Six Palestinian hunger strikers continue battle against administrative detention

11 September 2021

Six Palestinian prisoners are continuing their hunger strikes for freedom inside Israeli jails, demanding their liberation from administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial. The health conditions of the hunger strikers have become more severe, especially as the longest-term hunger strikers have now gone without nutrition for nearly two months. Miqdad al-Qawasmeh, an imprisoned Palestinian university student who has been on strike for 52 days, was moved to the Kaplan hospital due to the decline in his health. All of the detainees have pledged to continue their strikes until their detention is ended.

The striking detainees are Kayed al-Fasfous (on strike for 59 days), Miqdad Qawasmeh (on strike for 52 days), Alaa al-Araj (on strike for 34 days), Hisham Abu Hawash (on strike for 26 days) Raik Bisharat (on strike for 21 days), and Shadi Abu Aker (on striike for 18 days). While Ahmad Hamamra suspended his hunger strike on Wednesday, 1 September, with an agreement to secure his release on 14 February 2022, Shadi Abu Aker launched a hunger strike 18 days ago for his release from unjust and arbitrary detention.

All of the hunger striking detainees face ongoing repression in an attempt to break their strikes. They are held in solitary confinement or isolation, denied family visits and often denied access to their lawyers.

What Is Administrative Detention?

Administrative detention was first used in Palestine by the British colonial mandate and then adopted by the Zionist regime; it is now used routinely to target Palestinians, especially community leaders, activists, and influential people in their towns, camps and villages.

There are currently approximately 520 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention, out of 4,650 Palestinian political prisoners. These orders are issued by the military and approved by military courts on the basis of “secret evidence”, denied to both Palestinian detainees and their attorneys. Issued for up to six months at a time, they are indefinitely renewable, and Palestinians — including minor children — can spend years jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention.

Who Are the Hunger Strikers?

Kayed Fasfous: from Dura – Hebron, started the strike 59 days ago. He is 36 years old, detained without charge or trial since October 2020, and held in Ramon prison.
Miqdad Qawasmeh: from Hebron, started 52 days ago. Miqdad Qawasmeh is a Palestinian university student, 24 years old. He has been jailed without charge or trial since January 2021 and is held in Ofer prison.
Alaa al-Araj: from Tulkarem, launched his strike 34 days ago. He has been jailed since 30 June without charge or trial under administrative detention and is held in Megiddo prison. He is 34 years old.
Hisham Ismail Abu Hawash, 39, from Dura, al-Khalil, has been on hunger strike for 26 days. He has been jailed without charge or trial since October 2020 under Israeli administrative detention. Over multiple arrests, he has spent eight years in Israeli prisons. He is married and the father of four children; his youngest child suffers from kidney failure.
Raik Sadeq Bisharat, 44, from Tubas, on strike for 21 days, has been jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention since July 2021. He is an injured former prisoner and has spent 9 years in Israeli prison. His hand was amputated and his wife was martyred by the Israeli occupation.
Shadi Abu Aker, 37, from Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, has been on hunger strike for 18 days to reject his administrative detention. He has been jailed without charge or trial since October 2020. Married and the father of two children, he is a former prisoner who spent 10 years in Israeli prison before his release in 2012. He has since been held under administrative detention three times.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all supporters of Palestine to take action to support these Palestinian hunger strikers and all Palestinian prisoners struggling for freedom, for their own lives and for the Palestinian people. They are confronting the system of Israeli oppression on the front lines, with their bodies and their lives, to bring the system of administrative detention to an end. Take these actions below to stand with the hunger strikers and the struggle for liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea!

Download these signs for use in your campaigns:

TAKE ACTION:

Sign the petition!

Independent grassroots international activists have launched a petition in support of the hunger strikers and to end administrative detention. Show your support by signing on – in addition to taking action in person! Sign here: change.org/NoChargeNoTrialNoJail

Protest at the Israeli Embassy or Consulate in Your Country!

Join the many protests taking place around the world — confront, isolate and besiege the Israeli embassy or consulate in your city or country of residence. Make it clear that the people are with Palestine! Send us your events at samidoun@samidoun.net.

Take to the streets: Organize a protest in solidarity with Palestine!

Take to the streets and join the actions on our full list of events, which is constantly being updated as new actions are announced! Organize your own if there is none in your area, and send us your events at samidoun@samidoun.net.

Boycott Israel!

The international, Arab and Palestinian campaign to boycott Israel can play an important role at this critical time. Local boycott groups can protest and label Israeli produce and groceries, while many complicit corporations – including HP, G4S, Puma, Teva and others, profit from their role in support Zionist colonialism throughout occupied Palestine. By participating in the boycott of Israel, you can directly help to throw a wrench in the economy of settler colonialism.

Demand Your Government Sanction Israel!

The racist, settler colonial state of Israel and its war crimes against the Palestinian people are enabled and backed extensively by the over $3.8 billion each year given to Israel by the United States — targeted directly to support the Israeli occupation military killing children, women, men and elders throughout occupied Palestine. From Canada to Australia to the European Union, Western governments and imperialist powers provide ongoing diplomatic, political and economic support to Israel as well as selling billions of dollars of weaponry to the settler-colonial state. Meanwhile, they also purchase billions of dollars in weaponry from the Israeli state. Governments in league with imperialist powers, such as in the Philippines, Brazil, India and elsewhere, also buy weapons and “security” services — all “battle-tested” on the Palestinian population. Call your representatives, MPs, political officials and demand your government sanction Israel now, cut off all aid, expel its ambassadors, and stop buying and selling weapons!

The resistance continues: Prisoners announce new steps of struggle as two more Freedom Tunnel heroes seized

11 September 2021

After humiliating the Zionist regime by liberating themselves from the high-security Gilboa prison, four members of the Freedom Brigade were seized by occupation forces. For five days, they saw Palestine as free people – and they continue to show the world that the only path to liberation is resistance. Meanwhile, Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails continue to struggle to resist colonial incarceration and repression.

In the early hours of Saturday, 11 September, occupation forces seized Mohammed Ardah and Zakaria Zubaidi, over five days after they liberated themselves from Gilboa Prison. Earlier that day, they seized Mahmoud Ardah and Yaqoub Qadri. Two liberated prisoners remain free, insisting on their freedom despite an ongoing manhunt by all levels of the Israeli occupation forces. Given the record of the Israeli occupation, we have every reason to believe that the four seized members of the Freedom Brigade will be subjected to severe torture and abuse in an attempt to garner information on the whereabouts of their liberated brothers.

The four are currently being held in the Jalameh interrogation center and are being denied access to their lawyers. Palestinian lawyer Khaled Mahajneh told Quds News that “the occupation intelligence is hiding all information about the prisoners who were arrested, and the court has imposed until now an order to prevent the four prisoners from meeting with their defense lawyers…We have not been able to obtain information about the prisoners’ conditions, nor about their health, physical or psychological state.” All of the Palestinian resistance organizations have issued stern warnings to the Israeli occupation against harming the four heroes of the Freedom Tunnel, while human rights organizations emphasized that the occupation holds full responsibility for their lives.

Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails announced escalating steps of struggle to begin on Friday, 17 September, with groups of the prisoners’ movement leadership entering into hunger strikes, and prisoners collectively refusing to participate in roll call and counting and closing their sections. Over 400 Palestinians held in Gilboa prison have been transferred to other prisons, they have been denied access to the canteen or prison store and denied family and legal visits, all while being subjected to violent searches and attacks including military dogs. In response to these attacks, Palestinian prisoners resisted, burning cells in several prisons.

All of the Palestinian political organizations in the prisons formed an emergency committee to follow up on these steps of struggle, especially following a series of attacks on the prisoners, to end the restrictions on them and stop the ongoing violent invasions of Palestinian prisoners’ cells.

Organizers throughout Palestine and internationally are responding to the call for action from the prisoners, organizing actions and protests in Baqa’a al-Gharbiyeh, Nazareth, Ramallah, Jenin and elsewhere, as well as international solidarity actions in Paris, Frankfurt, Gothenburg, Derry, New York, Vancouver and elsewhere. Youth groups and Palestinian leaders and former prisoners such as Khader Adnan have called for general strikes in support of the prisoners.

The families of the liberated prisoners are also facing ongoing attacks, interrogation and collective punishment. Raddad and Shaddad al-Ardah, the brothers of Mahmoud al-Ardah, Ahmad and Bassam al-Ardah, the brothers of Mohammed al-Ardah, and their relative Nidal al-Ardah, had their detention and interrogation extended by the Israeli Salem military court for another 15 days on 11 September.

**

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network emphasizes and amplifies the call of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement to stand with the Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinian people today to demand justice and liberation for Palestine, from the river to the sea.

The liberated detainees of Gilboa prison represent the irrepressible hope of and commitment to liberation that no amount of militarized repression and Zionist colonization has suppressed, for over 73 years. The actions of this “Freedom Brigade” are not only a symbol of hope for Palestinians but also for everyone in the world who seeks justice and freedom. The rearrest of four liberated prisoners has done nothing to dim the light of liberation that they represent for humanity or to lessen the blow they have dealt to the mirage of Israeli invincibility and security control. They reflect the unbreakable Palestinian will to live, struggle and thrive in the most seemingly impossible circumstances.

Western imperialist governments are part and parcel of the ongoing attacks against Palestinian prisoners and the colonization of Palestine. From the U.S.’ over $3.8 billion annually in weaponry provided to the Israeli regime to the ongoing economic, political and diplomatic support provided by the European Union, Canada, the United Kingdom and others, all of these states are directly involved in the ongoing crimes perpetuated against the Palestinian people. Everywhere in the world, we can and must act now to stand with the heroes of the Freedom tunnel and all Palestinian prisoners struggling for justice, and for the liberation of Palestine!

Join us in action:

1. Demonstrations, rallies and street actions – including actions to boycott Israel!

Have a protest or action to free Palestinian prisoners, support the Palestinian struggle for liberation, stand with the Palestinian resistance and boycott Israel and its complicit corporations. Join the many protests taking place around the world — confront, isolate and besiege the Israeli embassy or consulate in your city or country of residence. Make it clear that the people are with Palestine and the liberated prisoners! Send us your events at samidoun@samidoun.net.

2. Creative Actions

Creative actions are a wonderful way to spread the word and highlight the struggle of the Palestinian prisoners. The banner hung by Samidoun España in Madrid at the University metro station highlighted the struggle of Palestinian students, while the campaign to symbolically rename streets after Georges Abdallah internationally commemorated his birthday and amplified the demand for his liberation.

These actions only require one, two or a few people. You can even simply poster and sticker around your neighbourhood. Contact us via email at samidoun@samidoun.net or via WhatsApp at +32466904397 if you are looking for image ideas or resources!

3. Demand Your Government Sanction Israel!

The racist, settler colonial state of Israel and its war crimes against the Palestinian people are enabled and backed extensively by the over $3.8 billion each year given to Israel by the United States — targeted directly to support the Israeli occupation military killing children, women, men and elders throughout occupied Palestine. From Canada to Australia to the European Union, Western governments and imperialist powers provide ongoing diplomatic, political and economic support to Israel as well as selling billions of dollars of weaponry to the settler-colonial state. Meanwhile, they also purchase billions of dollars in weaponry from the Israeli state. Governments in league with imperialist powers, such as in the Philippines, Brazil, India and elsewhere, also buy weapons and “security” services — all “battle-tested” on the Palestinian population. Call your representatives, MPs, political officials and demand your government sanction Israel now, cut off all aid, expel its ambassadors, and stop buying and selling weapons!

Please note: Samidoun has speakers that can participate in your events (in-person and virtual) in Arabic, English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish and other languages. Contact us via email at samidoun@samidoun.net or via WhatsApp at +32466904397 to inquire about a Samidoun speaker!

Submit Your Action

Please contact us via email at samidoun@samidoun.net or via WhatsApp at +32466904397 or over social media to send us your events and actions!

Download these signs for your action:

11 September, Frankfurt: Palestine Stand: Free all Palestinian prisoners!

10 September 2021

Saturday, 11 September
3 pm
Hauptwache
Frankfurt, Germany
Info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CTo9ys6t_Ul/

Our prisoners have proven that violence cannot break their will after six Palestinian prisoners wrested their freedom from the Zionist security and prison system. This is a message to the whole world: that freedom is a relentless pursuit that will not be deterred by all attempts at repression and collective terror.

Four of the six freed prisoners are still free despite attempts by the Zionist occupation officials to persecute them.

However, occupation officials forcibly relocated, attacked and broken into the prisoners’ cells throughout Palestine while seizing the relatives of the released men for interrogation An uprising is taking place in the prisons that requires the support of all people around the world who are on the side of the Palestinian people and fight for freedom and liberation – come by the Hauptwache tomorrow and show your support!

Palästina-Stand
Morgen am Samstag 11.09. um 15Uhr
An der Hauptwache, Frankfurt am Main

يثبت أسرانا في سجون الاحتلال اليوم أن لا قوة تقتل الإرادة، بكسر ستة أسرى قيود منظومة الأمن الاستعماري التي تفرضها سلطات العدو الصهيوني على أسرانا في السجون، وفي هذا رسالة دوّت للعالم أجمع أن الحرية سعي دؤوب لا تثنيها كل محاولات القمع والإرهاب. أسرانا البواسل ما زالوا طلقاء رغم محاولات الاحتلال الصهيوني الفاشلة ملاحقتهم. فما كان لسلطات الاحتلال إلا التنكيل بأسرانا في سجونها، عبر مهاجمة واقتحام زنزاينهم والإعتداء عليهم ونقلهم قسراً واستدعاء أقارب الأسرى المحررين وإعاثة الفوضى في بيوتهم وقراهم.
يمارس أسرانا في سجون العدو في هذه الأثناء حقهم الطبيعي بالتصدي لمحاولات التنكيل بهم، ويقابل هذا الفعل المقاوم مظاهرات داعمة في جميع أنحاء فلسطين المحتلة. انتصاراً لأسرانا في معركتهم نحو الحرية ضد السّجان الصهيوني، شاركونا بالوقفة يوم السبت في تمام الساعة الثالثة، ساحة الـHauptwache في مدينة فرانكفورت.

Unsere Gefangenen haben bewiesen, dass keine Gewalt ihren Willen brechen kann, nachdem sechs palästinensische Gefangene dem zionistischen Sicherheits- und Gefängnissystem ihre Freiheit entrissen haben. Dies ist eine Botschaft an die ganze Welt: dass die Freiheit ein unerbittliches Streben ist, das sich von allen Versuchen der Unterdrückung und des Terrorismus nicht abschrecken lässt.
Die sechs befreiten Gefangenen sind trotz der Verfolgungsversuche der zionistischen Besatzungsbeamten weiterhin frei.
Die Besatzungsbeamten haben jedoch überall in Palästina Gefangene gewaltsam verlegt, angegriffen und in ihre Zellen eingebrochen, während sie die Familienangehörigen der freigelassenen Männer zum Verhör brachten. In den Gefängnissen findet ein Aufstand statt, der die Unterstützung aller Menschen auf der ganzen Welt erfordert, die an der Seite des palästinensischen Volkes und Kampfes für Freiheit und Befreiung stehen – kommt morgen an der Hauptwache vorbei und zeigt eure Unterstützung!

9h

ALERT: Mahmoud Ardah and Yaqoub Qadri must be protected – Free all Palestinian Prisoners!

10 September 2021

Palestinian heroes Mahmoud al-Ardah and Yaqoub Qadri were seized by Israeli occupation forces six days after they liberated themselves and exposed the weakness and fragility of Israeli technological superiority and military hegemony at the high-security Gilboa prison. They have been subjected to one of the most intense Israeli manhunts in history in an attempt to counter the powerful message of hope and freedom that the six liberated detainees of the Freedom Brigade have provided to the Palestinian people and the world.

Four Palestinian liberated prisoners remain free, claiming their freedom with the most basic of tools and in the most dire conditions, and subject to the ongoing pursuit by all levels of Israeli occupation military, police, intelligence and security forces.

Given the record of the Israeli occupation, we have every reason to believe that Mahmoud Ardah and Yaqoub Qadri will be subjected to severe torture and abuse in an attempt to garner information on the whereabouts of their four liberated brothers. We must make it clear that the world is watching and will and must act to defend these heroic prisoners of freedom.

It is more important than ever to stand with Mahmoud al-Ardah, Yaqoub Qadri, the four freed prisoners, and their fellow nearly 5,000 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli occupation jails, to demand their freedom and place the eyes of the world on the struggle of these brave men and women against their colonial occupier.

Join these actions in the coming days:

**

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network emphasizes and amplifies the call of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement to stand with the Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinian people today to demand justice and liberation for Palestine, from the river to the sea. The liberated detainees of Gilboa prison represent the irrepressible hope of and commitment to liberation that no amount of militarized repression and Zionist colonization has suppressed, for over 73 years. The actions of this “Freedom Brigade” are not only a symbol of hope for Palestinians but also for everyone in the world who seeks justice and freedom. Inside the prison walls, Palestinian prisoners continue to defend themselves against ongoing invasions and attacks.

Western imperialist governments are not innocent in the ongoing attacks against Palestinian prisoners and the colonization of Palestine. From the U.S.’ over $3.8 billion annually in weaponry provided to the Israeli regime to the ongoing economic, political and diplomatic support provided by the European Union, Canada, the United Kingdom and others, all of these states are directly involved in the ongoing crimes perpetuated against the Palestinian people. Everywhere in the world, we can and must act now to stand with the Palestinian prisoners and their uprising, and for the liberation of Palestine!

Join us in action:

1. Demonstrations, rallies and street actions – including actions to boycott Israel!

Have a protest or action to free Palestinian prisoners, support the Palestinian struggle for liberation, stand with the Palestinian resistance and boycott Israel and its complicit corporations. Join the many protests taking place around the world — confront, isolate and besiege the Israeli embassy or consulate in your city or country of residence. Make it clear that the people are with Palestine and the liberated prisoners! Send us your events at samidoun@samidoun.net.

2. Creative Actions

Creative actions are a wonderful way to spread the word and highlight the struggle of the Palestinian prisoners. The banner hung by Samidoun España in Madrid at the University metro station highlighted the struggle of Palestinian students, while the campaign to symbolically rename streets after Georges Abdallah internationally commemorated his birthday and amplified the demand for his liberation.

These actions only require one, two or a few people. You can even simply poster and sticker around your neighbourhood. Contact us via email at samidoun@samidoun.net or via WhatsApp at +32466904397 if you are looking for image ideas or resources!

3. Demand Your Government Sanction Israel!

The racist, settler colonial state of Israel and its war crimes against the Palestinian people are enabled and backed extensively by the over $3.8 billion each year given to Israel by the United States — targeted directly to support the Israeli occupation military killing children, women, men and elders throughout occupied Palestine. From Canada to Australia to the European Union, Western governments and imperialist powers provide ongoing diplomatic, political and economic support to Israel as well as selling billions of dollars of weaponry to the settler-colonial state. Meanwhile, they also purchase billions of dollars in weaponry from the Israeli state. Governments in league with imperialist powers, such as in the Philippines, Brazil, India and elsewhere, also buy weapons and “security” services — all “battle-tested” on the Palestinian population. Call your representatives, MPs, political officials and demand your government sanction Israel now, cut off all aid, expel its ambassadors, and stop buying and selling weapons!

Please note: Samidoun has speakers that can participate in your events (in-person and virtual) in Arabic, English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish and other languages. Contact us via email at samidoun@samidoun.net or via WhatsApp at +32466904397 to inquire about a Samidoun speaker!

Submit Your Action

Please contact us via email at samidoun@samidoun.net or via WhatsApp at +32466904397 or over social media to send us your events and actions!

Download these signs for your action:

#SaveIsraa: Freedom, justice and dignity for Israa Jaabis!

10 September 2021

On October 11, 2015, Palestinian mother, educator and social worker Israa Ja’abis was returning to her home in Jerusalem. However, an electrical failure in her car’s airbag caused a fire as she approached the illegal Israeli occupation’s Al-Z’ayyem checkpoint.

In desperation, Israa got out of the car to get rid of the fire. Instead of receiving help, Israa had a gun pointed at her face by an Israeli soldier and was ordered to drop the “knife,” but she was not carrying any weapon. Another soldier ordered her to be shot.

The ambulance arrived 15 minutes later, after Israa had remained lying on the ground near the vehicle, despite quick access to medical services by Israeli occupation forces at the checkpoint. Severely injured, the educator suffered first, second and third degree burns on more than 60% of her body, had eight fingers amputated and her face was partially disfigured.

The car accident resulted in an eleven-year prison sentence and a fine of 50,000 NIS ($15,624 USD), as well as severely limiting Israa’s mobility and health. Her injuries were substantially exacerbated by a lack of sufficient medical care and ongoing support. The Palestinian, now 37, was accused of having premeditated the explosion in her car near the checkpoint, an allegation she denied.

Israa has been deprived of liberty since 2015. She does not receive adequate medical treatment for her injuries and has been denied the latest requests to visit from her only son Mutasem, now 12 years old. Israa needs to undergo at least eight surgeries, including facial reconstruction and skin grafting around the right eye. She must rely on her fellow Palestinian women prisoners for physical and health support, even as she works to develop her skills and create crafts or art for her beloved son.

Israa Ja’abis is suffering from multiple forms of violence, enforced social isolation and humiliation inside the Zionist occupation prison.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network calls on all supporters of Palestine to take a stand and support Israa Ja’abis in her fight for freedom and proper medical treatment!

Join the #SaveIsraa campaign and share her story on social media. Palestinians and supporters of justice around the world are campaigning for Israa by sharing her pictures, story and demands for her freedom with the hashtag #SaveIsraa. Her family and loved ones continue to speak out to demand the return of their beloved family member and that she receive the medical care and rehabilitative therapy she needs and is currently being denied by the Israeli occupation.

11 September, Clermont-Ferrand: AFPS Stand to #BoycottPuma and Support Palestinian Prisoners

10 September 2021

Saturday, 11 September
Forum des Associations
Place de Jaude
Clermont-Ferrand, France
Info: https://www.facebook.com/Palestine63Solidarite/posts/2375745172562276
Organized by AFPS 63

The AFPS 63 will organize Stand 180 at the Forum des Associations, including information on the GAZA blockade, BDS-PUMA, ethnic cleansing in the West Bank, and the 6 prisoners who have just escaped.

SAMEDI 11 SEPTEMBRE, PLACE DE JAUDE A CLERMONT-FD
STAND AFPS 63 au FORUM des ASSOCIATIONS

Stand N° 180
avec notamment des infos sur le blocus de GAZA, sur BDS-PUMA, sur l’épuration ethnique en Cisjordanie, et sur les 6 prisonniers qui viennent de s’évader.

10 September, Online event and Oostend, Belgium: The East Mediterranean: NATO, US Bases and Fossil Imperialism OUT!

10 September 2021

Friday, 10 September
*Note: program will be conducted both onsite and online. Doors open onsite at 17:00h Brussels; program begins both onsite and online at 17:30h Brussels.
In Person: Vayamundo
Zeedijk 330 8400 Oostend, Belgium;
ONLINE event (5:30 pm central Europe, 8:30 am Pacific, 11:30 am Eastern, 6:30 pm Palestine) Register at: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwode6gqDMoH904WaD4IEWHUymnXsZuZjBT

Featured speakers:
Mamdouh Habashi, Socialist Popular Alliance Party, Egypt
Oz Karahan, Union of Cypriots, Cyprus
Lida Dodou, New Left Current, Greece
Nilufer Koc, Kurdistan National Congress, Kurdistan
Thomas Hofman, Samidoun, Netherlands
Antonio Tujan, Institute for Political Economy, Philippines

The Eastern Mediterranean has always been a battleground for world powers, due to its strategic location. However, the target of the sphere of influence in the region is even wider than the Aegean corridor to the Eastern Mediterranean. The Eastern Med is also the port for the Middle East and this region’s natural resources. The countries that share a coastline to the Eastern Mediterranean have suffered from U.S. and NATO occupations, foreign interventions, and U.S.-sponsored terrorism for decades.

Today, the Eastern Mediterranean has become even more contentious, as the discovery of natural resources has fueled fossil imperialism and inflamed tensions among states in the region.This tension is used by the United States to justify increasing its military presence in the region, including a significant increase in U.S. military bases and cooperation agreements with allied countries. The U.S. even exploits the tension between Greece and Turkey, two NATO member countries, and increases its military presence in Greece. Cyprus, the small island state in the middle of the Eastern Mediterranean conflict, is home to five NATO armies today.

Join anti-war, environmental justice, and anti-imperialist activists to discuss U.S. and NATO militarization and bases in the region; the connection of militarization to rampant resource extraction and fossil imperialism; and organizing strategies to resist U.S.-NATO war-making and plunder of resources.

11 September, Gothenburg: End the Occupation – Freedom for All Palestinian Prisoners!

9 September 2021

Saturday, 11 September
2 pm
Brunnsparken
Gothenburg, Sweden
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/896706687895741/

The Palestine coordination group in Gothenburg is calling on all to demonstrate full support for the Palestinian prisoners. They are freedom fighters! End the occupation – Freedom for all Palestinian prisoners!

Palestinska Samordningsgruppen kallar alla till en manifestation för att visa vårt fulla stöd till de palestinska fångarna.
De är frihetskämpar !!
Brunnsparken lördag 11 september kl 14-15
UPPHÄV OCKUPATIONEN –
FRIHET ÅT ALLA PALESTINSKA FÅNGAR

12 September, NYC: Globalize The Intifada From Attica To Gilboa!

9 September 2021

Sunday, 12 September
4:30 pm – Orientation for 9/17 #GlobalizeTheIntifada action
5:30 pm – Rally for the 6 escaped prisoners
Washington Square Park
New York, NY 10012
Organized by Within Our Lifetime
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/179710347568611/

50 years ago the Attica prison uprising broke out in New York on September 9th, 1971 when a group of incarcerated freedom fighters and revolutionaries seized control of the prison to fight for their liberation, demand better conditions and protest the murder of Black Panther Party leader and political prisoner George Jackson in San Quentin Prison in California weeks earlier.

Four days later, on September 13th, the uprising came to a violent end when state police and prison guards launched a premeditated genocidal attack on the freedom fighters on the inside. Within 15 minutes, 43 people were killed in cold blood in a hail of indiscriminate gunfire, including 32 of the prisoners.

Today we are witnessing an historic moment of resistance and rebellion from inside the prison walls in Palestine in the wake of six Palestinian freedom fighters successfully escaping from the zionist occupation’s “maximum security” Gilboa prison this past Monday.

More than 72 hours later, they remain free, and the Palestinian people continue to take to the streets across historic Palestine to express their unwavering support for the escaped prisoners and resist the occupation.

Join us this Sunday, September 12th as we commemorate the 50th anniversary of Attica, mobilize in support of the six escaped prisoners in Palestine and demand freedom for ALL Palestinian prisoners.

We will also be coming together for an orientation beforehand to plan ahead for our 9/17 #GlobalizeTheIntifada action with @decolonizethisplace.

Copenhagen demonstration “Gives Israel the Red Card” outside Denmark-Israel football match

9 September 2021

Over 250 people rallied in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Tuesday, 7 September, in a large protest against the Denmark-Israel football match, under the slogan “Give Israel the red card!” The protest was organized by Boykot Israel-DK, Internationalt Forum, Demos, and Stop Annekteringen af Palestina. Representatives from Samidoun Stockholm participated in the protest following a series of meetings.

Samidoun Stockholm members traveled to Copenhagen after visits to Gothenburg and Malmo; they met with the Internationalt Forum, a long-established, active anti-imperialist organization based in Copenhagen, and attended the demonstration.

Ahead of the football game, over 1000 small Palestinian flags were prepared and then handed out – with leaflets about the Israeli apartheid state – to football supporters and all passers-by.

During the match, Palestinian flags were visible all throughout the stadium, while a demonstration in support of Palestinian rights and against the occupation was held at a nearby square. The display of Palestinian flags inside the stadium was covered in Danish media as well as Israeli media, and the national Danish TV 2 station published a long article on the “flag action” and the protest, quoting the Boykot Israel leaflets distributed in both Danish and English.

The demonstration aimed at promoting the boycott of Israeli sports teams and federations, as well as exposing the role of sports events in legitimizing the illegal occupation in Palestine. The large crowd gathered to listen to speeches from anti-imperialist and Palestinian organizations in Denmark, accompanied by music and political conversations.

Johnna and Irene of Boykot Israel spoke at the demonstration, where they affirmed:

“Solidarity with the Palestinian people stands on two legs, partly a Boycott Israel campaign and partly a solidarity with the Palestinian liberation struggle. The two are connected around the common goal: A free Palestine. Boykot Israel is in favor of a total boycott of Israel – economic, academic, cultural and sports. We do this because Israel is an apartheid state – just as South Africa was – and because Israel is a colonial power. We are pressuring and isolating Israel economically, politically and diplomatically….Solidarity with the Palestinian liberation struggle is the second leg of solidarity. The many peace initiatives over the past sixty years have not changed anything – only given Israel more influence, such as through the Oslo Accords of 1993….Peace talks with an occupying power will never give the Palestinians their freedom and their state…We must support the Palestinian liberation struggle – through support for the struggle of political prisoners – through support for the demand for the right to return, and not least: through support for a new intifada!”

They concluded by quoting Ahmad Sa’adat’s affirmation that, “In the end, justice will win.”

After the Copenhagen protest, Samidoun had a meeting with representatives of Internationalt Forum, where we discussed the future of the Palestinian and boycott movements, as well as how the movements and organizations in Northern Europe can strengthen their cooperation in the struggle for Palestinian return and liberation.