BY ELISABETH KEAN
On May 9, the Israeli military raided the office of the International Solidarity Movement in Beit Sahour, Palestine. During the raid, two ISM volunteers and a visitor from the Human Rights Watch organisation were detained.
ISM is a Palestinian-led, non-violent solidarity organisation. It attempts to provide protection to the Palestinian people and to enable them to non-violently resist Israel's military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. It has recently been singled out for attack by Israel's government and military.
During the May 9 raid, office computers were taken and virtually everything that remained in the office, including books, pamphlets, CDs and furniture, were damaged or destroyed. The office of the Palestinian Centre for Rapprochement between People, which is not a part of ISM but shares the same office space, was also ransacked.
Since the outcry over the murder of the US ISM volunteer Rachel Corrie on March 16, the Israeli government has become concerned at the level of publicity given to the peace activities of ISM. In the month after Corrie's death, another two ISM volunteers have been attacked, leaving one in a coma and the other severely injured; both attacks were publicised worldwide.
The Israeli military has also launched a campaign to discredit the ISM by accusing it of being associated with "terrorism". To those who are aware of the aims of ISM, this is an obvious fallacy.
On April 16, the Israeli military's chief of staff, General Moshe Yaalon, stated in a radio interview that he had given the order to remove the ISM activists from Rafah in the Gaza Strip. Yaalon justified this order by claiming that the ISM had lied about the circumstances of Corrie's death (witnesses described how Corrie was deliberately run over by a Israeli army bulldozer) and were also being dishonest by stating that there was a need to protect Palestinians from Israeli military aggression.
Yallon also declared that British ISM volunteer Tom Hurndall, the latest victim of the military's murderous intentions towards the ISM, was standing close to a Palestinian "terrorist" when he was shot in the head. This claim was a transparent attempt to justify the targeting of an unarmed international peace volunteer. In truth, Hurndall was protecting two little Palestinian girls, who were too scared to move to safety when the military began to threaten them. Yaalon confirmed it was an Israeli military sniper who shot Hurndall.
Following Yaalon's interview, Israeli military acts of aggression towards the internationals in Rafah intensified. It culminated with the May 3 killing of British journalist James Miller as he was walking towards an Israeli tank. He was wearing a flack jacket and a helmet with "TV" clearly written on it, and was carrying a white flag, which he was waving. He was shot in the throat.
On May 8, the Israeli military began to insist that all international visitors who pass through its checkpoints into the Gaza Strip sign a declaration that waives their rights of protection under the Geneva Conventions. These "waivers" absolve Israel from responsibility should foreigners be killed or injured. Also, the declaration specifically states that the individual signing has no connection to the ISM.
Both Amnesty International and the British government have condemned the declaration. AI stated that it was concerned that the aim of the "new and drastic restrictions is to prevent outside monitoring and scrutiny of the conduct of the Israeli army. It is also concerned that these restrictions will lead to more killings in Gaza".
A spokesperson for the ISM in Rafah also stated that the organisation "is now more than ever committed to remaining on the ground, as an international presence there is now more necessary than ever".
However, the Israeli military has begun to arrest and deport those it suspects of being ISM volunteers in Rafah and those trying to enter the Gaza Strip, even after the waiver has been signed.
The only possible reason for this is that Israel fears that the ISM will continue to highlight the grave human rights abuses being committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip. Now that another "peace process" is beginning, Israel clearly intends to continue its abuses without the eyes of the world watching.
To support the work of the ISM, please go to <http://www.palsolidarity.org> for a list of ways to help. For more details of the conditions in Rafah, visit <http://www.rafah.vze.com>.
[Elisabeth Kean has lived in Rafah, Gaza Strip, as a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement.]
From Green Left Weekly, May 21, 2003.
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