-violent resistance against the Israeli occupation, the confiscation of Palestinian land, the replacement of indigenous Palestinian populations with Jewish immigrants, and other violations of Palestinian rights.

For its efforts the ISM has been vilified by its detractors as a protector and supporter of terrorism, and ISM volunteers have been denied entry, arrested, expelled, beaten, shot, and, (in the cases of American Rachel Corrie and Briton Tom Hurndell,) even killed by Israeli soldiers. What happens to us, however, pales by comparison with the thousands of mostly unarmed Palestinians killed and tens of thousands disabled and imprisoned.

Despite the accusations however, no charges have ever been brought against the ISM and we are not an outlawed group under Israeli law. Although we engage in civil disobedience, our violations of Israeli law do not go beyond that and we consider ourselves proud successors to the Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Cesar Chavez and other human rights champions who were also vilified in their own time, however much we revere them today. We have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for the Nobel Prize multiple times in our five-year existence.

Several months ago I decided my next visit should combine my love of pianos, Palestinians and Israelis, as well as participation in the ISM. This would mean establishing a branch of my piano business in the west bank and spending up to three months there each year. After months of planning and long days of sorting tools and supplies I prepared to make this dream come true.

Sadly, the Israeli immigration authorities chose to turn me away this time for reasons that have not yet been revealed to me. As I write from a detention facility near the airport, my lawyer is appealing the decision in Israeli court. At best, I can possibly hope for a resolution that restricts my activities to piano work. At worst, I may join millions of Palestinians living in exile who may never again see the land they love. This would be a missed minor opportunity among many major ones for Israel to show compassion and promote constructive solutions and Israel needs to be generous and to take risks if it ever hopes to achieve peace and reconciliation.

In this small instance at least some Palestinian pianos will know harmony after a long period of discord. Israel should also welcome non-violent resistance groups even if it disagrees with them and suffers inconvenience as a result of their efforts. It is part of being a free and tolerant society and it promotes alternatives to armed struggle.

More important, Israel should try releasing Palestinian funds, restoring Palestinian land and property rights, welcoming Palestinian exiles to return, releasing Palestinian political prisoners, and correcting a host of other violations of Palestinian rights. Palestinians will view any of these as an act of good will, so that Palestinian and Israeli people, and not merely their pianos, may also know harmony after a long history of discord.

Dr. Paul Larudee is a former Fulbright-Hayes lecturer in Lebanon, and contracted as US advisor to Saudi Arabia who was among seven unarmed ISM volunteers wounded by Israeli military gunfire during a nonviolent protest in the West Bank on April 1, 2002. He lives in El Cerrito, California.

Israel Tunes Out: Denies entrance to piano tuner from California

2006-06-05T17:01:00.000-07:00

ISM MEDIA GROUP —"This is something small I can do to make life under occupation just a little more bearable for people, so I do it."

Paul Larudee, Ph.D, a 60-year-old piano tuner from El Cerrito, California travels with the tools of his trade and had twenty piano-tuning engagements scheduled around the occupied West Bank.

However, when he got off the plane in Tel Aviv Sunday night, Israeli authorities pulled him from the line, interrogated him about his political beliefs, not about his ability to tune pianos, and took him to an immigration detention center at Ben Gurion Airport. They intend to put him back on a plane today.

Dr. Larudee has visited Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories four times and has lived in the region. He has a PhD in linguistics from Georgetown University. Although never arrested or detained in the past, Israeli authorities have now decided to deport him based on his outspoken support for the work of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and the Palestinians’ right to nonviolently resist occupation.

Israeli attorney Gabi Lasky stated: "The policy of blacklisting a nonviolent peace activist as persona-non-grata, then denying them access to the Occupied Territories because of their nonviolent activities raises questions regarding Israel's intentions to resolve the conflict through dialogue and nonviolent means".

While airport officials routinely forbid entry to anyone involved with ISM, such denials run counter to Israeli policy. The Ministry of the Interior openly states that it does not seek to stop those involved with ISM from entering the country.

Dr. Larudee will refuse to get on a plane to be deported against his will, while attorney Lasky is appealing the deportation order on his behalf. His family and friends are concerned for his health while he’s in detention, since he is diabetic and has specific dietary and medical needs.

The International Solidarity Movement calls on Israel's Department of the Interior to honor its stated policies and not discriminate against peaceful individuals such as Sr. Larudee on the basis of their beliefs.

For more information, please contact

Neta Golan at the ISM Media Office: 011-972-2-297-1824
Attorney Gabi Lasky: 011-972-5444 18 988
ISM Media representative, Greta Berlin, Los Angeles 310-422-7242

ACTION ALERT: Stop the bombing of Gaza! Prevent a humanitarian crisis!

2006-04-13T09:03:00.000-07:00

Eight days and thousands of shells later, the assault on Gaza continues. Israel has vowed that it will continue to intensify the attack. Eighteen people are dead, including at least two children, and many more are injured.

Amnesty International is "calling on the Israeli army to end immediately its air bombardments and shelling of civilian residential areas in the Gaza Strip." Amnesty says, "Israeli forces...must put an immediate end to the frequent, disproportionate and excessive use of force against Palestinians. Such attacks continue to cause death and injury to Palestinian children and other bystanders, and constitute violations of international law."

John Ging, Director of UNRWA Operations in Gaza, stated that "from a humanitarian perspective the outlook here in Gaza is bleak at the moment. We are once again facing imminent food shortages, insecurity is making delivery of humanitarian services difficult and we are very concerned about the public health risks from the outbreak of avian influenza. All of this is likely to add up to more refugees falling below the poverty line and becoming dependent on humanitarian assistance."

Please help stop these atrocities:

Contact your local representatives and demand they raise the issue of the bombardment of Gaza and the closure of the Karni checkpoint (see information below);

Contact your Ministry of Foreign Affairs and demand they put pressure on Israel to stop the bombardment of Gaza and open the Karni checkpoint (see information below);

Hold a protest, vigil, or rally in front of your Israeli embassy or consulate and demand that Israel stops bombarding Gaza and opens the Karni checkpoint. To find the address of the Embassy or one of the Consulates, go to (www.embassiesabroad.com/embassies-of/Israel.cfm#171)

UK
Contact MPs
politics.guardian.co.uk/aristotle/

Fax your MP direct from this site
www.faxyourmp.com/

USA
Contact local representative
www.house.gov/writerep/

Contact your Senators
www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

US (Department of State)
www.state.gov/

Websites for Ministries of Foreign Affairs
For all countries see www.usip.org/library/formin.html

Australia
www.dfat.gov.au/contacts.html

Denmark
www.um.dk/en/servicemenu/Contact/?wbc_purpose=basi

France
www.diplomatie.gouv.fr

Greece
www2.mfa.gr/www.mfa.gr/en-US

Germany
www.auswaertiges-amt.de/www/en/index_html

Japan
www.mofa.go.jp/feedback/index.html

Spain
www.mae.es/en/Home/

Two ISM activists prevented from entering Jericho governmental compound

2006-03-14T10:10:00.000-08:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Update from Jericho

At 17:30 two ISM activists, Neta and Chris, were detained while trying to enter the Jericho governmental compound. The two activists were accompanying a medical team that wanted to give medical aid to the prisoners wounded during the siege on the Jericho prison. Border police drove them away from the compound and released them around 18:10.

During the incident one of the activists overheard an Israeli commander say: "Shoot anyone who is leaving the prison."

Since this morning a large number of Israeli soldiers, jeeps, tank and Apache helicopters are attacking the prison of the Palestinian Authority (PA) in Jericho. They are demanding the surrender of six members of the PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) who are imprisoned for the assassination of Israeli minister of Tourism Rehavam Zeevi in 2001.

For more information contact:
Neta: 054 2217738
ISM Media Office: 02 2971824

RachelsWords.org

2006-03-13T10:08:00.000-08:00

Rachel Corrie was 23 years old when she was crushed to death by an Israeli army bulldozer on March 16, 2003. She was working with others trying to protect the home of a Palestinian pharmacist from demolition in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Palestine. “My Name is Rachel Corrie” is a powerful one-woman show based entirely on the writings that Rachel left behind, telling her story from the time she was a small child, leading up to the days before her death. The play, edited by Alan Rickman and Katharine Viner from Rachel’s diaries and emails, was produced by the Royal Court Theatre in London. Starring Megan Dodds, it played to sold out audiences and wide acclaim.

“My Name is Rachel Corrie” was scheduled to open at the New York Theatre Workshop on March 22nd. It has been postponed indefinitely, sparking much debate. Director Alan Rickman said, “Rachel Corrie lived in nobody’s pocket but her own. Whether one is sympathetic with her or not, her voice is like a clarion in the fog and should be heard.” Rachel’s mother Cindy wonders, “Why are people so afraid of Rachel’s words?” We ask the same question and are determined to give people the opportunity to hear those words.

The “Rachel’s Words” initiative is made up of a broad spectrum of groups and individuals who believe that Rachel’s words and her message of human rights and justice should be heard. We hope that Rachel’s Words will open the door for other equally important and silenced voices. We resist the pervasive climate of fear and challenge to free speech that is increasingly prevalent in our society. Rachel wrote about issues that concern us all. People must have the opportunity to hear her message and decide for themselves what they think. Nobody’s agenda should stand in the way of that.

Freedom Summer 2006 – Building Bridges

2006-02-20T10:34:00.000-08:00

Why Palestine?
Palestine is a place where you can not only learn valuable lessons in community organizing around non-violent resistance, but can experience first-hand a place where people are resisting occupation every day. Palestine needs internationals to support their demonstrations, to help protect their land, and to support their continuation of everyday life, such as going to school or getting through a checkpoint.

Why Now?
Now more than ever, Palestinians need an international presence to ensure that the lives of average Palestinians and not their governmental leaders are the focus of world-wide attention. When the Israeli government says they are going to “Starve” the Palestinian government, they are really intending to starve the Palestinian people. The world believes that Israeli Occupation ended with the Gaza pullout. It is important for internationals to witness the continued settlement expansion on Palestinian land in the West Bank, and the insatiable appetite of Israel for Palestinian land.

International Volunteers with ISM’s Freedom Summer 2006 will stand side by side villagers in places like Bil’in as they continue their tireless struggle to save village land from Israel’s apartheid wall. When international volunteers are not standing with Palestinian non-violent protesters, the Israeli occupying forces often uses live ammunition against them.

Volunteers will also serve as human rights monitors in the Hebron neighbourhood of Tel Rumeida, where Palestinian children are harassed on their way to school daily by settlers, and in the small village of Qawawis, where shepherds and farmers face regular intimidation from soldiers and the occupants of three surrounding hilltop settlements. This is also a form of non-violent resistance. Last but not least we need volunteers in the ISM media office doing support work for activists out in the field.

The power of visiting Palestine during this difficult time is that volunteers witness first-hand the suffering, the courage and the generosity of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation rather than just seeing the sanitised media view. Experiencing the reality of the situation as a eyewitness experience will equip you with the facts to highlight the issue with others and influence opinions in your home countries.

Your presence in Palestine this summer, for a week or for three months is an important part of building bridges with Palestinians. Freedom Summer 2006 will run from July 2 until the August 5 with volunteer training sessions to be held every weekend, July 2-3,9-10,16-17,23-24, and 30-31.

For further information contact: info@palsoldiarity.org
See: palsolidarity.org, Join Us in Palestine information.

21 year old Palestinian tortured in IOF jail

2005-11-19T18:41:00.000-08:00

By Johan

On Friday the 18th of November at 15:00, the IOF released 21 year old Hamza Samara from custody on a 10,000 NIS bail. During 25 days in jail, Hamza was subjected to torture and insults on several occasions.

Hamza was arrested at 02:00 in the morning on the 24th of October 2005. The IOF had entered Bil’in, a small village in the West Bank, to abduct him and another Palestinian man. The soldiers tied his hands and blindfolded him, and brought him to Ofer Military Base near Beituniya. When they reached the military base, the soldiers put him on a small chair, where he was kept until the morning, still blindfolded with his hands tied. When Hamza asked the soldiers if he could move to sit on the floor, the soldiers kicked him and insulted him.

The abuse continued. Hamza was not allowed to go to the bathroom when he needed to. After a long while he started crying and kept asking the soldiers to let him use the toilet. At that point the soldiers finally gave their permission, but on the way to the bathroom the soldiers pushed Hamza and hit him, and refused to untie his hands, saying: “Do it as you like, we are not going to take the chains off.” As a contrast to the soldiers, other Palestinians serving long term sentences at the military base supported Hamza by welcoming him and giving him clothes and cigarettes.

Hamza was accused of having destroyed a part of the illegal Israeli apartheid wall. But not until one week after his arrest did the IOF bring him in front of a military court. After postponing the court hearing three times, the judge decided to release Hamza on a 10,000 NIS bail. His father succeeded in collecting the money, with help from friends and various NGO’s.

The UN Convention Against Torture defines torture as “any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind.” The State of Israel has not signed this convention, the reasons for which seem obvious in the light of the abuse Hamza had to endure in jail.

Unfortunately, Hamza’s arrest and subsequent torture is not an isolated event. In Bil’in alone, 16 young Palestinian men have been arrested in nightly raids in the last month. Bil’in is severely affected by the apartheid wall, which has stolen 60% of the agricultural land of the village, and transferred it to the nearby settlement Modi’in Elite.

“It’s our right to destroy the wall”, a friend of Hamza said, “but they think if you destroy it you are a terrorist or something”. And he is indeed right, as is well known. The International Court of Justice in the Hague concluded in 2004 that “the construction of the wall […] and its associated régime, are contrary to international law”.

GRASSROOTS NONVIOLENT RESISTANCE IN PALESTINE

2005-10-10T22:58:00.000-07:00

* * * Please forward widely * * *

The International Solidarity Movement-North Carolina and the Coalition for Peace With Justice presents:

GRASSROOTS NONVIOLENT RESISTANCE IN PALESTINE
Palestinian AYED MORRAR and Israeli JONATHAN POLLAK

A NATIONAL SPEAKING TOUR ON THE PALESTINIAN/ISRAELI NONVIOLENT MOVEMENT

Monday, October 17th at 8:00 PM
Duke University Campus
Social Sciences Building, Room 136 with HIWAR and the Progressive Alliance.

Ayed Morrar and Jonathan Pollak are friends and among the major figures in the Palestinian led, Israeli-supported nonviolent struggle against Israel’s military occupation. Largely unreported by the media, thousands of Palestinians and hundreds of Israelis are waging a major grassroots nonviolent campaign of resistance to the construction of Israel’s Wall. Palestinian farmers, workers, mothers, and students, together with Israeli and international volunteers, are braving teargas, beatings, bullets, arrest, and risking death to block the construction of the Wall with their bodies. Ruled illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2004, the Wall appropriates Palestinian land and destroys villages for more Israeli settlements.

In a victory for nonviolence, Ayed led his community of Budrus in a peaceful campaign of 50 protest marches to stop the construction of the Wall on Budrus’ land. Jonathan has participated in over 200 West Bank protests and has helped to mobilize hundreds of Israelis to join Palestinians in resisting the Wall. Both Ayed and Jonathan have been imprisoned for their prominent roles in the nonviolent movement.

Don't miss this exciting opportunity to learn about cooperative nonviolent resistance in Palestine/Israel!

For more information please contact palestinesolidarity@gmail.com
For the complete tour schedule and links to articles about the speakers, go here.

You can’t break our spirit, You can’t stop our dreams

2005-09-09T14:56:00.000-07:00

by Palestinian and ISM volunteers

It was a chaotic day for villagers in Bil’in. It began just before dawn with the rude awakening of a military siege, and ended with odors of tear gas, burning tires and the arrest of a community leader of nonviolent anit-occupation demonstrations.

Bil’in has become a flashpoint in the battle between heavily armed Israeli soldiers and the spreading movement among Palestinians to employ nonviolent tactics against the occupation. Each Friday at 1 p.m. villagers have employed dramatic props, costumes and theatrics into their protests of the theft of Palestinian land with the construction of Israel’s illegal annexation barrier. The portion of the barrier being built in Bil’in will cut off more than half the village’s agricultural land, setting it aside for likely settlement expansion.

Last Friday, the military was humiliated by the amount of news coverage that showed the brutality soldiers inflict on villagers. Video footage, photos and live coverage resulted in complaints from Israeli Knesset members and an editorial excoriating the military for the use of excessive force. What the army learned form that lesson: Continue attacking unarmed people, but start earlier in the day.

Military vehicles sped into Bil’in at 5 a.m. as soldiers announced through loudspeakers that the area was “a closed military zone” and that a curfew would be enforced. The army had by 6 a.m. surrounded the home of Abdullah Abu Rahme, a coordinator Bili’n’s Popular Committee Against the Wall. A section of his house is reserved for the International Solidarity Movement’s apartment. Through bullhorns soldiers announced that all Israelis and international activists must leave the premises.

Abdullah responded by closing all the doors and locking them. Then the army commander told Abdullah he had 15 minutes to tell the internationals and Israelis to leave. Hours later, the military commander was saying, “OK, you have 15 more minutes.”

The demonstration wasn’t set to start until 1 p.m., and at 7 a.m., it became obvious that we had to come up with something delay the inevitable use of violence by the Israeli military while some of us prepared for the day’s action. The plan for this demonstration was to take olive tree seedlings and attempt to plant them along the path of the annexation barrier.

As some people prepared the plants and made signs and posters, a number of international and Israeli activists went to the rooftops of homes around the village and made percussion instruments out on heaters and water tanks. An old woman stood with a baby in one hand banging the heater on her apartment roof with an iron pipe as hard as she could.

In what was somewhat of a mood spoiler, the military responded to the rhythm by lobbing tear gas and sound bombs at Palestinians who had started to defy the curfew order to protest the treatment of visitors to the area. Within a few minutes, a Palestinian man was shot in the leg.

Soldiers also infringed on religious freedom in the village, telling
people at the mosque that afternoon prayer would not be allowed.

Shortly before 10 am, we unfurled two huge banners and a Palestinian flag and attached them to the top of the apartment. The Israeli border police had shown up with a huge prison wagon in tow, and we 20+ activists were still on the rooftops directly chants and singing.

Around 10 a.m. the press began to arrive. As journalists streamed into Abdullah’s house and up the stairs to the roof to take in the spectacle, Israeli border police made their move to arrest a Palestinian. Villagers had taken to the streets in large numbers to protest the morning incursion. Chanting and marching up various streets in the neighborhood, they set up roadblocks of burning tires to slow down the arrival of still more army vehicles. Black plumes of smoke went up around the village.

We tore down the steps to try to stop the arrest of the Palestinian man. Within ten minutes the police carted off five Israeli peace activists and three internationals ( all were released by late afternoon). “They’re trying to arrest everybody,” said ISM volunteer Greta Berlin. “Everybody’s in a pile. They’ve got everybody, they’re throwing them all in the paddy wagon now.”

Mohammed Al Khateb, a coordinator with the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall, was beaten by soldiers and has suffered some injuries.

“One of the soldiers who hadn’t been here for a while because of the Gaza disengagement found me,” Al Khateb said. “He said ‘I haven’t seen you in quite a while’ and ’some day I’m going to bash your head in.’”

Meanwhile, for the third time, Abdullah Abu Rahme was arrested in Bil’in on Friday. During the rounding up of activists, Abdullah was being interviewed in front of his home by Egypt TV. In the midst of the interview, soldiers grabbed Abdullah and hauled him away. He was charged with breaking curfew. He maintains he had permission to be in front of his own house for the interview. A tear gas canister would strike the Egypt TV van later. One of their cameramen was injured and taken to a hospital in Ramallah.

Abdullah was reportedly transported to Ofer Military Prison, where he had served time previously for participating in nonviolent protests of the wall. Upon his release in July, Abdullah had signed conditions not to join in rallies. At the time of this arrest, he was not taking part in events going on around him.

The detained activists were carted up to a hill near the wall construction site. It’s interesting that soldiers work so hard to stop demonstrators from reaching the area of land confiscation each week, but will give them rides directly to the site upon arrest.

Meanwhile, amid the protests and chaos, those planning to go ahead with afternoon prayers made their way to the mosque.

Shortly before 1 p.m., those of us who hadn’t been detained decided to join the Palestinians and hold the demonstration. We met in the front of the mosque, facing soldiers, police, sound bombs, tear gas, and rubber bullets. Many were injured, with scrapes, cuts, bruises, and tear gas inhalation and were treated by the Palestinian Red Crescent.

It was with tremendous relief that we looked up to see 50 Israeli activists coming through the olive trees just after 1 p.m. They had walked for miles to get there, and they immediately stood in front of the soldiers began yelling at them.

By 3 p.m., over 150 Israelis had made it through the checkpoints, and had joined the demonstration in front of the mosque. Reportedly, another 200 were detained trying to get into Bil’in. 20 members of the Holy Land Trust had also come from Beit Sahour.

They were joined by several members of the Palestinian Authority parliament and Israeli Knesset who had been invited by the Bil’in Popular Committee Against the Wall. Many of them (Listed at the bottom of this post) spent a great deal of time yelling at the soldiers, demanding to know why they were preventing nonviolent resistance in the village.

With the arrival of a wave of Israelis and a number of political officials, the soldiers began many soldiers got in their jeeps and roared away as those on foot backed away while throwing everything in their arsenal. One woman from Spain was hit in the ankle with a rubber bullet. Most of us avoided serious injury as we inhaled large amounts tear gas. Streaming from canisters flying all around us.

One 80-year-old Palestinian woman stepped out of her house and threw a peach at a group of retreating Israeli soldiers. They actually came to arrest her, and, as they stood in front of her gate, she hit them again with a water bottle. Those of us standing with her shamed the soldiers into leaving.

Palestinians won this time. They broke the military ordered curfew, they went to the mosque, and they held the demonstration in spite of being told not to move. Members of Palestinian and Israeli governments were on hand to witness what life is like for people in Bil’in.

This occupation will end some day, and the people of Bil’in will go in the history books of Palestine as examples of the power of nonviolent resistance against terrible violence from the fourth largest military in the world.

2005 Olive Harvest Campaign

2005-08-28T12:25:00.000-07:00

Join Us in Palestine for the 2005 Olive Harvest Campaign!

Palestinian farmers and agricultural organizations, in coordination with the International Solidarity Movement and the International Women's Peace Service, announce the 2005 Olive Harvest Campaign. The campaign will take place between October 15 and November 15.

While the world is blinded by the smokescreen of Israel's "Gaza disengagement" plan, the Israeli government continues to seize Palestinian land throughout the West Bank to expand settlements and build its illegal Annexation Barrier.

As this goes on, Palestinian communities continue to resist Israel's attempts to cement its control of the West Bank and imprison Palestinians behind walls and fences.

The Olive Harvest is an annual affirmation of Palestinians’ historical, spiritual and economic connection to their land, and a rejection of Israeli efforts to seize it. Palestinians are the indigenous people of this land who have farmed olives here for thousands of years. The annual harvest is a symbol of life for Palestinian communities.

Agricultural productivity over the last five years has decreased dramatically because of closures and sieges which prohibit access to farms and markets. Israel's barrier and increased attacks on farmers and their families in the fields have further diminished Palestinians' ability to earn a living. Over half a million olive and fruit trees have been destroyed since September 2000. Palestinian agriculture is being destroyed by the policies of the Israeli government and the rights of Palestinians to their land and to a livelihood are being denied.

International and Israeli volunteers join Palestinians each year to harvest olives, in spite of efforts by Israeli settlers, soldiers and bulldozers to destroy this vital piece of Palestinian life. Because much of the world falsely believes that “a peace process” is under way with Israel's "Gaza disengagement" plan, Palestinians need your support, solidarity and eyewitness testimonies about the reality of life under a military occupation.

How It Works
The Olive Harvest Campaign provides a wonderful opportunity to spend time with Palestinian families in their olive groves and homes.

The presence of internationals during harvest time has proven in the past to help limit and decrease the severity of attacks. After a two-day training session, volunteers for the Olive Harvest Campaign will stay in Palestinian homes in West Bank communities and accompany Palestinian families to their olive groves to serve as witnesses to document and expose attacks by settlers — supported by the Israeli Army — on farmers and their families.

In addition to olive harvest, volunteers will have the opportunity to join Palestinians in nonviolent protests throughout the West Bank against the construction of the Annexation Barrier, settlements and settlement roads.

This 2005 Olive Harvest Campaign is part of the ongoing work of the International Solidarity Movement, a Palestinian-led movement comprising of Palestinian, Israeli and international activists working to raise awareness about the struggle for Palestinian freedom and an end to The Occupation. ISM uses nonviolent, direct-action methods of resistance to confront and challenge the Israeli persecution of Palestinians.

With your help and participation, we will expose the injustice of the Israeli occupation and send a message to the world that The Occupation must end and the Wall must fall!

For more information on preparation, travel and arrival in Palestine, please see the ISM Palestine website, www.palsolidarity.org. ISM support groups located around the world can help answer your questions about the movement and Olive Harvest Campaign. Many will provide training sessions. For information on how to contact local ISM support groups worldwide, please also see the ISM website.

Update on Bil'in Arrestees

2005-07-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

A military appeals judge ruled today to extend the detention of non-violent community organizer Abdullah Abu Rahme of Bil'in until Sunday at 11:00 AM when the military prosecution's appeal against Abdullah's release on bail will be heard.

Earlier today a different military judge ruled to release Abdullah and Akram Al Khatib on bail. The two were arrested during a nonviolent protest in Bil'in last Friday. Akram was released on the condition that he remain 500 meters away from the Annexation Fence in Bil'in except in areas that are built up areas within the village. But the prosecution appealed Abdullah's release.

Abdullah has yet to be charged with anything, but the prosecution claimed that he assaulted a soldier during his arrest and tried to grab his weapon. Witnesses' statements, pictures and video of the event that were presented to the judge tell a different story of a peaceful protest violently attacked by the Israeli military forces.

Another resident of Bil'in, Tamer al Khatib, is being detained at Ofer Military Base. Tamer was arrested yesterday along with six other non-violent activists who had locked themselves into a metal cylinder on the route of the annexation Barrier. The activists were initially charged with attacking Israeli soldiers. But upon viewing video of the event, an Israeli judged said that, on the contrary, the peaceful activists were attacked by Israeli soldiers.

Despite having been arrested at the same event and accused of the same charge, the Israeli and international activists were offered immediate release on the condition that they stay away from the wall's route in Bil'in for 15 days. But Tamer was transferred to a military detention center and will probably spend six days there before he sees a judge.

In protest of this racist treatment three of the activists, Alison Brim of North Carolina, Nina Olsen of Denmark, and ISM cofounder Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian American from Michigan, refused to be released and spent the night in detention only to return before a judge the next day. The activists' lawyer, Yael Berda, added a statement to their conditions of release document that explained that the women regard their being offered conditional release while Tamer remains in detention as racist and unjust. Huwaida Arraf informed the judge that they refuse to stop protesting the Illegal annnexation Wall. All three were released on conditions.

The Israeli government continues its policy of attacking, arresting and fabricating charges against non-violent Palestinian, Israeli and international activists who are protesting against the construction of the Annexation Wall on Palestinian land. The Wall has been declared illegal by the International Court of Justice, the world's highest legal institution.

For more information, email ISMNC at: palestinesolidarity@gmail.com

STAYING ARRESTED TOGETHER

2005-07-20T14:46:00.000-07:00

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
20/7/2005

INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT — Three international activists are refusing to sign release papers after being arrested alongside a Palestinian protester. The arrests occurred during a nonviolent action against the Illegal barrier in the West Bank village of Bil'in. The three women, one Danish, two U.S. citizens, say they won't accept conditional releases so long as the Palestinian they were arrested with is not offered the same treatment. The three go before a civil judge Thursday July 21. The Palestinian awaits a military trial.

The arrestees were among a group of Palestinians, internationals and Israelis at a nonviolent action against construction of the barrier on Palestinian land.

Alison Brim of North Carolina, Nina Olsen of Denmark, and ISM cofounder Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian American of Michigan, were taken in front of a judge and offered release with the condition that they stay 500 meters away from the path the wall in Bil’in. Meanwhile, Bil'in resident Tamer Al Khatib was taken to Ofer Military Base where he awaits military trial. In solidarity with their Palestinian friend, the international activists refused. They are being held in Givaat Zeev police station, awaiting a court appointment set for 12 p.m. Thursday at the Peace Court in the Russian Compound.

The four were among seven activists arrested Wednesday morning in Bil'in. Also arrested were Pel'e Minddal of Denmark and Israelis Avi Mugrabhi and Moshe Berger. Minddal signed papers for immediate release in order to get medical treatment for his arm, which was injured amid the arrest. Berger and Mugrabhi also signed for their release.

The protest Wednesday involved several activists. The seven who were arrested had locked themselves inside a large metal cylinder decorated with symbols of the Palestinian political factions and a Palestinian flag which was placed in the path bulldozers use to build the wall on Palestinian land in Bil'in. Only their heads and feet poking out of port holes and they were
chained to one another inside.

Israeli soldiers beat them with batons and cut into the cylinder, forcing the activists out.

Interestingly, the arrested activists were charged with attacking the soldiers. The charge was dismissed by a judge Wednesday who had viewed a video tape of the incident and stated that it obviously was the soldiers who had attacked the activists.

Violence, false charges and harassment are not new responses to the nonviolent resistance in Bil’in. Abdallah Abu Rahme and Akram Al Khatib, members of the Bil'in Popular Committee Against the Wall have been in detention at Ofer Military Base since their arrest during a non-violent demonstration Friday, July 15. They have a military court appearance scheduled for today at Ofer Military Base.

For more information contact:

In Israel/Palestine:
054-5892681 or
ISM Media Office, 02-2971824.

In North Carolina email ISMNC:
palestinesolidarity@gmail.com

For photographs:
freckle.blogs.com/photos/strength_in_unity

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Protesters blocked the path of the Annexation Barrier

2005-07-20T09:23:00.000-07:00

Bil'in- 6:00 AM Today
Protesters blocked the path of the Israeli bulldozers working to build the Apartheid Wall in Bil'in. They were chained together in a cylinder six meters long which allowed only their heads and legs to be visible.

The seven protesters include Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals. They were cut out of the cylinder by Israeli soldiers who hit them with batons, prodded them with wire cutters and then arrested them.

The seven include, Bili'in resident Tamer Al Khatib, Co- founder of the ISM Huwaida Arraf, Alison from North Carolina, Nina and Pel'e from Denmark and Israelis Avi Mugrabhi and Moshe Berger. They are currently being held at Givaat Zeev police station.

Muhhamed Al Khatib, one of the leaders of the Bil'in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, a group that is committed to non-violent resistance of the Annexation Barrier was singled out from the group of non-violent protesters and detained, but was later released.

Abdallah Abu Rahme and Akram Al Khatib, also members of the Bil'in Popular Committee Against the Wall have been in detention at Ofer Military Base since their arrest during a non-violent demonstration Friday, July 15, 2005.

The cylinder was decorated with symbols of the Palestinian political factions and a Palestinian flag in the center, and carried the message our unity is our strength.

ISM North Carolina is asking for donations to help cover the legal expenses Alison's arrest will incur. You may donate online at the ISM NC blog site, http://ismnc.blogspot.com

More information will follow from ISMNC as soon as it is received. For pictures of the demonstration, go to:
http://freckle.blogs.com/photos/strength_in_unity/index.html

UPDATE (3:20 p.m. North Carolina):
Three international activists are refusing to sign release papers after being arrested alongside a Palestinian protester during a rally against the Apartheid Wall in the West Bank village of Bil'in. The three American citizens say they won't make a deal with police so long as the Palestinian they were arrested with is treated differently.

For more information contact: 054-5892681 or ISM Media Office 02-2971824

Violence against Bil'in Continues

2005-07-10T00:02:00.000-07:00

To commemorate the one year anniversary of the International Court of Justice decision that the annexation barrier being built by Israel is illegal, hundreds of villagers, Palestinians from surrounding villages, internationals, and Israelis demonstrated in Bil'in on Friday. The people of Bil'in constructed a three-meter high scale, with Israel on one side and the rest of the world on the other side, Israel weighing much more than the world. The scale represented the symbolic scales of justice and had a US American flag at the top, giving the message that the USA sees justice as what Israel wants rather than for all peoples from all countries. Carrying the scale, as well as posters and Palestinian flags, we marched toward the route of the wall chanting in Arabic and enjoying the music from the taxi that accompanied us along our route. Hundreds of meters form the route of the wall we were met by Israeli soldiers and border police we were waiting for us behind a roadblock they had set up with concrete blocks and barbed wire. The soldiers had also posted documents near the barrier to show us that the area beyond the roadblock was a closed military zone. Upon reaching the roadblock we chanted in English, Arabic, and Hebrew, and then stopped for the midday prayer. Following the prayer there was some negotiating between the villagers and the Israeli army commander, and the demonstrators removed the barded wire that was lying across the road to the
wall. A few moments later the soldiers and police began shooting tear gas, sound bombs, and rubber bullets into the crowd of demonstrators as some of the young Palestinians began to throw stones toward the soldiers. The demonstration was dispersed into the village at this point, and the soldiers followed the demonstrators, ruthlessly continuing to shoot rubber bullets and some live ammunition. I was standing next to one young Palestinian man who was handing out water to the demonstrators when he was suddenly shot by a rubber bullet in the side of his head. He immediately collapsed, blood rushing from his head, and several people rushed to get him into an ambulance. When I saw this man shot by an Israeli soldier, my realization of how brutal the occupation is reached a new level. This man was simply offering water to his friends and guests to his village when he was wounded. Being Palestinian it seems is reason enough for the Israeli military to shoot deadly weapons at a person. At least four other Palestinians were wounded at this demonstration, and two, including the man shot in the head, had to stay overnight in the hospital. The last word I received about him, one day later, was that he was in intensive care, experiencing internal bleeding, and unconscious as a result of his injury.

Posted by Allison

Bil’in persists

2005-07-03T09:47:00.000-07:00

We arrived early for the usual Friday demonstration in Bil’in. The ISM flat in the village was full of Palestinians villagers and Israeli and international activists busily preparing the latest of the pieces of protest display this village is so well-known around Palestine for. This time it was a series of bits of fence, to be connected by activists covered in sheets reading “the wall tears us apart” and other such slogans in English, Arabic and Hebrew.

The demonstration proceeded along an alternative route to the one the weekly marches usually take. We spotted the soldiers waiting for us on the hill opposite and many villagers laughed at our successful bit of trickery. The joy was short-lasted as the soldiers spotted us and began running across the hills. They caught up with us near the road used by the construction crews working on the annexation barrier. The commander waved around a piece of paper and declared the area a closed military zone. We demonstrators stood our ground as many more came streaming over the hill. The situation was rather tense, and after around five minutes, the soldiers began throwing sound bombs and shooting their new ’sponge’ bullets directly at demonstrators. I saw a soldier (who I recognized as one of the group who arrested me a few weeks ago) aim his weapon right at my face. I turned and ran. He fired, and hit me in the back of the neck with a ’sponge’ from a distance of twenty meters. Turned out that was the least of six injuries that were to occur during the demonstration. One person was hit near the eye with what was probably a rubber-coated steel bullet. Four Israeli demonstrators were arrested, two of whom were released towards the end of the demonstration.

The army continued to shoot tear gas as demonstrators, as the latter moved up and down the hills. Palestinian youth responded with stone-throwing, and Israeli media later reported that one soldier was injured by a stone.

As the demonstration was coming to an end and many demonstrators were preparing to leave, the army invaded the village. Villagers had blocked the road with rocks, a trash can and a bathtub. An army jeep bypassed the barricades and entered the village. Soldiers shot many rubber-coated steel bullets, sound bombs and tear gas. One Palestinian boy was arrested. The boy apparently had not participated in the demonstration. His mother came to one of the village’s organizers in tears later on. Her boy needs medication and she was worried he would not be given access to drugs.

Bil’in is going to lose sixty percent of its land to the annexation barrier, yet every week the army exacts another toll from the villagers. This time it’s one more useless arrest, one more mother in tears among the injured. The price of non-violent resistance is huge, but Bil’in villagers persist, week after repressive week.

Posted by Rann

A Chat with the Shabak

2005-06-29T15:20:00.000-07:00

Around a week ago, I got a call from the Giv’at Ze’ev police, asking me to come in to 'clarify some technical details' about my arrest at a demonstration in the village of Bil’in a few weeks ago. By the time I showed up at the police station, on Sunday, June 26th, I had figured out that that interview would have nothing to do with the police. The shabak (Israel’s equivalent of the FBI) wanted to 'have a chat'. That was, in fact, the exact phrase they used: "This is not an interrogation. We just wanted to have a chat and pass you a message."

When I arrived at the police station, I was put in an interview room with a non-uniformed man, who stated his name was El’ad. After the usual body search, my phone and bag were taken away, though I was (generously) allowed to keep a drink I had bought earlier. Another non-uniformed man arrived and 'El’ad' passed him a note.

'El’ad' proceeded to tell me that they know I am associated with the ISM and that I am in touch with 'extremist' Israelis, internationals, and Palestinians. He asked me for a response, and I stated that I am indeed an activist, but that I do not associate with any particular group. Apparently, the super-geniuses at the shabak had googled my name and found out otherwise. I was suitably impressed.

I was then informed that I was 'on the brink of an abyss' (later corrected to 'you have one foot half-way down the abyss'), and that I was on the border of becoming a 'danger to state security'. They seemed to think that I would soon be carrying bombs and ferrying wanted men into Israel. They brought up a case from 1986 when a woman was given a bomb by her Palestinian boyfriend. I was six years old at the time…

At one point, the other man in the room shouted at me for a while, more or less repeating what 'El’ad' had said, though in a much louder voice. He then proceeded to stare at me for the rest of the interview. While the effect was meant to be intimidating, I found it rather amusing. The entire 'good-cop/bad-cop' routine was entertainingly predictable. I seemed to throw the 'bad-cop' off a little when I asked for his name, which he gave as Eyal.

I was told that they were now taking me very seriously, that I am no longer an 'ordinary activist', that I had 'gone up a couple of steps', that I had 'a large spotlight' pointed at me, that not every activist gets invited to a shabak 'chat', that up to now I had been toying with the law, but they would no longer allow that. They advised me to 'go to the beach for a while'.

The entire process took less than twenty minutes. I was shown out of the police station by a rather nervous-looking 'El’ad'. I didn’t head to the beach…

Posted by Rann

Verdict on Killing of Tom Hurndall

2005-06-27T12:41:00.000-07:00

International Solidarity Movement
North Carolina Chapter

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June, 27 2005

Verdict on Killing of Tom Hurndall

Regardless of the outcome of today's verdict on the killing of Tom Hurndall, the North Carolina Chapter of the International Solidarity Movement (ISMNC) maintains that justice cannot been served while the culture of impunity in the Israeli army remains in tact. Tom was one of hundreds of civilians killed in Rafah alone in the past four years. He was shot while trying to move children out of the line of Israeli army gunfire. As he bent down to pick up a young boy, he was shot in the head.

Human rights activist, Raphael Cohen (39), who was with Tom on the day of the shooting said, "On the very street where Tom was shot, two children had been shot just days before. This is why he and the rest of the group went to that spot, to protest against the shooting of children as they played outside their homes. There has never been any investigation into the shootings of those children."

Last month, two Palestinian teenagers were shot dead by Israeli soldiers in the village of Biet Liqya near Ramallah. Adi Asi, 15 years old and Jamal Asi, 14 years old, were killed as the soldiers who were guarding the Apartheid Wall surrounding the village shot at the group of children. They were killed with live bullets to the chest and abdomen. Witnesses said they were playing football.

As Human Rights Watch state in their recent report, "Promoting Impunity, The Israeli Military's Failure to Investigate Wrongdoing", "Pressure for a proper investigation rises every time a high-profile killing takes place, but Israeli authorities have taken no serious steps to improve the accountability of the armed forces, create an independent investigation system, or reform the military justice system."

According to the Israeli human rights organization B'Tselem, between the beginning of the intifada and the end of November 2004, 3,040 Palestinians were killed by Israeli security forces, including 606 children. According to Human Rights Watch, "The number of official investigations into alleged wrongful use of lethal force equals just two percent of the total number killed and only 15 percent of the number of children killed, despite the fact that many deaths occurred in non-combat circumstances and the extreme unlikelihood that many of the children killed were legitimate targets."

The investigation into Tom's killing was the result of a long hard process by his family and supporters to pressure the Israeli government into providing answers. Without the family's unrelenting efforts and personal investigations, this trial would not have happened.

No Human Rights for Palestinians

Israel has no national human rights institution, nor any independent commissioner for complaints about human rights violations committed by the army. Meanwhile, the government of Israel continues to deny entry to human rights activists, witnesses and journalists and deports those who take part in non-violent demonstrations against the seizure of Palestinian land and destruction of homes.

We, at ISM North Carolina, are calling on the people of North Carolina to do what our government refuses to do, to demand justice for the Palestinians. The United States continues to supply military equipment to Israel to be used in its campaign against the civilian Palestinian population. We urge people to put pressure on the government of Israel via economic boycott, to end the killings, withdraw the settlements, end the occupation and allow the people of Palestine and Israel to have a peaceful and prosperous future. This will be impossible while the occupation continues. Without justice there can be no peace.

---------------------
International Solidarity Movement
North Carolina Chapter

Website: http://ismnc.blogspot.com
Email: palestinesolidarity@gmail.com

Collective Punishment in Bil'in

2005-06-13T17:23:00.000-07:00

It was 12am on Sunday morning. We were headed to bed in Bil'in when we were alerted that Israeli soldiers had again entered the village. We, along with countless residents of Bil'in standing watch on rooftops, watched the military jeeps driving around the land near the annexation barrier, away from the village itself, for close to an hour before deciding to give up our post and go to sleep.

We were not able to quite lie down before we were called back to the roof — the soldiers had entered someone's home.

In a pattern that has been repeating itself over the last week or so, the Israeli soldiers, approximately 25 in number, had chosen to harass a new member of the Popular Committee Against the Apartheid Wall in Bil'in, the local Palestinian organizing body. We, the two ISMers along with one resident of Bil'in, drove toward the soldiers, stopped the car, and got out in order to investigate the situation. Immediately we were faced with a group of soldiers directly in front of us, all pointing their M-16s at our faces. They began speaking to us in Hebrew, but then in English they ordered us to back away from the house, return to the car, and drive away. The soldiers stated that they were executing a military operation and that we were interfering with it.

After a few more questions, we decided to follow the orders of the soldiers and drove back to the ISM apartment, where we stayed up waiting for news from the Palestinians whose homes were searched. The 'military operation' in question involved no more than casual harassment and intimidation. Try to imagine for a moment that a gang of soldiers entered your home at 1am, pointed guns at your family members, demanded identification and searched the house for no other reason than your involvement in non-violent organizing. Just one more example of Israeli democracy in action.

We found out in the morning that the Israeli soldiers had searched several homes, taken identification cards, and verbally harassed the Palestinians of Bil'in that night. They left several hours later.

What happened early Sunday morning in Bil'in was not an isolated incident. The Israeli army has repeatedly come to harass the people of Bil'in at night, choosing different areas to 'search' each night.

Bil'in is also not the only village in the West Bank that is being intimidated, stripped of its privacy and peace of mind. Boudrus has also experienced similar harassment by Israeli soldiers in the middle of the night. The pattern seems to be similar every time: the jeeps come to Boudrus, spend some time harassing the villagers, then drive over to nearby Bil'in and do the same again. Incidents like these are well-documented and have been ongoing for many years.

Why is this happening? According to Lieutenant Colonel Tzachi Segev, commander of the 25th Battalion of the Armored Corps, which is operating in the Bil'in area: "The stronger the activity against the fence, the stronger our operations will be. We reserve the right to enter the village at any hour ... Sometimes there is no escaping collective punishment, even if it has a negative impact. Collective punishment is closure, prohibiting people from entering a certain village, blocking the Bilin-Safa road [referring to the neighboring village] as a lever of pressure if the village does not behave properly." (Meron Rappaport - Gandhi Redux)

Collective punishment is forbidden by the fourth Geneva Convention. It is illegal to punish entire segments of civilian population for the actions of a few individuals, whatever those actions may be. In this case, groups of civilians are being punished for organizing peaceful demonstrations. The right to organize and peacefully demonstrate is protected by the universal declaration of human rights and by Israeli law. In violating these rights, Israeli soldiers are committing war crimes.

Posted by Allison & Rann