Rutgers University Hosts ISM-Affiliated Group that supports suicide bombing
Ami Isseroff

[Mewnews June 15] Rutgers University in New Brunswick New Jersey, will be
playing host to the Third National Conference
of the Palestine Solidarity Movement, organized by New Jersey Solidarity on
Friday, October 10 to Sunday October 12.

According to the Web site of this group, www.njsolidarity.org , "we stand
for the total liberation
of all of historic Palestine..."

In addition to supporting the destruction of Israel, the group also supports
suicide bombings.
The Web site states, "As a solidarity movement, we are committed to working
fully in
support of the Palestinian people's resistance movement. We unconditionally
support
Palestinians' human right to resist occupation and oppression by any means
necessary."

In response to an e-mail query, Ms Charlotte Kates of New Jersey
Solidarity explained
that this support extends to suicide bombing, "We support Palestinians'
right to
resist occupation and oppression, and do not feel that it is our place as a
solidarity
movement to dictate tactics of resistance to the Palestinian people," she
wrote.
Ms Kates does not see anything wrong with suicide bombing. She states,
"Why is there something particularly horrible about "suicide bombing" -
except
for the extreme dedication conveyed in the resistance fighter's willingness
to
use his or her own body to fight? Very seldom is there seen to be something
uniquely horrible about fighter planes dropping massive bombs on entire
cities,
when the pilot flies home unscathed."

New Jersey Solidarity is part of a coalition of groups that make up the
International
Solidarity Movement, (ISM), and the two groups are mentioned together
frequently
on the Web. ISM won international attention after activist Rachel Corrie was
killed
by an IDF bulldozer in Gaza. Supporters claim that ISM is a non-violent
peace movement, and ISM has won support from Israeli peace groups including
Women in Black.

Rutgers is a state university. New Jersey Solidarity uses Rutgers facilities
to
organize their meetings and disseminate their materials. Ms. Kates is a law
student
at Rutgers (Douglas) Law School in Newark.

Copyright 2003 by MidEastWeb and Ami Isseroff.
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