“It has been twenty eight hours since, at 8:30 PM on Thursday evening, May 8, 2003, two British internationals were detained at Erez border crossing at the entrance to the Gaza Strip… Nick was interrogated for many hours by the Shin Bet (Israeli Security Services)…. They are being told that they are being deported. ” Read this ISM advisory and take action. British citizens additionally advised to protest to their governmental representatives. Read more about ISM Update: Detention of Two British Activists at Erez Border Crossing
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
The Electronic Intifada has obtained the text of a document distributed by the Israeli military to foreign diplomatic representatives. The document is entitled “Form to be filled out and submitted to IDF authorities prior to entry to the Gaza Strip” and is aimed at excluding foreign peace activists from undertaking nonviolent direct action against Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip. Read more about Text of new IDF declaration to be signed by foreign nationals entering Gaza
The Karameh Campaign (Concordia University)7 May 2003
“The Karameh Campaign has been launched in Montreal, Canada to respond to the ongoing attempt to criminalize Palestinian solidarity organizing at Concordia University, other universities and communities, throughout Montreal and around the world. The campaign is endorsed by individuals and members of other community groups committed to issues of social justice. The word Karameh means Dignity in Arabic.” Read more about Karameh Campaign launched to defend Palestinian solidarity organizing
While the Dutch celebrate the 58th anniversary of Germany’s capitulation, which meant the end of German occupation, activists organized a street theatre performance in the centre of Amsterdam raising awareness about military occupations supported by the Dutch government. Read more about Pro-Palestinian activists enforce a mock checkpoint in centre of Amsterdam
The commemoration programme was built on the traditional Arab format of the condolence visit (ta’aziya). All participants were invited to wear mourning clothes, and behind the whole area hung an obituary notice, an eighteen-foot-long banner inscribed with words: ‘The sisters of the children of Baghdad and their families, and the paternal uncles of the families of Mosul, Al-Nasirya, Jenin, Rafah, and Nablus, and their kin living in the Arab world and abroad, mourn with deepest sorrow their dearly beloved deceased: The victims of American and Israeli aggression, cut down in their childhood, and their youth, and their prime, members of humanity’.” Rosemary Sayigh reports from Beirut on a symbolically charged protest action. Read more about "We are not just numbers": Commemorating the war victims of Iraq and Palestine
“Young Western activists living with Palestinians to act as human shields against Israeli raids are debating how to minimize their risk of dying after suffering a sudden rash of casualties.” Nidal al-Mughrabi reports for Reuters from Rafah in the Occupied Gaza Strip. Read more about Western human shields battered in Mideast; rethink strategies
“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
“Rachel Corrie represented the finest tradition of nonviolent peacemaking,” said Rachael Kamel of the Jewish Mobilization for a Just Peace, in Philadelphia. “An investigation is needed not only to clarify the circumstances of her death, but also to help Congress and the American public understand more fully the violence carried out every day in the occupied territories. “Rachel Corrie is a hero,” said Washington-based Charles Lenchner, president of Jews for Peace in Palestine and Israel. “These international volunteers represent the best of what American values are all about—Martin Luther King-style action.” Philip Weiss of the New York Observer examines growing sympathies among American Jewish groups with the goals of Americans like Rachel Corrie. Read more about Rachel Corrie Died In Palestine Rubble, But Her Issue Lives