There’s a letter I need to write, but I’m going to try to sort out my thoughts here first. Let me say this has long been a controversial issue, and not everyone will agree with my stance, but here it is. One night last week I’d been working late, then running errands afterwards…so I found myself in the car when NPR’s The World came on. I don’t listen regularly, but when I do I have often enjoyed this program. And had never before had a problem with the host, Lisa Mullins. But considering NPR’s long-standing pro-Israeli bias, I was surprised to hear her interviewing two ISM organizers. To clarify, the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is Palestinian-led, and comprised of Palestinian and International activists working towards:
a) raising awareness of the struggle for Palestinian freedom, and
b) an end to Israeli occupation.
They utilize nonviolent, direct-action methods of resistance to confront and challenge illegal Israeli occupation forces and policies. They believe that nonviolence can be a powerful weapon in fighting oppression and are committed to the principles of nonviolent resistance. We have some firsthand knowledge of the ISM as J’s former roommate, a compassionate and dedicated individual, has made trips to Palestine, volunteering for them. This humanitarian group assists with the basics of every day life. Helping people get through the roadblocks (that severely limit legitimate travel) to get to the hospital, to obtain food, to work, to harvest their crops, to go to school. I don’t think the general public, at least here in the U.S., realizes just how impoverished and devastated the Palestinian people are, after years of oppresive occupation. The Israeli government has been diverting water supplies from Palestinian population centers to Jewish-only settlements, has responded to peaceful demonstrations with brutal police force, has imposed collective punishment for crimes committed by individuals, and on and on. Much of it in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
So back to the program. Often enough it’s just background noise as I’m driving along, lost in my own thoughts. But my ears perked up when the ISM was mentioned and I started paying close attention. The guests were a Palestinian man and an Israeli Jewish woman, both ISM activists. Both were extrememly articulate, and concealed well what must have been serious frustration with the program’s host. The host who seemed to have a set agenda, and was sticking to her preconceived notions, prepared questions and remarks. It’s been some time since I’ve heard such an awkward interview, caused by the interviewer’s ineptness. Instead of altering her questions according to her guests’ responses, she clung dearly to her biased queries with thinly-veiled hostility and obvious ignorance. She made multiple attempts to equate the ISM’s good will work with that of terrorist groups, and accused the ISM of provoking Israeli soldiers with their non-violent actions (yes, let’s blame the victims). That’s like trying to say the American Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders are terrorist organizations. It was so frustrating. It could have been a great public awareness raising opportunity (and hopefully it still was, to some degree) but was certainly marred by the palpable tension. So I plan to let NPR/PRI know just what I thought of it. If you’d like more information about these complex issues, there are some good sites out there. As well as the main ISM site, there is one for their North American office, and a similar group out there called SUSTAIN. For general news articles about the conflict, one of my favorite journalists is Robert Fisk of the UK’s Independent.