#FreeIssam Twitterstorm and Social Media Action for Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat, Palestinian political prisoner in British jails
Tuesday, 5 January 2021
10 am Pacific – 1 pm Eastern – 6 pm British time – 7 pm central Europe – 8 pm Palestine
- Use these sample tweets for your posts: bit.ly/issamtweets
- Use the hashtag #FreeIssam for all of your posts during the action!
On 5 January, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is joining with Alkarama Palestinian Women’s Mobilization, Palestine Online, Palestine Defense Forces, V Palestine and Palestine SunBird for a social media action to #FreeIssam – Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat, Palestinian political prisoner in British jails.
Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat is a Palestinian doctor (a general practitioner or GP) who has lived in Edinburgh, Scotland, since 2010. Today, Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat is a political prisoner, held in high-security Maghaberry Prison in the north of Ireland. He was targeted by an MI5 infiltrator to attend a bugged meeting with members of Saoradh, an Irish republican socialist political party that advocates for an end to British colonialism and a united Ireland. He was detained on 22 August at Heathrow Airport on the same day that nine members of Saoradh were also arrested by British forces.
Dr. Hijjawi Bassalat has faced increasingly worse health conditions inside Maghaberry Prison. Issam suffers from serious health conditions and is not receiving the treatment he needs; instead, he has suffered from multiple delays that amount to a form of torture, forcing him to suffer in unnecessary pain as his condition worsens. Despite this situation, Issam has been repeatedly refused bail. Most recently, his bail application was once again refused on 22 December, despite overwhelming evidence of both his severe health situation and the effects of imprisonment upon his medical decline.
He faces another court hearing on 6 January, as he remains wrongfully imprisoned. Join us in a social media action on Tuesday, 5 January to support this Palestinian doctor who has given so much to his community in Edinburgh as well as the broader Palestinian community. Today, he is facing worsening pain and the atrophy of his leg on a daily basis, while the presumption of innocence is being cast aside for political gamesmanship. Join the call to #FreeIssam and urge the immediate release of Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat and the provision of the medical care he so desperately needs.
- Use these sample tweets for your posts: bit.ly/issamtweets
- Use the hashtag #FreeIssam for all of your posts during the action!
