Freedom Summer 2007: Confronting Apartheid is a call for volunteers to become one of the “internationals” who trek, with the help of the International Solidarity Movement and other organizations, to the Palestinian territories in order to work against the brutal effects of Israel’s military occupation and apartheid system. Since the invasion of Lebanon and Gaza, and the increased military incursions into the West Bank, life in the territories has become increasingly difficult for the Palestinians. With the withholding of tax monies by the Israeli authorities and aid from donor countries like the US and Europe, people including children are suffering from a lack of basic nutrition. Unemployment has exceeded 60%.
The largest continuing issue in the Palestinian terrritories is the incessant illegal military occupation by Israel. All difficulties in the territories and the region for that matter stems from this occupation. Every death of a Palestinian or an Israeli over the past 40 years can be attributed to it.
ISM asks international volunteers to support non-violent demonstrations, confront policies of land theft and destruction, and to intervene whenever necessary to stop the continuing colonization of the land. Passive resistance of the Gandhi type is emphasized. What better way than to express liberal-progressive Democratic values than to become involved in the fight against apartheid and injustice?
This call from ISM asks, Why Palestine?
For over 40 years the people of Palestine have endured a brutal military occupation.
Apartheid and military occupation make every day life almost impossible, whether it’s tending crops and livestock, passing through an Israeli military checkpoint, or going to school when illegal settlers attack.
South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and U.S. President Jimmy Carter described Israel’s Apartheid policies as “worse than South Africa’s.”
There’s always plenty of argument and hot-air generated about Palestine, but the ISM gives you the chance to act. Palestinians ask international volunteers to support their non-violent demonstrations, to confront policies of land theft and destruction, and to intervene whenever necessary.
Why Now?
This June marks the 40th anniversary of the military Occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem. Now, more than ever there is a need for an international presence in Palestine.
International volunteers help reveal to the world the truth on the ground from Occupied Palestine–a truth that the mainstream media disguises or simply ignores. The world needs to understand that when the Israeli government says they are going to “starve” the Palestinian government into making concessions, the ordinary people do the starving and no political progress is made.
The world may believe that the Israeli occupation ended with the Gaza pullout, but volunteers who witness settlement expansion on Palestinian land know that the occupation in the West Bank gets worse.
Volunteers with ISM’s Freedom Summer 2007 will stand side by side with villagers in Bil’in as they continue their two-year struggle to save their land from Israel’s Apartheid Wall. They will also join demonstrations in the village of Um Salamuna, where a large amount of village land has been confiscated for the construction of the Apartheid Wall and expansion of nearby illegal settlements.
When international volunteers are absent, the Israeli army use lethal tactics of repression, such as live ammunition on unarmed protestors. Your presence means Palestinians can peacefully protest without being threatened with death.
ISM volunteers also serve as human rights monitors in the Hebron neighborhood of Tel Rumeida, where Israeli settlers harass and often attack children and teachers. Israeli soldiers in Hebron sometimes detain Palestinians for hours at checkpoints and arbitrarily invade Palestinian homes.
You can make a difference, as our volunteers have in the past, to help hold Israeli soldiers and settlers accountable for their actions.
In addition to the important field work, there are many other tasks that must be done. You may be able to join Palestinian communities in providing emergency medical services, help to disassemble restrictive roadblocks, or assist in the ISM Media Office.
One of our most important and undervalued skills is listening and witnessing what Palestinians have to say about their current lives and how their lives have been ruined by the illegal occupation of their land.
There is plenty of room to share your creative skills with the Palestinian and international community, whether you can help run an art workshop for children or utilize your circus talents to de-escalate military harassment, both of which are current projects in Tel Rumeida.
Join the ISM for Freedom Summer 2007 and encounter first-hand the courage and the generosity of the Palestinian people as they continue to exist and survive under Israeli Apartheid and occupation.
On the day of the Summer Solstice, let us join Palestinians in non violent struggle to end the Israeli Occupation. Let the whole world come together here in Palestine to confront Apartheid and to sustain the solidarity which continues unbroken.
Your presence in Palestine this summer, for a week or for three months, is an important part of maintaining the bridges that have been built with the Palestinians, and for new ones to come.
Freedom Summer 2007 kicks off June 21 and ends August 15. Volunteer training sessions are held every Thursday and Friday.
For more information on how to join ISM in Palestine, see:
www.palsolidarity.org/main/join
Or contact: freedomsummer2007@gmail.com
http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2007/04/17/freedom-summer-2007/
Reprinted by permission.
