Internationals prefer to spend holiday taking risk for Palestinians
(The Jerusalem Times 1/9/2003)
by Maher Abukhater
Sade chose to spend his money this Christmas holiday to travel to Israel, but not as a tourist. He came to Israel only to reach the Palestinian areas and join its people in their struggle against an Israeli military occupation of their towns and villages that has made Palestinian life very difficult. He was part of a peaceful candlelight demonstration of some 200 Palestinians and international supporters hoping to draw world attention to the plight of the Palestinian people, as Sade has explained his mission here. He is part of a program called International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and Grassroots International Protection of the Palestinian People (GIPP). This program started 18 months ago, explained Mustafa Barghouti, director of the Palestinian Health, Development, Information and Policy Institute (hdip), which has spearheaded both programs. "We thought of the idea of international protection for the Palestinian people after the Security Council and the United Nations have failed to provide the necessary protection," said Barghouti. Since the time the program has started, some 4000 internationals have arrived in the Palestinian areas while Israel has turned back at the airport and other entry ports around 800 other activists. Because Israel tries to stop solidarity groups from reaching the Palestinian areas, activists have been advised not to declare their reason for entering Israel when they arrive at the airport. The ISM website tells its members to say that they are tourists coming to Israel to visit the holy places or to spend time on the beach to avoid being deported.Normally people spend their holidays on the beach or on a safari in Africa; but not Daniele Sade, 31, an Italian statistician from a town near Florence.
How special. On New Year's Eve, Sade spent his time walking up and down Ramallah streets carrying a candle and signs denouncing the Israeli occupation as racist and demanding freedom for the Palestinians.
No, someone needs to explain his mission to him because he clearly has no idea why he's there. His mission is to facilitate suicide bombings of innocent civilians. His mission is to make it easier for terrorists with rifles to slither into quiet communities and slaughter children in their beds. His mission is to provide justification and cover for mass murder and mayhem. Nothing more, nothing less.Sade was among 100 Italians and many others from different European countries, the US and Japan who have been coming to the Palestinian areas over the last year-and-a-half simply to serve as human protection shields for the Palestinian people.
Ooops. Screwed that one up, you dolt. Get your story straight. These are grass roots movements, initiated spontaneously by compassionate idiots all over the globe. Certainly the Palestinian Ministry of Propaganda, Misinformation and Lies is only the passive beneficiary of their unsolicited devotions. Ahem.A coalition of 700 Palestinian non-governmental organizations (NGOs) contacted 33 solidarity, church and social networks throughout the US and Europe and the response from them was beyond expectation, explained Barghouti.
The ISM website tells its members to lie to the authorities of their host country so as to enable them to flagrantly violate its laws without impediment. And then when these weasels are caught violating the law, their handlers raise a big stink about how innocent foreign nationals are persecuted by the big bad Zionists simply for disagreeing with Israeli policies. All together now.This is what Sade did when he arrived at Tel Aviv airport the two times he has come to show solidarity with the Palestinian people.
Well, of course it is. There's more, but it gets increasingly monotonous. (That link might not work, by the way. The J.T. doesn't seem to like people linking directly to their articles from "outside," so you may have to go here and link to the headline instead.)
