On Monday, as Palestinian political prisoner Bilal Kayed fights for his freedom before an occupation court on his 69th day of hunger strike, call your government to demand it intercede for his immediate release.
Bilal, one of 7,000 Palestinian political prisoners held by Israel, had been scheduled for years to be released on June 13, the end of a 14 1/2-year sentence by an Israeli military court in the occupied West Bank.
Instead, on the morning his family and friends planned to welcome him home, he was given an administrative detention order, a decree by an Israeli military commander sentencing him to six more months’ imprisonment, without charge or trial and subject to indefinite renewal.
Now one of 750 Palestinian administrative detainees in Israeli prisons, Bilal launched a hunger strike on June 15 to demand his freedom.
Call during your country’s regular office hours:
- Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop: + 61 2 6277 7500
- Canadian Foreign Minister Stephane Dion: +1-613-996-5789
- European Union Commissioner Federica Mogherini: +32 (0) 2 29 53516
- New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully: +64 4 439 8000
- United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson: +44 20 7008 1500
- United States President Barack Obama: 1-202-456-1111
Tell your government:
- Bilal Kayed, a Palestinian political prisoner, has been on hunger strike since June 14 to protest his administrative detention without charge or trial by Israel.
- Your government must demand Bilal’s immediate release and end all support for Israel’s political imprisonment and other crimes against Palestinians.
- Israel’s use of administrative detention is a universally-recognized violation of human rights and international law.
- The government must do more than criticize administrative detention or express concern, but should also take serious measures to end these violations.
