Israeli forces raided the ISM office this morning, confiscating equipment and material and snatching three women. Dozens of soldiers, border police and civilian police officers raided the ISM office, confiscating all computers, not only in the ISM office but in the nearby office of the Palestinian Centre for Rapprochement. Files, CDs, and photos were all pillaged, while soldiers broke equipment and damaged office space. Israeli forces kidnapped Palestinian volunteer, Fida, American volunteer, Flo, and a worker with Human Rights Watch visiting the office. Read more about Israel raids offices of International Solidarity Movement
“On April 30, 2003 a suicide bomber and an accomplice tried to enter ‘Mike’s Place’ bar in Tel Aviv. One murdered three people in addition to killing himself. The other escaped…. There have been media reports trying to connect these two men to ISM. There is no connection. They never tried to infiltrate ISM. They never contacted the ISM.” Read more about ISM clarifies suicide bombers had "no connection" with organization
On March 30, the Washington Post published the last e-mails of Rachel Corrie, an American peace activist crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer driver, on 16 March 2003 in Gaza. On April 19, the Post published a letter by CAMERA director Eric Rozenman, entitled “Last E-Mails of an Indoctrinated Activist”, attacking Corrie. Adam Shapiro, organizer of the International Solidarity Movement that Corrie worked with in Gaza, responded with this letter to the Post, published on April 25th. Read more about ISM's Adam Shapiro responds to CAMERA's distortions in the Washington Post
“At 1:00 PM today Anthony and Jocelyn Hurndall made their way to Yebna, Rafah where their son Tom was shot on Friday, April 12, by an Israeli sniper. The entourage of two range rovers and a UN vehicle arrived at the ISM apartment where a throng of reporters and photographers awaited their arrival.” This update from Tom Wallace, International Solidarity Movement media contact in Beit Sahour, chronicles a family’s search for justice. Read more about Parents of Tom Hurndall visit the site of his shooting
“Thomas Hurndall, a 21-year-old activist from London, UK […] was about to leave, when he noticed two small girls still in front of the roadblock and in the line of fire. He was moving to help them when an Israeli soldier in the tower, about 300 meters in front of him, shot a high calibre sniper bullet directly into his head. He was wearing an orange fluorescent jacket with reflective stripes, and was in full body view of the tower.” Read more about ISM Rafah: Statement on the shooting of Thomas Hurndall
Between 4:30 and 5:00 PM today Israeli snipers shot another ISM activist in the head. Tom Hurndall from Manchester Britain is currently in critical condition in an Israeli hospital. He is 22 years old. According to Laura, the activists were being shot at while protecting some children from Israeli gunfire. Tom was in plain view of the sniper towers and was wearing a bright orange fluorescent jacket with reflective stripes. The nine ISM activists and many children were in the process of leaving the area. Sniper fire from the tower was hitting the wall close beside the children, who were afraid to move. Tom was attempting to bring them to safety when he was shot. There was no shooting or resistance coming from the Palestinian side at all. Read more about ISM: Israeli soldier shoots British ISM activist Tom Hurndall in Gaza
On Thursday, On April 10, an undercover Israeli special forces team assassinated two Palestinian men in the middle of the5{Tulkaremis downtown market area. On the morning of April 10, Israeli soldiers shot and injured two civilian Palestinian brothers, both teenagers, in the Jibna area of Rafah, Palestinian witnesses say. ISM Media Coordinator Tom Wallace reports. Read more about Israel kills four in Tulkarem and Rafah
In the small hours of this morning the Israeli Army and border police invaded Tulkarem refugee camp with attack helicopters, tanks, APCs, hummers (special forces vehicles) and hundreds of soldiers and border policemen. After taking control of the camp, they began to round up the camp’s entire male population between the ages of 15 and 45. At dawn the men were marched in groups to the Tulkarem refugee camp’s School for Girls where they were held until for varying periods of time before being taken away in trucks. This update offers detail about what ISM activists witnessed at the scene. Read more about Israeli Army Invades Tulkarem Refugee Camp
International Solidarity Movement activist Brian Avery was shot in the face with heavy machine gun fire in Jenin on 5 April 2003 by Israeli troops in an armored personnel carrier. Tobias Karlsson, International Solidarity Movement coordinator for the Jenin area, offered the following annotated map giving more information about the incident, thus highlighting the incredibility of the Israeli army’s claim that the shooting was a “crossfire”-type accident. Read more about Brian Avery shooting: Annotated map from eyewitness Tobias Karlsson
