Peace Camp Is Reborn As "Protest Camp"

International Solidarity Movement
July 16, 2003
For Immediate Release

PEACE CAMP IS REBORN AS "PROTEST CAMP"

Protest Camp Starts Today. Roadblock removal to happen on Friday.

[Jenin] It has been one week since four ISM activists from Sweden, Canada, Denmark, and the US were arrested in the village of Arrabony in the Jenin region. They were arrested while staying at a peace camp on Palestinian land scheduled to be confiscated for the building of the Apartheid Wall. On that same day, a man in the Berqin valley, just outside Jenin, was killed by the Israeli military.

Despite the "road map", Israel continues building the Apartheid Wall, as well as the confiscation of land, the continued presence of roadblocks and checkpoints, and the continued expansion of settlements.

ISM activists in Jenin have continued to work with communities across the region, to support nonviolent resistance to the occupation. Two days after the \"Jenin Four\" were arrested, Palestinians from the city of Jenin and at least eight nearby villages worked with ISM activists to remove a roadblock from the village of Abaa.

Yesterday, the Jenin Four began a hunger protest - in solidarity with the thousands of Palestinian prisoners that continued to be held in violation of international law.

Today, ISM volunteers from Ireland, Scotland, Sweden, Denmark, Holland, Canada, and the US will return to to the area of last weeks peace camp, to set up the Arrabony Protest Camp. From this base, ISM activists will work with community members from the Jenin region on several projects, including:

-Roadblock removals and other direct actions. The first roadblock removal will take place this Friday, in the Berqin Valley, the area of last week's assassination carried out by Israeli occupation forces. We are also planning more actions in the area.

-Documentation. ISM activists will visit villages in the area to document the effects of the Apartheid Wall.

-Community work. ISM activists will continue to hold an informal "Summer Camp" and other activities for area children.

ISM activists in the Jenin region continue to be led and inspired by local resistance to the devastation of the Apartheid Wall.

For more information in Jenin, please contact Jordan - +972-66-312-547

For more information on the ISM and the Freedom Summer Campaign, please contact: Huwaida - +972-67-473-308 ISM Office - +972-2-277-4602

© Scoop Media