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ISM |
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by Vanessa Moll
Email: loknessie1 (nospam) hotmail.com (verified) |
16 Nov 2002
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People go to the Middle East and return with stories. My friend did. So I decided a trip to the Illinois Disciples Foundation on Friday October 25, where two New Yorkers spoke of their time in the Middle East, would be worth my while. These two speakers, though, hadn?t been to just anywhere in the Mideast; they had lived for three months in Janine and other areas around Palestine as part of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). ISM is an attempt to deter violence in the Israeli and Palestinian regions. Volunteers from all around the world live in Janine, Nablus, and other Palestinian camps so that the Israeli soldiers will be less likely to shoot. So far, the movement has been helpful, but still the organization is looking for more journalists and eye- witnesses connected to smaller towns so that eyewitness reports can be published or broadcast from those towns ? all in order to make sure the truth is told. The people of ISM also aid Palestinians in nonviolent movements. For instance, when there was a twenty-foot high mound of dirt and garbage set to block Palestinians from the Cactus fruit they needed to harvest, the Palestinians and internationals cleared it all away. The international presence deterred any violent reaction from Israeli soldiers so that the act of civil disobedience was successful. Hopefully more people will get involved in ISM so that Palestinians will find the alternative of civil disobedience more helpful than suicide bombing.
For more information on the movement visit http://www.palsolidarity.org/. |
