Wa’ad, the National Democratic Action Society in Bahrain, issued the following statement on April 4, calling for the freedom of imprisoned Palestinian leader and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council Khalida Jarrar:

The Israeli occupation forces on Thursday arrested the deputy in the Palestinian Legislative Council and leader in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Khalida Jarrar, when a large group of occupation military forces broke into her home at dawn on April 2 and took her to an unknown destination.

The arrest of the struggler Khalida Jarrar comes after multiple attempts to suppress her work, including the issuance of a Zionist military order expelling her to Jericho for six months. She led a sit-in at the Palestinian Legislative Council for a month in rejection of the expulsion order and defeated the order. Today, we see this aggressive arrest in flagrant violation of the internationally recognized principle of parliamentary immunity.

Wa’ad, the National Democratic Action Society, expresses its full solidarity with Khalida Jarrar and all prisoners in Israeli jails, demanding that the Arab League, the United Nations, and all human rights organizations take action to achieve:

1. The immediate release of Khalida Jarrar and all Palestinian prisoners, led by imprisoned PFLP General Secretary Ahmad Sa’adat and Fateh leader Marwan Barghouti, the imprisoned representatives of the Palestinian Legislative Council, and the thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Zionist jails.

2. Work to build unity of the Palestinian factions and forces and overcome internal differences to uphold the Palestinian people’s cause and struggle for the liberation of their land.

3. Call upon Arab and progressive parliamentarians around the world to stand with MP Khalida Jarrar and build international soliderity against the brutal and systematic policies of the occupier against the Palestinian people.

The Wa’ad National Democratic Action Society calls to hold the Zionist state accountable for its complete violation of international treaties, in particular Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention which prohibits forcible transfer or exile of individual protected persons from the occupied territory to that of the occupying power, which is constantly violated in relation to Palestinian prisoners.

Wa’ad National Democratic Action Society

For more information and to take action on the case of Khalida Jarrar, please see http://samidoun.net/khalidajarrar.