Aims

About ISM-London

The ISM-London movement works in support of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). The ISM is a rapidly expanding Palestinian led-movement movement consisting of Internationals and local Palestinians, based in the occupied Palestinian territories. The presence of the ISM in the occupied Palestinian territories creates a space within which Palestinians can conduct non-violent means of resistance to the Israeli system of terror, apartheid and illegal occupation.

ISM-London carries out direct actions in the UK, working with Jewish and other peace groups, bringing attention to the violent apartheid system and illegal Israeli occupation under which Palestinians suffer. As with the anti- apartheid movement in South Africa, the fast growing ISM movement works to promote a sporting, cultural and academic boycott of Israeli goods. The ISM also holds fundraising gigs and parties in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

ISM Mission Statement

A Campaign Against Israeli Occupation Of Palestine and For A Just and Viable Peace

Palestinians have lived under an illegal occupation for decades. Through UN resolutions, the nations of the world have repeatedly asked Israel to respect international law, to stop brutalising Palestinians, and to end the Occupation of their land. Under the protection of its powerful ally and benefactor, the United States, Israel has been able to continue the occupation, build illegal settlements, deny the most basic of human rights, and pursue policies aimed at removing all Palestinians from their homeland.

Israeli Prime Minister Sharon and the Bush administration say that there can be no negotiations under violence. That is true. However, what they do not admit is: The Occupation is violence. The Occupation must end before there can be true progress toward justice, and justice is the only basis there can be for true and meaningful peace.

The Palestinian response over the years has been some attempts at armed struggle (as is their right), but mostly peaceful protests, demonstrations, and appeals to Israeli courts. The vast majority of Palestinians are peaceful, and want only for the Israelis to treat them with justice and respect, and to live in peace with them as neighbours. Although Israel points to the occasional acts of Palestinian violence as a grave problem, it is clear that the Occupation itself is the overwhelming, and continuous act of collective violence in the area.

Because Israeli violence against civilians in Palestine has worsened, and the repression of the Occupation has tightened, many international allies of the Palestinian cause want to do more than write letters, demonstrate, present programs, form solidarity delegations, or send humanitarian aid. They want to do something more dramatic to stop Israeli attacks on Palestinian neighbourhoods and people with bombs and bullets, or closures and curfews, and to stop the United States from massively rewarding Israel for its brutality and protecting its occupation of Palestine. They want to take direct action that will oppose the Occupation and force Israel to withdraw from the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza.

If this describes your feelings, this call is for you.

An international citizen’s peace-making campaign formed in August 2001, using the proactive tactics of non-violent direct action epitomised by Gandhi, Archbishop Tutu, Dr. Martin Luther King, and other practitioners of creative non-violent resistance.

This is an invitation to join that campaign, to support it financially, or to join our efforts to influence the news media.

The International Solidarity Movement aims to do four things:-

Scope And Ground Rules

International activists have already played a significant role in bringing attention to the Occupation, and protecting Palestinians who try to protest Israeli brutality peacefully. The usual response of the Israeli military to peaceful demonstrations by Palestinians is to fire tear gas, rubber-coated bullets, and sometimes live ammunition at the crowds.

For example: “Shedma” is an Israeli military base that caused tremendous suffering for the peaceful people of Beit Sahour during the first three months of the Intifada. More than 200 homes were damaged, two mothers and a young man were killed, and ten people were injured. On December 28th 2000, hundreds of Palestinians, Israelis and Internationals marched together demanding an immediate evacuation and dismantlement of this military base. The presence of internationals kept the Israeli military from using violence. Italian member of parliament Lousia Morgantini (member of the European Parliament) and the Italian Peace association (Associazione per la pace) deserve special thanks for being part of this and other international actions.

The same thing has been true of demonstrations at checkpoints and roadblocks, which are important targets for action because they are examples of the Occupation’s disruption of everyday life for Palestinians. They prevent thousands of people from accessing work, trade, basic services and even emergency medical treatment. International observers prevent Israeli soldiers from committing the usual harassments and brutalities done when only Palestinians are present. An organisation, International Checkpoint Watch has formed because of the success of this tactic. Internationals have often participated in dismantling roadblocks with their bare hands. They have prevented untold numbers of Palestinians from being wounded or killed.

Another, very dramatic, tactic is to provide human shields against Israeli military or settler attacks against Palestinians. An Israeli woman, Neta Golan, did that very thing to protect Palestinians from her own nation’s troops and settlers, as they picked olives. As the Christian Peacemaker Teams motto says, Neta “got in the way” by putting her life on the line for true peace.

The International Solidarity Movement is also dedicated to creating ongoing and continuous support for justice efforts there by encouraging internationals to volunteer for ongoing programmes of civil disobedience and development of Palestinian economic infrastructure, and in other ways to work for justice in Palestine, an end to Israel’s occupation and its subsidisation by the United States, and a reconciliation between the government and people of Israel with their Palestinian neighbours.

The non-violence ground-rules for the ISM are as follows :-