H2, The Belly of the Beast
The first thing you notice is the smell. A tart, dung-like odor caused by raw sewage rolling down the street outside Checkpoint 56 (56), also known as Gilbert, rolls down the street towards us. A sewage pipe broke weeks ago and remains unfixed; Israeli permission required. The people, including the elderly and small children, jump over it without batting an eye.
Bad News: ISM-NorCal is the funding pillar of ISM-Palestine
The Northern California chapter is currently providing roughly two-thirds of the funding of ISM-Palestine. That’s something to be proud of, but it means two things: first, that ISM-Palestine is getting less than half the funds it needs to be effective; second, that other ISM chapters are very weak in fundraising.
Can you come to Palestine for three months or more?
ISM in Palestine needs you whether you come for three weeks or three years, but it also needs a small, steady number of persons willing to stay for three months or more. This is for the sake of continuity and administration.
June 2017 Newsletter
I Will Not Move Until I Die A Story of Coming Together. A Moment of Waking Up. A little bit more. PDF version of Newsletter
I Will Not Move Until I Die
By Richard Hardigan March 2017 October 21, 2016, marked the first anniversary of the death of the Palestinian doctor Hashem al-Azzeh. The proximate cause of his demise is in dispute. Was it excessive tear gas inhalation, or was it the chest pains he had been feeling earlier on that day? Perhaps it was a combination […]
A Story of Coming Together A moment of waking up. A little bit more.
By Sam Weaver February 2017 Once upon a time, if there is such a thing as time, there lived a Jew and a Palestinian. This Jew grew up keeping kosher, with family holding traditions, more than religion. Her father grew up in Israel, though she did not grow up with him, but still instilled in […]
December 2016 Newsletter
Gaza Blockade Impact on Fresh Water SFP Work in Lebanon Camps How an ISM Member Cheated Death Volunteering at Refugee Camps in Jordan **In PDF Format: ism_news_v132-december-2016-color
Volunteering at Refugee Camps in Jordan
Author: Katherine Latham Date: September, 2016 Last spring, I found myself facing several hurdles, and trying to get established with volunteer projects in Amman Jordan, having been turned away at the Allenby Bridge crossing into the West Bank by the Israeli authorities. While it was a big disappointment to have my passport stamped “denied entry” […]
The Gaza Blockade is Causing an End to Gaza’s Fresh Water
Author: International Solidarity Movement, Gaza Team Date: August 7, 2016 As every year during the summer, the water shortage in the Gaza Strip is accentuated. At the same time, the energy shortage caused by the blockade prevents engines and water pumps from pushing it from wells and tanks to houses and farming fields. The Beach […]
Solidarity Movement for Free Palestine Work in Lebanon
Author: Katie Leslie Date: October 2016 [In late 2013, some of the Palestinian leadership of ISM in Palestine created their own nonviolent resistance organization on the same model, calling it the Solidarity Movement for Free Palestine (SFP). We at NorCal ISM decided to support both groups, which we have been doing ever since. The […]