Category: In the Media

Resistance in a time of annexation and Covid-19 – an ISM webinar

Resistance in a time of annexation and Covid-19 – an ISM webinar

June 30, 20:00 Ramallah time (EEST)

As the world reels from the global COVID-19 pandemic, and the global struggle for racial equality and justice spreads, Palestine once again finds itself at a pivotal moment in the history of its struggle for freedom and human rights.

Covid-19 has caused severe disruptions around the world, and its effects have been extreme in the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip. The Israeli Occupation has exacerbated and taken advantage of the global health crisis. In the West Bank, inhumane checkpoints where Palestinians are inhumanely herded have proved major transmission zones for the virus, while illegal settlers increased violent attacks on Palestinians during lockdown. In Gaza, a decade of besiegement that has starved the strip of medical supplies, bombed hospitals, and daily power outages are only some of many problems. All of this has made preparation for the pandemic virtually impossible. Furthermore, the long term issues of overcrowding in refugee camps, water and food shortages, and Israeli bans on importing medical supplies all exacerbate the challenges of social distancing and disease containment. This has led to a rapidly deteriorating situation, termed “A Nightmare Within a Nightmare” by international health experts. 

During the current pandemic, the Israeli government is moving to enact the annexation bill – to extend Israeli control across the Jordan Valley and much of the area surrounding the illegal settlements, legalizing their own crimes with self-created laws. Scheduled for July 1st, the annexation of the West Bank will increase violations of Palestinians’ few remaining rights and create new forms of discrimination and apartheid.

Scheduled on the eve of annexation, the International Solidarity Movement will host a webinar and Q&A session, providing a comprehensive overview of the current oppression of the Palestinians and nonviolent resistance to occupation. Our speakers will explore these issues from a legal, journalistic, and political perspective, together with activists on the ground joining us live from Tulkarem, Nabi Saleh and Gaza.

Huwaida Arraf

The webinar will be facilitated by Huwaida Arraf, a Palestinian-American joining us from Detroit. A civil rights attorney and human rights activist, Huwaida has conducted research for the Public International Law and Policy Group and is a former chairperson of the Free Gaza movement, part of a long career as a human rights and international law specialist. She is also one of the founding members of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM).

Bassem Tamimi

Joining us from the village of Nabi Saleh in the West Bank is Bassem Tamimi. Born ten weeks before the 1967 occupation of Palestine by the Israeli Occupation Forces, Bassem Tamimi has spent his entire life as a grassroots activist. His commitment to non-violent resistance has been recognized by the European Union and Amnesty International. His daughter, Ahed Tamimi, was imprisoned for 8 months as a child for slapping an Israeli soldier after her cousin was shot in the head. He mainly works in Nabi Saleh, a village that has become encircled by Israeli military infrastructure and illegal settlements.

Wafa Aludani

A journalist and coordinator of the Foreign Media Unit in Al-Thorayya, Wafa Aludaini will be joining us from Gaza, where her parents fled during the Nakba. As a journalist she has covered the Israeli siege of Gaza for over a decade, as well as Israeli invasions in 2008 and 2015. More recently, she has reported on the Great March of Return which she attended even as the UN found Israeli snipers had intentionally targeted and killed journalists during the protests.

Abdul-Karim Dalbah

Palestinian journalist, field researcher and human rights defender. An ISM coordinator for almost two decades and an educator in nonviolent resistance, Abdul Kareem has been campaigning for human rights and Palestinian emancipation since the 70’s. Abed will be be talking about the upcoming annexation and strategies for international solidarity with Palestine, based on his decades of experience, historical perspective, and current activism   

Ahmed Abu Artema

Joining from Gaza is a founder of the Great March of Return, Ahmed Abu Artema. Thousands of Palestinians met his call on Facebook in 2018 to take part in a massive peaceful protest towards the barrier fence surrounding them, to demand freedom and the right of return. Ahmed was born in Rafah and is a refugee from Al Ramla village. He works as an independent journalist and author.

International Solidarity Movement (ISM)

The webinar is hosted by ISM. The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is a Palestinian-led movement committed to resisting the long-entrenched and systematic oppression and dispossession of the Palestinian population, using non-violent, direct-action methods and principles. Founded in August 2001, ISM aims to support and strengthen Palestinian popular resistance with our activists working alongside Palestinians inside the West Bank and Gaza.

 

The Webinar will take place at 20:00 Ramallah time, EEST (17:00 GMT). It will consist of updates, news, and examples of how internationals can support Palestinians during these times. It will also feature an Q&A session; if you have a question, either for a specific activist, or in general, you are welcome to send it in, to ismtraining@riseup.net. The entire webinar will be streamed live on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube.

 

ISM statement on reported FBI probe

Recently, the Intercept published a report of a surveillance investigation conducted by the FBI on the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). The highly invasive investigation targeted ISM activists, their associates, and other organizations ISM worked with, from 2004 – 2006, using informants as well as physical and telecommunications surveillance.

We, at the International Solidarity Movement, denounce this shameless abuse of power and misuse of public funds in an attempt to criminalize Palestinian solidarity and anti-occupation activism, as well as the current ongoing campaign in some American states to criminalize the BDS movement. ISM activists have been secretly spied on and targeted by various intelligence services, including British, Israeli, and U.S.,  for over 19 years, merely for standing up for the rights of Palestinians.

We call on those who believe that Palestinians are entitled to the same rights as the rest of humanity to take action and raise awareness about local, state, and national attempts to criminalize nonviolent resistance such as BDS and Palestinian advocacy, and boycott those profiting off the Occupation of Palestine.

One of the many FBI surveillance reports on ISM.

According to the Intercept report, an FBI investigation was launched after an American volunteer with ISM was shot and wounded by Israeli forces at a protest in Occupied Palestine. Instead of investigating the foreign army that injured an American citizen exercising his First Amendment-protected right to peaceful protest, the FBI’s response was to probe the survivor. While the 2 primary investigations were launched by the Los Angeles and St. Louis FBI Field Offices, agents from at least 11 cities were involved in spying on various ISM activists and related organizations. Using far right and extremist news sources, the investigation attempted to link ISM to international terrorism.

After two years of investigation, multiple rights and privacy violations, hundreds of pages of reports and tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars wasted, the investigation only proved what we have always maintained: ISM is a non-violent movement committed to ending the Occupation of Palestine through non-violent means.

Notably, the investigation began in March 2004, shortly after the murder of American Rachel Corrie and Briton Tom Hurndall (2003) by the Israeli army. The probe coincided with an Israeli government campaign to de-legitimize ISM and discredit Palestinian rights activists. It also reflects the increase in recent years of FBI investigations into non-violent activist organizations such as Black Lives Matter and Antiwar.com. Today, lobby groups, politicians, and leaders in the United States continue to violate First Amendment-protected rights to free speech through criminalizing non-violent Palestinian activism, such as the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement.

“The fact that ISM was under this kind of extensive investigation is ridiculous and a complete waste of taxpayer money. ISM has always been open and transparent about who we are, what we do, and what we stand for, which is purportedly what this country stands for — freedom and human rights.” — ISM co-founder Huwaida Arraf

“In Dr. King’s time, surveillance was justified in terms of alleged Communist influence; in recent years, surveillance has been justified by alleged association with terrorists. In both cases, U.S. citizens were employing nonviolent action to confront injustice and oppression.” — ISM activist spied on by the FBI, Mark Chmiel

Bedouin kids join global climate strike in Palestine’s first Extinction Rebellion protest

Children of Umm al-Khair village call for environmental and Palestinian rights during global climate strike

19th October | International Solidarity Movement | Umm al-Khair, South Hebron Hill

Bedouin children in the West Bank joined global climate protests yesterday, calling out the Israeli occupation’s role in exacerbating the effects of climate change on Palestinians. 

Over a dozen protesters from the Bedouin village of Umm al-Khair in the South Hebron Hills, waved placards reading “live with the land, live like Bedouins,” in Palestine’s first Extinction Rebellion action. 

Although Israel and Palestine both face rising temperatures and less rainfall as a result of climate change, Palestinians are likely to suffer the effects more severely. This is largely because Israel restricts their water access, with less than 15% of water from the region’s three main aquifers allocated to Palestinians. The rest supplies Israel and illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. 

Palestinians protest climate change in village of Umm al-Khair, in front of illegal Israeli settlement Carmel which steals their water supply

In Umm al-Khair, the Palestinian Water Authority is not allowed to build water networks to provide the village with running water. And the people cannot build cisterns either. In contrast, Israel provides the neighbouring illegal Israeli settlement of Carmel with running water from pipes built over Umm al-Khair land. Instead, the Bedouins must transport their water by trucks – a costly process – giving them just 15 litres of water on average per day. This is far below the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) minimum recommendation of 100 litres per day and massively less than that enjoyed by Israeli settlers at 300 litres per day. With rainfall expected to decrease by 30% over the next 50 years, how will Palestinians, especially those in Umm al-Khair who rely almost entirely on their livestock, cope unless Israel ends its brutal occupation?  

“The Israeli government control the water network, and they only allow the people of Umm al-Khair to get a little water,” Umm al-Khair resident Awdah Hathaleen says. “More than 5,000 plants of thyme died this year because of the water problems. Also they confiscated the land and build factories which pollute everything around and cause diseases.”

An olive tree uprooted by Israeli occupation forces in a natural reserve near Umm al-Khair village

Hathaleen (pictured below) also pointed out that aside from restricting water access, the Israeli army also routinely destroys olive trees in the area and demolishes water networks and homes. “And what happened lately that the Israeli occupation uprooted more than 400 hundred trees close to Umm al-Khair. They don’t have mercy for the human, how they will be merciful with the environment?” 

Yesterday’s protest was intended to highlight the role the occupation plays in Palestine’s climate change vulnerability and was co-organised with anti-settlement group the Good Shepherd Collective. It was one of hundreds of protests across the globe calling for climate justice by the environmental group Extinction Rebellion. 

ISM stands in solidarity with the people of Kashmir

Left: A girl stands by Israeli soldiers in occupied Palestine, Right: A school girl walks past Indian soldiers in occupied Kashmir

 

August 16 | International Solidarity Movement | Statement of Solidarity

We, the International Solidarity Movement, express our solidarity with the people of Kashmir as they resist the annexation and occupation of their land by Indian military forces.

We recognize the same methods of oppression and occupation used by the Israeli government in Palestine being used by Narendra Modi’s administration against the people of Kashmir. Like Israel, India uses “terrorism” and “religious extremism” as a pretext to arrest without a warrant, shoot-to-kill, use live ammunition against non-violent protesters, and engage in collective punishment against civilian populations. Israel also plays a direct role in the occupation of Kashmir, being India’s top supplier of weapons. Israeli agencies including secret service Shin Bet, who are responsible for human rights abuses and killings of Palestinians, also provide training for Indian military units suppressing the people of Kashmir. In a move eerily reminiscent of the illegal Israeli settlements built on stolen Palestinian land, India’s BJP party has recently advocated for building exclusively Hindu settlements in Kashmir, which is now possible by Indian law with the scrapping of Article 370. 

Kashmiris’ struggle for the right to self determination and the right to live in peace and safety in their own land started in 1947, when India annexed the region. Article 370 provided the people of Kashmir with certain limited rights and a small measure of autonomy, though the reality on the ground has always been that Kashmiris have lived under the occupation of 700,000 Indian soldiers, making it the most densely militarized zone on earth for decades.

The annulling of Article 370 by Modi’s administration on August 5, 2019, violates a 2015 court ruling by the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and the Indian Supreme Court on April 3, 2018, both of which ruled that Article 370 was a permanent provision which could not be repealed or even amended. Following the annulment of Article 370, the number of Indian soldiers occupying Kashmir has increased to nearly 800,000. Internet, mobile services, landlines, television, and media access has all been suspended, which together with curfews that cut access to essential supplies like food and medicine, have put the 7 million residents of Kashmir under virtual house arrest and devoid of basic democratic and human rights. 

We express our strong support and solidarity with the people of Kashmir as they resist the occupation of their homeland and violation of their rights by the oppressive and racist regime of the Indian government.

Israeli human rights group proves military used live fire to shoot 9-year-old child in West Bank town

July 19 2019 | International Solidarity Movement | Kafr Qaddum, occupied Palestine

Abdul Rahman Yasser Shteiwi, 9 years old, shot in the head by the Israeli military in Kafr Quddum

An Israeli human rights group has proved that live fire was used by soldiers against the 9-year-old child who was shot in the head last Friday in Kafr Qaddum, exposing Israeli Military lies that none was used. 

The report by B’Tselem, published yesterday, says that Abdul Rahman Shteiwi was shot with live ammunition during a protest in the West Bank town on July 12 “while sitting at the entrance of one of the homes on the edge of the village playing with a piece of wood.” 

It reads: “Now hospitalised in critical condition, he is the latest victim of the reckless open-fire policy that allows soldiers to use live fire even when neither they nor anyone else is in any danger.”

Many people turned out for the weekly protest in Kafr Qaddum today, which has been held every Friday for the past 8 years, to call for justice for Abdul who is fighting for his life in Sheba Hospital near Tel Aviv. 

At the demonstration, which was attended by leaders of the PLO, international observers and local and international media, Israeli soldiers bombarded protesters with rubber-coated steel bullets and tear gas canisters. 

 

Paramedics from the Red Crescent told ISM that 40 protesters were treated for various injuries, 22 for rubber-coated steel bullet wounds and 18 for tear gas inhalation. 

 

 

 

Ahead of today’s protest, a number of Palestinian politicians including PLO minister Walid Assaf declared that they will bring the case to the International Criminal Court (ICC). “The blood of our children is not cheap!” he said. “We will follow Netanyahu and the Israeli war minister in the ICC.”

The Israeli Military still insists that no live ammunition was used last week, despite the mounds of evidence stacking up against their hollow claims. 

Kafr Qaddum resident, Riyad Shtaiwi, was sitting under an olive tree with his two children when he witnessed the shooting of Abdul last Friday. 

He told ISM through an interpreter that he saw soldiers at the top of the mountain, “taking the position of sniping by lying on the ground,” just before Abdul was hit. 

“When I saw the soldiers on the top of a mountain aiming and taking the position of sniping and shooting by lying himself on the ground towards us, I feel real danger,” he said. “I decided to move away from this place and to speak with the child who was opposite me, to take him away from this danger. Before I reach the child, one of the soldiers, the one who was taking the position of shooting, he shot one live ammunition. At this moment I look around myself at my children and then I saw the child on the ground and the blood.”

Mr Shtaiwi ran towards Abdul to pick him up. While he carried the unconscious boy in his arms, soldiers fired 3 or 4 more rounds of live bullets towards them which hit a metal gate just behind. 

B’Tselem claims that Abdul’s severe injury is the “direct result of the open-fire policy implemented by the military in the Occupied Territories.”

“This policy illegally and without any justification permits the use of live fire against Palestinians who are not endangering anyone,” the report continues. “The policy remains in force despite the fact that it has resulted in hundreds of Palestinian deaths and thousands of injuries.”

This was not the first time the military has fired live ammunition at protesters in Kafr Qaddum in an attempt to suppress the popular struggle of the town’s residents. In January alone, five protesters were hit with live bullets including a child in the neck who was in a critical condition. 

For eight years, the residents have protested against the closure of the town’s main road to Nablus by the military in the early 2000s. The blocked road is now exclusively used by illegal settlers, forcing Palestinians to take the longer road which has impacted their economy.