8th August 2016 | International Solidarity Movement
Palestinian and international activists hold signs in support of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement by the buffer zone in Zeitoun on 9 February 2013. (Photo by Desde Palestina)
The International Solidarity Movement is a Palestinian-led movement with a mandate to support Palestinian nonviolent popular resistance to Israeli military occupation and apartheid. Palestinian-led nonviolent resistance includes the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions of Israel, until it adheres to its obligations under international law.
ISM volunteers also accompany children to school and farmers to harvest their olives in areas where they face ongoing settler and military violence. We find that our presence sometimes results in reducing the level of lethal force used by the Israeli military against unarmed Palestinians. Further isolation of Palestinians by denying access and/or deporting human rights activists aims to make Palestinian communities already vulnerable and suffering from abuse even more vulnerable.
As a civilian population living under military occupation Palestinians in the occupied territories are promised protection under international law. All parties signed to the fourth Geneva Convention have the obligation to insure that others, including Israel, adhere to international law. Civilians are being called on to fill in the gap created by the failure of governments and official international bodies to provide protection and fulfill their obligations.
Israel’s isolation of Palestinians both by denying Palestinians and their supporters access to Palestine as well as by denying Palestinians including human rights defenders the right to leave Palestine is not a new strategy. It is most brutal and lethal in the besieged Gaza strip but all parts of Palestine are under some degree of siege.
We condemn Israeli suppression of Palestinian nonviolent resistance. The recent announcement by the occupation authorities that they will attempt to further isolate Palestinians indicates the occupation authorities unwillingness to do the only thing that will actually bring an end to Israel’s isolation – to adhere to international law, end the occupation and grant Palestinians their rights.
See the statement By the Boycott National Committee here:
20th July 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, East Jerusalem | East Jerusalem, occupied Palestine
ISM encourages everyone to copy and paste the letter below and send it to your Members of Parliament, Congresspeople, and other political representatives.
To support Shadi and his family financially during this very difficult time, please see: https://palsolidarity.org/donate/
Dear Sir/Madame:
I am writing to urge you to act and condemn the violations on children’s rights that are being enforced by the Israeli government against Palestinians. I am extremely concerned about the situation in Palestine, where children are repeatedly arrested, abused and imprisoned by the Israeli forces.
At the moment, the youngest Palestinian child who is being detained in Israel is 12 year old Shadi Farah. He has spent more than six months away from his family already, and the court keeps prolonging his case and the final decision. Evidence against Shadi is very poor. He is accused of attempted manslaughter – allegedly he carried a knife with the intend to stab an Israeli soldier, yet no one was ever hurt by his hand. His interrogation was inhumane and abusive, it lasted for days and neither his parents or lawyer were present.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified by the Israeli government in 1991. Thereby the Israeli government committed to providing all children with a safe childhood, with the care, protection and opportunities that are needed to ensure that childhood is a time free from insecurity, violence or abuse.
This commitment is not being fulfilled by the Israeli government. At the moment, more than 400 Palestinian children are being kept in Israeli prisons. Three-quarters of Palestinian children jailed between 2012 and 2015 endured some form of physical violence following arrest.
According to Defence for Children International Palestine, in 179 of 429 cases, the Israeli military arrested children from their homes in the middle of the night. In 378 out of 429 cases, Israeli forces arrested children without notifying parents of the reason for arrest or the location of detention. In 97 percent of the cases, children had no parent present during interrogation or access to legal counsel. Furthermore, Israeli police did not inform children of their rights in 84 percent of the cases. DCI Palestine informs that 66 children were held in solitary confinement, for an average period of 13 days, during the reporting period. More than 90 percent of children held in solitary confinement provided a confession. This confession is often being used as the only form of evidence to convict the child, as is the case with Shadi.
I beg you to express your concern about this in the Parliament/Congress/EU/UN and make sure that the grave issue of violations of Palestinian children’s rights is being brought to the attention of the Israeli government. Please remind Israel that by ratifying the UN Convention they are obliged to protect every child, in the state of Israel as well as in occupied Palestine. No child deserves the treatment that Palestinian children face every day.
Yours sincerely,
Shadi’s mother, holding a photo of her son.
Shadi with his best friend, Muhammad, and with his father, Anwar Farrah.
ISM is looking for media interns to come and join us in Palestine. This is an excellent opportunity for aspiring journalists or media workers to engage directly with the Palestinian struggle and to utilise and enhance their existing skills to humanize the voice of the struggle by reporting on events ranging from anti-occupation demonstrations to house raising demolitions.
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is a Palestinian-led movement committed to resisting the Israeli occupation in Palestine by using nonviolent, direct-action methods and principles. Founded by a small group of primarily Palestinian and Israeli activists in August 2001, ISM aims to support and strengthen the Palestinian popular resistance by providing the Palestinian people with two resources, international solidarity and an international voice.
You will be based in the West Bank, experienced and interested activists may be placed in Gaza. Apart from gaining reporting and photography experience, you will also be networking with existing media outlets and develop skills during media meetings on reporting the occupation of Palestine. ISM is seeking a minimum 3 month commitment, and will provide accommodation during your stay.
ISM is a non-hierarchical solidarity movement. Consequently, you will not be treated as a classical intern but rather as a fellow voluntary member of the activist group. In this role you will establish contacts with local Palestinian and international media and help to define the ISM media strategy.
In order to apply please email palreports@gmail.com with the following information:
Please send in any relevant information about yourself and experience or background you may have in reporting and journalism.
Express why you are applying for this voluntary internship and what you hope to gain from it.
Holocaust survivor Hedy Epstein, 91, died at her home in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, on May 26, 2016. An internationally renowned, respected and admired advocate for human and civil rights, Hedy was encircled by friends who lovingly formed by the horrific experiences she and her family endured under the repressive Nazi regime.
Hedy Epstein
Unable to secure travel documents for themselves, Hedy’s parents, Hugo and Ella (Eichel) Wachenheimer, arranged for 14-year-old Hedy to leave Germany on a Kindertransport. Hedy credited her parents with giving her life a second time when they sent her to England to live with kind-hearted strangers. Hedy’s parents, grandparents, and most of her aunts, uncles and cousins did not survive the Holocaust. Hedy remained in England until 1945 when she returned to Germany to work for the United States Civil Service. She joined the Nuremberg Doctors Trial prosecution in 1946 as a research analyst.
Hedy immigrated to the United States in 1948. She and her husband moved to St. Louis in the early 1960s, and shortly thereafter Hedy began working as a volunteer with the Freedom of Residence, Greater St. Louis Committee, a nonprofit organization dedicated to housing integration and advocacy for fair housing laws. Hedy worked for many years as a volunteer and board member, and ultimately served as the organization’s executive director during the mid-1970s.
During the 1980s, Hedy worked as a paralegal for Chackes and Hoare, a law firm that represented individuals in employment discrimination cases. As an advocate for equality and human rights, Hedy spoke out against the war in Vietnam, the bombing of Cambodia, and overly restrictive U.S. immigration policies. She spoke and acted in support of the Haitian boat people and women’s reproductive rights, and, following the 1982 massacre at Sabra and Shatila, Hedy began her courageous and visionary work
for peace and justice in Israel and Palestine.
During her later years, Hedy continued to advocate for a more peaceful world, and in 2002 was a founding member of the St. Louis Instead of War Coalition. Much of her later activism centered on efforts to end the Israeli occupation of Palestine. She founded the St. Louis chapter of Women in Black and co-founded the St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee and the St. Louis chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace. She traveled to the West Bank several times, first as a volunteer with the nonviolent International Solidarity Movement and repeatedly as a witness to advocate for Palestinian human
rights. She attempted several times to go to Gaza as a passenger with the Freedom Flotilla, including as a passenger on the Audacity of Hope, and once with the Gaza Freedom March. Hedy addressed numerous groups and organizations throughout Europe and returned to Germany and her native village of Kippenheim many times.
Three days after her 90th birthday, Hedy was arrested for “failure to disperse.” She was attempting to enter Missouri Governor Jay Nixon’s St. Louis office to ask for de-escalation of police and National Guard tactics which had turned violent in response to protests following the killing of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
Hedy was a member of the St. Louis Holocaust Museum and Learning Center’s speakers’ bureau and gave countless talks at schools and community events. She shared her Holocaust experiences with thousands of Missouri youth as a featured speaker at the Missouri Scholars Academy for more than twenty years. She ended every talk with three requests: remember the past, don’t hate, and don’t be a bystander.
Through the years, Hedy received numerous awards and honors for her compassionate service and relentless pursuit of justice.
Hedy is survived by son Howard (Terry) Epstein, and granddaughters Courtney and Kelly. She was beloved and will be truly missed by countless friends in St. Louis and around the world.
Hedy often shared her philosophy of service with these words: “If we don’t try to make a difference, if we don’t speak up, if we don’t try to right the wrong that we see, we become complicit. I don’t want to be guilty of not trying my best to make a difference.”
Hedy always did her best, and the difference she made is evident in the commitment and passion of those called to continue her work. Her friends and admirers honor and salute her deep and lifelong dedication to tikkun olam, the just re-ordering of the world and promise to remember, to stay human, and to never be bystanders.
A memorial service will be held in Forest Park at a date and time to be determined. Donations in Hedy’s name may be made to Forest Park Forever to establish a permanent tribute, 5595 Grand Drive in Forest Park, St. Louis, MO 63112; American Friends Service Committee, 1501 Cherry St., Philadelphia, PA 19102; American Civil Liberties Union, 125 Broad St. 18th Floor, New York, NY 10004; and/or American Civil Liberties Union of Missouri Foundation, 454 Whittier St., St. Louis, MO 63108.
21 May 2016 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Quds team | Jerusalem, occupied Palestine
The 14 members of Abu Sadam’s family remain homeless after their home was destroyed by the Israel Army in the early hours of Tuesday morning in the Hizbet area of Wadi Joz, Jerusalem. The family are calling for solidarity and support and would welcome visitors to join them. If you want to help please contact: palreports@gmail.com.
