Amsterdam protest for the liberation of Palestine: facing Zionist aggression

13 June 2021

On Sunday 6 June, more than one hundred people protested on Dam Square in Amsterdam for the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea. The protest, organized by the Palestinijnse Gemeenschap in Nederland, Youth for Palestine and Samidoun, proved that mobilizations will continue as long as the Palestinian resistance continues. On the day that Muna and Mohammed El Kurd were arrested in Sheikh Jarrah, Palestinian and Dutch youth stated: we will not rest until Palestine is liberated from the river to the sea!

Zionist aggression and police repression

At the beginning of the protest for Palestine, a handful of Zionists had been given permission to counter protest with five people. Plain clothed officers were standing with the Zionists and uniformed police, making it impossible to recognize them as police and distinguish them from the Zionists.

From the beginning, the Zionists tried to provoke the pro-Palestine protesters into a physical altercation in order to escalate the demonstration and in this way give the police the right to dissolve the protest on the spot. When this failed, one of them punched a Palestinian protester in the face so hard that he bled from his cheek. Even though everyone saw that it were the Zionists who had delivered the blow, the Palestinian protester was eventually forcibly removed and temporarily detained while the Zionist was not.

This is yet another example of collaboration between the Amsterdam municipality, Dutch police and the Zionist agenda:

The Zionist anti-Palestinian protest should never have been approved by the municipality at the same place and time: This is promoting an escalation in an attempt to delegitimize the Palestinian movement in the Netherlands.
Police should never have stood in civilian clothes between the Zionists and uniformed police: By dressing themselves as Zionists – including Israeli patches on their clothing – the police were part of the attempted escalation by the Zionist demonstration, aiming to provoke and arrest Palestine protesters at the first touch.
The fact that the Palestinian protester was forcibly removed and detained instead of the Zionist, when everyone knew who the aggressor was, shows the bias of the police.

Full speech by Yasmin Ahmed of Samidoun Netherlands

“Comrades and friends,

It’s great to see everyone out here today, lively and unified on our commitment to continue to struggle for the liberation of Palestine and support all forms of Palestinian resistance.

It’s been two weeks since the ceasefire was implemented in Gaza, and though the Zionist military cowardly targets Palestinians and caused huge casualties in including 66 children in it’s latest attack, the true victor was the Palestinian resistance. When the resistance in Gaza answered the call of Al Quds and Sheikh Jarrah, the Zionist state could not crush them, they did not stop the rocket fire which has left their so called invincible Iron Dome depleted. They did not stop Palestinians from across 48 or so called Israel from taking to the streets and answering the call for resistance. 73 years of ethic cleansing, separating and dividing Palestine into different parts and different conditions has not separated Palestinians from each other has not turned out how the Zionist entity planned. Palestine is still the demand and Palestinians across all of Palestine, Gaza, 48, the West Bank, are united in their goal for a liberated Palestine from the river to the sea. And Jerusalem remains its eternal capital.

Israel are now requesting $1 billion in military aid to replenish it’s US built “Iron Dome” on top of the $735m provided during the fighting. Their military might had been damaged by the latest war but it will be replenished easily by the US, who relies on its alliance with Israel to maintain the global imperialist status quo. Israel continues it’s campaign to evict Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan and across Palestinian neighbourhoods in Jerusalem, it has created new laws in order to carry mass arrests of Palestinians, especially youth, across 48 or so called Israel, it continues to annex Palestinian land in the West Bank and pump in more European and US settlers. And the Palestinian Authority continues to run security coordination with Israel to suppress resistance in the west bank. There are over 4500 Palestinian prisoners in Zionist prisons. We must always remember and fight for the freedom of the prisoners, who are on the frontline of confrontation with the Zionist enemy everyday, who have turned prisons into revolutionary schools of resistance. We see that Palestinians against all odds has remained steadfast in their liberation struggle and we must support all forms of their Resistance.

Too often when the bombs stop falling on Gaza the international solidarity movement quietens its actions. But not this time. We are still out here on the streets raising the flag of Palestine, and we will not stop until all of Palestine is liberated from the river to the sea.

And we see this continued momentum across the world. in Ireland the campaign to expel the Israeli ambassador is still being fought by activists on the ground, the streets of New York are being taken over regularly by Palestinian diaspora and solidarity activists, in the UK, Palestine Action are occupying the death factories of Israeli arms company Elbit, these are just a few of the many mobilisations happening to support Palestinian liberation. And we must continue here, supporting the students on campus fighting for apartheid free campuses, confronting their schools to end ties with Israeli institutions, pushing for boycott of Israeli goods in your local food market and in your own purchases, continuing campaigns for divestment from Israeli enterprises and sanctions on the Zionist state. And above all supporting Palestinian resistance and following their line always, and we must remain on the streets and make sure that the Zionists in the Netherlands, like Mark Rutte, who said that Israel has a right to defend itself as it was killing children, and the Israeli lobby CIDI — let them know that we are not going anywhere, we will continue demonstrating and standing up for Palestine until Palestine is free from Zionism and imperialism, from the river to the sea.”

14 June, Prince Rupert, BC: #BlockTheBoat – Call for a Community Picket to Stop ZIM!

13 June 2021

Monday, 14 June
3:00 pm
Port of Prince Rupert, BC, Canada
For Updates – text your name to +1-855-713-2006

The same ZIM Volans that was turned away from Oakland port after last week’s #BlockTheBoat victory is now trying to head to Prince Rupert, BC, where it is facing a community picket! Join this picket in solidarity with Palestine and workers globally. Get updates and news by joining the text alert list!

Organized by the Ad hoc Prince Rupert Palestine Solidarity Committee

Six Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike against imprisonment without charge or trial

13 June 2021

There are currently six Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails on open hunger strike, demanding their release from Israeli imprisonment without charge or trial under “administrative detention” orders. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner demands their immediate release, an end to the policy of administrative detention, and freedom for all Palestinian prisoners.

Ghadanfar Abu Atwan has been on hunger strike for 40 days to demand his freedom; he is joined by Khader Adnan, former long-time hunger striker, who has been on hunger strike for 15 days, as well as Amer al-Shami and Yousef al-Amer, on hunger strike for 14 days, and Mohammed Masalmeh and Sheikh Jamal al-Tawil, on hunger strike for 11 days. Al-Tawil’s strike demands the release of his daughter, Bushra al-Tawil, from administrative detention, as well as his release.

Administrative detention was first introduced to Palestine by British colonialism. These orders may be issued for one to six months at a time, and they are indefinitely renewable. As a result, Palestinians routinely are jailed for years at a time with no charge and no trial. Neither they nor their loved ones know when they will be released, and administrative detention serves as a form of psychological torture. The detained Palestinians and their lawyers are barred from seeing the “secret file” used to justify their imprisonment. The use of administrative detention, already routinely used to arbitrarily detain Palestinians, has been escalating rapidly, with over 200 detention orders issued since the beginning of May 2021.

Ghadanfar Abu Atwan, from Dura, near al-Khalil, launched his hunger strike on 5 May 2021 in Ramon prison in protest of his detention without charge or trial. He was seized by occupation forces in October 2020 and ordered to six months in administrative detention; his detention was then renewed for another six months, sparking him to launch his open hunger strike for freedom.

After announcing his strike, he was thrown into isolation for two weeks in Ramon prison, before being transferred to isolation in Ohli Kedar prison, where his cell was infected with insects and unsanitary. Frequent transfers and isolation are used as a means of physical pressure on hunger strikers in an attempt to force them to break their strike. Currently, Abu Atwan is held in the Ramle prison clinic. In his transfer to Ramle prison, Israeli occupation forces assaulted and beat Abu Atwan, physically weakened after 33 days of hunger strike. He was beaten, bruised and sprayed with a noxious substance that inhibited his breathing.

Sheikh Khader Adnan, from Jenin, was seized at dawn by occupation forces from the town of Arraba on 30 May. Adnan, who has won his freedom from administrative detention on multiple occasions through long-term hunger strikes and galvanized international solidarity with Palestinian prisoners, immediately launched a hunger strike. He has been arrested 12 times and spent 8 years in Israeli occupation prisons, most under administrative detention. In 2004, he launched a hunger strike for 25 days; in 2012 for 66 days, in 2015 for 56 days and 2018 for 58 days. He is the father of nine children, the youngest of which is only one month old.

After his arrest, an administrative detention order of one month was imposed upon him almost immediately. He has now been on hunger strike for 15 days to demand his freedom; he is being detained in the Jalameh interrogation center.

Amr al-Shami, 18, and Yousef al-Amer, 28, both from Jenin camp, jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention, launched their strikes 14 days ago. Both completed their sentences imposed upon them by a military court; rather than being released as scheduled, they were ordered jailed without charge or trial. Both al-Shami and al-Amer are held in Megiddo prison.

Mohammed Masalmeh, from Beit Awwa near al-Khalil, is on hunger strike for the 11th day. He has been detained since February without charge or trial and launched his strike when the detention order against him was arbitrarily renewed.

Brought to the Israeli military court in Ofer on Sunday, 13 June, Sheikh Jamal al-Tawil told the occupation judge that he launched his hunger strike to demand freedom for his daughter, Bushra al-Tawil, who is one of two Palestinian women jailed under administrative detention, along with Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees president, Khitam Saafin. He is now demanding his own detention be terminated after the Israeli occupation security forces have ignored his demands. Al-Tawil, a prominent political leader, was seized on 1 June by Israeli occupation forces, who invaded his home in al-Bireh, and transferred almost immediately to administrative detention.

Al-Tawil was transferred on Friday, 11 June to HaSharon prison from Ofer prison, despite the fact that he would be forced to return to Ofer for the military court hearing only days later. These transfers are conducted using the “bosta,” a metal vehicle without temperature controls, and journeys that should take a brief time instead are extended throughout the day with frequent stops.

Bushra al-Tawil, held in Damon prison, has been detained without charge or trial since November 2020. She is a journalist and advocate for Palestinian prisoners who has been repeatedly detained by the Israeli occupation, most commonly held under administrative detention.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all supporters of Palestine to take action to support the hunger strikers and all Palestinian prisoners struggling for freedom. These Palestinians are putting their bodies and lives on the line inside occupation prisoners to demand not only freedom for themselves, but an end to administrative detention and the entire colonial system of Zionism throughout occupied Palestine. Take the actions below and use these posters to highlight the cases of these prisoners’ hunger strike for dignity, justice and freedom, part and parcel of the struggle for liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea!

Download these signs for use in your campaigns:

TAKE ACTION:

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!

Hundreds of thousands – millions of people – around the world have marched and protested with Palestine, its people and its liberation over the past week. Your protest and organizing is also key to supporting this strike! 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. During Ramadan, Israeli dates from stolen Palestinian land are marketed around the world while Israel attempts to force Palestinians from Jerusalem, demolish homes, and imprisons thousands more. By participating in the boycott of Israel, you can directly help to throw a wrench in the economy of settler colonialism. Download our Boycott Flyer to distribute at supermarkets, stores and other venues in your community! Block the Boat – join the campaigns to stop Israeli apartheid shipping internationally, which just won a major victory in Oakland, turning back an Israeli ZIM ship from unloading at the port.

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!

15 June, Austin, TX: Demand freedom for Georges Abdallah – Art party and solidarity video

13 June 2021

First event:
Sunday, 13 June
3 pm
Chestnut Pocket Park, Austin TX

Second event:
Tuesday, 15 June
6:30 pm
Mueller Park
Austin, TX

More info: https://www.instagram.com/p/CQBwOZLFNfS/

Join PSC (the Palestine Solidarity Committee of Austin, TX) and Red Aid as we gather to create a solidarity video for the international week of action (called by Pour la Libération de Georges Abdallah) to demand that France release Georges Abdallah, the Lebanese freedom fighter for Palestine and Europe’s oldest political prisoner. George has been eligible for release since 1999 and between 2004 and 2020, nine of his parole requests have been refused. Throughout his 37 years of imprisonment, Georges has maintained his political identity and continues to advocate for the liberation of Palestine. He does not regret engaging in the struggle and pursuing justice for the oppressed.
In his own words “I am a fighter, not a criminal. The path I have followed has been imposed on me by the human rights abuses perpetrated against Palestinians.”

We will be hosting an art party to create propaganda for the main event on Tuesday, where we’ll tape a solidarity video for Georges Abdallah. The art party will be held at Chestnut Park on Sunday, 6/13 at 3 PM. We will provide art supplies, but feel free to bring your own paint, posters, markers, etc! We will then tape the solidarity video at Mueller Park on Tuesday, 6/15 at 6:30 PM.

Israeli occupation launches arrest wave targeting Palestinian leftists, community leaders

12 June 2021

Israeli occupation forces have targeted a number of prominent Palestinian organizers in the occupied West Bank of Palestine with raids and arrests in the past several days, including several leading Palestinian leftist political figures and activists.

On Monday, 7 June, Omar Shehadeh, a high-profile political leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was seized by occupation forces as he attempted to enter occupied Jerusalem at the Qalandiya checkpoint. Shehadeh, 68, who has represented the PFLP at the PLO Executive Committee, has repeatedly spoken out to demand an end to Palestinian Authority security coordination with Israeli occupation forces and a complete repudiation of the path of the Oslo accords and negotiations. He has been detained on multiple occasions in the past by Israeli occupation forces.

In a statement released by the PFLP following Shehadeh’s arrest, the Front noted that “Since its establishment until now, the PFLP has been subjected to attacks, prosecutions, arrests, continuous targeting and assassinations of its leaders, but it has always emerged stronger and more determined to move forward in the path of resistance. Leaders on the ground are coming forward in the battle to replace the leaders who are being arrested.”

Also on 7 June, Ashraf Abu Aram and Rami Fadayel were among 17 Palestinians seized by occupation forces in a series of raids and attacks. Abu Aram, seized from Bir Zeit after being beaten by occupation soldiers, is a community organizer and former electoral candidate who has been repeatedly targeted for political detention, most recently jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention after returning from an international training in Bangkok. Administrative detention orders, first introduced to Palestine by British colonialism, are routinely used by the Israeli military to imprison Palestinians for up to six months at a time; the orders are indefinitely renewable and Palestinians often are jailed for years without ever being charged or knowing when they might win their freedom.

Rami Fadayel has also been repeatedly jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention. In 2017, when he was detained previously, Haneen Nassar, Fadayel’s wife and an organizer with the Palestinian Prisoners’ Committee, a popular organization in Palestine that works to support the prisoners’ struggle and demand their freedom, said that she and her husband have never been able to enjoy a free and safe life since their marriage. Fadayel has been arrested repeatedly; they marked their engagement while he was imprisoned, and their daughter, Mays, now a young teenager, has not seen her father in their home for nearly half of her life.

Occupation forces also seized Majd al-Ramahi, Atta Sharakah, Muayyad al-Sharbi, Fahd al-Zaatari, Abdallah al-Hashlamoun, Abdul-Rahman Abu Asab, Adam Sub Laban, Mohammed Abu Asab, Mahdi Salama and Ahmed Rukn from various parts of occupied Palestine.

On Tuesday, 8 June, the attacks continued as occupation forces seized Ghassan Zawahreh from Dheisheh refugee camp. Zawahreh was released only two months ago from two and a half years in administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial. Zawahreh has spent over 17 years in Israeli prisons, over half of those in administrative detention without charge or trial.

Married and a father, he and his family have faced frequent imprisonment by Israeli forces; only his mother and sister have been allowed to visit him throughout his various detentions. He has participated in a number of hunger strikes and collective mobilizations behind bars.

During his time in prison, his brother Moataz was shot dead by Israeli occupation forces on 15 October 2015 as he participated in a protest in Dheisheh camp; he had returned home from study in France in order to support Ghassan in the strike. Upon his release on 30 November, Ghassan immediately went to his brother’s gravesite to honor his loss. His brother Mohammed served five years in Israeli occupation; his younger brother Ahmad and Hamdan have both been arrested; Hamdan was held for nearly two years by Israeli military forces.

He was in his last year of studies in social work at the Open University of Jerusalem when he was arrested in 2008, and has been prevented from completing his studies through multiple arrests. He is well-known in the camp as a community activist and volunteer in popular programs that provide social services on a grassroots and collective basis.

In addition to Zawahreh, occupation forces seized Mohammed Raouf Abu Yabis, Qusai Adely Hamamreh, Ali Mohammed Musleh, Ahmed Izzat Abu Dayyeh, Yousef Odeh, Mohammed al-Asma, Oraib Mohsen Abu Khdeir, Mohammed Walid Abu Khdeir, Saif Walid Abu Khdeir, Mahmoud Qawariq, Sameh Qawariq, Nader Sawafta, Osaid al-Kharraz, Osaid Shtayyeh, Nazem Shtayyeh, Thameen Hamdan, Baraa Hamad, Wajd Tanatra, Mansour Tanatra, Abdel-Karim Ziadah, Mamoun Sabah, Adam Banat, Ahmed Abu Sharar, Riyad al-Amour, Fouad al-Rajabi and Mohammed al-Rajabi on 8 and 9 June.

There are currently over 5,300 Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli jails, including 530 held under administrative detention without charge or trial, 41 Palestinian women and 140 children. Palestinian prisoners are leaders of the Palestinian struggle, engaged behind bars in a constant battle for liberation, not only for themselves, but for the land and people of Palestine, from the river to the sea. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges people of conscience around the world to join us to take action to free Omar Shehadeh, Ashraf Abu Aram, Rami Fadayel, Ghassan Zawahreh and all prisoners of the Palestinian cause jailed in Zionist, imperialist and reactionary regimes’ prisons.