Prisoner support march in Gaza highlights hunger strikers, cases of Georges Abdallah and Bagui Traoré

A mass march in Gaza City united Palestinians  to march in support of the Palestinian prisoners and their collective hunger strike which began today, 17 April, Palestinian Prisoners’ Day.

The march wound through the streets of Gaza to the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross, where a rally ensued for Palestinian Prisoners’ Day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3tRrZpM0_A

Among banners calling for freedom for Palestinian political prisoners, Palestinian flags and banners of all Palestinian political parties, participants carried signs including one in the name of Coup Pour Coup 31 and Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, urging freedom for Georges Abdallah and Bagui Traore in French prisons. Georges Ibrahim Abdallah is the imprisoned Arab communist struggler for Palestine who has spent over 32 years in French prisons; the events for Palestinian Prisoners’ Day in Toulouse and Paris, France, will focus on his case as well as that of imprisoned Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Secretary Ahmad Sa’adat.

Bagui Traoré is the brother of Adama Traoré, killed in French police custody on 19 July 2016. Bagui is the main witness of his brother’s death; since the killing of Adama, Bagui has been imprisoned, first sentenced to eight months in prison for allegedly hitting police and then accused of involvement in shooting towards police and gendarmes in the protests against the killing of Adama. The killing of Adama Traoré has highlighted the struggle against racism and police violence in France.