[Beit Sahour, Occupied Palestine] Israeli forces raided the ISM office this morning, confiscating equipment and material and snatching three women. At 12:30pm on Friday, May 9, approximately 20 military vehicles, army jeeps and a large armored personnel carrier (intended for many arrests) surrounded the ISM media office in Beit Sahour. Dozens of soldiers, border police and civilian police officers raided the ISM office, confiscating all computers, not only in the ISM office but in the nearby office of the Palestinian Centre for Rapprochement. Files, CD, and photos were all pillaged, while soldiers broke equipment and damaged office space. Israeli forces kidnapped Palestinian volunteer, Fida, American volunteer, Flo, and a worker with Human Rights Watch visiting the office. At the time of this writing, Fida has been released, and the internationals seem to have been moved to the office of the Israeli Ministry of Interior, most probably for deportation.

The Israeli government has declared an open war on international peace and human rights workers. Israeli forces are doing everything in their power to specifically prevent the nonviolent resistance to their military rule. The stepped-up harassment of internationals and journalists in the Occupied Palestinian Territories is nothing short of a further attempt to shield from the international community the brutality of daily Israeli military actions against the Palestinian people.

The ISM, however, has no plans to leave the Palestinian areas nor to reduce our actions or our efforts. We need your help. Please protest: