Activism News

Today at about 6.30 pm, Brian Avery, 24, of New Mexico was shot in the face by a burst of machine gun fire from an Israeli Armoured Personnel Carrier. The circumstances surrounding his injury are as follows.

Starbucks Coffee Co. is reportedly closing six stores in Israel this April as well as dissolving a partnership with the Delek Group of Israel, which operated the coffeehouses. Company spokespeople would not disclose any specific reasons as to why it has done this except so say that “[t]he decision to end the partnership was independent of ongoing turmoil in the Middle East and the war with Iraq.” Helen Jung writes for the Associated Press.

Jeff Halper is an Israeli anthropologist, until his retirement a year ago a professor at Ben Gurion University, a transplant 30 years ago from Minnesota, a harsh critic of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and, as founder of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), perhaps the leading peace and anti-occupation activist in Israel. Kathleen and Bill Christison interview the Israeli activist.

Following the killing of a Jewish settler by a member of the Palestinian resistance at about 2 pm on Wednesday afternoon, the Israeli Army of Occupation around Jenin has been taking its revenge upon Ya’bad, a town about 8 kilometres to the west of Jenin, close to the bypass road upon which the killing took place. ISM activists report from Jenin.

Those of us in the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), and involved in Palestine solidarity work more generally, are deeply shocked and horrified by the recent murder of Rachel Corrie. Paul Burrows from ISM Montréal reflects on the events.

A sit-in continued for a second day yesterday over a college newspaper’s cartoon describing the actions of the Olympia peace activist killed by an Israeli bulldozer as the definition of stupidity.

Israeli forces fired teargas and stun grenades yesterday in an attempt to break up a memorial service for Rachel Corrie, the American peace activist killed by an army bulldozer in Gaza on Sunday. Witnesses including several dozen foreigners and Palestinian supporters say Israeli armoured vehicles tried to disperse the gathering at the spot in Rafah refugee camp where Ms Corrie was crushed to death.

Congressman Brian Baird’s office arranged a press conference for the Corrie Family on the morning of 19 March 2003 on Capitol Hill, in which the congressman participated and announced his plan to introduce a resolution in Congress later this week. ISM coordinator Huwaida Arraf reports on the development.