June 24, 2003 to N&O from William James Martin

Dear Editor,

Writing in the letters section of the N&O on Sun, June 22, J. Cliff Elam attacks the International solidarity movement and makes the following points. The occasion of his attack was the arrival at the Ral-Dur airport from Palestine of Brian Avery who was shot in the face by the Israeli army as he monitored the human rights abuses of the Israeli occupation of Palestinians.

 1)      The AP account of April 5 states that the Israeli army was a gun battle in the  in the immediately area and further that it was uncertain whether it was Israeli or Palestinian fire that was responsible for Avery’s wounds.

2)      On March 28, the Israeli army captured the “Islamic Jihad terrorist” Shadi Sukiya hiding in the IMS’s Jenin office.”

3)      The N&O makes no mention of the Israeli army raid on the ISM office when it learned that ISM had hosted the British Muslims who set of a bomb in Tel Aviv, nor that the ISM had hosted  the British Muslims who set of a bomb in Tel Aviv.

 1) The eye  witness report of Tobias Karlsson, who was with Avery when he was shot may be taken as typical of several other eyewitness reports. (See www.palsolidarity.org/report/writing/jeninshootingmap.htm.). Karlsson  states that as the army armored personnel carriers approached, they had raised their hands in the air and had been visible for 15 seconds, that Avery, like the others were wearing florescent red vest with reflective decals, that there were no other people on the street at that time, due to the curfew, and that there was “nothing posing any kind of threat to the soldiers.”

 2) A search of major newspapers and major magazines articles in Lexis-Nexis does not turn up any reference to Shadi Sukiya, though MR Elam’s accusation does appear on several right wing Pro-Zionist websites. Probably a reference to this man appears in an AP article of Mar 28, which states that the Israeli army had alleged that an Islamic Jihad member, accused of planning several attacks against Israel was being sheltered by the ISM. The ISM, however, said, according to the AP article, that they had briefly provided emergency aid to a man who appeared in the stairway looked terrified and was in pain. They said he only spoke Arabic and that none there could understand him. They said that shortly after he entered he was arrested.

3) Regarding the charge that the ISM had hosted the British Muslim who set off a bomb in Tel Aviv, the ISM has demanded a retraction and a full apology from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs which initially made that claim. The ISM website states that in their report of April 24, Israeli intelligence states that the terrorist entered the Gaza Strip via the Eriz checkpoint, along with the Italian journalists. “The ISM has been shown to be innocent of the false accusation….”

 The ISM website states “ As enshrined in international law and UN resolutions, we recognize the Palestinian right to resist Israeli violence and occupation via legitimate armed struggle. However, we believe that nonviolence can be a powerful weapon in fighting oppression and we are committed to the principle of nonviolence.”

 It should be remembered that under international law, people living under occupation have a right to attack the purely military targets of the occupying army. However, international law recognizes no right to occupy another people and their land. The occupation by Israel of the Palestinian territories conquered in the ’67 War, which is now 36 years old,  violates basic and fundamental principles of humanitarian and international law, and, in particular, flaunts UN Res. 242 requiring the withdrawal of Israel from the land that it captured by force. The Palestinian people of the West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem have been oppressed and living under occupation for 36 year as their land, water, and other resources are being stolen from them as the state of Israel expands to engulf their land. When will the occupation ever end?

William James Martin