Indy Media Watch

A few days ago I reported on Indymedia UK's rather 'interesting' account of the 'abduction' of some Israeli tourists. Summary: Nothing much happened to them, but an article inferred torture and illegal activity by the Israeli police.

The plot thickens... According to Frontpagemag.com,

On June 14, three ISM "volunteers" were arrested by the Israeli authorities after Stop the ISM advised the police where they were living in Jerusalem in violation of their visas; two were deported. More surprises await ISM volunteers in Israel. Of course, the ISM internal announcement spiced things up claiming the internationals were taken to "a place notorious for torture and the bloody screams that emanate from its basement"

And how did ISM release the fraudulent announcement? UK Indymedia, as reported here. And my suspicions were correct as well:

The next day these two victims were seen eating their lunch unsupervised on the grass in front of the torturous hellhole.

The horror!

And what were these 'tourists' doing in Israel? Photographing the wildlife perhaps? Hanging around pubs and bars? Eating bagels? Not exactly... They were members of the ISM. The article continues:

Last summer, Frontpagmag.com exposed the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) as a front group that works closely with the PLO and Palestinian Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a Marxist terrorist group.

The ISM exploits international volunteers as cannon fodder. Posing as "peace activists," these volunteers aid terrorists by interfering with the anti-terror operations of the Israeli army. In doing so, they often transform themselves into "victims." A case in point: the famous young anarchist student named Rachel Corrie, whom ISM recruited at Evergreen College in Washington State. Corrie was killed when she sat in front of an Israeli army bulldozer to block it from demolishing a weapons smuggling tunnel hidden behind a bush. A young British man named Tom Hurndall also returned to the UK in a coma after his turn waging war against the State of Israel.

ISM co-founder George Rishmawi, a Canadian-Palestinian communist, gave the rationale for why the ISM recruits internationals"When Palestinians get shot by Israeli soldiers, no one is interested anymore. But if some of these foreign volunteers get shot or even killed, then the international media will sit up and take notice."

In other words, dead students make for good PR...

This piece in Front Page Magazine suggests the three "tourists" were in fact members of the International Solidarity Movement, in Israel to support terrrorist activity and use 'useful idiot' foreign students as cannon fodder. Read it all and learn about the activities of this odious organization, and another group Stop The ISM which has been set up to expose them.

On June 14, three ISM "volunteers" were arrested by the Israeli authorities after Stop the ISM advised the police where they were living in Jerusalem in violation of their visas; two were deported. More surprises await ISM volunteers in Israel. Of course, the ISM internal announcement spiced things up claiming the internationals were taken to "a place notorious for torture and the bloody screams that emanate from its basement," where the next day these two victims were seen eating their lunch unsupervised on the grass in front of the torturous hellhole.

And how did ISM release the fraudulent announcement? UK Indymedia, as reported here.

This is certainly not the first time Indymedia has been used as a PR tool for terrorists. See here and here for starters.