ISM London is offering a day of pre-training for prospective volunteers who are interested in joining the International Solidarity Movement on the ground in Palestine.
Any volunteer is required to participate in training before joining activities in Palestine.
Attending the training session in London will give you a chance to get a first impression of ISM and the kind of work you would be doing, receive training, connect with former volunteers and have your questions answered.
The training will take place on January 6, 2019:
Time: 10:30-16
Venue: LARC (London Action Resource Center)
62 Fieldgate St
Whitechapel
London
E1 1ES
To sign up for the training, please contact training.ismlondon@riseup.net
November 17, 2018 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah team | Ramallah, occupied Palestine
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) decided to hold its annual meeting in Palestine this year, where they demonstrated at the infamous Qalandia checkpoint on Saturday. The dozens of journalists, holding only international press cards, were immediately met with canisters of tear gas.
“We went peacefully, wearing IFJ uniforms and carrying IFJ cards. It’s obvious that it was journalists who were demonstrating,” explained Nasser Abu Baker, Chairman of the Palestinian Journalist Syndicate, a representative to the IFJ. Nasser was one of the many journalists fired upon at Qalandia. “In the last four years there were three 3000 crimes committed against journalists, 26 of which were murders… It’s obvious that the Israeli leadership couldn’t accept our demand for freedom of movement, and the scene of IFJ being there, standing with Palestinian journalists.”
Lack of freedom of movement is a common experience for Palestinians in the West Bank, most of whom are unable to leave. The few who leave the West Bank for work face the physical torment of waiting in line for hours, crammed together in zig-zagged cages, and facing the high probability of Israeli aggression.
Qalandia checkpoint is the subject of much reported abuse, though none of this would be known if it wasn’t for the Palestinian press. But their reporting has come with a price: It has created huge controversy and caused them to suffer incredible abuse. Today’s demonstration was no exception.
In Nasser’s words: “This was a crime against Palestinian journalists… It was crime against the international press.”
28th Oktober 2018 | International Solidarity Movement, Al-Khalil Team | Hebron, occupied Palestine
On Monday October 22, the family of Wael Fatah Ja’aberi gathered in Ibn Rush square in downtown Hebron to protest the murder of their son and the decision of Israeli forces not to return his body to their family for more than a month. In September, Ja’aberi was killed in a combined settler and soldier ambush. His body has still not been returned to his family, who have erected an information/communication tent in the main square of downtown Hebron in protest.
A week after the Ja’aberi family erected their protest tent downtown, fathers who lost their sons in similar incidents, gathered in the tent and showed their solidarity.
October 28: fathers gathering in the tent, showing their solidarity.
The Ja’aberi family demanded the body of slain Wael, but is waiting in vain for any answer since September 9, 2018 – the day of the brutal incident.
On Monday evening 9/9/2018, Wael Fatah Ja’aberi, a 37 year old father of two children, was shot down close to his home, near the intersection of the Hebron H1/H2 area division, from the entrance of the illegal settlement Givat Ha’avot, by a settler and a soldier.
According to witnesses, Wael and his 9 year old son were walking from their home to a nearby shop, for which they had to pass the road close to a the entrance of the illegal Israeli settlement Givat Ha’avot .
When they approached the location of the entrance, still 20 meters away from it, a settler together with a soldier ambushed and killed the 37 year old father.
His 9 year old son was lucky to escape and could run back home, in shock of the cruelty he went trough. As it seems, the armed settler fired at Wael and his son, after which a soldier, present at the checkpoint, continued the shooting with several live bullets.
Israeli forces left Ja’abari bleeding to death, without giving or allowing him any kind of medical assistance.
No health care was given or allowed. The Israeli ambulance belongs to Ofer, a paramilitary settler of Kyriat Arba – not a medic.
Video recordings of this fatal incident were posted on the internet. (here, here and here)
The Israeli military claimed afterwards, that it was self defense against a stabbing attack, and did not contact the family. This claim is disputed, however, given Israeli forces’ history of planting knives on murdered Palestinians and given the fact that Ja’abari was walking with his 9 year old child. No footage of the many security cameras on that location has ever been released.
Stealing corpses in the aftermath of a unlawful execution, is a standard procedure of the Occupation. Between 2008 and 2018 Israel held back more then 280 corpses.
29st October 2018 | International Solidarity Movement, Ramallah Team | Gaza, occupied Palestine
Last Friday, nearly fifty Israeli and ISM protestors demonstrated at the Gaza Border in solidarity with nearly 15,000 Gaza protestors heading toward the border. This action was in conjunction with the weekly Right of Return March.
As the activists were confronted by a couple of Zionists counter-protestors and the Israeli Occupation Forces on the 48 border side, the IOF opened fire on the Gazan protestors marching to the border. The Palestinian and Israeli activists spoke on the phone via a loudspeaker from opposite sides of the border. During the conversation, a Gazan protestor was shot in the leg.
There were so many mixed emotions going through my head. This was my first trip to the Gaza Border and it was totally different from how I imagined. The area is beautiful despite the circumstances. I’d always thought Gaza was a desert area. This assumption was totally wrong. Everyday that I’m in the Occupied Territories, the more I’m seeing:
Most Israelis are living in a false reality. This was hammered in my head from the ride to the boarder. The Zionists have made an effort to “green” inside the 48 borders thus why they call the border the ”green” line. They’ve planted European landscape that is foreign to the Middle Eastern terrain. This effort has wasted valuable water resources, while there are daily water shortages inside the Occupied Territories.
Once we reached the military zone and park yards from the Gaza border. It was smoke in the air caused by the burned tires and missile strikes coming from Gaza. I noticed hundreds of crows flying in the air. Not sure what this was about, maybe the smoke threw them off path.
Gunfire and smoke in the background, I couldn’t believe that people were walking their dogs and a family of 4 was coming to the park like nothing was going on. Mind-blowing!!!!! These are the two realities: Palestinian and Zionists.
Later, i would find out, 5 people killed and close to a hundred killed in a non-violent protest. Palestinians resist occupation with violence, they’re met with heavy handed military force. Palestinians resist occupation with non-violence, they’re met with heavy handed military force. It’s a no-win situation.
A telesummit with 20 activists, journalists, and more. Join.
I first arrived in East Jerusalem during a bitterly cold Palestinian winter in late 2005 to join the International Solidarity Movement. My first few nights were spent at a hostel in East Jerusalem. While at the hostel, I kept hearing people talking about one of the co-founders of ISM, Israeli activist Neta Golan. The way people spoke about her was larger than life: she had been shot in the thigh with a tear gas canister, she’d been arrested chaining herself to an olive tree, she was with Yassir Arafat in the Muqata’ during the 2002 siege. I was intrigued and also a bit intimated, but Neta ended up becoming a close friend and an activist role model for me.
This past summer, I reflected on the way the movement for Palestinian rights has changed over the years since I’ve worked with ISM. In 2005, the word “Palestine” was like a four letter word in polite society, especially polite Jewish society where my roots are. Now we have a handful of American politicians who are daring to speak out and a strong international BDS movement and support from many Jewish organizations.
An idea came to me to host a 20 speaker telesummit to try to figure out what has been working in our movement and what is not by asking some of the most highly respected people involved in this issue and sharing the information with like-minded activists all over the world. I interview Neta on this exact subject and her insights are about ISM’s successes are eye opening. Some of the other interviewees include Hanan Ashrawi, Cindy and Craig Corrie, Ramzy Baroud, Jeff Halper, Max Blumenthal, and Sam Bahour.
Have you ever wondered if your activism really matters or is really making a difference? I’m going to explore the topic in my telesummit: Palestine, What’s Working, What’s Not. We’re focusing specifically on tactics that are and are not working in the movement so that people can spread the word about strategy.
On Monday evening 9/9/2018, Wael Fatah Ja’aberi, a 37 year old father of two children, was shot down close to his home, near the intersection of the Hebron H1/H2 area division, from the entrance of the illegal settlement Givat Ha’avot, by a settler and a soldier.
According to witnesses, Wael and his 9 year old son were walking from their home to a nearby shop, for which they had to pass the road close to a the entrance of the illegal Israeli settlement Givat Ha’avot .
