International Solidarity Movement
The International Solidarity Movement is a pro- Palestinian organization that was founded in 2001 by, among others, the Palestinian Ghassan Andoni , the Israeli activist Neta Golan and the American citizen of Palestinian origin Huwaida Arraf .
description
Members of the Christian aid organization Holy Land Trust ( Bethlehem ) and the secular Center for Reapprochement between Peoples contributed to the establishment . The American citizen of Israeli origin, Adam Shapiro , who is one of the most prominent activists of the organization, joined the ISM in 2002. According to Golan (2005), the organization is managed from the Palestinian territories.
ISM is mainly active at American universities and claims to be based on the principle of non-violent resistance . ISM has several international branches, including in Germany.
aims
The organization directs its activities and protests against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank , certain Israeli measures - such as house demolitions - and against the actions of settlers against Palestinians.
According to its own statements, it essentially has four goals:
- To document the living conditions of the Palestinians and to protect the Palestinians from physical violence by the Israeli soldiers and settlers.
- To exert pressure on the international media world to portray the “illegality and brutality of the occupation”.
- Recruit volunteers to participate in nonviolent resistance.
- To influence public opinion in such a way that Israel - which the organization compares to the apartheid regime in South Africa - is put under pressure.
Tactics
In order to draw attention to the situation of the Palestinians and to protest against the measures of the Israeli army , the ISM is sending activists to the Palestinian territories who are using non-militant actions to hinder Israeli operations such as the construction of the Israeli barrier.
ISM activists also accompany Palestinians during the olive harvest in order to document attacks by extremist Israeli settlers or to prevent them through their presence. The way Israeli soldiers deal with Palestinians at checkpoints in the West Bank is being observed by members of the ISM. Activists are also staying in buildings that are said to be destroyed by the Israeli army.
Reactions from Israel
As soon as they enter Israel, people who are suspected of belonging to the ISM are turned away.
Since 2010 the new Israeli Aliens Police (Oz) have been used in the occupied territories to deport activists on the basis of visa violations. Activists are taken from their homes in the Palestinian Territory in nightly actions and given the choice of agreeing to leave the country immediately or spending several months in prison.
- On January 11, 2010, Israeli soldiers and the immigration police arrested the Czech press spokeswoman Eva Nováková during a night raid in Ramallah, brought her to Israel and deported her. The deployment of the Aliens Police in the Palestinian Territory was still denied by the Interior Ministry at that time.
- Two weeks later, however, another deployment of the Aliens Police took place against ISM members in Bil'in - with video evidence. Thereafter, the Aliens Police were instructed not to take part in the army's actions.
- On February 7, 2010, two activists from Al-Bireh were transported to Ofer prison near Beitunia , where they were handed over to the immigration police. They successfully defended themselves at the Supreme Court against their deportation and the excessive bail.
criticism
In March 2003, according to the Israeli government, a Palestinian Islamic Jihad member wanted by Israel was arrested in an ISM office in Jenin . ISM called the Israeli allegations "absurd" and the Israeli army had to retract its allegations. According to the ISM, the "wanted terrorist" was a "frightened teenager" who sought refuge in the ISM office during a raid by the Israeli army.
In May 2003, a group of ISM activists and two British citizens who carried out a suicide attack on a restaurant in Tel Aviv entered Israel. The ISM condemned the attack and denied that there was a connection between the perpetrators and the ISM. ISM expressly rejects Palestinian operations against Israeli civilians such as suicide bombings on its website.
ISM members killed and injured
Several ISM activists, including Rachel Corrie and Tom Hurndall , were killed during their operations.
An Israeli soldier who shot and killed ISM activist Tom Hurndall in April 2003 initially claimed that Hurndall was carrying a gun. This account was rejected by an Israeli military tribunal, which found intent and sentenced the soldier to eight years in prison in August 2005.
Tristan Anderson , a US activist, was critically injured in the head on March 13, 2009 after a demonstration in Ni'lin against the construction of the wall around the West Bank. He was standing in a group of international activists after the demonstration officially ended when a tear gas grenade fired 60 meters away hit him directly in the face.
ISM activist Akram Ibrahim Abu Sba was shot dead by a member of the Islamic Jihad in Jenin in September 2007 .
On May 31, 2010, a 21-year-old American activist, Emily Henochowicz , lost her left eye when she was hit by a tear gas canister during a demonstration near the Qalandiya checkpoint in Jerusalem . Another ISM activist who witnessed testified that the Israeli soldiers deliberately targeted activists.
On April 14, 2011, the Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni was kidnapped by members of a radical Palestinian organization who demanded that Hamas release detained group members. Arrigoni was murdered before the ultimatum expired. His body was found in a house in Gaza City.
Web links
- International Solidarity Movement (Official Website)
- Memory of Rachel Corrie
- Tom Hurndall Foundation
Individual evidence
- ^ The Guardian: A love under fire , May 31, 2003
- ↑ a b Wladek Flakin: “Resistance means staying in Hebron”, Junge Welt , November 30, 2005.
- ↑ About ISM | International Solidarity Movement
- ^ Foreigners bring in the harvest and the wounded , The Guardian, March 1, 2003
- ↑ Report: Israel cops nab Czech peace activist in Ramallah raid ( Memento of the original from January 24, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Haaretz , October 21, 2010.
- ↑ VIDEO: Israel's immigration police cracks down on pro-Palestinian foreigners ( Memento of the original from February 3, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Haaretz, February 1, 2010
- ↑ Court frees foreign activists, raps West Bank crackdown ( Memento of the original from February 9, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Haaretz, February 8, 2010.
- ^ Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Senior Islamic Jihad terrorist arrested while hiding in the offices of the International Solidarity Movement in Jenin, March 27, 2003.
- ↑ Tough Questions - Does ISM protect terrorists ?; ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Associated Press: Army backtracks on details about militant arrest at International Solidarity Movement, March 29, 2007; Israeli Army Retracts Claim that ISM Sheltered Armed Man, ( Memento of the original from September 30, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. March 31, 2003.
- ↑ Bombers posed as peace activists, The Guardian , May 2, 2003.
- ^ ISM Statement on British Suicide Bombers , May 2, 2003.
- ↑ BBC News: Soldier jailed for activist death, August 11, 2005.
- ↑ Video and text on the ISM webpage ( memento of the original from March 14, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)
- ↑ ISM member Akram killed during clashes in Jenin ( Memento of the original from June 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/133032
- ↑ US Asks Israel to Probe Activist's Eye Loss
- ↑ US activist loses eye after being shot in face with tear gas canister ( Memento of the original from June 4, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Islamists kill Italian activists in Gaza . World, April 15th.
