15 January marks the launch of two weeks of action, called by the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat and Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, to organize events around the world in solidarity with imprisoned Palestinians struggling for freedom.
In this video, Khaled Barakat, Palestinian writer and the international coordinator of the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat, speaks about why it is so important for people to join the actions to demand freedom for all Palestinian prisoners.
Watch the video:
Barakat notes the important struggles taking place inside Israeli jails, including the fight to end administrative detention – Israeli imprisonment without charge or trial – stop torture and free imprisoned Palestinian children.
“It is very important for us to reflect the real image of our prisoners: Our leaders, our student movement leaders, our feminist movement leaders, our labor movement leaders. These are the Palestinian prisoners confronting the occupation on a daily basis…When we stand in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners, we stand in solidarity with Palestinian resistance,” Barakat says.
He highlighted the ongoing attacks against Palestinian prisoners, noting that right-wing, racist Israeli politicians like Gilad Erdan were escalating the repression against the prisoners in Israeli jails at the same time that they are attempting to criminalize the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign and Palestine solidarity around the world. (Erdan holds both the Ministry of Public Security – over the Israel Prison Service – and the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, the so-called anti-BDS ministry, in the Netanyahu regime.)
Barakat also noted that the struggle of Palestinian prisoners is not separate from the struggle of fellow prisoners in imperialist and reactionary jails around the world, emphasizing the experience of Georges Abdallah, jailed for 35 years in French prison, U.S. political prisoners – including Palestinians like the Holy Land Five – and political prisoners held in Turkey, the Philippines, Colombia and by reactionary Arab regimes.
In conclusion, he expressed his conviction that the struggle of the Palestinian people will continue until victory and liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.
Call to action and schedule of events: https://samidoun.net/2020/01/schedule-of-actions-and-events-15-29-january-free-ahmad-saadat-and-all-palestinian-prisoners/
Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat statement: http://freeahmadsaadat.org/2020/01/14/on-the-anniversary-of-ahmad-saadats-abduction-by-the-palestinian-authority-security-services/
