International call to action for 25 May: Day of global one-day hunger strikes for Palestinian prisoners

Internationalist activists and organizers issued a call for a global one-day hunger strike on 25 May in support of hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. On 17 April 2017, 1500 Palestinian political prisoners, out of a total of nearly 6500 in Israeli prisons, launched the Strike for Dignity and Freedom.

The strikers’ demands are for basic human rights: an end to the denial of family visits, proper health care and medical treatment, the right to access distance higher education and an end to solitary confinement and administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial.

A number of solidarity strikes have been organized internationally, including a three-day strike in Paris organized by the initiator of the global call for hunger strike, CAPJPO-EuroPalestine. Additional actions have been organized in Edinburgh, Manchester, Brussels, ChicagoTurin and elsewhere. A one-day hunger strike in South Africa included the participation of Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and numerous anti-apartheid veterans and former political prisoners.

“Given the critical situation of the Palestinian prisoners and the Israeli refusal to take their just demands into account, an appeal is made to all people of conscience in the world to mobilize in the streets on Thursday, 25 May, by observing a hunger strike to show their solidarity with the heroic resistance of the Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike since 17 April,” writes EuroPalestine.

Several cities have already confirmed their participation in a collective hunger strike on this day, including Washington, DC, London, Paris, Sydney, Dublin, Lyon, Nimes and Albertville.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network supports and joins in this call for global hunger strike solidarity actions on 25 May.

In order to join the actions on 25 May – marked as a holiday throughout Europe, the Day of Ascension – contact EuroPalestine at info@europalestine.com. We urge you to also contact Samidoun at samidoun@samidoun.net so that we can include your actions on the global list of solidarity events in support of the hunger strike.