Mohammed Abu Aker, 20, Palestinian youth organizer and refugee, the son of Dheisheh refugee camp leader imprisoned journalist, administrative detainee and recent hunger striker Nidal Abu Aker, was arrested early this morning, 19 November, by Israeli occupation forces who invaded the refugee camp, raiding the family home and attacking the area.
Abu Aker, a leftist youth organizer, was one of at least 27 Palestinians seized by Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank today. Other Palestinians arrested included nine former political prisoners from the Nablus area, and prominent Hamas leader and former political prisoner – who served 27 years in Israeli jails – Omar Barghouthi in Kobar, near Ramallah. This came after 41 arrests of Palestinians by the occupation army on Wednesday, in Dheisheh, Shuafat, Aida and Qalandiya camps among others, and including a number of children, including a 12-year-old from Jerusalem.
The arrest of Abu Aker followed the arrest of 19-year-old university student Donya Musleh, an activist with the Progressive Student Labor Front, in Dheisheh camp on 16 November, the tenth Palestinian woman arrested so far this month. The Palestinian refugee camps have been particularly targeted amid the rising intifada, including for home demolitions, a particularly destructive form of collective punishment by the Israeli occupation that is even more dangerous and threatening when carried out in a crowded, tightly built refugee camp.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued a statement, noting that “the Zionist occupation is continually targeting Palestinian refugee camps, especially Dheisheh camp, where yesterday a mass arrest campaign was carried out against the cadres and members of the Front. These arrests will not break the resistance or deter our people from continuing their valiant intifada and confronting the crimes of the occupation.”
Since the escalating popular Palestinian uprising began in October, well over 1,500 Palestinians have been arrested by Israeli occupation forces.
Take action! Demand freedom for Palestinian prisoners.
1. Contact your government officials and demand an end to international silence and complicity with the attacks on Palestinians. In Canada, Call the office of the new Foreign Minister, Stéphane Dion, at 613-996-5789 and demand an end to Canadian support for Israel, or email: [email protected]. In the US, call the White House (202-456-1111) and the US State Department (202-647-9572); demand an end to US aid to Israel. In the EU, contact your MEP – you can find your MEP here, or use the tool at http://freepalestine.eu/ to both call for an end to the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
2. Protest at the Israeli consulate or embassy in your area. This is a time of uprising and intifada – protests are happening around the world and are more urgent than ever. see our list of actions here:https://samidoun.net/2015/10/take-action-rise-up-with-palestine-global-protest-actions/ Hold a community event or discussion, or include this issue in your next event about Palestine and social justice. Please email us at [email protected] to inform us of your action.
3. Boycott, Divest and Sanction. Hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law. Don’t buy Israeli goods, and campaign to end investments in corporations that profit from the occupation. G4S, a global security corporation, is heavily involved in providing services to Israeli prisons that jail Palestinian political prisoners – there is a global call to boycott it. Palestinian political prisoners have issued a specific call urging action on G4S. Learn more about BDS at bdsmovement.net.
