Longterm Volunteers
ISM is currently looking for experienced international activists willing to come to Palestine for a period of at least three months. We are interested in recruiting activists to help with campaign coordination and to coordinate within the regions. As a longtermer, you will participate in:

Supporting Palestinian communities in demonstrating against the confiscation of their land by settlers and the Israeli military.

Working with Israeli and Palestinian organizations working to end the occupation through non-violent means.

Documenting human rights violations against Palestinians.

Monitoring checkpoints.

Participating in Palestinian-led non-violent direct action against the occupation.

Working side by side with Palestinians in working and harvesting crops.

Experienced Media Coordinator
ISM is also looking for an experienced media coordinator. The ideal candidate would be someone who supports the work of ISM, and who has
experience, either with public relations, journalism or videography.

We are looking for someone with strong English editing and web skills. Arabic and Hebrew are not necessary, but are both a plus. There is possible compensation involved, as this position involves a lot of coordination. As media coordinator you will be responsible for:

Updating the palsolidarity.org website daily.

Editing reports from activists working with Palestinian communities in the West Bank.

Editing and uploading video.

Maintaining and initiating contacts with journalists in order to publicize ISM's work.

Writing press releases and media alerts.

More Information
For more information on how to volunteer with the ISM in Palestine, visit the Join Us In Palestine section of the website.

If you are interested in applying for the position of Media Coordinator, please send letters of application and/or resumes to info@palsolidarity.org

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A Palestinian living in the Hebron region was passing through his land on the 11th of August, 2007, when 5 soldiers ordered him to stop. The soldiers told the Palestinian that it was not his land, however when he asked for papers to prove the soldiers' claim, he was arrested and taken to a military base in Tel Rumeida. There he was detained for 15 minutes, and subsequently released to return to his land.

This morning at 7AM human rights workers rushed to the other side of Nablus in Ta'awun Street where 8 homes had been taken over by the Israeli army. They joined the medical assistance relief team that had already arrived at the scene. 10-15 military vehicles and a bulldozer were in the street. In this case the families were told to leave their homes at 2AM. People were roused from their beds, among them small children including a 2 1/2 month old baby, and were forced to leave their homes, which were then occupied.

One of the occupied houses was used for interrogation purposes - people were taken from the surrounding homes and brought there for questioning. There were a lot of holes in the homes, shattered glass and destroyed rooms, crying women and children and many projectiles that were fired as well - 2 of them Israeli and one of them, the largest, referred to as an energy bomb, was made in the USA. Maher Awada, aged 19 and Omar Ma'alla, aged 20, who were arrested, are purported to be wanted by the Israeli army. Forcing families from their homes as the Israeli army did is a form of collective punishment and is illegal under international law. For some of the families, this has been the third and fourth time this year that the soldiers have invaded their homes and destroyed their personal belongings. One of the mothers has two sons in Israeli prison: Ihsan Awada, 25, who has been imprisoned for 5 months and Husam Awada for 1 year. She also related how one of the invasions took place right before her daughter was to be married - they shot holes in the clothes cupboards and then burned all their clothes, including the wedding dress and trousseau. Others described crawling on their hands and knees to keep from being hit from the soldiers' gunfire.

The incursions, explosions and shootings are a nightly occurrence in Nablus.

Nablus: Occupation Forces Use Family Home As Sniper Post

At around 7:50pm a group of seven internationals were alerted to a house occupation by Israeli forces which had lasted for almost 20 hours. Israeli soldiers occupied the home of the Dwakat family, which consists of 2 brothers, Muhammed 28 years old and Hamed 29 years old, the wife of one of the brothers, 25 years old, and their two small girls aged three and six years old. Residents suspected that Israeli soldiers were interested occupying the house due to its location facing the Balata refugee camp. This was the second time the house had been invaded in the last three months.

The international group arrived at 8:05pm. After trying to assess the situation from locals who lived in the area and who knew the family, a group of six went up to the second floor of the apartment building while one person stayed behind outside the house to monitor the situation as a safety precaution. Internationals knocked on the door for about 5 minutes and asked to see if the family were alright. The door opened slightly and was immediately shut again. The room inside was in complete darkness as was the rest of the building.

After another minute or so one male soldier with an American sounding accent opened the door to speak with the internationals assuring them that the family was fine and was in need of no medical attention. He asked for the video camera to be turned off and then brought one of the brothers to the door to show he had been unharmed. The soldier then promptly shut the door and refused to engage in further dialogue.

The American international stationed outside the building was brought in to try and resume negotiation with the soldier. She entered the building while another international went outside to take her place. After speaking with the soldier she was able to see that the two young children were unharmed, but was unable to get inside the apartment.

After placing a call to the humanitarian line of the DCO, the internationals were assured the family would be released very soon. Within the next few minutes, a large army vehicle arrived and parked directly outside the entrance to the apartment block while another couple of smaller armoured army vehicles arrived and parked on each adjacent side. At the same time other army vehicles were seen heading towards Balata refugee camp at which time the internationals decided to move to the camp while another two stayed behind to ensure the release of the family. At approximately 9:10pm almost an hour after the international group arrived, 10 soldiers vacated the apartment block and immediately drove away. Prior to that one of the soldiers who had driven up in an armoured vehicle had requested to speak to the two internationals away from the entrance to the apartment block stating it was not safe for him to be there, however only one of the internationals went to speak with him to find out exactly when the family would be released while one stayed facing the entrance to the building. After the soldiers were seen to have left and started driving away the two ran upstairs to check on the family. They all appeared to be fine and were full of smiles especially the two young children.

Hamed Dwakat told the internationals that a group of ten soldiers had rung the bell at around 2am. The soldiers asked Hamed if there was anyone else present in the building and told him that they would open fire on him if they were lied to. The soldiers then entered the apartment and told the family not to speak at all. They were held in the kitchen for 20 hours. A soldier sat pointing a gun at them the whole time while the other soldiers occupied the rooms facing the refugee camp. The family were able to eat snacks and use the toilet throughout. He also told us that at around 6am four hours from the time the soldiers entered, young children on the street below suspected there were soldiers inside and started throwing rocks up to the second floor window, to which the soldiers responded by opening fire.

By Mijal Grinberg, Haaretz Correspondent

Left-wing activists and Palestinians cut a 30-meter hole in the security fence south of Mount Hebron on Saturday in a demonstration against its construction and route, which they said deviates from the Green Line.

The activists said it took Israel Defense Forces at least an hour to reach the site of the incident. There were no clashes between the activists and IDF troops.

Jonathan Pollack, one of the protesters, told Haaretz the group had arrived at the site at around 1:30 PM, and had joined forces with a group of Palestinians from a village near Dahariya.

The demonstrators even succeeded in disarming the electronic wiring and posts that reinforce the fence.

Pollack stressed that the part of the fence that was destroyed deviates from the Green Line set out in the ceasefire agreement following the 1948 War of Independence. However, he said the activists' Saturday protest was against the fence in its entirety. "The fence is a symbol of the occupation, whose aim is to control the Palestinian population," he said.

A Ordinary Afternoon in Jenin Refugee Camp, 9th August 2007.

It is 5.00 pm at the Jenin Governement hospital when the first rumours are spread that the IOF is once again on its way to Mukhaiyem Jenin, the Jenin Refugee Camp. Ambulance drivers jump in their cars, make their self ready for what usually happens when the Israeli Army enters the town.

Half an hour later they arrive. 7 Israeli military jeeps and one caterpillar power shovel, coming from the north through Haifa street, enter the area around the hospital. They drive along the streets, sometimes stop for awhile, disappear and come back after a few minutes. The more laps they take, the more Palestinians enter the area. In the end more then 500 Palestinian men and kids border the street, turning the area into a this typical Palestinian battlefield, that is a stone rain against Israeli soldiers, sitting well protected behind some centimetre of bulletproof steel.

Out of tiny portholes muzzles of Israeli M16 rifles can be seen, when the first shoot are fired. The IOF shoots directly inside the camp, responded by single shoots of the Islamic Jihad fighters. 14.000 people live here, crowed on not more then one squarekilometer. The risk of killing somebody by randomly shooting inside this massive populated area is enormous.

But for the Israeli army it seems to be more a chance then a risk. Nobody of the Palestinians knows why they came this time and perhaps not even the Israeli soldiers would have good explanations. In the end it was just another example of the daily humiliations and provokations, the inhabitans of Jenin Camp have to bear. None of the soldiers made a single attempt to arrest or targeted kill somebody. It was just another episode of showing the Israeli supremacy, showing that the IOF can go everywhere, ausing massive violence without any reason, even in one of the last strongholds of Palestinian resistance. And finally it was another degradation of Fatahs al-Aqsa Brigade, who recently agreed with laying down their weapons and a mutual ceasefire and who didn't fire a single shoot since this time.

More then three hours later the tragic game is over. The Palestinian kids go back to their houses, leaving back a street, covered with stones and garbage. Another time the IOF caused unprovoked and unnecessary violence, just because they are able to. The ambulance drivers return to their station, forntunatley empty-handed, knowing that it won't take long until they have to come back.

February 2007 marks the second anniversary of the weekly non-violent protests in opposition to the "work-site of shame" for the Apartheid Wall that has annexed almost 60% of the land of Bil'in village in the West Bank. Bil'in has become a symbol both of the theft of land across Palestine and of the power of non-violent grassroots movements in building local and international resistance to Occupation.

The International Conference will follow upon a Palestinian conference to be held in March to extend the Popular Non-Violent Struggle across Palestine and offers Israelis and Internationals opportunity to join their Palestinian partners in spreading non-violent resistance to the injustice suffered by Palestinians: land confiscation, home demolitions, checkpoints, and imprisonment behind the Wall.

The year between June 2007 and May 2008 provides an effective framework for highlighting the ongoing Palestinian catastrophe: 90 years since the Balfour Declaration, 60 years since the Nakba, 40 years of Occupation, 25 years since Sabra/Shatila, 20 years since the First Intifada, 5 years of building the Apartheid Wall. Join us in strategizing effective, concerted non-violent action in Palestine and across the globe!

WHEN: 18 – 20 APRIL, 2007 with a major non-violent action on the final day
WHERE: Bil'in Village near Ramallah, Palestine (http://www.bilin-village.org)

SPEAKERS:

• Dr. Azmi Bishara, Palestinian Israeli Knesset member


• Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Irish Nobel Peace Prize recipient


• Dr. Ilan Pappe, author of The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine


• Luisa Morgantini, Italian EU Parliament member and Peace Activist


• Stéphane Hessel, former French Ambassador


• Jean-Claude Lefort, French parliament member


• Amira Hass, author and journalist, Ha'aretz


• Sam Bahour, Palestinian activist and entrepreneur


• Representatives of the Bil'in Popular Committee

WORKSHOPS: NON-VIOLENT STRATEGIES TO OPPOSE OPPRESSION

• Boycott, divestment, and sanctions


• Building economic independence


• Media & Advocacy


• Direct Action

COST: Accommodation per night, 20 Euros plus Conference Registration, 20 Euros per day (April 18 -19)

TO REGISTER and for information on options for pre-and-post conference activities see: www.bilin-village.org

by ISM Hebron, March 12th



The Palestinian Popular Committee (PPC) for Hebron called a demonstration at 10 am today to protest the continued closure of Shuhada St., the main route through the city centre. About 30 people gathered in their offices and marched with flags and placards through the Bab Azzawiya market area to the Tel Rumeida checkpoint.

They gathered there peacefully and listened to speeches from Azmir al Ajoun, other local representatives and representatives from Christian Peacemaker Teams and the International Solidarity Movement.



Members of TIPH and EAPPI and various Palestinian groups including the Enlist for Peace Organisation were also present. The crowd moved right up to the checkpoint and spoke to the Israeli soldiers there who closed the checkpoint.



Everyone then went back to the PPC offices for tea and a discussion. It was agreed that there is a need for unity between all the various groups resisting the occupation and that the struggle needs to be non-violent.

At 12.55 pm a vehicle from Medecins Sans Frontiers was stopped by soldiers at the checkpoint. They refused to allow them to pass and visit patients in Tel Rumeida. They held them up for an hour and 20 minutes before finally getting the authorization from superior officers to let them pass. MSF say that they have been held up every time they come to Tel Rumeida since this group of soldiers arrived two weeks ago.

Israeli workers were digging all day in front of the Abu Aisha house again. They were drilling into the foundations of the house.





Apparently they want to install yet more CCTV cameras. Afterwards they dumped all the rocks and dirt from the hole on Abu Hamdi's land. He is very upset about this but does not know what he can do about it. He argued with the JCB driver but got no response.

30 settler boys aged between 8 and 12 yrs attacked the Al Bayed family house on Shuhada St. with stones. They broke the glass on two solar panels. Human rights workers were called. They met 10 of the boys rampaging near the checkpoint and followed them up the hill to Tel Rumeida settlement. Some of them attempted to attack another house on the hill but were prevented by a soldier.

by ISM Hebron, February 21st

Human rights workers (HRWs) in Hebron received a request for international presence in Umm Salamuna village south of Bethlehem as the IOF had invaded the village. They arrived in Umm Salamuna village around 9:30 am and joined internationals from other groups. At a Palestinian vineyard about 8 Israeli soldiers, 2 security guards, and 2 surveyors were trespassing. The Palestinian locals asked them why they were there, because the initial plan for building the Apartheid Wall was supposed to be on top of the hill. They claimed a court order had been given to build the Wall down the hill in the vineyards and surveyors needed to measure the land. The two armed security guards who came along with the surveyors were Arabic speaking Israelis who got this job recently.

The surveyors protected by soldiers and security guards marked the rocks and land with blue spray paint and blue tape. The HRWs documented their illegal activity. Soldiers pretended not to be able to understand English when questioned. The DCO* arrived but was not able to give any convincing explanation for this action, except that it was a court order. No official document was presented. All of them eventually left the site around 12:00 pm.

It later transpired that the Israeli Supreme Court had decided to reject the village's appeal for work on the Wall to be stopped pending a court hearing on the route of the Wall through Umm Salamuna and other South Bethlehem villages. Villagers expect demolition work to commence soon.

*District Coordination Officer - the civilian administration wing of the Israeli Military in the West Bank

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In Tel Rumeida at around 4:00 pm, a group of colonists consisting of 5 women, 1 man, and about 10 children trespassed in Issa Amro's garden on Tel Rumeida Hill. They had kept coming to his garden on and off since the morning, but stayed in the garden for about half an hour in the afternoon. Soldiers said the colonists had permission to stay there. Around 4:30 pm, as the colonists saw police on the way, they left.

At around the same time groups of women and children were walking to the Jewish cemetery on Tel Rumeida street and back. At 5.20 pm two women from the Abu Aisha family were pushed and grabbed by colonists who were part of a larger group as they walked home past the Tel Rumeida settlement. Soldiers quickly intervened and the women were able to get into their house. A crowd of colonists gathered and were shouting abuse at the Abu Aishas. Police arrived five minutes later and eventually cleared all the colonists off the street. It would seem that no arrests were made.

by Stop the Wall, February 16th



M'riha, a Bedouin community west of Jenin, came under attack on Thursday 15th February by Occupation Forces who destroyed four sheep farms under the pretext of the community lacking necessary "building permits". Occupation Soldiers, flanked by several bulldozers, entered the village at 9.30 am. The area was closed off and the Bedouin community was prevented from rescuing the fodder, equipment and the water containers from which the sheep drink from the buildings.

The owners of these farms are Qa'ed Hamdouni, Nawaf Mustafa Hamfouni, Tawfiq Hamdouni and Mustafa Saleh. All of them take their main source of livelihood from these farms, and engage in agricultural production that is vital to the Bedouin community as a whole in that area. As such the people from M'riha resisted this latest assault collectively.

The community gathered around the area and started to resist the attack with their bare hands. Clashes ensued and the people broke through into the area under demolition. The destruction was temporarily brought to a halt as Palestinian Bedouins stood in front of the bulldozers. Occupation Forces, with their guns and military might, had to beat people back so bulldozers could resume the demolition.

The pretense for the demolition on Palestinian infrastructure – as in the vast majority of cases - was the lack of necessary "building permits". Farmers and workers from M'riha saw the action as part of the wider Israeli Occupation plan to transfer the people and to eventually isolate and confiscate their land. One goal in issuing such demolition orders is often the clearing of the land for confiscation.

Stripping the Bedouins of their land is an attack on the century's strong ties held by such communities with their traditional livelihoods. It results in the creation of more refugees and is part of the systematic and coordinated policy of removing Palestinians from their lands.

M'riha is composed of 45 Bedouin families who have already suffered expulsion and dispossession. They are refugees, expelled from the lands which were cleansed of Palestinians in 1948. They settled immediately behind the Green line in Jenin district and re-established their community. In 2002, with the construction of the Apartheid Wall, the Occupation forced them to leave a second time. With the latest attack, this Bedouin community is now subjected to devastating measures which threaten their means of livelihood for a third time.