21 October 2007 - ISM vs. the two-state solution

The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) has issued a lengthy press release denouncing the OneVoice movement, which aims to unite people all over the world in support of the two-state solution. According to the ISM, OneVoice “equate[s] the occupier with the occupied” and that it “do[es] not recognize Israel’s ongoing violations of international law”—i.e. it does not privilege Palestinian violations.

The ISM, while supposedly embracing non-violence, has defended Palestinian violence on a number of occasions. It has also been accused of actual involvement with terror (which it denies). A few of its activists have lost their lives—most famously, Rachel Corrie, who was accidentally killed by an IDF bulldozer in 2003 and whose death continues to be used for anti-Israel propaganda purposes.

Without delving into these controversies, the press release speaks for itself. The ISM is clearly hostile to any approach to the conflict that does not seek to blame and target Israel. Its fulminations about human rights and international law are entirely one-sided. Its call for a boycott of OneVoice smacks of jealousy and would seem to confirm it as a radical fringe group that is opposed to the two-state solution.