Category: Press Releases - Page 8 - International Solidarity Movement

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

Grandson of Holocaust survivors deported from Israel for volunteering

Saturday October 26

An Austrian citizen of Jewish origin and grandson of Holocaust survivors was banned yesterday from entering Israel on suspicion of volunteering in Palestine. After being interrogated, searched, and held for 6 hours at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, Edmond Sichrovsky, 23, was forcibly deported to Amman, Jordan.
It is not prohibited by Israeli law to volunteer in Palestine.
ISM calls on the governments of deported international volunteers to condemn the actions of the Israeli Occupation and apartheid regime.

Austrian citizen of Jewish origin Edmond Sichrovsky, who was banned and deported from Israel on suspicion of volunteering in Palestine on Friday, October 25.

The Austrian national Edmond Sichrovsky arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on October 24, Thursday, 7:45AM from Amman, Jordan. At immigrations and passport control, he was detained by Israeli authorities and questioned by two separate officers. His luggage was searched and he was forced to hand over his mobile phone to Israeli intelligence officers, who searched his private messages, chats, social media, phone contacts, photo gallery, and browsing history, as well as subjecting him to a body search. He was accused of volunteering in Palestine, which is not prohibited under Israeli law. Their claim was based on the finding of several missed calls on his phone from unsaved numbers registered in Palestine. Sichrovsky’s interrogator then informed him that he was banned from entering Israel and would be forcibly deported. Authorities demanded he admit to volunteering in Palestine and sign a document accepting his deportation due to “illegal immigration considerations”, which he refused to sign. After 6 hours in detention, he was released to the airport departure zone. After being forced to wait in the airport for almost 17 hours, he was deported to Amman, Jordan at 00:30 on October 25. Israeli authorities initially told him the deportation flight would be paid for by the Israeli government. After boarding, Sichrovsky was informed that he had to pay $500 USD for his own deportation flight, which he was forced against his will to board, or face legal action from the airline for unpaid fees.

Sichrovsky had previously volunteered with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), documenting and reporting on human rights abuses by Israeli forces in Occupied Palestine. He was violently assaulted in Wadi al-Hummus by officers from the notorious Israeli riot police unit Yassam while opposing demolitions of Palestinians’ homes. The 22-year-old is the grandson of Harry Sichrovsky, a renowned Austrian Jewish writer and journalist, and nephew of Peter Sichrovsky, two-time European Parliament member and former head of the far right Freedom Party of Austria (FPO).

Edmond Sichrovsky with broken glasses and a cut on the lip after he was repeatedly kicked in the face by Israeli riot police while non-violently resisting the demolition of Palestinian homes in Wadi al-Hummus on July 22.

Sichrovsky said: “Growing up, my grandparents being some of the only ones in their entire family to survive the Holocaust in Austria,’Never again’ is something I heard a lot and resonate strongly with. To me, ‘Never again’ isn’t just for Jews, it means never again should anyone in the world have to suffer because of their religion, race, or what they were born into. That’s why I came to volunteer in Palestine. Israel claims to be ‘a homeland for Jewish people around the world’, yet by banning and deporting me and other Jews with differing political opinions, they have shown that Israel is a home for Jews only if they don’t question or speak up about the government’s apartheid policies. My ban and deportation from Israel only confirms what I have seen again and again in Palestine: that the Israeli government will do anything to keep people from seeing its brutal Occupation, ethnic cleansing, and daily violations of Palestinians basic human rights.”

Sichrovsky also called on Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Schallenberg to make a public statement on Israel’s detention and deportation of an Austrian citizen who had not violated any Israeli law. He called the Austrian embassy in Tel Aviv while being held in Ben Gurion airport, but was told that they “could not provide any assistance.”

An ISM spokesperson gave the following statement: “ISM strongly condemns the Israeli government’s banning and deportation of an international volunteer. By forbidding entry to its those with differing political views Israel is acting like the anti-democratic state it really is. Governments whose citizens have been banned must call out Israel on these blatant attempts to hide its crimes from the world. To not do so is to condone Israel’s abuse of human rights and silencing of those who speak about them.”

Note to journalists:

Israel controls all borders and entrance points (land, sea, and air) into Palestine, except a small land border between Gaza and Egypt, meaning virtually anyone intending to enter Palestine must enter through Israeli immigration authorities. Israel routinely bans and deports volunteers, activists, human rights observers, and academics suspected of anti-Occupation views or of activities in anti-Occupation or Palestinian organizations. Prominent Jews banned from Israel due to their political views include CODEPINK co-founder Ariel Gold, and American-Jewish academics Normal Finkelstein and Noam Chomsky.

In 2017, Israel passed a law permitting foreign nationals to be banned from Israel for calling for the boycott of Israel or Israeli illegal settlements. There is, however, no law prohibiting volunteering in Palestine or association with legal organizations active in Palestine.

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.

Jews banned from Israel for political reasons:

Ariel Gold: https://mondoweiss.net/2018/07/deports-activist-supporting/

Noam Chomsky: https://www.haaretz.com/1.5121279

Norman Finkelstein: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/may/26/israelandthepalestinians.usa

Others banned from Israel for political reasons in 2019:

British activist Garry Spedding: https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-israel-denying-entry-to-left-wing-british-activist-for-second-time-since-2014-1.6844179

US Congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-israel-palestinians-usa-ban/israel-will-not-let-u-s-congresswomen-visit-deputy-foreign-minister-idUSKCN1V51

For more details contact Edmond Sichrovsky at

Phone: +20 0127 983 4929

Email: edmond.sichrovsky@gmail.com

Or contact ISM at:

Phone: +44 7757 616902

Email: palreports@gmail.com

Join ISM: Training in Belfast, Ireland, November 24, 2019

ISM Ireland is offering a day of pre-training for prospective volunteers who are interested in joining the International Solidarity Movement on the ground in Palestine. All volunteers are required to participate in training before joining activities in Palestine.

Attending the training session in Belfast will give you a chance to get a first impression of ISM and the kind of work we do, receive training, connect with former volunteers and have your questions answered. It is a chance to learn about how Palestinians are working against the occupation and how we as internationals can work in solidarity with them using a variety of tactics.

The training is intended for volunteers who plan to travel to Palestine, although attendance does not mean that you have made a commitment to travel.

The training will take place on November 24, 2019:
Time: 10:30-16:00
Venue: Tar Anall, 5-7 Conway Street, Belfast BT13 2DE

To sign up for the training, please contact ism.dublin@protonmail.com

British forensic researchers challenge Israeli army denial over shooting of child with live fire

*Israeli soldiers prepare to fire at protesters in Kafr Qaddum during the town’s weekly protests*

22 October | International Solidarity Movement | Kafr Qaddum

Evidence is stacking up against the Israeli Army over the near-fatal shooting of a Palestinian child by a soldier in July, with the release of a damning report from a British research group.

Nine-year-old Abd el-Rahman Yasir Shatawi, was shot in the head on July 12 while sitting outside his friend’s house during a protest in the West Bank village of Kafr Qaddum. He sustained severe brain damage and remains hospitalized more than three months after the attack.

Since then Abd’s parents have been left in the dark as to why their son, who was not even participating in the protest, was shot by Israeli soldiers from a hill opposite.

*9-year-old Abd el-Rahman Yasir Shatawi, who was shot by Israeli soldiers*

Despite eye-witness accounts, medical reports and investigations all saying that Abd was shot with live ammunition, the Israeli army has continued to insist that soldiers did not use live fire that day.

Instead the military claims that Abd was shot with a rubber-coated metal bullet [RCMB].

This has been challenged most recently by London-based research group Forensic Architecture, which carried out an investigation into the incident at the request of ISM.

The comprehensive report compiles video, photo and eye-witness testimonies to piece together the sequence of events prior to the shooting. Based on this evidence they concluded that, “contrary to the repeated claims of Israeli officials, the available medical and image evidence, as well as witness testimony, strongly suggests that Abd el-Rahman’s injuries were caused by live ammunition.”

As part of the investigation, US forensic experts were shown CT scans of Abd’s brain (pictured below) which has over 100 bullet fragments still lodged in it. From analysing the scans, the experts said: “Although they [RCMB] can indeed penetrate individuals, and are more likely to do so in juveniles who exhibit less dense bone, they are not known to fragment, especially to the extent visible in the CT scans.”

Instead the experts said the level of fragmentation was “consistent with fragmentation seen in 5.56 mm [live] rounds.”

The medical scans also showed that there was no exit wound, corroborating eye-witness accounts that the shot was fired from a distance of 100-120m. “The farther away the shot, the less likely the bullet will still be travelling with enough energy to completely pass through the skull,” experts told Forensic Architecture.

The distance is a crucial element as 100-120m is twice the effective distance of a RCMB round.

ISM activists present that day also witnessed soldiers firing live bullets at protesters.

“We heard gunshots that sounded like loud claps,” they said. “An Israeli activist told us it was live ammunition, saying he’d never seen such disregard for human life. The soldiers on the ridge were spraying bullets everywhere. After the protest we found live bullet casings littering the ground where soldiers had been firing at protesters. This case shows how far Israeli forces will go to avoid admitting their crimes despite the overwhelming evidence against them.”

Abd’s family told ISM that they were not surprised by the army’s refusal to admit to using live fire. “The Israeli army never admitted any crime here,” they said. “Of course they said that because they don’t want to be questioned about it.”

Recently Abd was moved from a Tel Aviv hospital to Beit Jala, after Israeli doctors said there was nothing else they could do. “He can’t speak and no changes [to his condition] occurred since he was shot,” his family said. “The doctors say that his condition is still in danger and that a huge damage occurred in his brain because of the bullet.”

*Images from Forensic Architecture report show difference in soldiers firing live ammunition to rubber-coated metal bullets*

*Bullets found in a water tank shot during the protest on July 12*

Kafr Qaddum residents said the feeling in the town since the shooting has been “indescribable.”

A resident who preferred not to be named told ISM: “A child who is supposed to live peacefully just like any child in the world is being shot brutally. Instead of offering a safe environment for children here, they are being shot and exposed to violent acts.”

Forensic Architecture’s report is the latest piece of evidence stacking up against the Israeli army over the shooting. It joins a previous report by Israeli human rights group B’tselem which blamed the incident on Israel’s “reckless open-fire policy that allows soldiers to use live fire even when neither they nor anyone else is in any danger.”

In the past three months alone, 100 Palestinian children have been shot with live ammunition. Despite these gross human rights violations, government’s around the world have remained silent on the Israeli army’s callous use of live fire against children.

Instead Abd’s family has turned to the media in the hope that justice can be delivered through them. “If the world knows what is really happening to the children here, this may bring justice one day.”

Abd being carried into the ambulance after he was shot in the head by soldiers