Author: ISM Media Group

ISM Responds to Internet Photos, Reaffirms Commitment to Non-violence

Ramallah, 16th September 2006: Recently, photos were posted on the internet showing five foreigners posing with members of the Palestinian security services in Jericho while holding police weapons, along with the claim that four of the foreigners were volunteers with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). The article accompanying the photos also claims that the fifth, unnamed foreigner with the obscured face in the photos went undercover in order to try and sabotage those, such as the ISM, who support Palestinian non-violent resistance.

At the time the photographs were taken, these individuals had not yet become ISM volunteers. They went to Jericho of their own volition without coordinating or discussing their plans with the International Solidarity Movement. They had not attended ISM’s mandatory intensive non-violence training and were new to the country. The fifth foreigner encouraged them to join him in the photographs and have their pictures taken holding guns. These individuals regrettably followed his advice.

We have discovered the real name of the fifth foreigner to be Paul Cinato from Britain, though he gave his surname as Andrews at the time. The article is filled with the now standard fabrications and distortions – too many to list in full. Possibly the most outrageous claim is that two of the foreigners in the photos are now in Israeli custody, which is totally untrue. This article is part of a long standing campaign to slander ISM and destroy non-violent Palestinian resistance by spreading false information. See previous statements on the ISM site.

None of the individuals photographed ever took part in any violent activity. As non-violence is one of the three basic principles of ISM, they would have been required to leave if they had done so. At ISM’s training in Palestine, as a condition for joining ISM in Palestine, all activists are required to commit to supporting only non-violent resistance. These volunteers did so. At the training, all activists are also instructed never to touch any weapon, or even anything that resembles a weapon.

Dave, a volunteer from Ireland featured in the photos, said: “Paul wanted his photo taken with the guys in the prison, then one of them gave him a gun to hold and they also offered them to us to hold for photos. We were a bit reluctant to take them because of the simple fact that they were guns – not because pictures of future ISMers holding guns could cause trouble. After some encouragement from Paul and the Palestinians we took them and thought no more about it”.

Upon learning of this incident, ISM activists informed these individuals that touching weapons violates ISM’s policies and that they would not be permitted to volunteer unless they agreed never to handle weapons. All except Cinato apologized and deleted their photographs. Cinato did not attend ISM training and subsequently disappeared. Following their training, the others worked diligently and without incident with the ISM and Palestinian communities in support of non-violent direct action. According to Dave: “we are deeply sorry for the trouble this has caused. We are of course completely committed to non-violence and realize that we made a terrible mistake”.

ISM remains committed to supporting and engaging with Palestinian communities in non-violent resistance. ISM intends to re-examine its information resources and training in order to make clear to everyone intending to volunteer in the future that handling weapons in any situation is unacceptable. For more information about the ISM, visit www.palsolidarity.org

ISM Media Group

Non-violent Resistance in Bil’in Works

by ISM Media office volunteers

Today, as every in Friday for the last year and 7 months, the villagers of Bil’in marched from the mosque to the Wall. Joined by international and Israeli activists, the marchers were confronted on the edge of the village with baton and shield wielding Occupation forces who turned these weapons against the peaceful protesters. An Israeli activist was hit in the face with a riot shield and suffered severe bleeding. Despite the beatings being meted out the villagers sang and chanted resistance slogans.

As the protesters were being forced back into the village they sat down on the road to non-violently resist the Occupation invading the village. In contrast to previous anti-Wall demonstrations when soldiers brutally dispersed any groups of protesters, this time the soldiers allowed them to sit on the road. The rhythmic beating of a Buddhist monk’s drum rang out over the act of silent resistance and shamed the Occupation forces into contemplating their unwelcome and provocative presence in the village.

Injuries:

  • Yotam – hit with a shield in the face
  • Koby – beaten on the shoulder
  • Jonathan – beaten on the leg
  • Eyad Burnat – beaten on the leg
  • Adid Abu Rahme – beaten on the leg
  • Khamis Abu Rahme – shot with a rubber bullet
  • Sharar Mansour – shot with a rubber bullet
  • Wiyam Nasser – shot with a rubber bullet

Al Haq- “One Year after ‘Disengagement’-Gaza still Occupied and under Attack”

AL-HAQ PRESS RELEASE

One year ago, on 12 September 2005, Israel completed its unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip under the ‘Disengagement Plan’. In the year that followed, the Gaza Strip endured military incursions, shelling, attacks on infrastructure, targeted assassinations, sonic booms, aerial surveillance, border closures, and fishing restrictions. Also Israel retains control of the civil population registry. The unilateral withdrawal aimed to establish that the Gaza Strip was no longer occupied, thereby relieving Israel of its duties as the Occupying Power. In reality, Israel has retained effective control of the Gaza Strip and consequently has never ceased its occupation.

Israel continues to control Gaza’s land borders, air space and territorial sea. It closes at will the border crossings regulating the entry and exit of people, goods and services. In fact, external freedom of movement has worsened since the withdrawal. In the year since 12 September 2005, Karni Crossing, used for the transit of goods, was closed completely for a total of 175 days and partially for a further 169 days. Since April 2006, there have been severe humanitarian shortages in the Gaza Strip, including essential medicines and food stuffs. The situation has been aggravated by restrictions on the entry of humanitarian supplies and access for humanitarian workers. These measures violate Israel’s obligation to ensure the right to freedom of movement to, and to provide for the well-being of, the civilian population of the Gaza Strip.

Since the unilateral withdrawal, Israel has actually increased its shelling and its targeted assassinations of wanted Palestinians within the Gaza Strip, especially since the beginning of large scale military incursions (Operation ‘Summer Rains’) on 28 June 2006. These attacks have killed 362 Palestinians, the majority of whom were civilians, including women and children. The attacks have also targeted private houses, educational institutions, charitable associations, government ministries, and infrastructure such as bridges and roads, as well as Gaza’s main power plant, resulting in severely restricted power supply. By these actions, Israel has repeatedly failed to uphold its duty to distinguish between combatants and civilians, as well as between military objectives and civilian objects.

On 9 July 2006, Israeli online newspaper Arutz Sheva reported that Israeli General Yoav Galant, Southern District Commander, described the purpose of Operation ‘Summer Rains’ as follows:

The IDF is ready for a long operation involving raids. Within a month or two, the Palestinians will count hundreds of dead terrorists, damaged infrastructures and destroyed offices. When they make the overall calculation, I assume that they will think twice before their next attack or abduction attempt.

The stated intention is to punish all Palestinians in the Gaza Strip for an armed raid and rocket attacks against Israel carried out by a small number of individuals. Those actions cannot justify Israeli military operations such as indiscriminate shelling and sonic booms by low-flying military planes, which affect the Palestinian population as a whole. Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibits collective punishment of protected persons for an offence they have not personally committed. By undertaking such measures, Israel is in clear breach of this provision.

The events of the past year demonstrate that Israel’s occupation remains, and consequently its obligations as the Occupying Power in the Gaza Strip. Nevertheless, there have been numerous breaches of these obligations, and Operation ‘Summer Rains’ has done much to worsen the situation. Ending occupation and respecting international law are fundamental prerequisites for a durable solution to the conflict. On this day, one year after the conclusion of Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Al-Haq calls on the High Contracting Parties to the four Geneva Conventions to recognise Israel’s continued occupation of, and responsibility for, the Gaza Strip, and to uphold their obligation under common Article 1 to ensure Israel’s respect for the four Geneva Conventions.

What You Can Do For Gaza

A British newspaper, The Independent is trying to launch a campaign to bring the world’s attention to what is happening in Gaza – they need strong letters of support and encouragement for this. Otherwise the momentum will not build and grow as it must in the coming days. The leader article is below. See also “Gaza is a jail”.

Please if you can take a second today, write to:

letters@independent.co.uk and cc to D.Orr@independent.co.uk

——–

Leading article: A brutal siege the world must ignore no longer

09.08.2006 | The Independent

Gaza is being slowly strangled. This small strip of land on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean has been under siege by the Israeli military for three months. Its 1.5 million inhabitants have been subject to more than 270 air strikes, numerous ground raids, and a severe artillery bombardment. Since Gaza’s sole power plant was bombed in June, its people have been forced to survive by candlelight after dark. Hospitals use electric generators to keep essential services running. The strip’s water mains have been destroyed, causing serious supply problems and increasing the risk of disease. Bridges have been bombed and checkpoints closed. No Palestinians are allowed in or out of what has in effect become a prison.

This has brought the Palestinian economy to its knees. The majority of Gazan families have been forced to rely on United Nations food aid. Yet even support from the outside world for these people has been severely cut back. When Hamas won the Palestinian elections in January, the United States and the European Union decided to stop their funding of the governing institutions of the Palestinian Authority until the militant organisation renounced violence and accepted Israel’s right to exist. An adviser to the Israeli Prime Minister referred to this jokingly as “putting the Palestinians on a diet”. But the result has been the complete breakdown of Palestinian society. The civil service, which supports one-quarter of the population, has been paid no wages in six months.

According to the United Nations, $30m-worth of damage has been inflicted on Gaza since this operation began. But the far graver cost has been in human life. In July and August, some 251 Palestinians were killed by Israeli military action, half of them civilians. The dead have included women, children and the elderly. Hundreds more have been wounded.

And yet while all of this has been going on – the bloodshed, the hunger, the social collapse – the world has turned away. The international community has been preoccupied with the worsening situation in Iraq, Afghanistan or Israel’s war with Lebanon. Yet while the people of Lebanon were able to flee Israel’s bombardment, Gazans have had no such freedom.

The Israeli government claims the purpose of its blockade is to secure the return of Corporal Gilad Shalit, a soldier kidnapped in June after a raid by a faction of Hamas. Another objective is, we are told, to prevent militants firing Qassam rockets across the border into Israeli towns and villages by militants. Even if we accept this intention, the methods have been grossly disproportionate. Five Israelis have been killed by Qassams in the past six years. Does this justify such a lethal response in Gaza? The operation is also deeply questionable from a practical perspective. Does the Israeli government truly expect degrading all Gazans in this fashion to secure the release of Corporal Shalit?

Ultimately we must accept that the return of the Israeli military to Gaza is less about stopping rocket attacks, winning the release of Corporal Shalit, or even removing Hamas, than it is about imposing a collective punishment on the Palestinian people, in the belief that it is in the interests of the state of Israel to do so. It is not. The long-term interest of Israel lies, as it always has, in progress towards a two-state solution. The great prize is the normalisation of relations between Palestinians and Israelis. Every day that the people of Gaza are denied their dignity – every time more innocent Palestinians are killed by stray Israeli rockets – such a settlement is pushed further away.

See also: The Independent: ‘Gaza is a jail. Nobody is allowed to leave. We are all starving now’

———

Reader letters

From: johnwfarley[at]yahoo.com
To: Letters@independent.co.uk
CC: D.Orr@independent.co.uk
Subject: Great article on situation in Gaza
Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2006 16:31:40 -0700 (PDT)

Dear Independent:

Thank you for running the courageous article about Gaza on Sept. 8 “A Brutal Siege the World Must Ignore No Longer”. The world is ignoring a heart-rending situation. Many mistakenly believe that Israel has withdrawn from Gaza. Your article sets down the unpleasant and indeed horrifying truth.

Inevitablly you will get criticism from predictable quarters. Please ignore it. Your article is in the finest journalistic tradition.

Best regards,

John Farley
Henderson, NV, USA

***

From: smahajan[at]sbcglobal.net
To: Letters@independent.co.uk
CC: D.Orr@independent.co.uk
Subject: Your articles on Gaza
Date: Sun, 10 Sep 2006 13:29:13 -0700 (PDT)

To,
The Independent

Sir/Madam,

I am highly gratified by Independent’s campaign to bring the world’s attention to Gaza’s misery. The recent spate of articles by your paper on the issue, including the leading article “A brutal siege the world must ignore no longer”, have vividly detailed how Israel is brutally strangling Gaza and has reduced it to beggary. When other mainstream newspapers (at least in the US) such as the New York Times never tire of making excuses for and defending every atrocious atrocity that Israel perpetrates on Lebanese and Palestinian civilians, the Independent has shown that real journalism is about passionate search for truth and justice. Please keep up the good work.

Regards,

Sanjeev Mahajan

Farmer Picks Grapes While Harassed by Armed Israeli Colonist Militia

by the Palestine Solidarity Project

Abu Ayash and his family have owned and tended their land for around 100 years but are now facing increasing violence from the inhabitants of the nearby and ever expanding Israeli settlement Karme Zur. On Sunday, September 10, activists with the Palestine Solidarity Project (PSP) joined the farmer to defy the Israeli DCO (District Co-ordination Office – essential the Israeli army’s administrative wing in the West Bank), and make the harvest under the watchful eye of armed settler ‘security’ and Israeli army.

The family owns 3 dunums of land right next to Karme Zur, some of the grapevines reaching out onto the settler road separating the Palestinian land from the green lawns of the settlement. When the family tries to pick the grapes there, armed settlers harass and scare them away, threatening to shoot them if they return. The settlers demand that the family contact the DCO to gain permission to harvest, something that the family refuses to do since it is their land to visit as they please.

Since the family is largely unable to access this land, it is left unguarded for long periods of time. The settlers take advantage of this by picking the grapes for themselves or destroying the trees. In the past, they have used tractors to mow down trees, radically decreasing the harvest and the family’s income. For the past year and a half, the Abu Ayash family has been accompanied by international human rights workers when tending their land. This has substantially lessened the degree of harassment, even though settlers still try to interfere with their work, threatening family members and international activists alike.

On Sunday the 10th of September, volunteers from Palestine Solidarity Project (PSP) accompanied members of the Abu Ayash family to the 3 dunums bordering the settlement. Together, they picked about 1 ton, or 100 boxes, full of grapes which, in financial terms, means a significant income of 800-900 shekles for the family. Armed settler militia approached the harvesters with a jeering “Oh, there you are! We have been waiting for you!” and immediately took their positions along the road separating the land from the settler houses. Protesting whenever someone would climb onto the stone wall to reach for the bunches of grapes growing on the verge of the road, the settlers patrolled the area throughout the four hours the family were on the land. At one point, a military jeep pulled up and seemingly relieved the settler guards of their watch. As we were about to leave, a group of settler children approached to make fun of and spit at the activists.

In the debate concerning the Israeli occupation of Palestine, there is always a lot of talk about the security fears of colonist settlers and Israelis in general. It was, therefore, interesting to see how a young unarmed colonist mother with an infant strapped to her chest and a toddler hanging onto her left hand, calmly walked by the land where we were picking grapes, even stopping to get a closer look at us. This was before the armed settler militia had even arrived. Having seen this, and countless other examples of feigned security concerns, it is difficult to take seriously the proclaimed fear of attack from Palestinians – continuously used to justify the most barbarous policies and a continuation of the occupation.

Seventy dunums of farm land have already been completely confiscated by Karmi Zur colony, and the papers proving ownership have proven worthless in contesting the theft. In addition to the 70 dunums now within the settlement, the family owns an additional 5 dunums of land wedged in between the two settlements of Gush Etzion and Efrat. There are two ways of getting to this land – one a 10 minute drive on a settler-only road, and one a 60 minute journey by dirt-track over the hills. If Israeli police stop Palestinians traveling on the settler-only road they are charged a fine of 1,000 NIS. Both the fine and the time it takes to get to the land on the dirt-track are prohibitive factors that mean that the family is unable to tend their land as needed.

This year’s grape-harvest is now over. In a couple of months, the family will need to cut the vines and plow the earth. In the face of settler violence and military complicity, they will have to continue coordinating their plans with PSP in order to work on their own land. This is PSP’s second direct action in 10 days. PSP is a non-violent Palestinian-led movement based in Beit Ommar welcoming international participation and support. While the website is under construction, PSP can be reached at palestine_project@yahoo.com