Origins of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM)
Founded by American citizens Huwaida Arraf and Adam Shapiro (her husband) and Canadian-Israeli Neta Golan, ISM's regimen involves Western activists going to Palestinian areas for orientation meetings with Palestinian organizers and to discuss upcoming protests and actions. George Rishmawi, who heads the Grassroots International Protection for Palestinians, helps coordinate and train ISM volunteers once they arrive.
Volunteers then engage in such tactics as obstructing the activities of the Israeli Army. Since August 2001, hundreds of ISM volunteers have made their way to Palestinian areas to support Palestinians by placing themselves in front of Israeli Army vehicles, removing concrete boundaries from roads, confronting Israeli troops, and in some cases, staying in the homes of suicide bombers.
The ISM received its first substantial media coverage in spring 2002, when volunteers slipped into Yasir Arafat's compound, bypassing the Israeli military that surrounded it. In May, ISM members executed their second major action when they entered the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem during a military standoff between Israeli and Palestinian forces.