Far out. Do allot of promotion for this so many people come.

ISM is hardly a "peace" organization. ISM is funded by Hamas, and runs logistical support for Hamas and other terrorists in Gaza.

Thats a LIE!!! There is no evidence to support this claim.

What is the ISM?

The International Solidarity Movement is a Palestinian-led movement of Palestinian and International activists working to raise awareness of the struggle for Palestinian freedom and an end to Israeli occupation. We utilize nonviolent, direct-action methods of resistance to confront and challenge illegal Israeli occupation forces and policies.

As enshrined in international law and UN resolutions, we recognize the Palestinian right to resist Israeli violence and occupation via legitimate armed struggle. However, we believe that nonviolence can be a powerful weapon in fighting oppression and we are committed to the principles of nonviolent resistance.

# We support the Palestinian right to resist the occupation, as provided for by International Law;
# We call for an immediate end to the occupation and immediate compliance and implementation of all relevant UN resolutions;
# We call for immediate international intervention to protect the Palestinian people and ensure Israel's compliance with International Law.

Due to the lack of respect for Palestinian human rights and human life by the Israeli government and occupation forces, an international presence is needed to support Palestinian nonviolent resistance. Palestinian activists trying to work or protest alone face harsh punishment from Israeli forces. This has included beatings, long-term arrests, serious injury and even death. International activists are thus a resource for Palestinians, both in terms of their presence and as witnesses to the daily humiliation and injustice of the Israeli occupation.

"Palestinian activists trying to work or protest alone face harsh punishment from Israeli forces."

What happens to Palestinians that disagree with those Palestinian activists? Oh yeah, they get murdered by lynch mobs.

The International Solidarity Movement This is the group to which Racheal Corrie belonged and which has been implicated in smuggling the suicide bombers to Israel responsible for the deaths of at least one hundred civilians in Israel
Corrie and friends also helped in hiding arms and even harboring a wanted Islamic Jihand terrorist. Given that they are a terrorist support group that unabashedly defends terrorists

how dare you dorks think you can bring this Brian Avery in to speak on what I know best! and only I can tell in the correct way. so I suppose I will have to be there to correct Brian's mistakes on this topic. time to educate the public...

my work is never done peacenik

British cameraman James Miller was shot dead in Rafah, at the southern tip of the Gaza Strip, on May 2 2003 ­ and his family fears that all the available evidence points to a cold-blooded murder by a member of the Israeli Defence Force. James was walking towards an Israeli armoured personnel carrier to ask permission to leave the area. He was shining a torch onto a white flag. His colleague, reporter Saira Shah, was holding a British passport in her hand. The team were calling out that they were British journalists. The evening had become quiet. There was no cross-fire.

www.justice4jamesmiller.com/timelines.htm

"James was walking towards an Israeli armoured personnel carrier to ask permission to leave the area. He was shining a torch onto a white flag."

Bloody Idiot! It's never a good idea, to go out at night in a war zone, during a curfew.
Don't these jerks know that their arab buddies use all kinds of devious means to approach israelis to kill them?
These useful idiots think they're immune, because they come from a werstern nation...
A recent suicide bombing was carried out by two Brits, who were also members f the ISM (the antitheseis of a "peace" movement)

Gazans Must Spurn Internal Strife and Egyptian Rule

by Ramzy Baroud
2004.03.11

Khalid al-Zabin, a 59-year-old Palestinian journalist was ambushed outside his office in Gaza, on Tuesday, March 2. His body was riddled with bullets. All that is known about his executioners is that they wore masks. No faction has claimed responsibility for his murder and the Palestinian Authority has no suspects.

The disturbing episode is likely to be filed in the ever-expanding cabinet of Gaza’s victims of anarchy and disorder, where Israel is ultimately held responsible. This time however, the stakes are much higher, and blaming Israel alone, simply will not suffice.

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned the murder and called on PA President Yasser Arafat to "act." RSF, among other groups, weighed up the crime in terms of its relation to a trend of assaults targeting Palestinian journalists by unknown assailants. Several other incidents were cited to further highlight the alarming trend: the ransacking of a newspaper’s office, the torching of a journalist’s car and others.

Dear friends, I fear that this will be another Israel-bashing event while a whitewash of Palestinian violence. The ISM seems blind to the violence and incitement occurring under their noses. The PA is corrupt, having pocketed billions in aid meant for the poverty-stricken Palestinians, but the ISM continually targets Israel as "the bad guy." They are obviously trying to protect their population from unending attacks. Note also that "honor killings" of women and lynchings of "collaborators" is a common occurrance in the Palestinian areas, but unknown in Israel. Why does no ISM member make mention of these facts? Rachel Corrie (and I read every letter she wrote home) did not even MENTION the suicide bomber attacks against Israeli civilians OR the tunnels under the Gaza fence the IDF was bulldozing at the time of her accidental death.

The ISM also disingenuously posted photos of Rachel Corrie seemingly taken seconds apart (the first with Rachel holding a bullhorn and wearing a bright orange vest & the second of her crushed body) when the photos were taken hours apart.

By exclusively focusing on IDF violence without any comment on the continuous and unchecked violence committed by Hamas, Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, Islamic Jihad, the PLO, the PFLP, Fatah, and other violent groups dedicated to killing Jews and ridding the entire mideast of any Jewish nation, no matter how small, the ISM presents a distorted and ulimately false image of the actual situation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Look at the death stats. If the IDF were "targeting civilians" as the ISM claims, why are only 2.8% of the Palestinian dead women? Compare that with 25% of the Israeli deaths women. Does the IDF only "shoot into windows" where men are? Does the IDF only "shoot into crowds" of men and only at men who are "walking to school"?

Wake up and smell the coffee my fellow leftists. Backing the Palestinian cause at this point in time is the very opposite of promoting peace. The conflict is not about "the Israeli occupation" but whether Israel has a right to exist at all in the mideast as a Jewish state.

The claims made about the ISM here are untrue, The Israeli army claimed at one time, to have found a gun in an ISM office, but later retracted that claim. The only "link" to terrorism that has been suggested is the fact that two British nationals attended a public vigil for Rachel Corrie and then later blew themselves up in a bar in Tel Aviv. They had no connections to the ISM. Blaming the ISM for this would be like blaming everyone at a demonstration in SF, if two people who attended later blew themselves up in a club in SF. If the Israeli government had any real belief or evidence that the ISM had ANY connections to terrorism, they would have them all removed and prosecuted.
The ISM does state that they recognize the right to legitimate armed resistance, by legitimate, they mean legal. Under international law an occupied people has the right to legitimate armed struggle, which is attacks on military targets, not civilians. In fact the ISM is opposed to suicide bombings and states so on their website www.palsolidarity.org. Furthermore, though they state that they recognize the right of legitimate armed resistance, they state that they are committed to nonviolent resistance.

The ISM opposes suicide bombings and has never worked with terrorists. They live with and protect civilians in their own neighborhoods, from violence by the Israeli Occupation forces. They use nonviolent, direct action to do so.In fact the ISM is one-third Jewish and/or Israeli and was founded by an Israeli and a Palestinian. Of the ten individuals that I know, that have worked in the ISM, half are Jewish. Several have family in Israel or have lived in Israel. The main work of ISM activists are things like: helping ambulances get through checkpoints, so the wounded and dying inside can reach medical treatment, walking children to school, helping to harvest crops and attending nonviolent demonstrations against the occupation and settlement of Palestinian land. They do these things in an effort to protect Palestinian civilans from daily violence by Israeli soldiers, who occupy their towns.

I welcome those who disagree with the ISM to attend this event. This will not be an "Israel bashing event". It will be Brian Avery talking about his personal experiences living and working in the occupied West Bank. The organization he was working with includes many Jews and Israelis who also oppose the Israeli government's occupation and settlement of the West Bank and Gaza. The ISM uses only nonviolent tactics. There is no evidence to suggest any links to terrorists or violence.

Those here who nonviolently oppose the Iraq occupation are not said to be aiding terrorists or to be America bashers. ISM members are no different. They are Israeli, Palestinian and international peace activists who are nonviolently opposing an illegal and very violent occupation. They are not racists, Israel bashers or "self-hating Jews". They are passionate about justice for the oppressed and about reaching a nonviolent solution to this conflict.

Please attend no matter what your viewpoint and make your views known respectfully. Of course Brian will answer your questions and concerns following his talk and film showing.

The ISM has not been linked to any terrorism or violence. There are rumors and unsubstantiated claims, but believe me, the Israeli government has investigated all of these and come up with nothing. This is because the ISM is not a criminal organization, but a group of peace activists.
In reality, the violence has been directed at the ISM. Rachel Corrie was run over by an Israeli bulldozer driver, as she tried to prevent the demolition of a doctor and his family's home. As the bulldozer driver advanced at her, witnesses ran forward shouting and gesturing at him to stop. Their shouts and pleas were ignored. According to witnesses, Rachel managed to scramble to the top of the pile of dirt that the bulldozer had raised beneath her and look into the cab of the bulldozer, before he proceeded forward, crushing her to death. After the soldier ran her over, he backed up over her. Then he offered no help to the witnesses in securing medical treatment for her. All the witnesses agreed that this was no accident. The Israeli troops were well aware of the ISM presence, because they had been dealing with the activists blocking their bulldozers for hours that day and for many days before this incident. In fact, a driver had pinned an activist to a fence earlier in the day with their bulldozer.
Tom Hurndall was working with the ISM in the same area, when he was shot in the back of the head by an Israeli army sniper, while trying to get Palestinian children to safety. The children and the ISM activists had been trying to put up a peace tent at the time. The Israeli army initially claimed that there had been a Palestinian gunmen there, but later admitted there was none. All the witnesses stated that there was no gunfire, except from the Israeli sniper.
Also in Rafah, James Miller, a British cameraman, was shot and killed although he and his colleague were shouting in Hebrew and English that they were journalists, were totally unarmed and he was carrying a white flag. James died.
Brian Avery was shot by an Israeli soldier in an APC, while he stood in the street, with his hands in the air and was clearly identified by his ISM vest. Witnesses say that there was no provocation.
The ISM activists who stand in front of bulldozers are not the first to do so. Because Palestinians are usually shot for doing so, Israelis like Jeff Halper of the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions www.icahd.org have repeatedly blocked bulldozers and rebuilt Palestinian homes. Rabbis from the group, Rabbis for Human Rights,(www.rhr.net) have stood before Israeli army bulldozers. Of the tens of thousands of Palestinian homes demolished in the occupied territories since 1967, 94% were homes of people who had no connection to terrorism. Most were those that were in the way of a road or settlement that the Israeli government wanted to build or homes of people that had not been granted a permit by the Israeli government to build a home on property that they owned. Again see www.icahd.org
These examples are but a fraction of the daily violence perpetrated upon Palestinian civilians in their own towns by Israeli soldiers. Between Sept. 28, 2000 and March 1st, 2004, there have been 2,859 Palestinians killed by the Israeli army. At least 82% of those were civilians and 19% were children.
If you want to know what is really going on in the West Bank and Gaza, see the Israeli human rights group Betselem's website www.btselem.org.
Also see www.gush-shalom.org and www.palestinemonitor.org For history and current articles on the Middle East see The Middle East Research and Information Center website at www.merip.org

Correction on Rabbis for Human Rights website. It is actually www.rhr.israel.net

Israel Defense Forces soldiers on Monday caught a 10-year-old Palestinian boy trying to get a large bomb through a roadblock in the West Bank city of Nablus.

Border Police sappers managed to safely detonate the device. The boy was reportedly with a group of school children.

It has been reported that the boy told the soldiers that he had been offered a large sun of money to carry the device through the roadblock. The military believed the device was destined for a terror attack inside Israel.
-----------------------
peacenik claims that the ISM supports the right of the Arabs to resist the occupation.

However, the method of resistance is to board Israeli buses and blow up children or blow up women and children as they stand outside their homes next to temples.

The Arabs resist occupation by entering resturants and killing people as they eat pizza.

The Arabs resist occupation by killing people at boarder crossings.

The Arabs resist occupation by killing 13 year old boys hiking in the desert by hitting them repeadely with rocks on their heads.

The Arabs resist by sending pregnant women to kill people shopping for groceries.

The Arabs resist by entering bedrooms and kill a mother reading a bedtime story to her two boys.

The Arabs resist by not creating any jobs for their people and limit their activities to buying guns, bombs and stolen cars.

let us never forget these heroes! http://www.seruv.org.il/defaulteng.asp

Kelly: Thanks for your reality check. In Palestinian cities, the best paying jobs are as a terrorist. Its like a terrorism industry.

The PA gets $125 million in aid each month from the EU, the UN relief agency, and from the Arab League (as well as money from the USA and Israel).

Of this money, an estimated one-third goes into Arafat's personal bank account or to buy swanky villas for his friends.

Another third goes directly to fund terrorism.

And only a third gets to the poor, downtrodden Palestinians suffering from malnutrition and poor medical care.

But of course, the ISM blames ISRAEL for the suffering of the Palestinians when they should be blaming the PA and the terror groups!!

Look for a new website in the coming days called www.stoptheism.com

Its currently under construction but should be up and running by mid-September of 2004.

Start ranting self righteously in response -- I'd say that 'Kelley' and Becky' are one. Same racist assertions with no source references.

Dear NOT: If you look back at my last fifty-zillion postings, you will note that I have always used my real name and my true e-mail address so that anyone can contact me further if they so desire. I think it is more credible to use your own name than to hide behind a pseudonym.
My home phone number is listed in the local phonebook as well. But I am NOT Kelly. I don't know who Kelly is but I appreciate and agree with her (his?) comments.

And how brilliant of you to notice that her position and my position are in agreement.

So Kelly is a racist for critically calling into account Arab suicide bombers of pizza eaters? Has a non-Arab suicide bomber gone off somewhere that I don't know about? You are not outraged and sickened by the suicide bomber but instead turn on Kelly (who is!) and blame her for her "racist" attitude?

Yes this statement is racist:

'The Arabs resist by not creating any jobs for their people and limit their activities to buying guns, bombs and stolen cars.'

and I'm not convinced you didn't make it.

Did you notice that this thread is about a peace worker who was shot in the head by the IDF?

No one is advocating bloodshed. But you are not smart enough to differentiate.

Speaking of IQ how brilliant was it for you to stand outside the Civic Center yelling 'Mayor Kennedy is a fascist' while people were leaving the Yolanda King/Martin Luther King honorary. Your stratagy is so moronic that you alienate everyone you come in contact with. I know you think you're on a mission but you are one crazy reality contortionist.

How can you be sure Brian Avery was shot by the IDF? He was in a war zone at night where lots of crossfire was taking place. Couldn't the bullet that hit him be from a Palestinian gun?



As for my demonstration of one outside the Civic: Don't you find it a little repulsive for Kennedy to be in their lauding the daughter of a slain civil rights worker while Kennedy is actively promoting pogroms against homeless people in his own town under the Sleeping Ban and the Blanket Ban? Our group (no, it wasn't just me who was there) tried to get a statement from Yolanda King condemning the Sleeping Ban. All we got was silence from her, from the NAACP, and from all those wonderful liberals who were there to bask in the wonderfulness of a celebration of those who work for the civil and human rights of Americans who have suffered extreme discrimation and persecution under the color of law.

(I don't remember yelling that Kennedy is a Fascist---I think I was yelling he was a hypocrite) I suppose if I had been yelling outside of a WTO conference, you would have joined me in the demonstration. Then we both would have been "courageous activists."

So STILL: What will your position be if the Arabs succeed in wiping out the citizens of Israel in the 2nd Jewish holocaust? Will you regret all your work spent rationalizing the violence of their sworn enemies?

IDF snipers are trained to shoot people in the head. That is what they do. There are also IDF soldiers who shoot people in the back. Does this make the Jewish people as a whole murderers? Do the Israeli people support the IDF? Can you extrapolate this concept and apply it to the Palestinian people?

As far as rationalizing violence, genocide, and holocaust, I don't know where the disconnect is happening in your thought processes but what I said was "No one is advocating bloodshed. But you are not smart enough to differentiate."

kennedy makes me uncomfortable on sight. He is not, however, responsible for your tactics. I distinctly remember you yelling 'fascist' not 'hypocrite'. I also distinctly remember thinking that you had succeeded in alienating the largest gathering of black people I've seen in this city in all the time I've lived here.

snKnB: what have you done since that night to end the Sleeping Ban in Santa Cruz?

...but your tactics (sidestep the issue and try to put me on the defensive) are not working here either.

Becky, you always complain that people avoid the issues you raise and resort to "name-calling." When you point fingers and say, "What have YOU done...?" you, Becky are guilty of the same crime. YOu completely avoid discussion of the points you disagree. If you are so sure, defend your position.

reply to name caller: I didnt "completely avoid the discussion." Read my previous posts.

Its easy to condemn others when they come forward and speak out on an issue. They didn't use the right words. They didn't use the right tone. They should have picked a better venue. They might alienate the people they are trying to persuade. They should have gone through channels, etc.

There are a million excuses for not doing anything.

And now you have the excuse that I am a colonialist-zionist-apartheid-brutal-oppressor-apologizer (as you see it) who should be villified every time I speak or write.

It is YOU who are not addessing the points i have made and are looking for flimsy excuses to put me in a bad light. So be it. I am not responsible for all the small minds in Santa Cruz.

But unlike SnKnB, I am at least out there DOING something about it. Whether it is Scott Kennedy's Sleeping Ban or the vile and false accusations in this article against the Jewish State of Israel which is just trying to defend itself from constant attack.

I don't think many readers will say that my response to SnKnB is the same kind of name-calling as what I have had to suffer from you and your allies who have called me a Nazi, a racist, and that I should "Go and Die".

"I am at least out there DOING something about it."

What have you accomplished?