Israellycool

Last week, Frontpage Magazine ran a report on the ISM’s terror connections, which included pictures - like the below - of ISM members holding guns while posing with terrorists.

Now the ISM have responded.

Recently, photos were posted on the internet showing five foreigners posing with members of the Palestinian security services in Jericho while holding police weapons, along with the claim that four of the foreigners were volunteers with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM). The article accompanying the photos also claims that the fifth, unnamed foreigner with the obscured face in the photos went undercover in order to try and sabotage those, such as the ISM, who support Palestinian non-violent resistance.At the time the photographs were taken, these individuals had not yet become ISM volunteers. They went to Jericho of their own volition without coordinating or discussing their plans with the International Solidarity Movement. They had not attended ISM’s mandatory intensive non-violence training and were new to the country. The fifth foreigner encouraged them to join him in the photographs and have their pictures taken holding guns. These individuals regrettably followed his advice.

We have discovered the real name of the fifth foreigner to be Paul Cinato from Britain, though he gave his surname as Andrews at the time. The article is filled with the now standard fabrications and distortions - too many to list in full. Possibly the most outrageous claim is that two of the foreigners in the photos are now in Israeli custody, which is totally untrue. This article is part of a long standing campaign to slander ISM and destroy non-violent Palestinian resistance by spreading false information. See previous statements on the ISM site.

None of the individuals photographed ever took part in any violent activity. As non-violence is one of the three basic principles of ISM, they would have been required to leave if they had done so. At ISM’s training in Palestine, as a condition for joining ISM in Palestine, all activists are required to commit to supporting only non-violent resistance. These volunteers did so. At the training, all activists are also instructed never to touch any weapon, or even anything that resembles a weapon.

Dave, a volunteer from Ireland featured in the photos, said: “Paul wanted his photo taken with the guys in the prison, then one of them gave him a gun to hold and they also offered them to us to hold for photos. We were a bit reluctant to take them because of the simple fact that they were guns - not because pictures of future ISMers holding guns could cause trouble. After some encouragement from Paul and the Palestinians we took them and thought no more about it.”

Upon learning of this incident, ISM activists informed these individuals that touching weapons violates ISM’s policies and that they would not be permitted to volunteer unless they agreed never to handle weapons. All except Cinato apologized and deleted their photographs. Cinato did not attend ISM training and subsequently disappeared. Following their training, the others worked diligently and without incident with the ISM and Palestinian communities in support of non-violent direct action. According to Dave: “We are deeply sorry for the trouble this has caused. We are of course completely committed to non-violence and realize that we made a terrible mistake.”

ISM remains committed to supporting and engaging with Palestinian communities in non-violent resistance. ISM intends to re-examine its information resources and training in order to make clear to everyone intending to volunteer in the future that handling weapons in any situation is unacceptable. For more information about the ISM, visit www.palsolidarity.org.

The contentions that the ISMers involved had not yet become ISM volunteers, went to Jericho of their own volition without coordinating or discussing their plans with the ISM, had not attended ISM’s mandatory intensive non-violence training, and were new to the country, are doubtful to say the least. It is highly unlikely that individuals new to the country would know how to catch a bus, let alone coordinate their own visit to Jericho prison. They must have had contacts through the ISM. And the palestinians would hardly grant visits to complete strangers. It is likely their visit was through the ISM, an organization deemed trustworthy by the palestinians.

Furthermore, one of the ISMers in the photos is identified as Alan from Scotland. An ISMer named Alan from Scotland was reported injured at a protest in May of this year. Given that the events of the Frontpage report occurred 2 months ago (July), if it is the same Alan from Scotland, then he was clearly a fully fledged ISMer by July.

That was my long response. My short response is: you can’t trust anything the ISM tell you, since they are instructed to lie when confronted with the truth.

In case you were in any doubt that the ISM supports terrorists (despite their denials), they have posted a press release from terrorist organization Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.*

To the great Palestinian people in whose blood is written the symbol of steadfastness and resistance. You who have broken the conspiracies with the stone of your steadfastness. You who have been a thorn in the side of the occupation and a dagger in the chest of the spies and collaborators.

That is pretty incriminating evidence in my mind, and I am sure they will try and remove it as soon as they find out that it has been duly noted and recorded. After all, if the ISM did not support terrorism, why on Earth would they post a press release from a known terrorist organization?

Feel free to distribute widely. As widely as possible.

* Yeah, their name may ring a bell since I posted about their “handiwork” a little over a week ago.

A 19-year-old PETA staffer has legally changed his name to KentuckyFriedCruelty.com.

 

Chris Garnett, youth outreach coordinator for the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, said he changed his name in support of the group’s anti-KFC campaign.

 

“People don’t believe me at first when I tell them my name, but it never fails to spark a discussion,” Garnett, er, KentuckyFriedCruelty.com, said in a statement. “Many vow to boycott KFC after I explain the company’s indifference to cruelty to animals.”

“Stacked” star Pamela Anderson, who has narrated a PETA video showing the alleged abuse, supports Garnett’s name change.

 

“I’m sure Chris can’t wait ’till KFC stops torturing chickens so he can change his name back,” the actress said in a statement, adding that the chicken abuse “is awful and has to stop.”

A few months back I legally changed my name to KentuckyFriedCruelty.com as a fun and easy way to tell people all about KFC and the brutal ways in which they treat their chickens before slaughter. Talking about the campaign has become second nature as I am asked about the name change almost every single time I go to pay for something with my debit card or need to show my ID. Recently, the name change has been all over the news; it’s great! Hopefully lots of people will check out the website and join the boycott against KFC. If KFC implements our simple animal welfare guidelines, the lives of 850 million chickens will be improved every year. Here’s to hoping KFC listens!

Kate Burton, 25, a worker with the Al-Mezan human rights group in Gaza, was seized at gunpoint Wednesday with her parents, Hugh and Helen, in the southern town of Rafah. The parents had come to Gaza on vacation to visit their daughter, officials said.

 

Burton told the BBC after her release that she could not say a bad word about her captors, who always asked whether they needed anything, and added that she hoped to continue her human rights work in the Gaza Strip.

Security forces arrested a British national, apparently a member of the pro-Palestinian International Solidarity Movement, who entered Israel in August with a changed name to avoid detection by Israeli border control, it was revealed Monday.

The man, Andrew MacDonald, had previously visited Israel in 2003 and was expelled by the Interior Ministry after soldiers arrested him while holed up in the home of a suicide terrorist. MacDonald changed his name and sneaked back into Israel this summer.

Security forces detained him in the Tel Rumeida neighborhood Hebron in early November after he assaulted a member of the security forces. He was released, but was detained again on November 25.

Arutz Sheva is a racist and ignorant group; but the story does have some validity to it. I have some experience with the ISM and similar groups (and I am a Muslim) and most are good-hearted but ignorant about the conflict and culture of the region. Now, sometimes they do things that are helpful in protecting Palestinians living under siege, and other times they are just misbehaving like the spoiled brats many of them are. I also unfortunately know, because I have seen it, that many of these people seek to be at “one with nature” and not engage in bourgeois hygienic norms and do not bathe and are in fact involved in orgies which include homosexual acts and that is not something that is looked upon favorably amongst Palestinians in Hebron. Mobius is right though, most of these activist tip-toe and try their best to not offend the cultural sensibilities of the locals.

An anti capitalist protester taunts the police during a protest in Glasgow, Scotland, Friday, July, 8, 2005