December 2007

Bethlehem Encircled

Turning an Apricot Grove into a Septic Tank

Solidarity Voyage to Gaza

Independence Won

Palestinian Kids Move to the Back of the Bus

Hebron - Encounters with Occupiers

Palestinian Olive Oil Delivered to You Door

Did You Donate Last Time?

Volunteers Needed for Autumn 2008 Harvest

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Bethlehem Encircled

By Henry Norr, November 12, 2007

It is unconscionable that Bethlehem should be allowed to die slowly from strangulation.
—Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 2005

Bethlehem at Christmas time – by now it’s an old chestnut for Middle East reporters. Every December, you can find feature stories about the city of Jesus’ birth in mainstream media outlets across the Western world – publications that have, in most cases, reported nothing about the place since the previous holiday season.

The formula is predictable: in recent years there’s typically something about Christmas decorations paid for by the Hamas-dominated municipal administration; the obligatory quote from a Manger Square souvenir seller or restaurant owner about the decline of tourism since the second intifada began; some statistics about Christian Palestinians abandoning the city; perhaps a brief reference to the 25-foot-high Israeli Wall that looms over the northern edge of town. Reporters with a taste for irony may mention some of the signs that decorate the Wall: the huge, multicolored “Peace Be With You,” in English, Hebrew, and Arabic, that the Israeli government has put up on its side, or the defiant graffiti—”Warsaw Ghetto 1943,” “Apartheid,” and “To exist is to resist,” for example—that crowd the Palestinian side.

Even the best of the mainstream reportage, however, generally misses the fundamental dynamics that underlie Bethlehem’s current travails: the city, symbol of faith and hope to millions, is falling victim to a process of systematic strangulation. The Wall has already cut it off from Jerusalem, a city with which it has been bound economically, culturally, and spiritually for more than two millennia.

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Turning an Apricot Grove into a Septic Tank

By Jonas Moffat, May 2007

The beautiful and historic village of Artas lies just outside Jesus’ hometown of Bethlehem. Israel is building the Apartheid Wall through Artas to expand one colony, Efrat, and build two new settlements, Tamar and Dagan. This expansion is illegal under international law and the so-called “Road Map to Peace.” The residents of Efrat are now piping out their sewage through land that the Abu Swai family has been cultivating apricots on for generations.

In mid-May, Abu Swai’s family received the IOF’s evacuation notice, and a call for activist support went out. “This is the night,” Abu Swai told me. “This is the night our trees will die.”

Twenty or so international activists heeded the call, and by 11:30pm on May 20th, we had assembled at the orchard, joining 50 local Palestinians. Tents had been set up at the orchard two nights before, and campfires were boiling water for tea and coffee. People were eating pita bread and telling stories. On the surface, they seemed to be having a good time, but if you looked deep into the eyes of Abu Swai and others, you could see the truth. There was a nauseated, impatient, waiting feeling to the whole scene. Around 2:30am, we saw a pack of Israeli soldiers walking the perimeter of the village. The campers continued to drink tea and chat. We were hearing the rustling apricot leaves for the last time.

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Solidarity Voyage

By Paul Larudee, November 2007

On 25 October, a Palestinian patient died at Erez crossing while awaiting being allowed to cross to Israeli hospital. A week ago, a woman died in Gaza hospital with her newly born baby, while awaiting permit to be transferred to Israel for medical treatment.

So begins the latest report of the Palestinian-International Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza. It goes on to tell of operating rooms closed due to lack of anesthesia, the prohibition against any goods leaving Gaza and all but 12 basic commodities from entering, and Israeli preparations to cut electricity, fuel and financial services. Painful but ironic comparisons can be increasingly drawn with Nazi Germany’s measures against Warsaw’s Jewish ghetto in World War II, and for much the same reason: because Palestinians constitute an unwanted ethnic group.

As reported in the last issue, Palestinians, Israelis and internationals—Jews, Muslims, Christians and Buddhists—are determined to resist the siege and collective punishment of 1.5 million Palestinians, more than half of them children. Our plan is to defy the Israeli blockade of Gaza and enter by sea in order to establish open passage for Gaza’s besieged population. We intend to test Israel’s claim that Gaza is no longer occupied, and since we will not pass through Israeli territory, we will not seek Israeli permission.

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Independence Won!

Thank for sticking with us until this achievement.

We wish it were for Palestine, but we’re talking about nonprofit status for the Northern California ISM Support Group. Until now we have relied upon the fiscal sponsorship of our treasured allies, the Middle East Children’s Alliance and Tri-City Peace and Justice. On September 25, 2007, however, the Internal Revenue Service granted us separate 501(c)(3) status.

This means that your donations to ISM-Northern California are now tax deductible without having to be written to a third party fiscal sponsor. It has other potential benefits, as well, such as reducing our mailing costs. However, the biggest gain may be intangible: the credibility that the IRS blessing confers upon us. It certifies our activities and provides a measure of accountability, thus enhancing our ability to attract grants.

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Palestinian Kids Move to the Back of the Bus

By Katie Miranda, August 2007

This summer, the International Solidarity Movement, Art Under Apartheid and the Tel Rumeida Project teamed up to take over 100 Palestinian children from Hebron to the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem and the beach in Jaffa.

This was no easy task.

West Bank Palestinian residents over the age of 16 are not allowed into Israel, but those under 16 are allowed. In fact, there is no legal way to prevent them from entering because they do not have ID cards yet. But most of these kids will never get to visit Jerusalem or go to the sea because their parents are not allowed to take them.

Having checked with Israel’s Association for Civil Rights, we knew it was permitted to take these kids through the checkpoints into Israel, but we decided to check in with the District Coordination Office (DCO) of the Israeli military just to let them know that we would be doing this and we didn't want any problems. They told us we needed a permit (this is not true). We asked for a permit and were refused. So of course we decided to do it anyway.

We bought food and water for the 45 kids in the first group, arranged for their lunch at a restaurant in Jerusalem, got copies of their birth certificates (proof of their age and proof they are allowed to be in Israel), and reserved a bus. We met the kids at 7am in downtown Hebron.

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Hebron: Encounters with the Occupiers

By T. Evans, August 2007

While visiting the H1 area of Hebron in July 2007, I took part in a nonviolent “action” – that is, an intentional assertion of human rights and dignity where these are actively repressed.

Twenty international human-rights workers and several Palestinian journalists accompanied the children of a very large family out to the fields next to their home. Most adult family members stayed home to avoid the illegal harassment and arrest experienced in the past. The lone adult who did come along was a man of great strength and courage, who, because of his disability, lives in a crippled, child-sized body.

This family’s small parcel of land lies between two settlement blocks that close upon it like a vise. Evidently, the Israelis plan to squeeze out all of the Palestinian homes that lie between the two settlements: settlers have constructed a broad, concrete, stair-stepped pathway across the family’s land to connect them, and armed settlers constantly guard the land. Even more obscenely, the settlers have erected a tent there and deemed it a “synagogue;” it is “holy” and thus given even more protection. For years, the family has not had access to this land upon which they formerly grazed their goats and grew figs and grapes. Family members have been shot at, beaten and imprisoned for daring to set foot upon their own land.

Palestinian Olive Oil Delivered to your Door?

By Asa Winstanley

Our olive oil bottling parties are famous in the San Francisco Bay Area and are typical of our efforts to combine fundraising, outreach and education. They are lots of fun and produce as many as 750 bottles of premium cold pressed extra virgin Palestinian olive oil in a single day, with the Hurriya (“freedom” in Arabic) label on a Palestinian flag and an educational message on the back. We also package olive oil soap made by Palestinian farmers, and offer Palestinian-made kuffiyas and other items.

We’ve had lots of requests to ship, but have been hesitant to do so without the proper packaging and a setup that takes care of the payment and shipping requirements. We hope to have that in place through an online store at our website by the time you read this. Please check it out at www.norcalism.org. Please also let us know if you want to receive notices about our bottlings via email.

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Did You Donate Last Time?

From NORCALISM

If so, we want to express our special thanks. We covered our printing and mailing costs and more, and have committed to sending you two newsletters per year for the indefinite future. However, our costs go far beyond the newsletter, so we hope that if you may be able to help again – especially if you were unable to do so last time.

How important is our work? There are lots of worthy appeals to help the victims of Israel’s violations of human rights. However, for every victim that is helped another is created. Human rights work is never as well funded as victim relief, and yet our work is to prevent the creation of victims who then need your relief dollars.

We are currently sponsoring two Bay Area volunteers participating long-term in Palestinian nonviolent resistance with ISM in the West Bank, as well as supporting ISM-Palestine with funding and international communications equipment and services. We also participate in national and local activities to educate the American public and support other Palestine solidarity groups.

Please use the Contribute page on our site to make your donation. Thank you.

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Volunteers Needed for Autumn 2008 Harvest

By Asa Winstanley

The Olive Harvest is an annual affirmation of Palestinians’ historical, spiritual and economic connection to their land, and a rejection of Israeli efforts to seize it. As the indigenous people of this land, Palestinians have farmed olives here for thousands of years. The annual harvest is a symbol of life for Palestinian communities. Sadly, agricultural productivity over the last seven years has decreased dramatically because of closures and sieges that prohibit access to farms and markets. Over half a million olive and fruit trees have been destroyed since September 2000. Palestinian agriculture is being destroyed by the policies of the Israeli government, and the rights of Palestinians to their land and to a livelihood are being denied.

International and Israeli volunteers join Palestinians each year to harvest olives, despite efforts by Israeli settlers and soldiers with bulldozers to destroy this vital centerpiece of Palestinian life.

The 2008 Olive Harvest Campaign is part of the ongoing work of the International Solidarity Movement, a Palestinian-led movement of Palestinian, Israeli and international activists working to raise awareness about the struggle for Palestinian freedom. ISM uses nonviolent, direct-action methods of resistance to confront and challenge Israeli persecution of Palestinians. With your participation, we will expose the injustice of the Israeli Occupation and send a message to the world that the Occupation must end and the wall must fall!

Please come to Palestine and join ISM for the 2008 Olive Harvest Campaign.

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