13 October, 2023 | International Solidarity Movement
Occupation forces have issued a 24-hour deadline for 1.1 million civilians in northern Gaza to evacuate to the southern parts of the besieged enclave. The demand for a harrowing evacuation of terrified civilians includes an order to clear out all UN workers from the area. This is obvious preparation for a disastrous and brutal ground invasion.
Over 1,500 civilians have been killed, including hundreds of children and more than 6,000 people have been injured. A ground invasion will greatly exacerbate the loss of civilian life and the suffering and misery of the people of Gaza.
Contact your representatives NOW and demand that they put an end to the Israeli government’s blatant violations of international humanitarian law and end the oncoming ground invasion. Light up their phones and email inboxes. Circulate this alert widely!
Script:
Hello, my name is _______.
I am calling because I am horrified at the violence being inflicted on the civilians of Gaza. A ground invasion will greatly exacerbate the loss of civilian life. Urge restraint NOW!
-NO GROUND INVASION must be allowed to occur.
White House
President: Joseph Biden
Online: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switch Board: 202-456-1414
TTY/TTD: 202-456-6213
Vice-President
Vice President: Kamala Harris
Online: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switch Board: 202-456-1414
TTY/TTD: 202-456-6213
U.S. House of Representatives
Phone: 202-224-3121
U.S. Senate:
* Telephone: 202-224-3121
* Website: http://www.senate.gov/
Find your representative’s contact information in the house of Congress by ZIP code
If you are based in the UK, find your local MPs contact information here: https://members.parliament.uk/members/Commons
Palestinians oppose the “deal of the century” at a protest in al-Khalil (Hebron)
At a time of heightened aggression against Palestinians by Israeli occupation forces suppressing “Deal of the Century” protests across the West Bank the International Solidarity Movement is issuing an urgent call out for volunteers.
What is the ‘Deal of the Century?’
On 28 January 2020 Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu announced their annexation plan for Palestine. Purportedly to bring an end to the 52 year occupation of Palestine by Israel, the ‘peace’ plan was put together without any Palestinian input and offers Israel a wish list of their long-held demands, at the expense of Palestinian rights and freedoms.
Although the US claim the plan offers the prospect of a future Palestinian ‘state,’ it does so at an unacceptable price with Israel unashamedly benefitting. Some of the most significant points include:
A proposed Palestinian ‘state’ with very limited sovereignty, for example it would not be permitted to have its own Army, and Israel would retain security control over vital areas such as the sea in Gaza
Establishing Jerusalem as Israel’s ‘undivided’ capital, stripping Palestinians of their current rights to their capital, East Jerusalem
Officially recognising illegal Israeli settlements constructed on stolen Palestinian land, bringing them under Israeli control
Annexing further swathes of Palestinian territory including the Jordan Valley
Stripping thousands of Arab-Israelis of their citizenship and forcibly transferring them to the West Bank
Finally refusing Palestinian refugees the ‘right of return’ to their homes lost in the Nakba
The plan has been resoundingly rejected by the Palestinian leadership and people living through daily oppression.
Why am I needed?
Protests have erupted across the West Bank in response to Trump’s legitimisation of Israel’s crimes against Palestinians. As usual the protests have been heavily suppressed by the Israeli army with lethal force. Five Palestinian teenagers have already been killed by Israeli soldiers since the deal was announced while dozens more have been injured. Israel’s violent crackdown on Palestinian’s protests against the Deal of the Century are expected to continue. This means we need more volunteers to ensure there is an international presence to document and raise awareness about human rights abuses by the occupation forces.
What would I be doing?
ISM volunteers support Palestinian resistance by providing protective presence at demonstrations, observing and documenting any human rights violations against Palestinians by Israeli settlers or soldiers. At this critical time of heightened political tension, we urgently need volunteers to join in solidarity with Palestinians fighting for their right to self-determination.
Aside from the need for practical solidarity, experiencing the situation for yourself is vital to adequately understand why the ‘deal of the century’ is such a threat to the future of Palestine, and your personal experiences will equip you to lobby and campaign more effectively in your home country.
Occupation forces at checkpoint 56, al Khalil (Hebron)
Will I receive training?
ISM will host mandatory two-day training sessions for prospective volunteers before they do any work on the ground.
How do I apply?
You can join ISM as a volunteer for as little as two weeks. However you are likely to gain more from your experience if you can commit to a longer period. We welcome volunteers for periods of up to three months.
Please send an email to ismtraining@riseup.net to register as a volunteer.
August 25 | International Solidarity Movement | Occupied Palestine
At a time of regular settler and IOF violence in the West Bank, the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is issuing an urgent call for volunteers to join us for the 2019 Olive Harvest Campaign at the invitation of Palestinian communities.
The olive tree is a national symbol for Palestinians. As thousands of olive trees have been bulldozed, uprooted and burned by Israeli settlers and the Israeli military — over half a million olive and fruit trees have been destroyed since September 2000 — harvesting has become more than a source of livelihood; it has become a form of resistance.
Despite efforts by Israeli settlers and soldiers to prevent them from accessing their land, Palestinian communities have remained steadfast in refusing to give up their olive harvest.
ISM volunteers join Palestinian farming communities each year to harvest olives, in areas where Palestinians face settler and military attacks when working their land. Your presence can make a big difference, with Palestinian communities stating that the presence of international volunteers reduces the risk of violence and harassment from Israeli settlers and the Israeli army.
We support Palestinians’ assertion of their right to earn their livelihoods and be present on their lands. International solidarity activists engage in non-violent direct action and documentation as on the ground, practical support which enables many families to pick their olives.
The harvest will begin in early October and run until mid-November. We request a minimum 2 week commitment but we ask that if possible, volunteers could stay as long as they can. Our work is dependent on relationships with the Palestinian communities in which we work, and a long term presence is a massive help towards that end. We kindly ask volunteers to start arriving in the first week of October if possible, so we are prepared when the harvest begins.
In addition to the harvest, there will be opportunities to participate in grass-roots, non-violent resistance in Palestine. ISM activists will receive training, normally held on Saturday or Sunday, at the beginning of each month with information on what to expect and how to act in what can be tense situations. Our other actions include:
The School Year:
Sunday the 25th of August marks the beginning of the school year, and with it increased threats for Palestinian teachers and children. Therefore, in the coming months, it is vital that we have volunteers who are able to walk with the children on school runs, to document and serve as a protective presence against Israeli Occupation Forces and settler harassment, which includes checkpoint delays. It is hoped that the presence of internationals may prevent settler attacks, and reduce the risk of Israeli soldiers harassing children.
Beyond the school runs, ISM maintains a constant presence in Hebron (Al-Khalil), where settler harassment and violence is a regular occurrence. Lately, Israeli army violence has escalated for Palestinians living close to the illegal inner-city settlement. Israeli forces have used the Palestinian neighbourhoods for military training, and heavily repress any form of resistance, responding with collective punishment as they fire dozens of teargas canisters and stun grenades onto Al-Khalil’s civilian population. Through documentation and non-violent resistance, ISM attempts to relieve some of the pressure placed on Al-Khalil’s residents.
Israeli soldiers take pictures inside a school playground in Khalil
Protective presence at protests and police raids:
In addition to these activities, we participate in the weekly demonstrations in Kafr Qaddum, and other villages where our presence is requested and protesters face excessive force by the IOF. Recently the Jerusalem police have been targeting the East Jerusalem town of Issawiya, invading the area every night and arresting children as young as 5. Evening and afternoon patrols are needed by internationals to document these human rights abuses and have a mediating effect on the notoriously brutal units that operate in occupied East Jerusalem.
Experiencing the situation for yourself is vital to fully understand, and ultimately convey, the reality of life in Palestine to your home communities and to re-frame the debate in a way that will expose Israel’s apartheid policies; creeping ethnic cleansing in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem as well as collective punishment and genocidal practices in Gaza.
Police make arbitrary car checks outside the Palestinian neighbourhood of Issawiya
How to apply:
Please send an email to ismtraining@riseup.net letting us know what dates you are able to come, any experience you have with this type of work and why you want to volunteer in Palestine.
Other options to help:
Donate — for those who cannot make it on this period and want to help, you can donate or help raise funds which will be used to fund ISM’s ongoing campaigns.
The Week of action started rocking the Eurovision boat before it began. The international media reported on the campaign announcement: “Pro-Palestinian activists have urged supporters to “join us in disrupting Israel’s latest PR stunt” and to participate in a ‘Week of Action Against Eurovision in Tel Aviv’. The Israeli authorities were quick to state that it would not allow the activists in. The activists were prepared to remain in Israeli custody if they were denied and thus highlighting Israel’s policy of denial of access to Palestinians, their family members and human rights defenders to Palestine. But, we managed to enter!
While preparations for the international contest where underway Israel committed yet another massacre against the besieged population of the Gaza strip. Bombing the densely populated strip from the air, tanks and gun boats, Israeli soldiers killed to 25 including a family – mother, father and 4-month old baby, and two pregnant women and a twelve year old child. On May 5th, with bombs still raining on Gaza, Eurovision events and the protests against them began. Activists descended on Tel Aviv, postering pictures of slain Palestinians in the city centre, graffitiing slogans and opening a banner calling to Liberate the Gaza ghetto at a Eurovision event.
From the day that the Eurovision opened on the 15th of May we were thereBlindfolded and handcuffed at the Eurovision in Tel Aviv to remind the participants of the stolen lives of Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons. We projected images of the occupation taken by activestills, during one Eurovision party and held a die-in at another in solidarity with the Palestinian Great march of Return. And hung posters at the venue to bring the faces of the children murdered in Gaza to these parties were held on the beach the land of the ethnically cleansed Palestinian village of Manshiya in solidarity with the great march of return. At the semi final and ISM activists unfurled a banner inside the venue that read “We dare to dream an end of Apartheid”
We also brought our banners and joined forces with Israeli Anti Zionists at their protests on the 14th at the Eurovision finals on the 18th and highlighted the alternative events organised by our Palestinian comrades across Palestine in Haifa, Gaza, and Bethlehem as part of the International “Global vision.”
In response to a call for solidarity from Gazan women, a Jewish activist group dubbed “Return” gathered to hold a memorial for Razan AlNajar, at the location of her village of origin, Salameh.
While thousands of women marched towards the border in the Saja’iya area in Gaza, the activists held a ceremony honoring Razan and the protesters shot dead by Israeli snipers. The activist called for the implementation of the right of return and hung photos of the slain protesters placing flowers and candles on a structure that proceeded the Zionist state.
The steering committee of the Great march of return published a call for people to commemorate the fallen protesters. Return has been organizing commemorations inside historical Palestine in locations including the Gaza border fence and the Israeli parliment. Other such memorials are taking place around the world.
The protestors changed Hertzel streets on the road between Salamah and Jaffa to Al-Awda street and Ben-Zvi street to Razan Al-Najar street.
“Razan did not see Salama, but she and all the refugees who are not present here physically are always present here with us, as a void an absence, something that is missing here until their inevitable return. ” stated one of the activists.
