Leila Khaled speaks: Palestinian women and Palestinian resistance will not be suppressed!

23 September 2020

*Leila Khaled expresses solidarity with Georges Abdallah at the European Parliament*

Today, 23 September, a series of major Silicon Valley corporations – Zoom, Facebook and YouTube (Google) – joined hands with racist, right-wing, Zionist campaigns in an attempt to silence an academic event, “Whose Narratives? Gender, Justice, & Resistance: A conversation with Leila Khaled,” organized by Prof. Rabab Abdulhadi and Prof. Tomomi Kinukawa at San Francisco State University. The event featured Palestinian resistance icon Leila Khaled along with Rula Abu Dahou, Ronnie Kasrils, Sekou Odinga and Laura Whitehorn, all former political prisoners.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network joined numerous social justice and Palestine support organizations in endorsing and co-sponsoring the event, organized by AMED Studies at SFSU and supported by the students of GUPS. The silencing campaign by Zionist, racist and right-wing forces is part and parcel of an attempt to block any and all communication by a distinguished, widely esteemed symbol of Palestinian resistance. Despite the attacks by some of the biggest global corporations, the full event was recorded by the organizers and will be made available to all. Palestinian women and Palestinian resistance will not be suppressed!

We will be sharing actions and alerts in the coming days to hold accountable all of those responsible for these attacks.

In the context of this event, we are sharing some existing videos of Leila Khaled as we look forward to seeing the full panel, to hear her voice of resistance and liberation and emphasize that the Palestinian struggle cannot and will not be silenced, despite apartheid, imperialism, reaction and corporate complicity. We encourage you to watch, share, re-upload and propagate these videos – and others- as widely as possible to make it clear that Leila will be heard!

Leila Khaled in the Philippines (2015):

Leila Khaled speaks at Israeli Apartheid Week in NYC:

Leila supports four accused BDS activists in Toulouse:

Leila Khaled speaks at NYC event against imprisonment:

Leila’s call to the Greek movement to protest Netanyahu:

Leila on the Palestinian revolutionary left:

Leila’s message for Denmark event on Jerusalem and the Palestinian struggle:

Zoom’s cancellation of the event in response to Zionist pressure and dubious legal threats raises very serious concerns about the corporatization of the university, academic freedom and any and all expression, especially as thousands of universities and academic institutions have outsourced remote learning and classrooms to the Silicon Valley corporation.

This effort was led by an array of repressive legal organizations like the “Lawfare Project,” so named for their efforts to engage in “legal warfare” against the Palestinian people and cause. These entities demand corporations like Zoom silenced Palestinians based on scare tactics based on U.S. “anti-terror” laws and unilateral coercive measures (sanctions), themselves an unjust foundation for dubious threats.

Following the Zoom cancellation, the event was livestreamed on YouTube by the organizers – which rapidly shut down two streams despite a proliferation of content featuring Leila Khaled on the site, as she is an internationally renowned Palestinian leader and resistance icon.

While the university, its students and scholars were under attack by racist forces, SFSU’s response has been weak at best, placing the burden of these attacks, which attempt a massive infringement of academic freedom, on the back of Prof. Abdulhadi and Palestinian students at the university. In response to the attacks on the event, SFSU President Lynn Mahoney authored an extremely problematic op-ed in Jweekly, a publication known for running numerous Zionist attacks on Palestinian faculty and students at the university and for campaigning against this event featuring Leila Khaled.

In the op-ed, Mahoney notes that the event is a matter of academic freedom, but also conflates Zionism with Judaism, dismisses the concerns of Palestinian students and calls panelists’ speech “abhorrent” and “deeply offensive.” Following the forced silencing of an academic event by an array of huge tech corporations in league with Zionist pressure groups, Mahoney was cited as attending an anti-Palestinian “vigil” organized by the same groups involved in the repression campaign.

LIVE NOW: Watch the Video Leila Khaled on YouTube with AMED Studies despite Zoom/Facebook censorship and Zionist attacks

23 September 2020

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VbqN5E_g3w

YouTube silenced this event as well – however, it was recorded and will be made available to all. Palestinian women and Palestinian resistance will not be suppressed!

Today’s online event, “Whose Narratives? Gender, Justice and Resistance: A conversation with Leila Khaled,” is starting now despite censorship by Zoom:

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all supporters of justice in Palestine to urgently support the online event, “Whose Narratives? Gender, Justice and Resistance: A conversation with Leila Khaled,” featuring Palestinian resistance icon Leila Khaled along with Rula Abu Dahou, Ronnie Kasrils, Sekou Odinga and Laura Whitehorn, all former political prisoners. This Open Classroom event at San Francisco State University, hosted by Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi of AMED Studies and Dr. Tomoni Kimukawa of Women and Gender Studies, has found widespread community support.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network has joined numerous social justice and Palestine support organizations in endorsing and co-sponsoring the event, which has come under severe attack by Zionist, racist and right-wing forces attempting to block any and all communication by a distinguished, widely esteemed symbol of Palestinian resistance.

Zoom is fully complicit in this attempt to silence Palestine – but people have made clear that Leila Khaled will be heard despite all attempts at repression. Unsurprisingly, massive tech companies line up on the side of imperialism and reaction – pointing to the danger in the Zoomification and corporatization of education and expression.

Join us now!

TAKE ACTION:

1. Watch and share the YouTube event on all Social Media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VbqN5E_g3w

2. Sign the petition in support of this event: https://www.change.org/p/amed-studies-support-whose-narratives-gender-justice-resistance-a-conversation-with-leila-khaled

3. Join the Support Leila Khaled picture/video campaign – post a 30-second video in any language of yourself supporting the webinar. Answer the question “What Does Leila Khaled mean to you?” or simply state that you support Academic freedom on Palestine with a picture and a sign. Tag AMED Studies on Twitter at @AmedStudies, Instagram at @amedstudies or Facebook at @AMEDStudies and use the hashtags #LeilaKhaled and #TeachingPalestine.

The attack on this online event is organized by an array of right-wing, Zionist and racist forces who have repeatedly tried to silence Leila Khaled when she speaks everywhere in the world, and have attempted continually to shut down Prof. Abdulhadi’s work at SFSU and in the broader academic community, including undermining the AMED Studies program. It has included multiple baseless lawsuits designed to stop and silence Palestinian scholarship through the weight and expense of repeated bogus legal claims designed to harass.

However, the response of SFSU has been weak at best, placing the burden of these attacks, which attempt a massive infringement of academic freedom, on the back of Prof. Abdulhadi and Palestinian students at the university. Indeed, Prof. Abdulhadi launched a discrimination lawsuit against the university for its failure to follow through on multiple contractual commitments to the program and her scholarship. In response to the attacks on the event, SFSU President Lynn Mahoney authored an extremely problematic op-ed in Jweekly, a publication known for running numerous Zionist attacks on Palestinian faculty and students at the university and for campaigning against this event featuring Leila Khaled. In the op-ed, Mahoney notes that the event is a matter of academic freedom, but also conflates Zionism with Judaism, dismisses the concerns of Palestinian students and calls panelists’ speech “abhorrent” and “deeply offensive.”

Participants in the panel, including Laura Whitehorn and Ronnie Kasrils, both Jewish former political prisoners in the U.S. and South Africa respectively and long term fighters for justice and liberation, have spoken out against the attacks from all corners, as well as SFSU’s weak defense and even abandonment of its Palestinian and justice-oriented faculty and students. Palestinian faculty and students and their supporters have spoken up about the university’s complicity in attacks on their history, identity and existence.

The attempt to shut down this event is part of the ongoing attack to wipe out Palestinian resistance, silence Palestinian speakers – especially those who reflect a history and present of struggle – and tailor Palestinian politics and expression into the most narrow acceptable form, involving normalization with Israeli occupation. It is an attempt to use all means, legal and extralegal, to label Palestinian resistance as “terrorism,” and, by using that label, to criminalize, silence and suppress all who stand with, affirm or represent that current and historic resistance.

Thus, we see not only attempts to exclude Leila Khaled from the European Parliament, shut down even a Zoom event featuring her, deport Rasmea Odeh from Berlin, but also to force the renaming of Palestinian women’s centers and organizations, to strip them of the names of Palestinian women in struggle like Dalal al-Mughrabi or Shadia Abu Ghazaleh.

However, Palestinian women continue to struggle for liberation in all forms, and no Zionist campaigns nor university complicity will silence their movement. It is more critical than ever to stand with Palestinian women, political prisoners in occupied Palestine and around the world, and to uphold the Palestinian resistance in all of its forms. We demand the right to hear from the Palestinian resistance and from those who have made history for the Palestinian people and for the world.

We can and must show that Leila Khaled and those who join her on this panel as distinguished veteran political prisoners are the heroes of all those around the world who stand for social justice and liberation, in Palestine and everywhere around the world.

There is a reason why the image of Leila Khaled is featured in graffiti, t-shirts, art, literature and protest music in Palestine and around the world. It is not simply an aesthetic choice or revolutionary nostalgia – it is because the history and present of Leila Khaled reflect a future of hope for real change and a liberated society. Today, we urge all supporters of Palestine: Stand with Prof. Abdulhadi and the Palestinian students at SFSU. Stand with academic freedom for Palestine. Stand with the Palestinian people and the Palestinian resistance. Stand with Leila Khaled!

TAKE ACTION:

1. Watch and share the YouTube event on all Social Media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VbqN5E_g3w

2. Sign the petition in support of this event: https://www.change.org/p/amed-studies-support-whose-narratives-gender-justice-resistance-a-conversation-with-leila-khaled

3. Join the Support Leila Khaled picture/video campaign – post a 30-second video in any language of yourself supporting the webinar. Answer the question “What Does Leila Khaled mean to you?” or simply state that you support Academic freedom on Palestine with a picture and a sign. Tag AMED Studies on Twitter at @AmedStudies, Instagram at @amedstudies or Facebook at @AMEDStudies and use the hashtags #LeilaKhaled and #TeachingPalestine.

Urgent Call: Support and attend today’s Online Event with Leila Khaled, Whose Narratives? Gender, Justice, & Resistance

23 September 2020

UPDATE: We have become aware that the Zoom registration page is now showing an error message. Please send your error messages to samidoun@samidoun.net. In the meantime, please join the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/754000115385200/ and attend the Facebook Live event, streamed at https://facebook.com/AMEDStudies/

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all supporters of justice in Palestine to urgently support the online event, “Whose Narratives? Gender, Justice and Resistance: A conversation with Leila Khaled,” featuring Palestinian resistance icon Leila Khaled along with Rula Abu Dahou, Ronnie Kasrils, Sekou Odinga and Laura Whitehorn, all former political prisoners. This Open Classroom event at San Francisco State University, hosted by Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi of AMED Studies and Dr. Tomoni Kimukawa of Women and Gender Studies, has found widespread community support.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network has joined numerous social justice and Palestine support organizations in endorsing and co-sponsoring the event, which has come under severe attack by Zionist, racist and right-wing forces attempting to block any and all communication by a distinguished, widely esteemed symbol of Palestinian resistance. We urge all supporters of Palestine to register for and attend the Zoom webinar: https://sfsu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ycpMqzqcReO3HCQJKShi5g?fbclid=IwAR1UPafxWIyNRC361i0V_RAhScr-DdgFb4fQI2raJDhL1oreMiVNO01o600, join the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/754000115385200/ and attend the Facebook Live event, streamed at https://facebook.com/AMEDStudies/ at 12:30 pm Pacific/3:30 pm Eastern/10:30 pm Palestine time.

Most recently, Zoom has threatened to cancel the event in response to Zionist pressure and dubious legal threats by an array of repressive legal organizations like the “Lawfare Project,” so named for their efforts to engage in “legal warfare” against the Palestinian people and cause. Such threats rely on scare tactics based on U.S. “anti-terror” laws and unilateral coercive measures (sanctions), themselves an unjust foundation for dubious threats.

However, such threats to cancel the event are an attack on Palestinian rights and expression but also a fundamental attack on academic freedom, especially when thousands of academic institutions have moved their classes and programs to Zoom due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Such threats seem to place Zoom as the arbiter of university content, despite the massive contracts these institutions have with the company.

In response to such threats, the organizers of the event and the professors moderating and leading the open classroom have emphasized the importance of registering for, attending and sharing the event, which remains in place with all registration forms active, and making clear that such attempts at censorship will fail and must not pass.

TAKE ACTION:

1. Register for and attend the event on Zoom: https://sfsu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ycpMqzqcReO3HCQJKShi5g?fbclid=IwAR1UPafxWIyNRC361i0V_RAhScr-DdgFb4fQI2raJDhL1oreMiVNO01o600 on Wednesday, 23 September, 12:30 pm Pacific, 3:30 pm Eastern, 10:30 pm Palestine time.

2. Join the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/754000115385200/ and attend the Facebook Live event, streamed at https://facebook.com/AMEDStudies/ at 12:30 pm Pacific/3:30 pm Eastern/10:30 pm Palestine time.

3. Sign the petition in support of this event: https://www.change.org/p/amed-studies-support-whose-narratives-gender-justice-resistance-a-conversation-with-leila-khaled

4. Join the Support Leila Khaled picture/video campaign – post a 30-second video in any language of yourself supporting the webinar. Answer the question “What Does Leila Khaled mean to you?” or simply state that you support Academic freedom on Palestine with a picture and a sign. Tag AMED Studies on Twitter at @AmedStudies, Instagram at @amedstudies or Facebook at @AMEDStudies and use the hashtags #LeilaKhaled and #TeachingPalestine.

The attack on this online event is organized by an array of right-wing, Zionist and racist forces who have repeatedly tried to silence Leila Khaled when she speaks everywhere in the world, and have attempted continually to shut down Prof. Abdulhadi’s work at SFSU and in the broader academic community, including undermining the AMED Studies program. It has included multiple baseless lawsuits designed to stop and silence Palestinian scholarship through the weight and expense of repeated bogus legal claims designed to harass.

However, the response of SFSU has been weak at best, placing the burden of these attacks, which attempt a massive infringement of academic freedom, on the back of Prof. Abdulhadi and Palestinian students at the university. Indeed, Prof. Abdulhadi launched a discrimination lawsuit against the university for its failure to follow through on multiple contractual commitments to the program and her scholarship. In response to the attacks on the event, SFSU President Lynn Mahoney authored an extremely problematic op-ed in Jweekly, a publication known for running numerous Zionist attacks on Palestinian faculty and students at the university and for campaigning against this event featuring Leila Khaled. In the op-ed, Mahoney notes that the event is a matter of academic freedom, but also conflates Zionism with Judaism, dismisses the concerns of Palestinian students and calls panelists’ speech “abhorrent” and “deeply offensive.”

Participants in the panel, including Laura Whitehorn and Ronnie Kasrils, both Jewish former political prisoners in the U.S. and South Africa respectively and long term fighters for justice and liberation, have spoken out against the attacks from all corners, as well as SFSU’s weak defense and even abandonment of its Palestinian and justice-oriented faculty and students. Palestinian faculty and students and their supporters have spoken up about the university’s complicity in attacks on their history, identity and existence.

The attempt to shut down this event is part of the ongoing attack to wipe out Palestinian resistance, silence Palestinian speakers – especially those who reflect a history and present of struggle – and tailor Palestinian politics and expression into the most narrow acceptable form, involving normalization with Israeli occupation. It is an attempt to use all means, legal and extralegal, to label Palestinian resistance as “terrorism,” and, by using that label, to criminalize, silence and suppress all who stand with, affirm or represent that current and historic resistance.

Thus, we see not only attempts to exclude Leila Khaled from the European Parliament, shut down even a Zoom event featuring her, deport Rasmea Odeh from Berlin, but also to force the renaming of Palestinian women’s centers and organizations, to strip them of the names of Palestinian women in struggle like Dalal al-Mughrabi or Shadia Abu Ghazaleh.

However, Palestinian women continue to struggle for liberation in all forms, and no Zionist campaigns nor university complicity will silence their movement. It is more critical than ever to stand with Palestinian women, political prisoners in occupied Palestine and around the world, and to uphold the Palestinian resistance in all of its forms. We demand the right to hear from the Palestinian resistance and from those who have made history for the Palestinian people and for the world.

Once again, we urge all to take the actions above to attend the event on Zoom, share the Facebook event and live video of the event as it happens, join the support campaign for this event. We can and must show that Leila Khaled and those who join her on this panel as distinguished veteran political prisoners are the heroes of all those around the world who stand for social justice and liberation, in Palestine and everywhere around the world.

There is a reason why the image of Leila Khaled is featured in graffiti, t-shirts, art, literature and protest music in Palestine and around the world. It is not simply an aesthetic choice or revolutionary nostalgia – it is because the history and present of Leila Khaled reflect a future of hope for real change and a liberated society. Today, we urge all supporters of Palestine: Stand with Prof. Abdulhadi and the Palestinian students at SFSU. Stand with academic freedom for Palestine. Stand with the Palestinian people and the Palestinian resistance. Stand with Leila Khaled!

TAKE ACTION:

1. Register for and attend the event on Zoom: https://sfsu.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ycpMqzqcReO3HCQJKShi5g?fbclid=IwAR1UPafxWIyNRC361i0V_RAhScr-DdgFb4fQI2raJDhL1oreMiVNO01o600 on Wednesday, 23 September, 12:30 pm Pacific, 3:30 pm Eastern, 10:30 pm Palestine time.

2. Join the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/754000115385200/ and attend the Facebook Live event, streamed at https://facebook.com/AMEDStudies/ at 12:30 pm Pacific/3:30 pm Eastern/10:30 pm Palestine time.

3. Sign the petition in support of this event: https://www.change.org/p/amed-studies-support-whose-narratives-gender-justice-resistance-a-conversation-with-leila-khaled

4. Join the Support Leila Khaled picture/video campaign – post a 30-second video in any language of yourself supporting the webinar. Answer the question “What Does Leila Khaled mean to you?” or simply state that you support Academic freedom on Palestine with a picture and a sign. Tag AMED Studies on Twitter at @AmedStudies, Instagram at @amedstudies or Facebook at @AMEDStudies and use the hashtags #LeilaKhaled and #TeachingPalestine.

Global Response to Israeli apartheid: A call to the UNGA from Palestinian and international Civil Society Organizations

22 September 2020

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network has joined with over 230 organizations in Palestine and around the world to sign on to this appeal for accountability and international action on Israeli apartheid, as the UN General Assembly meets:

Apartheid is a crime against humanity, giving rise to individual criminal responsibility and State responsibility to bring the illegal situation to an end. In May 2020, a large number of Palestinian civil society organisations called on all States to adopt “effective countermeasures, including sanctions, to end Israel’s unlawful acquisition of Palestinian territory through use of force, its regime of apartheid, and its denial of our inalienable right to self-determination.”

In June 2020, 47 independent human rights experts within the United Nations (UN) stated that the Israeli government plans to illegally annex large parts of the occupied West Bank would constitute “a vision of a 21st-century apartheid.” Also in June, 114 Palestinian, regional, and international civil society organisations sent a strong message to UN Member States that now is the time to recognise and confront Israel’s establishment and maintenance of an apartheid regime over the Palestinian people as a whole, including Palestinians on both sides of the Green Line and Palestinian refugees and exiles abroad.

We further recall that, in December 2019, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) urged Israel to give full effect to Article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which pertains to the prevention, prohibition, and eradication of all policies and practices of segregation and apartheid, on both sides of the Green Line. As recently highlighted by South Africa at the UN Human Rights Council, “The CERD found… that the strategic fragmentation of the Palestinian people formed part of a policy and practice of segregation and apartheid. Annexation would be yet another example of complete impunity that makes a mockery of this Council and would gravely breach international law.”

In light of the mounting recognition of Israel’s maintenance of an apartheid regime over the Palestinian people, which will only continue to be entrenched through annexation, we, the undersigned Palestinian, regional, and international civil society organisations, urge the UN General Assembly to take urgent and effective actions to address the root causes of Palestinian oppression and to end Israel’s occupation, illegal blockade of Gaza, unlawful acquisition of Palestinian territory by force, its regime of apartheid over the Palestinian people as a whole, and the prolonged denial of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including to self-determination and the right of Palestinian refugees and displaced persons to return to their homes, lands, and property.

In light of the above, we call on all Member States of the UN General Assembly to:

Launch international investigations into Israel’s apartheid regime over the Palestinian people as a whole, as well as associated State and individual criminal responsibility, including by reconstituting the UN Special Committee against Apartheid and the UN Centre Against Apartheid to end apartheid in the 21st century.
Ban arms trade and military-security cooperation with Israel.
Prohibit all trade with illegal Israeli settlements and ensure that companies refrain from and terminate business activities with Israel’s illegal settlement enterprise.

List of signatories from Palestine

Palestinian Human Rights Organization Council (PHROC), consisting of:

Al Haq Organization – Law in the Service of Mankind
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights
ADDAMEER Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights
DCI – Defense for Children International – Palestine
Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Center
Aldameer Association for Human Rights
Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies
Hurryyat – Center for Defense of Liberties and Civil Rights
The Independent Commission for Human Rights (Ombudsman Office) – Observer Member
Muwatin Institute for Democracy and Human Rights – Observer Member

Palestinian NGO Network (PNGO), including:

Applied Research Institute-Jerusalem
Arab Center for Agricultural Development (ACAD)
The Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies
Psycho-Social Counselling center for Women (Bethlehem)
Alrowwad Cultural and Arts Society
Women’s Center for Legal aid and Counseling (WCLAC)
Women Study Center (WSC PAL)
Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees
Nawa for Culture and Arts Association
Al Karmel Association
Aisha Association for Women and Child Protection
The National Society for Rehabilitation
Baitona Association for Community and Development

Civic Coalition for the Defense of Palestinian Rights in Jerusalem

List of international signatories

Argentina

Liga Argentina por los Derechos Humanos
Jóvenes con Palestina

Austria

Women in Black (Vienna)

Bangladesh

La Via Campesina South Asia

Belgium

La Centrale Generale-FGTB
European Trade Union Network For Justice in Palestine (ETUN)
De-Colonizer
Association belgo-palestinienne WB
Viva Salud
CNCD-11.11.11
Vrede vzw
FOS vzw
Broederlijk Denle
Belgian Campaign for Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (BACBI)
ECCP (European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine)

Brazil

Coletivo Feminista Classista ANA MONTENEGRO
ESPPUSP – Estudantes em Solidariedade ao Povo Palestino (Students in Solidarity with the Palestinian People – USP)

Canada

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
Just Peace Advocates

Colombia

BDS Colombia

Egypt

Habitat International Coalition – Housing and Land Rights Network

Finland

Finnish-Arab Friendship Society
ICAHD Finland

France

Collectif Judéo Arabe et Citoyen pour la Palestine
Union syndicale Solidaires
Mouvement International de la Réconciliation (IFOR)
Forum Palestine Citoyenneté
CPPI SAINT-DENIS [Collectif Paix Palestine Israël]
La Cimade
Union Juive Française pour la Paix (UJFP)
Association des Universitaires pour le Respect du Droit International en Palestine (AURDIP)
Association France Palestine Solidarité (AFPS)
MRAP
Association “Pour Jérusalem”
One Justice
Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM)
Plateforme des ONG françaises pour la Palestine
ritimo
CAPJPO-EuroPalestine

Germany

German- Palestinian Society (DPG e.V.)
ICAHD (Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions) Germany
BDS Berlin
AK Nahost Berlin
Juedische Stimme für gerechten Frieden in Nahost e.V
Versöhnungsbund Germany (International Fellowship of Reconciliation, German Branch)
Attac Germany Federal Working Group Globalization and War
Salam Shalom e. V.
German-Palestinian Society

Greece

BDS Greece
KEERFA – Movement United Against Racism and Fascist Threat
Network for Political and Social Rights
Encounter for an Anti-capitalist Internationalist Left

India

Delhi Queerfest
NDCW-National Dalit Christian Watch
INDO-PALESTINE SOLIDARITY NETWORK
National Alliance for People’s Movement
Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society

Ireland

Gaza Action Ireland
Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Irish Football Fans Against Israeli Apartheid
Students For Justice in Palestine – Trinity College Dublin
People Before Profit
United Against Racism – Ireland
Peoples Movement – Gluaiseacht an Phobail
Centre for Global Education
Galway Anti Racism Network
Industrial Workers of the World (Ireland)
Black Lives Matters Kerry
Anti Deportation Ireland
Academics for Palestine
Kairos Ireland
Irish Congress of Trade Unions
Independent Workers Union
CorkCouncil of Trade unions
Sligo/Leitrim Council of Trade Unions
Galway Council of Trade Unions
Workers Solidarity Movement
Trade Union Friends of Palestine
Sadaka – The Ireland Palestine Alliance
Trócaire
Brazilian Left Front
Peace and Neutrality Alliance
MASI
Irish Nurses and Midwives Organization (INMO)
Queer Action Ireland
Abolish Direct Provision Ireland
Union of Students in Ireland
Comhlámh Justice for Palestine
Irish Anti-War Movement
Jewish Voice for a Just Peace – Ireland
Shannonwatch
Fingal Communities Against Racism
SARF – Solidarity Against Racism and Fascism
Mandate Trade Union
Irish Muslim Peace & Integration Council

Italy

W.I.L.P.F. – ITALIA
Rete Radié Resch gruppo di Milano
Centro Studi Sereno Regis
Pax Christi Italia – Campagna Ponti e non Muri
Rete Radié Resch – gruppo di Udine
Rete-ECO (the Italian Network of Jews against the Occupation)
Nwrg-onlus
Centro di Salute Internazionale e Interculturale (CSI) – APS
Italian Forum of Water Movements
Fondazione Basso
Amici della mezzaluna rossa palestinese
Donne in nero Italy
Rete Romana Palestina
AssoPacePalestina

Luxembourg

Comité pour une Paix Juste au Proche-Orien

Malaysia

BDS Malaysia
Malaysian women coalition for al Quds and Palestine
Muslimah Interest Zone & Networking Association (MIZAN)
Pertubuhan Mawaddah Malaysia
Muslim Care Malaysia
National Union of Malaysian Muslim Students (PKPIM)
Citizens International

Mexico

Coordinadora de Solidaridad con Palestina

Mozambique

Justiça Ambiental / Friends of the Earth Mozambique

Norway

The Palestine Committee of Norway
Association of Norwegian NGOs for Palestine

Philippines

Karapatan Alliance Philippines

South Africa

#Africa4Palestine
Workers’ World Media Productions
World Beyond War — South Africa
Lawyers For Human Rights
SA BDS Coalition

Spainish State

ASPA (Asociación Andaluza por la Solidaridad y la Paz)
Rumbo a Gaza
Mujeres de Negro contra la Guerra – Madrid
Plataforma por la Desobediencia Civil
Asamblea Antimilitarista de Madrid
SUDS – Assoc. Internacional de Solidaridad y Cooperación
Red Cántabra contra laTrata y la Explotación Sexual
ICID (INICIATIVAS DE COOPERACIÓN INTERNACIONA PARA EL DESARROLLO)
Desarma Madrid
Ecologistas en Acción
Human Rights Institute of Catalonia (Institut de Drets Humans de Catalunya)
Associació Hèlia, de suport a les dones que pateixen violència de gènere
Servei Civil Internacional de Catalunya
Fundación Mundubat
Coordinadora de ONGD de Euskadi
Confederacion General del Trabajo.
International Jewish Antizionist Netwoek (IJAN)
ELA
Penedès amb Palestina
La Recolectiva
Institut de Drets Humans de Catalunya

Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Journalists for Global Justice

Switzerland

Collectif Action Palestine
Gesellschaft Schweiz Palästina (Association Swiss Palestine)
Gerechtikgiet und Frieden in Palästina GFP
Collectif Urgence Palestine-Vd
BDS Switzerland
BDS Zürich

The Netherlands

St. Groningen-Jabalya
WILPF Netherlands
Palestina Werkgroep Enschede (NL)
Black Queer & Trans Resistance NL
EMCEMO
CTID
Breed Platform Palestina Haarlem
docP – BDS Netherlands
Stop Wapenhandel
Transnational Institute
Palestina Komitee Rotterdam
Palestine Link
Christian Peacemaker Teams – Nederland
Soul Rebel Movement Foundation
The Rights Forum
Nederlands Palestina Komitee

Timor-Leste

Comite Esperansa / Committee of Hope
Organização Popular Juventude Timor (OPJT)

Tunisia

Tunisian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (TACBI)

United Kingdom

Architects and Planners for Justice in Palestine
Jewish Network for Palestine
UK-Palestine Mental Health Network
War on Want
Palestine Solidarity Campaign UK
Campaign Against Arms Trade
Jews for Justice for Palestinians
ICAHD UK
Al-MUTTAQIIN
Scottish Jews Against Zionism
Cambridge Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Craigavon Council of Trade Unions
Sabeel-Kairos UK
End Deportations Belfast
NUS-USI
UNISON Northern Ireland
Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Scottish Palestinian Forum
San Ghanny Choir
Scottish Friends of Palestine

United States

Berkeley Women in Black
USACBI: US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
Labor for Standing rock
United Methodists for Kairos Response
Stand With Kashmir
Grassroots Global Justice Alliance
Jewish Voice for Peace
Labor for Palestine
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return
Jewish Voice For Peace Central Ohio
Minnesota Break the Bonds Campaign

Yemen

Mwatana for Human Rights

Over 50 Irish republican prisoners on hunger strike with Dr Issam Hijjawi Bassalat

21 September 2020

The hunger strike of Irish republican prisoners and Dr Issam Hijjawi Bassalat is escalating in British prisons in the north of Ireland, as over 50 prisoners have joined the hunger strike to demand an end to isolation for Issam Hijjawi, a Palestinian community leader who was seized along with the Saoradh 9 in a series of attacks on Irish republicans.

Dr Hijjawi Bassalat was taken from his detention cell for much-needed health testing; however, when he returned, he was once again put in isolation for 14 days. While the prison administration has justified this on the basis of COVID protections, Irish republican prisoners have noted that non-political prisoners have been taken for health reasons and returned to collective detention, without being held in isolation for another 14 days. Dr. Hijjawi Bassalat was also denied bail on 16 September due to the political charges against him and the Irish republicans.

On Tuesday, 22 September, an online webinar with Stephen Murney of Saoradh, Palestinian community organizer Yousef Qandeel and Irish diaspora organzer Micheáilín Butler will focus on the case of Issam Hijjawi Bassalat and the Saoradh 9. The webinar will take place at 10 am Pacific time, 1 pm Eastern time, 6 pm Ireland time and 8 pm Palestine time. To join, please register at https://bit.ly/prisonersolidarity

The following is a statement from Republican Prisoner on Roe 4, Maghaberry Gaol, republished from the Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association.

“As the illegal occupation attempts to hide its proverbial head in the sand to the harsh reality in Ireland today, there are over 50 Republican Prisoners on hungerstrike only ingesting water.

It comes as no surprise as the occupations MI5 directed gaol administration has effectively ripped up the negotiated 2010 August Agreement and is clearly intent on upping the ante, refusing to listen to logic in response to the utterly absurd position in relation to anti imperialist prisoner, Dr Issam Hijjawi.

Issam, along with 50 Republican Prisoners throughout Ireland are embarking on their sixth day of hungerstrike. The difference being Issam is being needlessly held in the filth and squalor of the occupations Foyle House in intense pain, unable to sit or lay down as the pain is unbearable. On top of this, he is enduring the harsh effects of not eating.

There is no logic to Issam being held in the occupations Foyle House as over the past two week period, two loyalist prisoners were taken to outside hospitals and returned to loyalist Bush House. They were not forced to endure the 14 day, 24 hour lock up due to “COVID isolation”. This is clear proof that the occupiers MI5 led gaol administration is using the isolation of Issam as a tool to persecute Republican Prisoners. This disproves the false narrative of the occupation.

Is it only Republican Prisoners that go to hospital and be sent to the squalor and filth of Foyle House?

The occupations MI5 led gaol administration seem intent on doing this.

Clearly logic is wasted on the illegal occupation.”

The Red Nation issued a solidarity statement in support of the prisoners, noting that “We demand the freedom of all political prisoners in Palestine and Ireland, and call upon their supporters to organize solidarity actions.”

Meanwhile in Glasgow, the IRPWA and the Revolutionary
Communist Group protested on 20 September, demanding freedom for the hunger strikers:

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network supports the hunger strike of Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat and the Irish Republican prisoners. We call for their immediate release and demand that they are able to await their court case in freedom, and we call for the dropping of these unjust charges resulting from an entrapment scheme. We urge all supporters of Palestine to join us and organize solidarity actions.

Take action:

Organize a protest in front of the British embassy in your country. Not only is the British Mi5 heavily involved in this case, they are still occupying the north of Ireland. Support the political prisoners and demand an end to British rule in Ireland. Please share your action with us through Facebook or by sending us an email on samidoun@samidoun.net, so we can share and promote it.
Organize an online event or webinar about the situation of Palestinian and Irish prisoners. If you have questions or want information regarding the case of Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat and Irish Republican prisoners, or Palestinian political prisoners in general, we are happy to provide it. You can contact us through Facebook or samidoun@samidoun.net
Take a picture or record a video in solidarity with Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat and Irish Republican prisoners. You can print out the images below or create an image yourself. Please send your pictures or video to us through Facebook or samidoun@samidoun.net, so we can spread it and show that Issam and the Irish Republicans are supported internationally.
Write a letter to Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat and Irish Republican prisoners. You can write from any country in the world – all letters are deeply appreciated by the steadfast hunger strikers. We can send you more information about this through Facebook or samidoun@samidoun.net, or get into contact with the Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association.

22 September, Online event: Solidarity with Issam Hijjawi Bassalat and the Saoradh 9

21 September 2020

Online event: “Solidarity with Issam Hijjawi Bassalat and the Saoradh 9”
When: Tuesday, September 22 at 10:00am PT / 1:00pm ET/6:00 pm Ireland/8:00 pm Palestine
REGISTER TO JOIN ON ZOOM: https://bit.ly/prisonersolidarity

Please share the Facebook event:

https://facebook.com/events/s/solidarity-with-issam-hijjawi-/379237706575136/?ti=icl

We stand in full solidarity with Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat and the Irish Republican prisoners, who have started a hunger strike on 16 September as protest against the isolation of Dr. Hijjawi Bassalat by the prison authorities.

Dr. Hijjawi Bassalat, who is a prominent Palestinian community leader in Scotland, was arrested together with nine Irish republicans by the British MI5, the Irish Gardaí, Police Scotland, London’s Metropolitan Police, and over 500 officers of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in the so-called “Operation Arbacia.” We demand the freedom of all political prisoners in Palestine and Ireland, and call upon their supporters to organize solidarity actions.

Join us to hear from speakers:
* Stephen Murney of Saoradh, former Republican political prisoner
* Yousef Qandeel, Palestinian community organizer in London
* Micheáilín Butler, Irish diaspora organizer and activist

Organized by Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

THIS EVENT WILL BE STREAMED LIVE AT https://facebook.com/SamidounPrisonerSolidarity

#DropTheChargesCO: Samidoun supports anti-racist organizers targeted in Colorado

20 September 2020

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network supports the six anti-racist organizers, including four members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, targeted for arrest and prosecution in the Denver, Colorado area in the United States, and urges broad mobilization in their defense.

Police across the region arrested the six in a coordinated sweep on Wednesday, 17 September from their cars, a Home Depot, and in one case a home raided in a militarized operation involving a tank.

The detentions followed a massive campaign organized by the six to demand justice for Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old Black man killed by Aurora, Colorado police and paramedics in August 2019.

After an uprising against racism and police violence erupted across the United States following the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis, Minnesota police on 25 May, these militant, disciplined protests mobilized thousands to confront local police.

Like their organization, the four PSL members – Lillian House, Eliza Lucero, Joel Northam, and Russell Ruch – are distinguished not only as talented organizers in the anti-racist struggle, but also as exemplary supporters of resistance to imperialism and colonialism across the world, including the Palestinian national movement.

The multiple felony charges each of them faces – including, in one particularly egregious example, the simultaneous kidnapping of 18 police officers – are clearly political in nature, intended to repress future organizing against racist repression at a time of pitched struggle across the U.S.

And the simultaneous filing of these fabricated charges by District Attorney Dave Young, a Democrat, as well as Republican D.A. George H. Brauchler illustrates the bipartisan nature of U.S. state repression, with both parties of the ruling class cooperating fully to crush any meaningful resistance.

On Saturday, over 1,500 supporters marched in Denver as other groups rallied throughout the U.S. to demand the dropping of all charges.

Samidoun echoes this demand and encourages all supporters of Palestinian political prisoners to join the ongoing campaign led by PSL.

The party has asked the public to sign a petition denouncing the charges, and to donate to a fund for legal and political support.

And we urge redoubled support for the ongoing struggles of U.S. political prisoners, as well as the mobilization for Black liberation, and against racism, state violence, and political repression, across the country.

As in Palestine, racism is a crime, and resistance is a duty.

El Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat y los republicanos irlandeses en huelga de hambre en la cárcel: ¡organicemos actos solidarios y exijamos su libertad!

19 September 2020

Como Red de Solidaridad con los Prisioneros Palestinos Samidoun, nos solidarizamos plenamente con el Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat y los presos republicanos irlandeses, que iniciaron una huelga de hambre el 16 de septiembre como protesta contra el aislamiento del Dr. Hijjawi Bassalat por parte de las autoridades penitenciarias. El Dr. Hijjawi Bassalat, que es un destacado líder de la comunidad palestina en Escocia, fue arrestado junto con nueve republicanos irlandeses por el MI5 británico, el Gardaí irlandés, la Policía de Escocia, la Policía Metropolitana de Londres y más de 500 agentes del Servicio de Policía de Irlanda del Norte ( PSNI) en la denominada “Operación Arbacia”. Exigimos la libertad de todos los presos políticos en Palestina e Irlanda, y pedimos a sus seguidores que organicen acciones de solidaridad.

El Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat, que tiene 62 años, inició su huelga de hambre el 16 de septiembre, cuando nuevamente fue sometido al régimen de aislamiento en la sucia e insegura Foyle House, un ala de la prisión de Maghaberry en el norte de Irlanda. Los prisioneros republicanos irlandeses iniciaron inmediatamente una huelga de hambre solidaria para apoyar a Issam. Ese mismo día, el tribunal de primera instancia le había negado la fianza a Issam. Ahora se dirigirá al Tribunal Superior de Justicia para tener la oportunidad de esperar su juicio en libertad.

El Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat tiene múltiples problemas de salud y se ha sometido a una resonancia magnética esta semana. Está claro que para cualquier persona, y mucho más para quienes tienen problemas de salud, Foyle House es una prisión insegura. Como señaló la Asociación de Bienestar de Prisioneros Republicanos Irlandeses (IRPWA), “es ampliamente conocido que recientemente un prisionero ordinario que estaba en Foyle House había dado positivo por Covid-19. Aislar punitivamente a Issam en Foyle House, que no es apto para un ser humano ni por un día, ni mucho menos dos semanas, es una prueba una vez más de la actitud y la mentalidad del régimen en Maghaberry “.

Existe una larga historia de lucha colectiva y compartida entre los movimientos de liberación nacional irlandés y palestino. El movimiento republicano irlandés se enfrenta al colonialismo británico, que mediante la fuerza, y a través de la famosa declaración Balfour y la provisión de armamento a las fuerzas sionistas para reprimir los levantamientos palestinos, alimentó y desarrolló oficialmente la colonización sionista dentro de la Palestina ocupada. Asimismo, ambos movimientos enfrentan duros intentos de represión e infiltración, como la trampa tendida en este caso. Hoy en día, los republicanos irlandeses y otras personas arrestadas por cargos políticos por el estado británico son detenidos de forma rutinaria en lugar de ser mantenidos en libertad vigilada mientras esperan el juicio, a pesar de la debilidad de los cargos en su contra. En algunos casos, los detenidos republicanos irlandeses son enviados a prisión preventiva basándose únicamente en la palabra de un oficial de policía británico.

Samidoun (Red de Solidaridad con los Prisioneros Palestinos) apoya la huelga de hambre del Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat y los prisioneros republicanos irlandeses. Pedimos su liberación inmediata y exigimos que puedan esperar su caso judicial en libertad, y pedimos que se retiren estos cargos injustos resultantes de un plan de incriminación. Instamos a todos los partidarios de Palestina a unirse a nosotros y organizar acciones de solidaridad.

Actúa:

Organiza una protesta frente a la embajada británica en tu país. El Mi5 británico no solo está muy involucrado en este caso, sino que todavía ocupa el norte de Irlanda. Apoya a los presos políticos y exige el fin del dominio británico en Irlanda. Comparte tu acción con nosotros a través de Facebook o enviándonos un correo electrónico a samidoun@samidoun.net, para que podamos compartirla y promoverla.
Organiza un evento virtual o un seminario web sobre la situación de los prisioneros palestinos e irlandeses. Si tiene preguntas o desea información sobre el caso del Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat y los prisioneros republicanos irlandeses, o los prisioneros políticos palestinos en general, estaremos encantados de proporcionártela. Puedes contactarnos a través de Facebook o samidoun@samidoun.net.
Hazte una foto o graba un video en solidaridad con el Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat y los prisioneros republicanos irlandeses. Puedes imprimir las imágenes a continuación o crear una imagen tú mismo. Envíanos tus fotos o vídeos a través de Facebook o samidoun@samidoun.net, para que podamos difundirlo y demostrar que Issam y los republicanos irlandeses cuentan con el apoyo internacional.
Escribe una carta al Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat y a los prisioneros republicanos irlandeses. Puedes escribir desde cualquier país del mundo; todas las cartas son muy apreciadas por los firmes huelguistas. Podemos enviarte más información al respecto a través de Facebook o samidoun@samidoun.net, o puedes ponerte en contacto con la Asociación de Bienestar de Prisioneros Republicanos Irlandeses.

Lee nuestra declaración original sobre la represión y los arrestos contra activistas irlandeses y palestinos (28 de agosto): en inglés y en español.

Samidoun Stockholm and Ireland Information Group protest for Saoradh 9, Issam Hijjawi, Liam Campbell

19 September 2020

On Saturday, 19 September 2020, activists from the Ireland Information Group and Samidoun Stockholm visited the British and Free State embassies in Stockholm.

We visited these two embassies to show our solidarity with our imprisoned comrades, both in the Free State and in the occupied six counties.

At the two embassies, activists lined up with message posters, banners, and the flag for the Republic of Ireland.

The messages for the two activities were:
FREE THE SAORADH 9
FREE DR. ISSAM HIJJAWI
NO EXTRADITION OF LIAM CAMPBELL

Free the Saoradh 9:

At the end of August 2020, the Socialist Irish Republican party of Saoradh was subjected to severe repression in both the occupied territories in the north of Ireland as well as in the Free State in the south. Securitas forces carried out actions against ten representatives of the party, and four offices belonging to the party were searched.

At present, nine representatives from Saoradh are detained and accused of having links to The New IRA.

Free Dr Issam Hijjawi:

Dr. Issam Hijjawi was arrested on August 22, 2020, at Heathrow Airport after visiting Derry. Dr. Issam Hijjawi was arrested as part of the MI5-led operation against Saoradh that has left nine Saoradh representatives detained.

On September 16, Issam Hijjawi was denied bail. Dr. Issam Hijjawi suffers from several serious health problems and is currently in solitary confinement at Foyle House, a prison not built to treat individuals with serious illnesses.

No extradition of Liam Campbell:

A court in the Irish Free State has decided to extradite Republican Liam Campbell to Lithuania, where he is accused of preparations for arms smuggling.

Campbell, who has never visited Lithuania at all, is accused on very loose grounds of having planned an arms smuggling from Ireland that never happened, and where there is reason to question any real plans at all.

Support for the hunger-striking prisoners:

In connection with the current situation, Irish Republican prisoners have begun a two-week hunger strike. In connection with this statement, we also want to give our wholehearted support to the hunger strikers.

/The Ireland Information Group of Sweden, and Samidoun Stockholm

Palestinian youth in Shatila camp launch #Action4Return week at Sabra and Shatila memorial

18 September 2020

Read this report in Arabic.

The Palestinian Chess Forum in Shatila refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon, launched the #Action4Return days of action for Palestinian return and confronting normalization with a symbolic memorial event for the Sabra and Shatila massacres on 17 September 2020.

Children and youth in the camp, and members of the Chess Forum, gathered in front of the monument of the martyrs of Sabra and Shatila camp, carrying banners, “We will not forget and we will not forgive – we are steadfast and we will return,” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” They laid floral wreaths in the martyrs’ cemetery, affirming their determination as Palestinian refugees to both honor the martyrs and uphold their right to return to Palestine.

Between 16 and 18 September 1982, thousands of Palestinian refugees in Sabra and Shatila camp were massacred by far-right Phalangist militias, allowed into the camp and overseen by the invading Israeli army, then occupying Beirut.

The #Action4Return days, between 18 and 26 September, marks the commemoration of the Sabra and Shatila massacres, the September 1970 massacres in Jordan and the signing of the Oslo agreements, all attacks on the rights and struggle of Palestinian refugees for return and liberation. They are days of Palestinian, Arab and international action to affirm the adherence of the Palestinian people to their national, human, political, economic and cultural rights – the right to return home, reclaim stolen land and property and complete the comprehensive liberation of Palestine.

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