July 2007

Re-Examining the Six Day War

Protesting 40 Years of Occupation in Washington, D.C.

Life Under Occupation: What Would You Do?

ISM Turns Six, NorCal ISM Five

Setting Sail to Break the Siege of Gaza

Labor Solidarity Versus the Occupation

Bikes Not Bombs

Volunteers Urgently Needed in Palestine

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Re-Examining the Six-Day War

By Henry Norr, June 2007

To mark the Occupation’s fortieth anniversary, we proudly present this well-researched summary of how it began. Examining the Zionist narrative and reframing history with a human-rights perspective is an essential step toward a just peace. We encourage you to share this article with friends and coworkers who only know the one version.
—Eds.

To most Israelis and Americans, the history of the June 1967 Middle East war is a classic David-and-Goliath tale.

Plucky little Israel, the story goes, was peacefully minding its own business until the neighborhood bully, Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser (heavily armed by the Soviet Union), suddenly massed his troops and, in cahoots with Jordan, Syria and the rest of the Arab world, prepared to launch an attack intended to wipe out the Jewish state. Backs to the wall and abandoned to their fate by the rest of the world, the Israelis had no
choice but to strike out at their enemies. By dint of courage, cleverness, and determination - and with the Judeo-Christian God clearly on their side - they pulled off a military miracle: in just six days they not only shattered the enemy’s forces but also quadrupled their territory, capturing the Sinai Desert and Gaza Strip from Egypt, East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank from Jordan, and the Golan Heights from Syria.

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Protesting 40 Years of Occupation in Washington, D.C.

By S. Bloom, June 2007

On June 10th, 2007, thousands of demonstrators from all over the U.S. converged on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol to protest 40 years of Israel’s illegal military occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and the Syrian Golan Heights. The rally and march to the Washington Monument which followed were sponsored by the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and United for Peace and Justice, two major national coalitions. More than 300 organizations nationwide took part in the demonstration; these included the Northern California ISM support group and many Jewish groups from across the country.

The following day, I and hundreds of other activists participated in a day of lobbying our Congressional representatives. I was able to join a large delegation that visited the offices of Barbara Lee, Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein. Of the many things we discussed, one of the main points was that ‘an overwhelming number of Americans believe in peace, justice and human rights.’

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Life Under Occupation: What Would You Do?

By Ella Minnow, June 2007

Did you know that YOUR tax dollars are helping to deny basic human rights to 3.5 million people? Take a minute to imagine what life would be like for you and your family in such a place.

■ Soldiers calling YOUR great-great-great-grandparents’ lands a “military zone” control every aspect of your life: whether and where you can travel, work, or attend school on any given day.

■ YOU and YOUR children face daily humiliation, beatings and shootings at an ever-growing maze of blockades, tunnels, and trenches.

■ YOUR land is further crisscrossed by highways that only your oppressors can travel on—while you have to leave your car and walk on rocks and dirt to reach your destination.

■ YOU are separated from your work, your school, your neighbors, by a 32-foot-high wall. Its prison-like towers house heavily armed 19-year-old soldiers watching your every move.

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ISM Turns Six, NorCal ISM Five

By Paul Larudee, May 2007

Six years may not seem very old, but given the threats to ISM, many of us are gratified that it remains an effective movement. If anything, the need for nonviolent resistance and solidarity with Palestinians has increased, and volunteers andsupporters continue to step forward.

In the past year, ISM-Palestine has reformed itself with a steering committee, which has vastly improved our decision-making ability, previously hampered by the difficulty of convening the membership across the more than 500 barriers and closures in the West Bank. We remain committed to consensus procedure and to the leadership and guidance of local Palestinian community organizers, but the new com-mittee allows us to respond more effectively.

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Setting Sail to Break the Siege of Gaza

June 2007

an unarmed civilians break the siege of Gaza with a few sailing and fishing vessels? That’s the plan of the Free Gaza Movement, a group of Palestinians, Israelis, Americans, Europeans, Africans, and Asians. They include Jews, Muslims, Christians, and Buddhists. On board will be clergy, celebrities, members of parliament, farmers, fishermen, language teachers, piano technicians, and Nakba and Holocaust survivors.

For forty years, Israel has controlled the lives of Palestinians in Gaza. Israel says Gaza is no longer occupied, yet it denies Palestinians access to jobs, travel, visitors, commerce, education, health, and medical care. It has made the Gaza Strip into a prison controlled by land, sea, and air. Israel forces Palestinians to live on the brink of humanitarian catastrophe. Food, people, medicine, and supplies often wait for weeks at the only three crossings, and often do not cross at all. Is it anywonder is that economic activity is negligible?

The small flotilla will travel to Gaza at the invitation of Palestinian non-governmental organizations. It will enter Gaza territory directly from international waters and not travel through Israeli territory nor seek Israeli permission to enter. If impeded, it will non-violently challenge Israel’s blockade through civil resistance. The voyage is expected to take
place in September. ISM endorses this movement, and the Northern California ISM group has supported its expenses to the extent that we can. However, much more is needed. While ISM still needs your support, therefore, we also encourage you to send tax-deductible contributions to the Free Gaza Movement at: PCWF - Gaza Human Rights, 201 W. Stassney #201, Austin, TX 78745, Website: www.freegaza.org

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Labor Solidarity Versus the Occupation

By D. Wurkur, June 2007

ISM set up an information booth at the National Labor Anti-War Convention in Cleveland, Ohio in December 2006. The convention was sponsored by US Labor Against the War (USLAW), which represents 150 labor organizations with millions of members. USLAW has been raising awareness and seeking to mobilize the labor movement to end the occupation of Iraq.

At this gathering, for the first time, USLAW began to view US policy across the Middle East in a broader context. An evening rally featured Phyllis Bennis, a founder of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and a fellow of the US Institute for Policy Studies. She spoke to the need for US labor to support the Palestinian people in their just struggle against the apartheid wall and other aspects of the Occupation. She also discussed the CAT divestment campaign, and, in a later workshop, spoke in support of ISM. She suggested that delegations to Palestine were an excellent way to raise awareness about the Occupation as well as a means of expressing solidarity.

Bikes Not Bombs

By Jonas Moffat, March 2007

While riding my bike one magnificent afternoon here in Ramallah, I saw an announcement that made my eyes light up: “The East Jerusalem-YMCA’s ’Youth to Youth Initiative’ is organizing the Palestine International Bike Race, aimed at promoting peace and tolerance among ethnic, religious and national groups in the region.” An important goal of the ride was to bring Palestinians and international activists together in a new form of non-violent protest against Israeli restrictions on freedom of movement within the Occupied Palestinian Territories. These restrictions amount to a significant violation of human rights that Palestinians have to endure every day.

I arrived at Al Bireh around 8:45 am to see 350 bicyclists ready to pedal the 30-some down-hill miles to Jericho, near the Dead Sea. The YMCA issued us T-shirts and allowed us to choose from among hundreds of bikes. Many nationalities were represented among the cyclists: hundreds of Palestinians, thirty or so Israelis, and assorted Danes, Americans, Spaniards, and Canadians--all coming together to bike in solidarity against Israel’s current system of apartheid.

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Volunteers Urgently Needed in Palestine

ith each passing day Israel’s apartheid-wall project confiscates more and more Palestinian land, and the impact on Palestinians living in the West
Bank grows worse and worse. Brave Palestinians are using nonviolent resistance to protest the theft of their land for the wall and other “security” measures. ISM volunteers are needed in places like Bil’in, Budrus, Bethlehem, and Hebron to support Palestinians’ efforts to save their land and end the Occupation. Your presence helps to deter the violation of human rights, slows the removal of Palestinians from their land, and shows them that you care about their plight.

ISM is a Palestinian-led movement of Palestinian and international activists working to raise awareness of the struggle for Palestinian freedom and an end to the Israeli Occupation. We utilize nonviolent, direct-action methods of resistance to confront and challenge illegal occupation forces and policies. The first ISM campaign took place in August, 2001. Since that time, thousands of volunteers from Europe, North and South America, Asia, the Pacific Islands, and Africa have come to participate in ISM campaigns in Palestine. Come join us in the Occupied Territories and support the Palestinian people’s struggle for

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