As Palestinian prisoner Maher al-Akhras enters his 93rd day of hunger strike, his situation is increasingly dire, requiring international support and solidarity. Al-Akhras, 49, married and a father of six, launched his hunger strike in July 2020 after being seized from his home by Israeli occupation forces and ordered to administrative detention, Israeli imprisonment without charge or trial. Administrative detention orders, issued on the basis of “secret evidence,” are indefinitely renewable, and Palestinians have spent years at a time jailed with no charge and not even the barest minimum of due process under these orders. There are currently approximately 350 Palestinians held under administrative detention, out of 4,400 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails.
Join over 1,000 people who have already raised their voices to international human rights groups Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights to take action for Maher al-Akhras. The ICRC in particular has failed to live up to its responsibilities to protect Palestinian prisoners, calling on the political prisoner jailed without charge or trial to “find a solution” with the occupying power violating his rights.
The following statement was issued by Georges Ibrahim Abdallah as he entered his 37th year of captivity in French prisons. The Lebanese Arab Communist struggler for Palestine addressed his message to the national demonstration outside the prison gates in Lannemezan, France, on 24 October 2020. Over 600 people from across France and internationally joined the mass march to demand his liberation, in conjunction with protests in Beirut, Frankfurt, Ramallah, Gaza, Gothenburg, Geneva and elsewhere.
At the dawn of this 37th year of captivity, here you are gathered again a few meters from these abominable walls! What emotion and what enthusiasm it brings to know you are so close, in this time of pandemic, confinement and curfew! This solidarity mobilization, in all the diverse expressions of your commitment, brings me a great deal of strength today and warms my heart. Indeed, far from going unnoticed, this united presence leaves no one here indifferent; behind these walls, it creates a very special atmosphere of awakening, enthusiasm and humanity. The echo of your slogans goes beyond the barbed wire and the watchtowers, it resonates in our heads and transports us far from this sinister place.
Comrades, after so many years of captivity, and so many years of solidarity mobilizations, here we are still together, resolutely standing, with unfailing determination, facing this 37th year which promises to be full of struggle and hope.
Certainly you know, Comrades, that it is also thanks to these various solidarity initiatives that we can stand up in these grim places. Years and years of captivity have reinforced my conviction that faced with the policy of annihilation of the imprisoned revolutionary protagonists, it is always in the field of solidarity mobilization that takes up the anti-capitalist / anti-imperialist struggle that we can provide the most significant support to our imprisoned comrades, and thus strengthen their resistance.
Comrades, in these times of crisis, it is clear that the proponents of the domination of capital are seeking by all means to divert the attention of the popular masses from the real questions posed by the general crisis that is shaking the pillars of the system. In this period of pandemic, nothing should make us forget that the fight against Covid-19 is being waged within the framework of capitalism, under the reign of the bourgeoisie, of value and of profit. We all know, Comrades, that this struggle does not suspend the class struggle, but it tries to conceal it with convenient words…
We must understand that those who criticize the management of this “health crisis,” without combating the class domination which propels it, serve to obscure understanding of the problem. It must be said that the propagandists of the system always do what is necessary to deflect the anger of the popular masses, especially in times of crisis. The workers, even the least politicized, know how much the hospital system is suffering today here in France and even much more elsewhere perhaps, due to the stranglehold of finance on hospitals.
Comrades, as you can see, the crisis in the system has spread all over long before the pandemic and will worsen during and after the pandemic. You don’t have to be an expert to see that they are doing everything they can to make the popular masses bear the weight of this crisis, throwing millions of men and women into misery.
From one country to another, the measures recommended in the service of capital are almost always identical: making workers bear the costs of maintaining their moribund system of exploitation. It is clear, Comrades, that these measures only amplify the extent of the disasters and further accentuate the dynamics of the crisis.
Comrades, in order to move forward in the construction of the necessary revolutionary alternative, the convergence of struggles is more than essential. The historic bloc of workers is built and structured in the global dynamics of the struggle in all of its components. It is only together, only together, that the proletarians and the various components of the popular masses of this country may stem and prevent the rising power of all the processes of developing fascism that are underway. Let us encourage, ever more Comrades, the various processes of convergence of struggles at the local level as well as at the regional level and even more so at the international level.
As you can see Comrades, the Arab bourgeoisie, for the most part, is now displaying its unvarnished alignment with the enemy camp. On the one hand, this does not fail to weigh upon the struggle of the Palestinian popular masses, yet, on the other hand, it also affirms the special place of the Palestinian cause as one of the main levers of the Arab revolution. The Palestinian Resistance has and must confront the reactionary Arab-Zionist bloc led by the imperialist powers.
Every day, Palestine teaches us all lessons of self-sacrifice and courage of exceptional significance. More than ever the Palestinian popular masses, in spite of all the treachery of the bourgeoisie, assume their role as the true guarantor of the defense of the interests of the people. Faced with the occupation and the barbarity of the occupier, the first legitimate response that must be displayed above all else is solidarity, all solidarity, with those who by their blood face the armies of occupation.
The conditions of detention in Zionist jails worsen every day, and as you know, Comrades, to face them, international solidarity is an essential weapon. Naturally, the Palestinian popular masses and their revolutionary vanguards can always count on your mobilization and your active solidarity.
May a thousand solidarity initiatives flourish in support of Palestine and its promising Resistance!
May a thousand solidarity initiatives flourish in support of Palestinian Flowers and Lion Cubs!
Solidarity, all solidarity with the resistance fighters, in Zionist jails and in isolation cells in Morocco, Turkey, Greece, the Philippines and elsewhere around the world!
Solidarity, all solidarity with young proletarians from working-class neighborhoods!
Solidarity, all solidarity with the struggling proletarians!
Solidarity, all solidarity with the Yemeni popular masses!
Honor to the Martyrs and to the struggling popular masses!
Down with imperialism and its Zionist and other Arab reactionary watchdogs!
Capitalism is nothing more than barbarism, honor to all those who oppose it in the diversity of their expressions!
Together, Comrades, and it is only together, that we will win!
To all of you Comrades and Friends, my revolutionary greetings.
The calls for freedom for imprisoned Palestinian hunger striker Maher al-Akhras are growing as he enters his 92nd day of hunger strike against his imprisonment without charge or trial under Israeli administrative detention. An international day of action and symbolic global hunger strikes is being organized for 28 October, and United Nations Special Rapporteur Michael Lynk called for the immediate release of al-Akhras and an end to administrative detention.
“Administrative detention is an anathema in any democratic society that follows the rule of law,” Lynk said. “When the democratic state arrests and detains someone, it is required to charge the person, present its evidence in an open trial, allow for a full defence and try to persuade an impartial judiciary of its allegations beyond a reasonable doubt.
“Administrative detention, in contrast, allows a state to arrest and detain a person without charges, without a trial, without knowing the evidence against her or him, and without a fair judicial review,” he said.
There are currently approximately 350 Palestinians jailed by Israel under administrative detention orders, out of a total of 4,400 Palestinian political prisoners. Administrative detention was first introduced to Palestine by the British colonial mandate and is routinely and systematically used by the Israeli occupation to imprison Palestinians, especially community, student and union leaders. Detention orders are issued on the basis of so-called “secret evidence” and can be renewed indefinitely. Palestinians – including Maher al-Akhras in two past periods of imprisonment – often spend years jailed without charge or trial under repeatedly renewed administrative detention orders.
IADL is a non-governmental organization with consultative status in ECOSOC and UNESCO. Founded in 1946 to promote the goals of the United Nations Charter, IADL and its affiliated organizations throughout the world have consistently fought to uphold international law, promote human rights and address threats to international peace and security. The statement concludes:
“The International Association of Democratic Lawyers reiterates its position urging freedom for Palestinian prisoners, and:
Demands the immediate release of Maher al-Akhras and other Palestinians jailed without charge or trial under Israeli administrative detention.
Demands the release of all other Palestinian prisoners jailed by Israel. The Israeli military courts, “security” prisoner regulations and administrative detention system are attempts to impose a legal fig leaf on illegal occupation and colonialism.
Demands an end to the practice of administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial.
Calls for the end of the E.U-Israel Association Agreement and other free trade agreements with the Israeli state that serve to support and legitimize torture, occupation and colonization.
Calls for the end of U.S. aid to Israel, which encompasses $3.8 billion in direct military aid to perpetuate the ongoing occupation of Palestinian and Arab land, including the occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights.
Urges the U.N. Secretary General and all U.N. committees and agencies to take all available procedures and steps to bring to an end Israeli apartheid, war crimes and crimes against humanity in occupied Palestine, including the exclusion of the Israeli state from participation in the U.N. General Assembly as well as other committees and bodies.
Demands that the Israeli Ministry of Public Security, including the Israeli police and the “Border Police” in occupied Jerusalem, be excluded from research programs and joint initiatives funded by the European Union.
Stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their struggle for national liberation, self-determination, equality and return.”
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is joining with the Global Campaign to Return to Palestine to call for a global day of action on 28 October in support of Maher al-Akhras, the Palestinian prisoner jailed without charge or trial now on his 92nd day of hunger strike.
Maher al-Akhras is jailed without charge or trial under Israeli administrative detention along with approximately 350 other Palestinians. They are among 4,400 total Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails. He launched his hunger strike immediately after being ordered to administrative detention after he was seized by Israeli occupation forces in July 2020. In the past, he has spent nearly four years jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention. These detention orders, based on secret evidence, are indefinitely renewable, and Palestinians spend years at a time under administrative detention.
The hunger strike is an individual and collective tool used by Palestinian prisoners, putting their bodies and lives on the line in the struggle for freedom.
On the 66th anniversary of the start of the Algerian Revolution, the103rd anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, and as South Africa is labeled host to the world’s greatest wealth gap, we reflect on the successes and challenges of the Algerian and South African Liberation struggles, and the role of counter-revolutionary, neoliberal and comprador classes in extending the legacies of colonialism.
From this framework we will assess the Oslo Accords’ role in extending western (neo-) colonialism and Palestinians’ burgeoning struggle to reverse its disastrous consequences.
The webinar will engage the Panelists to Attendees to consider and map key steps and strategies for escalating collective liberation and decolonization in Palestine, Algeria and South Africa- and possibilities for more active solidarity.
Toufic Haddad is a Palestinian author, journalist, publisher, academic, UK-based teaching fellow and is currently based and working in Al Quds, Jerusalem, Palestine. Toufic authored Palestine Ltd.: Neoliberalism and Nationalism in the Occupied Territory- the most comprehensive analysis of the role of Oslo’s neoliberal frameworks have played in laying the political, social and economic fabric for an era of neo-colonialism and `disaster capitalism’ in Palestine. He is also the co-author of Between the Lines: Readings in Israel, the Palestinians and the U.S ‘War on Terror’ , and Towards a New Internationalism: Readings in Globalization, the Global Justice Movement and Palestinian Liberation. Toufic has also worked in various Palestinian based organization including Badil Center for Residency and Refugee Rights and the Alternative Information Center.
Na’eem Jeenah is a South African academic, author, community leader, activist and the executive director of the Afro-Middle East (research) Centre in Johannesburg, is part of the Advisory Council of the World Congress for Middle Eastern Studies, and a Board member of the Denis Hurley Peace Initiative (part of the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference). Na’eem was heavily involved in the struggle against Apartheid, an remains active in challenging the role of capitalist groups in South Africa and with international anti-war movements. Na’eems publications include Pretending democracy: Israel, an ethnocratic state (as editor), and MENA uprisings and transformation and their impact on Africa. His most recent publication (as editor) is Political Islam: Conceptualising power between Islamic states and Muslim social movements.
Brahim Rouabah is an Algerian political activist, organizer and academic. He is the co-founder of the UK based Algeria Solidarity Campaign and US based AlgeriaRevolt collective. He is currently working on his PhD in Political Science at the City University of New York, Graduate Center and a teaching fellow in political science at Brooklyn College.
Hosted by The Global Justice and Human Rights Law Network, the International Association of Democratic Lawyers and the National Lawyers Guild.
Endorsed by South African Palestine Solidarity Campaign, SA BDS Coalition, South African Jews for a Free Palestine, Al-Awda: the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, NY4Palestine, Within Our Lifetime – United for Palestine, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, Struggle – La Lucha, Labor For Palestine, Jews For Palestinian Right of Return, Students for Justice in Palestine at John Jay College, American Muslims for Palestine-New Jersey, AlgeriaRevolt and Harak Youth in the USA
On Saturday, 24 October, over 600 people marched to the gates of Lannemezan prison to demand the immediate release of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, Lebanese Arab Communist and struggler for Palestine who has been imprisoned in France since 1984. For the 10th consecutive year, the demonstration brought the largest ever number of participants, despite the pandemic and the curfew limiting movement.
Delegations from Toulouse, Bordeaux, Pau, Auch, Tarbes, Paris, Lille, Lyon, Grenoble, Marseill, Martigues, Annecy, Montpellier and elsewhere made the trip. Jaldia Abubakra, representing Samidoun España and the chair of Alkarama Palestinian Women’s Mobilization, traveled to attend the demonstration from Madrid.
Numerous Palestine solidarity groups and support committees for Georges Abdallah were present, including Collectif Palestine Vaincra, Samidoun, the Unitary Campaign for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah, Courserans-Palestine, UJFP, ISM-France, CAPJPO-EuroPalestine, BDS committees, AFPS branches, Collectif 65 for the liberation of Georges Abdallah, Free Georges 33, and others). Left groups were also present, including UJDL/PCL, JC/PCF, FI, NPA, Lutte Ouvriere, UCL, Secours Rouge, Eunomia, PRCF, ANC, PCRF, PCOF, JR, PCM, DIP, Partizan, Libertat, Partido de los trabajadores, Rete dei Comunisti. Trade unions, including SUD and CGT sections and Union Syndicale Solidaires participated, as did anti-racist and anti-fascist organizations, including ATIK, FUIQP, AFA Pau, AFA Paris-Banlieue, AFA Tolosa, AFA 79, DAR Harraga, Toulouse Anti-CRA, Comité Vérité et Justice 31.
The immense political and organizational diversity of the participants at the demonstration makes clear that the struggle for the liberation of Georges Abdallah unites all who love justice. The march was led by a united banner of the various committees calling for the release of Georges Abdallah.
Collectif Palestine Vaincra, a member organization of the Samidoun Network, organized a contingent around the slogan, “Free Georges Abdallah! Free Palestine!” which included dozens of demonstrations. Many Palestinian flags, banners of the Collectif and Samidoun banners were waved along with two large banners calling for freedom for Georges Abdallah and for Ahmad Sa’adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine held in Israeli jails.
Participants called out slogans and chants of solidarity with Georges Abdallah, the Palestinian people and their resistance, including “Palestine vivra, Palestine vaincra! Liberez Georges Abdallah!” (Palestine lives, Palestine will be victorious! Free Georges Abdallah!) and “Vive la lutte du peuple palestinien!” (Long live the struggle of the Palestinian people!)
The demonstration, which marched from the Lannemezan station to the prison gates, concluded with a tribute to activists in the solidarity campaign who died recently and the release of balloons in red, black, green and white, the colors of Palestine. This was followed by a statement from Georges Abdallah specifically for this event. He pointed out: “More than ever, the Palestinian masses, despite the betrayals of the bourgeoisie, assume their role as the true guarantor of the interests of the people. Faced with the occupation and the barbarity of the occupier, the first legitimate response that must be displayed above all else is solidarity, all solidarity, with those who with their blood face the occupation armies. The conditions of detention in Zionist jails are getting worse every day and, as you know comrades, to confront them, international solidarity is proving to be an essential weapon. Naturally, the Palestinian popular masses and their revolutionary vanguards can always count on your mobilization and active solidarity.”
A joint statement from a number of organizations and support committees, including Samidoun and Collectif Palestine Vaincra, was read out next (read the full statement below). The statement noted: “To struggle for Georges Abdallah and with Georges Abdallah…is to struggle alongside the Palestinian resistance, for the realization of all the rights of the Palestinian people, including the right of return of all refugees, in support of the Intifada, for Palestinian youth, for resistance heroes held captive in Zionist jails; it is to support the Palestinian revolution and to fight against normalization and all forms of liquidation. It is clearly to position oneself against all forms of prevarication, compromise, negotiations and endless illusions which only aim to liquidate the Palestinian national liberation movement or to reduce it to a simple humanitarian issue. It means supporting the resistance by all means for the benefit of the interests of the Palestinian people and the peoples of the region.”
The Lebanese Campaign for the Release of Georges Abdallah also provided a statement, read outside Lannemezan prison. The statement underlined the hypocrisy of Western governments by recalling that “today the thousands of political prisoners in Zionist prisons, the thousands of refugees in Lebanon, Syria and elsewhere are the witnesses the occupation and expansion of this entity. ‘Don’t talk about it, you risk penalties.’ But if you normalize with the Zionist entity, you are going to be called ‘free,’ you see comrades? The regime in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are part of the free world of the USA!”
Alongside the demonstration at Lannemezan prison, actions also took place around 24 October in a number of cities, including Brussels, Gothenburg, Frankfurt, Geneva, Tunis, Beirut, Valparaiso, Ramallah and Gaza.
The international month of action for Georges Abdallah is coming to an end and it has been a real success. Despite the difficult health context, the Collectif Palestine Vaincra led an information campaign in Toulouse on the case of Georges Abdallah by distributing 10,000 flyers, 900 posters and nearly 5000 stickers while organizing with other groups to bring a large contingent of people from Toulouse to the Lannemezan demonstration. This encourages us to redouble our efforts, to continue and intensify the campaign for his release so that Georges Abdallah may finally return to his country, Lebanon.
Here we are, for the tenth consecutive year, in front of the Lannemezan penitentiary center. Ten years already during which we have, here as elsewhere, denounced the detention of our comrade Georges Abdallah, demanded the imperative need for his release and reaffirmed our unconditional support for the great resistance fighter that he is and for the struggles that he has never ceased throughout his life.
Ten years already, but also 36 years in prison and a whole life of struggle of this unwavering awareness that Georges Abdallah expresses with each of his statements – and which we make our own – that another world is not only possible but necessary.
Because we know well, listening or reading attentively to each of his statements – as we have just done now – that to fight for Georges Abdallah and with Georges Abdallah, is, in this war of class against class: to struggle against the capitalist, imperialist, colonialist and neocolonialist system, synonymous with occupation, exploitation and domination, which is now – as our comrade himself says – nothing more than “barbarism, “destruction of humanity” and “waste of resources.”
It is a struggle to hold accountable those who thought and believed themselves untouchable. It is a struggle alongside the masses and working-class neighborhoods who vigorously and resolutely denounce injustice, police violence and repression, corruption, the carelessness of the authorities and who fight relentlessly, sometimes in quasi-insurrectionary uprisings, for their achievements and their rights.
It means fighting against all forms of repression that are used by exceptional regimes, full voted powers, etc. in France, states of emergency, anti-terrorist laws, laws against so-called separatism, curfews, “the 49-3” and permanent ordinances, our fundamental freedoms are curbed and give carte blanche to the police and judicial repressive forces.
Struggling for Georges Abdallah and with Georges Abdallah, as we well know, also means opposing all forms of reactionary nationalism and its appalling emanations – which have been particularly noticeable in recent days – and upholding internationalism without fail.
It is to be by the side of people everywhere in the world and to support, in full solidarity, their struggles and their resistance.
It means fighting alongside the Palestinian resistance, for the realization of the full rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to self-determination. including the right of return of all refugees, in support of the Intifada, the Palestinian youth, the heroes and heroines, resistance fighters held captive in Zionist jails; it is to support the Palestinian revolution and fight against normalization and all forms of liquidation. It is clearly to position oneself against all forms of prevarication, compromise, negotiations and endless illusions which only aim to liquidate the Palestinian national liberation movement or to reduce it to a simple humanitarian issue. It means supporting the resistance by all means for the benefit of the interests of the Palestinian people and the peoples of the region.
By this red line that he draws at each of his statements that must be kept as marker of what is progressive and revolutionary and what is not, Georges Abdallah is indeed our comrade! By this claim we fully affirm that if there is a just and legitimate right today, it is to revolt; Georges Abdallah is indeed our comrade!
Georges Abdallah, your struggles are ours, and we are more and more numerous everywhere in France and the world, demanding your liberation. A thousand initiatives of solidarity blossom everywhere to raise this demand and to reaffirm to the highest levels of the state of the imperative need addressed to the Minister of the Interior: “he must sign.”
With your conscience, we know that it is always, and especially in your case, true that at the level of these authorities, everything is decided politically – this is far from a judicial game being played, above all in the service of the ruling class. We are well aware that the decision not to release you is a political decision, and this is why we must be very clear that we battle on the political terrain.
The journey toward freedom and liberation is long, full of pitfalls and contradictions, but here, again, if there is one affirmation of our comrade Georges Abdallah that we make our own, it is the imperative need for struggle and resistance, in the diversity of our expressions and the convergence of our commitments, so that the liberation of our comrade can finally be translated into action and because “it is together and only together” that we will win, “for victory or victory!.”
ABDALLAH, ABDALLAH, YOUR COMRADES ARE HERE!
HE IS WITH OUR STRUGGLES, WE ARE WITH HIS STRUGGLE!
FREE GEORGES ABDALLAH!
Signatories: Unitary Campaign for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah – Le Cri Rouge – CLGIA (Collectif for the Liberation of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah) – Collectif Palestine Vaincra – Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network – Collectif de soutien à la
résistance palestinienne, Lille – Solidarité Georges Abdallah, Lille – Comité d’actions et de soutien aux luttes du peuple Marocain
New Yorkers took the streets to demand freedom for Maher al-Akhras, the Palestinian prisoner jailed without charge or trial by the Israeli occupation regime who has been on hunger strike for 90 days on Friday, 24 October. Organized by the NY4Palestine Coalition and Jewish Voice for Peace – NYC, the protest brought together a militant and dedicated group of organizers on short notice for a picket outside the Israeli consulate and the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Photo: Joe Catron
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is a member of the NY4Palestine Coalition, along with American Muslims for Palestine – New Jersey; Al-Awda New York, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition; Students for Justice in Palestine groups in the New York City area, and Within Our Lifetime – United for Palestine. American Muslims for Palestine – NJ worked tirelessly to support the protest, which brought out dozens of JVP members, coalition members and other supporters of Palestine, including representatives of Struggle – La Lucha and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization.
Photo: Joe Catron
“This is a crucial moment for not only Maher, but also the Palestinian prisoners’ movement and the Palestinian national movement as a whole,” said Joe Catron, U.S. coordinator of Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network.
“Israel’s renewal of Maher’s detention shows how much its uncritical support from both parties of the U.S. government, as well as normalized relations with reactionary Arab states, have emboldened its crimes against Palestinians.”
Outside the Israeli consulate tonight demanding that Israel free Maher al-Akhras and all political prisoners. Solidarity with Maher on his 90th day of hunger strike. #FreeMaher#FreeThemAllpic.twitter.com/JTRFwJPZVg
Protesters periodically occupied sections of the street and marched in a picket on the sidewalk. Wissam of American Muslims for Palestine delivered a speech urging freedom for Maher al-Akhras and all political prisoners:
“Maher al-Akhras has put his body on strike against the Israeli settler colonial state’s use of so-called administrative detention as a weapon to break down the will of the Palestinian people,” said Rosalind Petchesky, a member of Jewish Voice for Peace – New York City.
Photo: Joe Catron
“In so doing, he joins many thousands of unjustly detained Palestinians over decades of Israel’s colonial repression for whom hunger strikes have been the only available form—and an honorable form—of resistance.”
“Not another nickel, not another dime, no more money for Israel’s crimes!”
Even thought Israel engages in widespread abuses against the Palestinians, the United States sends Israel a blank check worth billions of dollars. No more funding for war crimes and human rights abuses. pic.twitter.com/K9mtmrtzGm
Maher al-Akhras has been jailed without charge or trial by Israeli occupation forces since July 2020, and launched a hunger strike to protest his illegitimate detention. Administrative detention is a British Mandate-era military regulation Israeli commanders in the occupied West Bank currently use to imprison 330 Palestinians without charge or trial. Administrative detention orders are indefinitely renewable, and Palestinians have spent years at a time jailed under these detention orders.
Photo: Andy Ratto
As he approached a severely critical health condition on Friday, Israeli officials suddenly officially re-imposed his administrative detention order (it was officially “suspended” until he recovered from the health conditions of his hunger strike – a fig leaf to reject any legal process) and transferred him from the Kaplan medical center to the Ramleh prison clinic.
Photo: Joe Catron
New Yorkers expressed their firm commitment to save Maher al-Akhras’ life and return him home, freely, to his six children. They also expressed their outrage at the failure of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to uphold its responsibilities to Palestinian political prisoners unjustly detained, as well as the statement by U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, that “Israel has a right to defend itself” against a Palestinian father, locked up with no charges and no chance of trial, on hunger strike for 90 days, dying in his hospital bed as he seeks freedom for himself and his people.
Photo: Joe Catron
Today, 24 October, people around the world will join in an online Twitter campaign to demand his freedom, using the hashtag #FreeMaherAlAkhras
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all supporters of Palestine to organize in your communities, areas and organizations to demand freedom for Maher al-Akhras, an end to administrative detention and liberation for all Palestinian prisoners – and for Palestine, from the river to the sea.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges you to join us – and the International League of Peoples’ Struggles for the two following webinars, part of the ILPS Month of Solidarity with the Palestinian People!
1. STAND FOR PALESTINIAN FREEDOM
The International League of Peoples’ Struggles (ILPS) Philippines, BAYAN – Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, and Center for International Studies warmly invite you to a webinar entitled “Stand for Palestinian Freedom” in solidarity with the global campaign for the Palestinian people’s struggle.
Date: OCTOBER 25, 2020
Time: 9:00 am Manila, Philippines / 12:00 pm Melbourne, Australia / 9:00 pm EDT (Saturday, Oct. 24) / 2:00 am Amsterdam, Netherlands / 9:00 am Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia / 6:00 am Karachi, Pakistan / 1:00 am Dakar, Senegal / 7:00 pm Mexico City, Mexico (Saturday, Oct. 24) / 10:00 pm Buenos Aires, Argentina (Saturday, Oct. 24) / 4:00 am Nairobi, Kenya / 7:00 pm Guatemala City, Guatemala (Saturday, Oct. 24) / 6:00 pm Vancouver, Canada (Saturday, Oct. 24) / 3:00 am Lusaka, Zambia / 4:00 am Amman, Jordan / 3:00 am Beirut, Lebanon / 4:00 am Gaza, Palestinian Territory / 9:00 pm Ottawa, Canada (Saturday, Oct. 24) / 9:00 pm New York City, NY, USA (Saturday, Oct. 24) / 6:00 pm Los Angeles, CA, USA (Saturday, Oct. 24)
Speakers:
Khaled Barakat, Leftist writer and activist
Nerdeen Kiswani, Within Our Lifetime
Elmer Labog, ILPS Philippines and Kliusang Mayo Uno (May First Movement)
2. US War on Terror Intensifies: From Palestine to the Philippines
(26 October 2020 Webinar) US War on Terror Intensifies: From Palestine to the Philippines
All US brokered peace deals in the Middle East — Oslo Accords, Deal of the Century, and the most recent, the Abraham Accords- have only resulted in more Palestinian killings, imprisonment, house demolitions and land occupation.
In the Philippines, the so-called “Whole-of-Nation”, a counter-insurgency approach borrowed from the US military books, and implemented chiefly by the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) has become a major stride for assassinations of human rights defenders, plunder of indigenous peoples lands and authoritarian rule even amidst COVID-19 pandemic.
The ultimate result: the Palestinian and Filipino people are fighting back and fortifying their unwavering resistance for self-determination.
Join the Philippines-Palestine Friendship Association, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and ILPS Commission 10 on their webinar entitled “US War on Terror Intensifies: From Palestine to the Philippines”.
Speakers: Hadeel Shatara, coordinator of Samidoun in occupied Palestine
Mong Palatino, chairperson for Bayan Metro Manila
October 26, 2020 4:00 – 6:00 PM GMT+8 (10 am Palestine, 9 am central Europe/central Africa)
On his 90th day of hunger strike against administrative detention – Israeli imprisonment without charge or trial – Maher al-Akhras faces a severely critical condition. Nevertheless, and apparently to punish him for engaging in a hunger strike to resist this injustice, the Israeli occupation just yesterday, 23 October, reimposed and extended his administrative detention and transferred him from the Kaplan Medical Center to the Ramleh Prison Clinic, preventing him from receiving visits from his wife and concerned supporters and attempting to isolate him just as his life is most at risk.
We urge all supporters of Palestine to join in the Twitterstorm today, Saturday, 24 October at 8:00 pm Palestine time (10 am Pacific time, 1 pm Eastern time, 6 pm in Britain and Ireland, 7 pm in central Europe and central Africa). Use the tweet sheet available here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EyMdjbbkEcwXaUJtJRJiSCrT8oIjidD93i0rnDlaVJs/edit
Copy and paste these tweets or write your own using the hashtag #FreeMaherAlAkhras and tagging @amnesty, @hrw, @ICRC, and @UNHumanRights to demand immediate action on Maher’s 90th day of hunger strike.
Georges Abdallah is a Lebanese Communist struggler and a fighter for the Palestinian cause imprisoned in France since 1984 and eligible for release since 1999. He is entering his 37th year of imprisonment next 24 October, one of the longest-held political prisoners in the world.
On Saturday, 24 October, the annual protest for the liberation of Georges Abdallah will march to the gates of the prison where he is held in Lannemezan, France. Gather at the Lannemezan train station at 2 pm for a march to the prison.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all supporters of Palestine to take action for the Month of Action for Georges Abdallah – and to join the march through the streets of Lannemezan, with the call: Free Georges Abdallah, Free Palestine!
Join the buses to Lannemezan:
Toulouse – Bus departs on Saturday, 24 October at 11:30 am at Basso Cambo metro. Tickets are free – register with the Collectif Palestine Vaincra at collectifpalestinevaincra@gmail.com.
Marseille – Bus departs at 5:45 am at Saint-Charles station (to be confirmed). Stops along the way in Martigues, Istres, Montpellier, with likely return around midnight. To register: Soraya 07 68 50 21 65 and Adil 06 13 20 51 51
Bordeaux – Bus meeting point at 8:30 am, place Ravezies, return around 10 pm. 10 EUR minimum for tickets. To register, email liberonsgeorges33@riseup.net.
Pau – AFPS-Pau is organizing carpooling: meet at 12:30 p.m. parking lot at Jaï Alaï, 458 boulevard du Cami Salié
Paris bus will leave on Friday, 23 October at 9:30 pm and return on Sunday, 25 October in the morning. Tickets are 50 EUR, and a donation campaign is being organized to support greater participation on the bus from Paris.
As Palestinian prisoner Maher al-Akhras enters his 93rd day of hunger strike, his situation is increasingly dire, requiring international support and solidarity. Al-Akhras, 49, married and a father of six, launched his hunger strike in July 2020 after being seized from his home by Israeli occupation forces and ordered to administrative detention, Israeli imprisonment without charge or trial. Administrative detention orders, issued on the basis of “secret evidence,” are indefinitely renewable, and Palestinians have spent years at a time jailed with no charge and not even the barest minimum of due process under these orders. There are currently approximately 350 Palestinians held under administrative detention, out of 4,400 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails.
