| International Solidarity Movement |
Article Index for International |
Website Links For International |
Information AboutInternational Solidarity Movement |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT | |
| activism | |
| international nongovernmental organizations | |
| non-governmental organizations involved in the israeli-palestinian conflict | |
|
The International Solidarity Movement ('''ISM''') was founded in 2001 by Ghassan Andoni , a Palestinian activist; and Neta Golan , an Israel i activist. Huwaida Arraf , a Palestinian- American ; and Adam Shapiro , an American; joined the movement in the summer of 2002. The organisation recruits civilians from around the world to participate in acts of Non-violent resistance against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and previously the Gaza Strip . The group has attracted a great deal of criticism and controversy, as well as praise for its methods. GOALS ISM considers the main obstacle to peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be what they describe as the "Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory." The group says it has four goals:
TACTICS Past ISM campaigns have used the following tactics:
NOTEWORTHY ISM EVENTS
CONTROVERSIES REGARDING THE ISM ISM's position on violence The ISM's website describes the organization as a "non-violent movement"; however the same website carries a statement that says "As enshrined in international law and UN resolutions, we recognise the Palestinian right to resist Israeli violence and occupation via legitimate armed struggle. However, we believe that nonviolence can be a powerful weapon in fighting oppression and we are committed to the principles of nonviolent resistance. " This has led some to question the organisation's commitment to non-violence. For example an article in the UK's Telegraph newspaper asserts that ISM is "the 'peace' group that embraces violence". [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/01/15/whurn215.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/01/15/ixhome.htmlx ISM disputes the accusations (see ISM links below). According to a 2003 profile of ISM cofounder Adam Shapiro in the Jordan Star, Shapiro "justifies the Palestinian armed resistance against Israel as long as it is targeting Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Otherwise, he is not in favor of suicide bombings." http://home.comcast.net/~jat.action/ISM_essay_ref12.htm ISM cofounder George Rishmawi has, arguably, defended the "need" for suicide bombing: :You are mistaken my friend. I am sorry to tell you this but you are. Well, When did the suicide bombing start? When did the occupation of the west Bank and Gaza started? When did the aggression against the Palestinian started? :You need to know the source of the conflict and the source of the suffering that pushes people to kill themselves and others. :I do not want to see anybody killed but we need to say that taking people's rights and freedom is the source of the problem and when this stops there should be not need for anymore killing. This is what we should advocate for it right now. http://home.comcast.net/~jat.action/ISM_essay_ref11.htm Various sources attribute to ISM the statement that suicide bombing is "noble" [http://home.comcast.net/~jat.action/PCUSA_Brodsky.htm This assertion appears to arise from an article entitled "[http://palestinechronicle.com/article.php?story=20020129050221695 Why Nonviolent Resistance is Important for the Palestinian Intifada ", in which Huwaida Arraf and Adam Shapiro state: :The Geneva Conventions accept that armed resistance is legitimate for an occupied people, and there is no doubt that this right cannot be denied. But that does not mean that this right must be utilized... Hamas claims it has many men ready to be suicide bombers – we advocate that these men offer themselves as martyrs by standing on a settler road and blocking it from traffic. This is no less of a jihad. This is no less noble than carrying out a suicide operation... :The Palestinian resistance must take on a variety of characteristics, both non-violent and violent. But most importantly it must develop a strategy involving both aspects. No other successful nonviolent movement was able to achieve what it did without a concurrent violent movement – in India militants attacked British outposts and interests while Gandhi conducted his campaign, while the Black Panther Movement and its earlier incarnations existed side-by-side with the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. The 'ISM suicide bombers' ISM has been accused of 'forging links with' the Suicide Bomber s that attacked the Mike's Place bar in Israel on April 30 , 2003 , killing three people. There appear to be two primary sources behind this accusation. The first is an article that appeared in a , Gaza, on April 25 , 2003. According to Cohen, after spending about 15 minutes in the apartment with the bombers, he, his colleagues and the 15 visitors (including the bombers), went to the site where Rachel Corrie was killed and placed a flower there. Following this, Cohen stated, the people "that visited us {Link without Title} went their own way." The second source is a press release issued by the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs {Link without Title} which states "The two terrorists were careful to establish their presence in Judea and Samaria by forging links with foreign left wing activists and members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM)". The release makes various other negative claims about ISM, but this is the only reference to the group in relation to the Mike's Place bombing. However, ISM states that the two did not contact ISM in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) at all (see ISM press releases below). In the wake of the bombing, the ISM issued two press releases: ISM Statement on Recent Bombings in Tel Aviv and ISM Demands Israeli Retraction and Apology Over Mike's Place Bombing . The Tom Hurndall killing After the fatal shooting of ISM volunteer Tom Hurndall by an IDF soldier, IDF sources initially claimed that "at the time of his injury, Tom Hurndall was armed, wearing tiger fatigues, and shooting at an Israeli Defense Force outpost, taking cover behind a nearby building between shots." This was considerably at odds with the ISM's account, in which Hurndall was unarmed, dressed in the bright orange jacket of the International Solidarity Movement, and steering two Palestinian children away from a firing Israeli tank-mounted machine gun {Link without Title} . Subsequently IDF Sergeant Idier Wahid Taysir, a Bedouin scout, admitted to fabricating his account of events. On 10 May 2004 , Taysir's trial commenced on one charge of manslaughter in the death of Tom Hurndall, two counts of obstruction of justice, one count each of submitting false testimony, obtaining false testimony, and unbecoming behaviour. Hurndall's family are currently (August 2004) pressing for a murder charge through the Israeli courts {Link without Title} . ISM statement on the killing of Tom Hurndall {Link without Title} In August 2005 Sgt. Taysir was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to a total of 8 years imprisonment, 7 years for the manslaughter of Hurndall and 1 year for obstruction of justice. The 'terrorist' in the office On March 27 , 2003 , Shadi Sukiya , who Israel claimed was an Islamic Jihad member, was arrested in a building in Jenin where the ISM, the Red Cross , and Médecins Sans Frontières rent offices. See the Shadi Sukiya page for more details. A poster giving his name as "ISM - TOOLS OF TERROR AND LEGITIMATE TARGETS" on the open-publishing Indymedia UK website states that ISM member Susan Barclay was deported from Israel for allegedly giving "safe house" assistance to Islamic Jihad terrorist Shadi Sukiya by hiding him in the ISM office in Jenin. It was subsequently pointed out that Susan Barclay was in the United States at the time of Sukiya's arrest. The Israeli Defence Force and the Associated Press were later forced to issue retractions of earlier reports that firearms were found in the ISM apartment. A full account of this incident is given in an article on San Francisco Indymedia [http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2003/09/1646815.php . In an interview with the '' Seattle Post-Intelligencer '', Ms. Barclay "acknowledged that in organizing a non-violent February march on an Israel-imposed gate that divided eastern and western Nablus, she worked with representatives from and Islamic Jihad ", both of which are on the U.S. State Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations. [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/113302_shield20.shtml] Other alleged terrorist contacts Aaron Klein's "Duke hosts terrorist-harboring group: University hosts organization that supports violent jihad operations" alleges, "[ISM leader Huwaida Arraf also told students the ISM 'happily works with Hamas and Islamic Jihad,' said one Conservative Union member who attended the talk." This could rightfully be dismissed as hearsay if allowed to stand alone but Ms. Arraf herself seemed to acknowledge the ISM's (nonviolent) cooperation with these organizations in her letter to the ''Washington Post'' [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/16/AR2006021602027_pf.html] (Friday, February 17, 2006): "When I 'acknowledged' that the ISM 'cooperates with Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine,' I was offering concrete examples of the ways in which these groups were engaging in nonviolent resistance. Both the ISM and the Palestine Solidarity Movement advocate nonviolent resistance to Israel's human rights abuses -- the ISM through organized action in the occupied territories and the PSM by promoting international divestment from companies that profit from occupation." Deceiving Israeli border officials Access to Palestinian areas is controlled by Israel, and it is Israeli policy to deny access to ISM activists. ISM volunteers can only gain access to the occupied territories by deceiving Israeli border officials. In 2003 Israel's Foreign Ministry’s Information Chief Gideon Meir pointed out that precise instructions on its website on how to hoodwink Israeli border officials. "… you have to have a really good story about why you are coming, and must not mention anything about ISM or knowing, liking or planning to visit Palestinians," the website advises. "You must play it as though your visit is for other Israel-based reasons, like tourism, religion, visiting an Israeli friend, etc. So do a little research and put together a story... For example, if you say you are visiting a friend in Jerusalem, you should have the name and phone number of a real Israeli person…" [http://web.archive.org/web/20040110222548/www.palsolidarity.org/traveltopalestine/travelingtopalestine.php Until late January of 2005 the ISM website's FAQ section had (on its page "http://www.palsolidarity.org/about/lies.php") as a response to the question "On your web-site, you give advice to volunteers on how to lie to the Israeli authorities so you can get into the country and the occupied areas. Why tell lies?" the justification that "Under both Israeli and International law, we should have the right, as international observers, to visit both Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories." [http://hurryupharry.bloghouse.net/archives/2004/01/16/lgfs_new_low.php The explicit advice on how to lie to Israeli officials, and the justification for doing so, have since been removed from the website, though the group's Information Pack still advises activists to "have a good story prepared about why you are coming to ISRAEL" and to "have a good story when you arrive." [http://www.palsolidarity.org/_Rainbow/Documents/ISMTrainingPack.pdf] The death of Rachel Corrie Main article: Rachel Corrie in protest of US foreign policy. Her parents, Craig and Cindy Corrie say: “The act, while we may disagree with it, must be put into context. Rachel was partaking in a demonstration in Gaza opposing the war on Iraq. She was working with children who drew two pictures, one of the American flag, and one of the Israeli flag, for burning. Rachel said that she could not bring herself to burn the picture of the Israeli flag with the Star of David on it, but under such circumstances, in protest over a drive towards war and her government’s foreign policy that was responsible for much of the devastation that she was witness to in Gaza, she felt it OK to burn the picture of the American flag.”]]Controversy surrounds the circumstances of ISM volunteer Rachel Corrie 's death. She was killed as she attempted to block an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Bulldozer conducting military operations in Rafah in the Gaza Strip on March 16 , 2003 . An internal IDF investigation concluded that Corrie's death was an accident but ISM eyewitnesses vehemently dispute this account, contending that the bulldozer driver deliberately struck Corrie as she was protesting in plain view. The activities of the bulldozer she was blocking are also subject to disagreement - ISM claim it was preparing to demolish the home of a Palestinian pharmacist. Other accounts claimed either that the house contained a tunnel for smuggling arms, drugs and other contraband from Egypt into the Gaza Strip , or that the bulldozer was simply clearing dirt, rubble and/or shrubbery which, in some accounts, was also suspected of concealing a smuggling tunnel. According to an article in ''Mother Jones'' magazine hotly disputed by the ISM[http://tron.phpwebhosting.com/~ism/pressreleases/PR_16Sep03_12_08_24BethlehemISMMediaOffice.php , Israeli authorities claimed that the crew's assignment was to sweep the area for booby traps planted by militants [http://home.comcast.net/~jat.action/ISM_Corrie.htm]. The IDF itself has never explicitly claimed that the house contained a tunnel and no tunnels or booby traps were found when the home was eventually demolished 9 months later or at any time prior to its demolition. Shortly after Corrie's death, the ISM placed photographs on a website which it claimed showed the events leading up to Corrie's death. AP, Reuters, and many Internet discussion pages reported that the photographs showed two (perhaps three) different bulldozers and inconsistent pictures of the sun's movement across the skies. The ISM then changed the site to show a more consistent group of photographs. According to ''Mother Jones'', this incident damaged the ISM's image and its' relationship with the media. ISM and related statements about the death of Rachel Corrie George Rishmawi of the ISM told the ''San Francisco Chronicle'' that "When Palestinians get shot by Israeli soldiers, no one is interested anymore. But if some of these foreign volunteers get shot or even killed, then the international media will sit up and take notice." {Link without Title} ISM activist Joseph Smith, who was present when Corrie died, said, "The spirit that she died for is worth a life. This idea of resistance, this spirit of resisting this brutal occupying force, is worth anything. And many, many, many Palestinians give their lives for it all the time. So the life of one international, I feel, is more than worth the spirit of resisting oppression." {Link without Title} LEGAL ACTION AGAINST ISM Huwaida Arraf and French ISM activist Angela Coppin were charged with violating a court order barring them from the area of Bidou, near Jerusalem where the Israeli West Bank Barrier was under construction. According to reports in Israeli newspapers, Bidou and its environs have been the site of numerous violent attacks resulting in hospitalization of some workers constructing the barrier and some police personnel. Bidou is also the site of various protests.The two were arrested in April 2004 and ordered by the court at that time to distance themselves from the area of Bidou. ALLEGED QUOTES ISM media co-ordinator Kristin (Flo) Razowsky has been widely quoted as saying ''"Israel" is an illegal entity that should not exist'' {Link without Title} . This quotation originated from the open comments section of the indymedia website, and were made by someone using the name "Flo Rosovski". A later post by someone using the name "the real flo razowsky" stated the original posting was posted on a date when Flo was "actually in detention and had no access to email." Note, the real spelling of Flo's name is "Razowsky". ARAB COMPLAINTS In November 2005, articles in the Jerusalem weekly ''Kol HaIr'' and on the website of asked for the assistance of their Jewish neighbors in expelling disruptive ISM members from the area, whom they described as Anarchist s. The alleged anarchists, connected to an ISM-related group working in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood of Hevron {Link without Title} , were accused of exposing Palestinian children to sexual impropriety and illicit drug use, both of which are frowned upon in Islamic culture. These claims were contested by a Jewish journalist and activist living in Jerusalem, Daniel Sieradski , on his blog Orthodox Anarchist . Relying on information provided to him by members of the Israeli anarchist movement, Sieradski suggests that Palestinian concerns were provoked by an Israeli Jew of Arab descent, Itzik Magrefata, who is pursuing a personal vendetta against one Israeli anarchist whom he blames for the break-up of his marriage. Sieradski goes on to demonstrate why a request for Jewish assistance by the Palestinian residents of Hevron would be unlikely. He also alleges that the entire incident was concocted by the right-wing Jewish leadership in Hevron, which he claims has a vested interest in barring humanitarian organizations and watchdog groups from the area, and which Magrefata is known to be affiliated with. EXTERNAL LINKS
|
|
|