Kamal Abu Waer: Palestinian prisoner killed by Israeli medical neglect

10 November 2020

Kamal Abu Waer is the latest Palestinian prisoner to lose his life in Israeli detention, once more drawing attention to the devastating consequences of Israeli medical neglect and abuse. On Tuesday, 10 November, Abu Waer, 46, from Qabatiyeh in Jenin district, became the 226th Palestinian prisoner to die in Israeli prisons, one year after he was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network mourns the death of Kamal Abu Waer and urges intensified campaigns for freedom and justice for Palestinian prisoners subjected to Israeli medical neglect.

In 2019, Abu Waer was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer. His family said on multiple occasions that the Israeli prison administration repeatedly delayed in providing him with medical testing and treatment for his severe disease. During his first sessions of radiation and chemotherapy, Abu Waer was held in his hospital bed, his hands and feet shackled.

Abu Waer was sentenced to six life sentences for his involvement in the Palestinian resistance during the second Intifada and has been jailed since 2003. He was one of the first Palestinian prisoners to contract the novel coronavirus, due to his weakened immune system from cancer treatment. Although he recovered from coronavirus, he was never again able to breathe without a tube.

He was held at Gilboa prison, the site of the current outbreak of coronavirus affecting over 70 Palestinian prisoners. Following the announcement of his death, Palestinian prisoners began to protest inside the prisons, expressing their outrage at the growing death toll linked to Israeli medical neglect, the “policy of slow death” targeting Palestinian prisoners. They began banging on the cell gates and doors, shouting slogans demanding justice for Abu Waer, and returning meals. The Israeli prison administration has since closed several sections and called in extra repressive units to several prisons.

Appeals for his early release due to his medical condition were repeatedly denied, prolonging his agony behind bars until the last moments. By 30 October, Abu Waer had lost the ability to speak and was communicating with his fellow detainees only through writing. He lost a large amount of weight and experienced severe pain in his head and neck; he breathed through a tracheal tube and received liquid nutrition through a tube to his stomach.

Abu Waer’s brother, Mohammed, said that Kamal’s condition had worsened severely after a chemotherapy treatment several days ago. He was kept inside Assaf Harofe hospital rather than being returned to the Ramle prison clinic after a new malignant tumor was discovered in his throat.

Abu Waer had participated in many of the collective hunger strikes launched by Palestinian prisoners, including the mass Karameh strike of 2017.

The death of Kamal Abu Waer was entirely predictable and foreseeable, and the circumstances of his death are fully the result of Israeli occupation medical neglect, the policy of “slow death” that is in reality a policy of execution and assassination targeting Palestinian prisoners. It also implicates the silence of international human rights organizations and bodies – and the imperialist powers like the U.S., Israel, Canada, the EU countries, Britain, Australia and others who continue to provide full and unlimited support to the Israeli occupation as it continues its war crimes and crimes against humanity targeting the Palestinian people, as well as the complacency and submission of the Palestinian Authority leadership and Arab reactionary regimes.

We join with our comrades in Samidoun in occupied Palestine in saluting Kamal Abu Waer, “the hero who fought until his last breath. We see in our brave prisoners the true leadership of our Palestinian people.”

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network mourns the death of Kamal Abu Waer. He was not only a victim of cancer but of systematic abuse, mistreatment and medical neglect inside Israeli prisons, a form of intense violence practiced routinely by the Israeli prison administration. The Israeli state is fully responsible for the death of Kamal Abu Waer and must be held accountable. We urge all supporters of justice in Palestine to organize and demand freedom, escalating the boycott and international isolation of Israel, and to stand with the over 4,500 Palestinians held in Israeli jails – for freedom and justice for Palestine, from the river to the sea.

Palestinian feminist leader Khitam Saafin ordered to six months in Israeli administrative detention

9 November 2020

Detained Palestinian feminist and women’s organizer Khitam Saafin was ordered by an Israeli military commander to six months in administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial, on 9 November 2020. The President of the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, Saafin was seized along with six other Palestinian activists and human rights defenders on 2 November 2020. She was last arrested by Israeli occupation forces in 2017, when she was ordered to three months in administrative detention — leading to a global outcry. We urge all supporters of justice in Palestine and women’s organizing to speak out and protest to demand freedom for Khitam Saafin and her fellow Palestinian women prisoners.

Khitam Saafin is a well-known international advocate for Palestinian women and freedom and justice for the Palestinian people. She has spoken around the world about the struggle of Palestinian women, including at the World Social Forum, and served as chair of the Global Women’s March Palestine.

Administrative detention, a practice first introduced to Palestine by the British colonial mandate, imprisons Palestinians without charge or trial on the basis of a so-called “secret file.” Even the detainee’s lawyer is denied access to any of the contents of this file; instead, it is simply asserted by the Israeli occupation military commander. These detention orders are issued for up to six months at a time and are indefinitely renewable; Palestinians routinely spend years a a time jailed under administrative detention. There are currently approximately 370 Palestinian prisoners held under administrative detention orders, among approximately 4500 Palestinian political prisoners in total.

The Israeli policy of administrative detention is a colonial weapon targeting the Palestinian people. In addition, it is also a violation of international law, as noted by the International Association of Democratic Lawyers:

Administrative detention may only be used under international humanitarian law on an individualized, case-by-case basis of “urgent reasons of security.” On the contrary, Israel’s use of administrative detention against the Palestinian civilian population is systematic and routine, serving as a mechanism to give a legal cover to political imprisonment for cases too weak to be brought even before the Israeli military courts. It has been used systematically for decades as a mechanism to arbitrarily detain numerous Palestinians and hold them without charge or trial for years. In addition, Palestinian prisoners, including administrative detainees, are routinely transferred to prisons inside the occupier’s territory, in violation of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. The Israeli practice of administrative detention fundamentally violates and runs afoul of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

By imposing administrative detention on the basis of “secret evidence,” the Israeli occupation regime denies Palestinians their right to a fair hearing and the right to mount any meaningful defense. Therefore, it violates Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which guarantees people’s rights to know the reason for their arrest and be free of arbitrary arrest or detention, as well as Article 14, which governs the right to a fair and public trial. Of course, the Israeli military court system also violates the provisions of the ICCPR.

Administrative detainees are also denied the ability to know when their sentence will end, as their detention orders are subjected to indefinite renewal. This inability to plan for the future is in itself a form of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment amounting to psychological torture, as well as a method of collective punishment against the families of Palestinians detained by Israel.

Alkarama Palestinian Women’s Mobilization called for the release of Saafin, noting that “Saafin’s arrest occurs in the context of the ongoing imprisonment of Palestinian activists by the Israeli occupation authorities. This can be seen in the growing number of Palestinian Legislative Council members, human rights activists and civil society leaders arrested by Israeli occupation forces in recent years.”

A group of left and progressive women’s organizations in the Arab region, including the Women’s Sector of the Democratic Way in Morocco, Palestinian Working Women Committees Union, Jin Women Association of Lebanon, the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees and the World March of Women – MENA region, also urged her immediate release in a statement “Demanding the human rights and women’s organizations in the region to crystallize a regional and international solidarity campaign to demand the release of the comrade Khitam and the rest of the Palestinian prisoners and calls for serious and real support to the Palestinian captive movement.”

Member of European Parliament Manu Pineda, chair of the parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Palestine, issued a statement to the European External Action Service, calling on the EEAS and the EU to “mobilize its diplomatic resources to obtain the prompt release of Ms. Saafin and all other Palestinian citizens detained without formal charges.”

Saafin is among approximately 40 imprisoned Palestinian women, including several fellow administrative detainees, imprisoned student activists and political leaders, including feminist and leftist parliamentarian Khalida Jarrar. On 9 November, Palestinian journalist and advocate for political prisoners Bushra al-Tawil was also seized by Israeli occupation forces at a checkpoint south of Nablus, only three months after her last release from administrative detention without charge or trial.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network denounces this latest attack on the Palestinian women’s movement. We urge women’s organizations, student organizations and people of conscience everywhere to raise their voices and act in solidarity with Khitam Saafin and her fellow Palestinian prisoners targeted by the Israeli occupation – including by building the movement for the boycott of Israel, its institutions and complicit corporations like HP, Puma, Teva Pharmaceuticals and G4S. The Israeli occupation wants to continue its colonization of Palestine unchecked by isolating and detaining the leaders of the Palestinian people’s movement. Join us to act and urge their immediate release and the liberation of all Palestinian prisoners, and of Palestine, from the river to the sea!

TAKE ACTION:

1. Post pictures and graphics on your social media accounts urging the release of Khitam Saafin and all Palestinian prisoners. Send your photos to us at Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network on Facebook, @SamidounPP on Twitter, and at samidoun@samidoun.net.

2. Issue a statement from your group, association, women’s organization or union demanding freedom for Khitam Saafin. In 2017, dozens of organizations around the world joined in the call for her release, making her detention – and that of Khalida Jarrar – an international issue. Send your statements to us at samidoun@samidoun.net

3. Organize protests, demonstrations creative actions. Ad hacks, postering and other outdoor actions – especially near an Israeli embassy or consulate – can draw a significant amount of attention to Khitam Saafin and the Palestinian cause at this critical time.

4. Build the boycott of Israel! Join the movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. Highlight the complicity of corporations like Hewlett-Packard and the continuing involvement of G4S in Israeli policing and prisons. Build a campaign to boycott Israeli goods, impose a military embargo on Israel, or organize around the academic and cultural boycott of Israel.

Victory for Maher al-Akhras: Palestinian prisoner suspends hunger strike, to be released 26 November

6 November 2020

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes Maher al-Akhras and the Palestinian people on the occasion of his victory after 103 days of hunger strike. His steadfastness and commitment to struggle, with his very life on the line, continue to inspire all those around the world who support the Palestinian people and their just cause of return and liberation.

Al-Akhras, 49, Palestinian prisoner jailed without charge or trial under Israeli administrative detention, announced the suspension of his hunger strike after 103 days on 6 November 2020. Specifically, he announced an agreement to release him on 26 November 2020, and he will remain hospitalized until the date of his release for treatment. The agreement to end his hunger strike reportedly came with a firm commitment to his release on 26 November, unlike previous proposals to end the strike.

Al-Akhras is one of approximately 350 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial under Israeli administrative detention, a practice introduced to Palestine by the British colonial mandate and routinely used by Israel to jail Palestinian leaders and community organizers. There are approximately 4,400 Palestinian political prisoners in total at the present time. Administrative detention orders are indefinitely renewable, and Palestinians — including al-Akhras — have spent years at a time jailed under so-called “secret evidence,” never knowing when they will obtain their release. Al-Akhras launched his hunger strike on 27 July after he was seized by Israeli occupation forces and ordered to administrative detention.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network sends its warmest congratulations to Maher al-Akhras, is family, the Palestinian people and all friends of Palestine and forces of justice in the world on this occasion. We salute all of those who have protested, marched, gone on hunger strike and organized to highlight his case and the struggles of the Palestinian people, in every corner of the world. Now, it is time to continue the movement to support all of his fellow prisoners – and all Palestinians – in the cause of freedom.

We also recognize that all of these victories accomplished by Palestinian prisoners engaged on hunger strikes will only be partial so long as Palestinians continue to be imprisoned by the colonial Israeli regime, and so long as the Palestinian people continue to face occupation, apartheid, siege and dispossession at the hands of Zionism. We urge all who were inspired by Maher’s commitment, bravery and self-sacrifice to continue the campaign to free Palestinian prisoners. All of those who love freedom and justice look forward to celebrating with Maher al-Akhras – and look forward to celebrating the day in which all Palestinians are free on their liberated land. The steadfastness, struggle and commitment of the Palestinian prisoners – the leadership of the Palestinian movement – point in the direction not only to individual freedom and victory, but toward the liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.

Ramallah protest demands freedom, justice for Maher al-Akhras #Rage4Maher

3 November 2020

On Tuesday, 3 November, Samidoun Network in Occupied Palestine, along with the families of the prisoners and the martyrs, called for a demonstration in Ramallah at Manara Square, on Maher al-Akhras‘ 100th day of hunger strike. The 49-year-old Palestinian father of six has been on hunger strike since 24 July, when he was seized by Israeli occupation forces and ordered to administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial.

Protesters gathered to demand freedom for al-Akhras and his fellow Palestinian prisoners and marched through the streets of Ramallah carrying signs and banners calling for their liberation. Protesters also called for the immediate release of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, the Lebanese Arab struggler for Palestine imprisoned in France for 36 years.

Administrative detention orders, first introduced to Palestine by the British colonial mandate and used routinely by the Zionist state against Palestinian community leaders and activists, are indefinitely renewable. Palestinians have spent years at a time jailed under these arbitrary detention orders, including Maher al-Akhras himself, who was imprisoned previously for 11 months and again for 16 months under these repeatedly renewed orders.

The protest comes amid a growing international campaign for his release, including multiple collective hunger strikes of solidarity: Artists, activists, parliamentarians join rolling hunger strikes in solidarity with Maher al-Akhras: Samidoun España; Anti-Imperialist Front launches solidarity strike for Maher al-Akhras; Irish activists announce solidarity hunger strike for Maher al-Akhras.

Maher al-Akhras has put his body and his life on the line for freedom, justice and dignity, for Palestinian prisoners, the Palestinian people and the world. His example stands as an inspiration amid the ravages of imperialism and colonialism. We urge all people of conscience and movements for justice to join us in demanding his immediate release, the end of administrative detention, freedom for all Palestinian prisoners, and freedom for Palestine from the river to the sea.

Take action now: On his 100th day of hunger strike, it’s time to #Rage4Maher

3 November 2020

Join the twitterstorm and social media campaign for Palestinian prisoner Maher al-Akhras now, on his 100th day of hunger strike. Take action NOW – at 10 am Pacific, 1 pm Eastern, 6 pm British and Irish time, 7 pm central Europe time, 8 pm in Palestine.

Post on Twitter and your other social media accounts – including Instagram and Facebook, and use the hashtag #Rage4Maher!

Use this handy Tweet Sheet for prepared tweets that you can paste and use: http://bit.ly/mahertweets

Tag @amnesty, @hrw, @ICRC, and @UNHumanRights to demand immediate action on Maher’s 100th day of hunger strike

Use these graphics below on your social media posts – and don’t forget to add the hashtag #Rage4Maher:

Read our update on Maher al-Akhras’ struggle for freedom here: https://samidoun.net/2020/11/100-days-of-hunger-strike-stand-with-maher-al-akhras-for-freedom-dignity-and-justice/

TAKE ACTION:

1. Join the social media campaign on Tuesday, 3 November at 10 am Pacific time, 1 pm Eastern time, 8 pm Palestine. We will launch a new hashtag for maximum impact. Follow @SamidounPP on Twitter for the hashtag, sample tweets and more. Let us flood social media with demands for Maher al-Akhras’ freedom on his 100th day of hunger strike!

2. Join the picture and solidarity campaigns. Send your photos to Within Our Lifetime – United for Palestine, CAPJPO-EuroPalestine and more.Join WOL’s Instagram campaign today!

3. Sign the petition. Join over 3,000 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.

Sign the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/amnesty-hrw-icrc-un-ohchr-act-now-to-free-maher-al-akhras

4. Organize creative actions. Ad hacks, postering and other outdoor actions can draw a significant amount of attention to Maher al-Akhras and the Palestinian cause at this critical time.

4. Build the boycott of Israel! Join the movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. Highlight the complicity of corporations like Hewlett-Packard and the continuing involvement of G4S in Israeli policing and prisons. Build a campaign to boycott Israeli goods, impose a military embargo on Israel, or organize around the academic and cultural boycott of Israel.

Artists, activists, parliamentarians join rolling hunger strikes in solidarity with Maher al-Akhras: Samidoun España

3 November 2020

16 people began a chain of consecutive one-day hunger strikes on Tuesday 11/03/20, in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoner in hunger strike Maher Al Akhras (original Spanish announcement)

On Tuesday, 3 November, the singer Cristina del Valle will begin a chain of consecutive one-day hunger strikes that includes sixteen people (members of European Parliament, cultural workers and performers, activists and refugees) in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoner Maher Al-Akhras and with all Palestinian political prisoners.

As the strike was announced, Maher Al Akhras is completing his 100th day of hunger strike, marked by a very serious deterioration in his physical condition. He was arrested in July by Israel through “administrative detention”, a type of imprisonment without charges, or trial, without meaningful legal defense and often denied legal visits. Israel can extend this detention for years until the Palestinian prisoner is finally freed at a time randomly decided by the Israeli military authorities.

In other cases, after spending a long time in this unjust regime, the prisoner is finally referred to the military courts, which Israel concludes with an almost 100% conviction rate. Maher Al-Akhras has in the past spent more than two years in prison under administrative detention, also without trial or charge, until Israel released him. There are currently 350 people in this type of incarceration, among 4,400 Palestinian prisoners, including 155 minors.

Israel’s policy of administrative detention has been condemned in the UN Committee against Torture, and the UN Special Rapporteur for Palestine, Michael Lynk, has demanded that Israel not use it: “Administrative detention is incompatible with democracy, allows a state to arrest and detain a person without charge, without trial, without hearing the evidence against him, and without a fair judicial review. It is a penal system aimed at abuse and mistreatment ”, he said.

The solidarity action of rolling one-day hunger strikes will launch at 9:00 p.m. on Tuesday, 3 November by the singer Cristina del Valle, and the activist Jaldia Abubakra will take over on Wednesday. From there, activists and Palestinian refugees will engage in the successive one-day strikes, along with the winner of the Goya awards (Spanish annual films awards) for the short film “Gaza”, Julio Pérez del Campo, the coordinator of Pallasos en Rebeldía, Iván Prado, and Members of European Parliament Manuel Pineda and Miguel Urbán.

At the end of the individual day of fasting, each person will share a video with their impressions of the solidarity action and the situation in Palestine. All of them affirm that boycott, divestment and sanctions are necessary to force Israel to comply with international law, as was the case with the Apartheid regime in South Africa.

This action is promoted by the organization of solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners, Samidoun, and the day-to-day action can be followed on the Facebook of Samidoun Spain.

The complete list of participants in the following days after the singer Cristina del Valle is made up of: Jaldia Abubakra (Activist), Daniel Lobato (Activist), Rawaa Al Saghir (Palestinian refugee), Sami Khalaf (Activist), Nisreen Mashal (Palestinian refugee), Julio Pérez (Film director), Yousra El Otmany (Activist), June Monreal (Activist), Iván Prado (Pallasos en Rebeldia), Zainab Youns (Palestinian refugee), Yanina Ruiz (Activist), Lydia Mower (Activist), Fadia Cervantes (Activist), and in conclusion the MEPs Manuel Pineda and Miguel Urbán.

At the end of the last shift, on Wednesday 18 November, a social media event is planned, all depending on the situation of Maher al-Akhras at that time..

Madrid, 3 November 2020

Video: 100 Days of Hunger Strike: Free Maher al-Akhras Now!

3 November 2020

On the 100th day of hunger strike of Palestinian prisoner Maher al-Akhras, jailed without charge or trial and striking for his freedom, Samidoun organizers and activists for Palestine from around the world join their voices to call for his liberation. This video includes comrades in Canada, Belgium, Spain, France, the Netherlands, the US, Palestine, Germany and Sweden.

Please watch and share the video widely:

Check out this video in French at Collectif Palestine Vaincra!

As a reminder, join us at 10 am Pacific time, 1 pm Eastern time, 6 pm British and Irish time, 7 pm central Europe, 8 pm Palestine time on Tuesday, 3 November, for a social media campaign to demand freedom for Maher al-Akhras and to make clear that the people’s movements and all those who love justice in the world stand with him and his fellow Palestinian prisoners – and the Palestinian people. Follow @SamidounPP on Twitter for the hashtag and more details. There are many calls to action and ways to participate – we’ll be sharing several below. Join us: stand with Maher al-Akhras, stand for Palestinian freedom!

Samidoun chapters, affiliates and links around the world:

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network has chapters and affiliates in the United States, Canada, Germany, Britain, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Spain, Palestine and Lebanon and we work with groups around the world. Would you like to form a local chapter or become an affiliate? Contact us at samidoun@samidoun.net.

100 Days of Hunger Strike: Stand with Maher al-Akhras for Freedom, Dignity and Justice

2 November 2020

*Palestinians in Gaza paint a mural for Maher al-Akhras*

As Maher al-Akhras enters his 100th day of hunger strike, the international campaign to support his struggle for freedom continues to go, even as he faces a dire medical condition and a deliberate policy of “slow death” and execution by the Israeli regime. The 49-year-old Palestinian father of six has been on hunger strike since 24 July, when he was seized by Israeli occupation forces and ordered to administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial.

Join us at 10 am Pacific time, 1 pm Eastern time, 6 pm British and Irish time, 7 pm central Europe, 8 pm Palestine time on Tuesday, 3 November, for a social media campaign to demand freedom for Maher al-Akhras and to make clear that the people’s movements and all those who love justice in the world stand with him and his fellow Palestinian prisoners – and the Palestinian people. Follow @SamidounPP on Twitter for the hashtag and more details. There are many calls to action and ways to participate – we’ll be sharing several below. Join us: stand with Maher al-Akhras, stand for Palestinian freedom!

Within Our Lifetime-United for Palestine has called for a photo campaign in solidarity with Maher al-Akhras, asking participants to take a photo of themselves with a solidarity sign and tag @wolpalestine on Instagram to build a massive solidarity campaign for the 100th day of hunger strike.

Samidoun Network in occupied Palestine is organizing a demonstration with the families of the prisoners and martyrs on 3 November at 4:30 pm at Manara Square in Ramallah, occupied Palestine, to march for Maher al-Akhras and his fellow Palestinian prisoners.

Administrative detention orders, first introduced to Palestine by the British colonial mandate and used routinely by the Zionist state against Palestinian community leaders and activists, are indefinitely renewable. Palestinians have spent years at a time jailed under these arbitrary detention orders, including Maher al-Akhras himself, who was imprisoned previously for 11 months and again for 16 months under these repeatedly renewed orders.

Al-Akhras has rejected various attempts to compel him to end his hunger strike, including a bogus “suspension” of his administrative detention (to be reimposed after the improvement of his health) and alleged offers to release him at the end of his detention orders on 26 November. Well aware of the history of Israeli officials repudiating agreements with prisoners to end hunger strikes only to extend their detention and intensify repression – and as a clear matter of principle, he has rejected such proposals, insisting on his freedom, even at the cost of his death.

Activists have shared videos of al-Akhras, where he is restrained in a hospital bed at the Kaplan Medical Center, clearly suffering from the effects of his hunger strike. His hearing, vision and ability to speak have declined significantly, his vital organs are at immediate risk and he has lost dozens of kilos of weight. In essence, Maher al-Akhras is being executed without charge or trial due to Israeli intransigence and insistence on maintaining their unjust and arbitrary detention order.

The case also clearly indicates the deep involvement of the Israeli judiciary within the colonial system, with the Israeli Supreme Court rejecting al-Akhras’ appeals on four occasions, on 23 September, 1 October, 12 October and 27 October, making clear once more that these systems are deeply entrenched in the violent system of colonization, apartheid and occupation.

International support and solidarity with Maher al-Akhras is growing. Michael Lynk, the UN Special Rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, called for the immediate release of al-Akhras and an end to the practice of administrative detention. The International Association of Democratic Lawyers urged al-Akhras’ immediate release and called on governments, including the U.S. government and European governments, to end their support for Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Irish activists in Ireland and in the diaspora launched a rolling hunger strike in support of al-Akhras, a campaign that is now being echoed by the Anti-Imperialist Front, with activists in Donbass, Greece, Italy and Austria joining in a rolling solidarity strike starting on 2 November.

In Toulouse, France, the Collectif Palestine Vaincra organized an “ad hack” poster campaign to demand freedom for al-Akhras and documented many international actions, including protests in New York, Vancouver, Dublin, Cologne and elsewhere.

In Paris, activists with CAPJPO-EuroPalestine launched a solidarity photo campaign to demand al-Akhras’ liberation. Even as France has gone back to widespread coronavirus quarantine preventing in-person actions, they have continued the online demonstration. CAPJPO-EuroPalestine is continuing to collect photos at info@europalestine.com.

Organizers and activists in Sweden have also continued the campaign of photos and solidarity with al-Akhras:

These are just a small number of the initiatives being announced by organizers all over the world. In Germany, Samidoun Deutschland launched a solidarity video in German urging al-Akhras’ liberation, below:

Maher al-Akhras has put his body and his life on the line for freedom, justice and dignity, for Palestinian prisoners, the Palestinian people and the world. His example stands as an inspiration amid the ravages of imperialism and colonialism. We urge all people of conscience and movements for justice to join us in demanding his immediate release, the end of administrative detention, freedom for all Palestinian prisoners, and freedom for Palestine from the river to the sea.

TAKE ACTION:

1. Join the social media campaign on Tuesday, 3 November at 10 am Pacific time, 1 pm Eastern time, 8 pm Palestine. We will launch a new hashtag for maximum impact. Follow @SamidounPP on Twitter for the hashtag, sample tweets and more. Let us flood social media with demands for Maher al-Akhras’ freedom on his 100th day of hunger strike!

2. Join the picture and solidarity campaigns. Send your photos to Within Our Lifetime – United for Palestine, CAPJPO-EuroPalestine and more.

3. Sign the petition. Join over 3,000 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.

Sign the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/amnesty-hrw-icrc-un-ohchr-act-now-to-free-maher-al-akhras

4. Organize creative actions. Ad hacks, postering and other outdoor actions can draw a significant amount of attention to Maher al-Akhras and the Palestinian cause at this critical time.

4. Build the boycott of Israel! Join the movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. Highlight the complicity of corporations like Hewlett-Packard and the continuing involvement of G4S in Israeli policing and prisons. Build a campaign to boycott Israeli goods, impose a military embargo on Israel, or organize around the academic and cultural boycott of Israel.

Anti-Imperialist Front launches solidarity strike for Maher al-Akhras

2 November 2020

Following the solidarity strike of Irish activists with Maher al-Akhras, the Palestinian political prisoner jailed without charge or trial currently on hunger strike for 99 days, urging his immediate release, the Anti-Imperialist Front has launched a rolling hunger strike. Organizers in countries including Donbass, Greece, Italy and Austria will engage in successive one-day hunger strikes to show their solidarity with the Palestinian father of six who is facing death and a slow execution as he struggles for freedom.

The Anti-Imperialist Front has taken up this initiative even as progressive political movements, lawyers and activists in Turkey are facing a campaign of severe repression and imprisonment.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes the Anti-Imperialist Front for this solidarity initiative and urges people and movements around the world to show their support for Maher al-Akhras.

Join us at 10 am Pacific time, 1 pm Eastern time, 6 pm British and Irish time, 7 pm central Europe, 8 pm Palestine time on Tuesday, 3 November, for a social media campaign to demand freedom for Maher al-Akhras and to make clear that the people’s movements and all those who love justice in the world stand with him and his fellow Palestinian prisoners – and the Palestinian people. Follow @SamidounPP on Twitter for the hashtag and more details.

Please share your contributions with us at Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network on Facebook, @SamidounPP on Twitter, and at samidoun@samidoun.net.

AIF ON INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY HUNGER STRIKE FOR PALESTINIAN DETAINEE MAHER AL-AKHRAS

Administrative detention is a measure of repression and arbitrary punishment, which was implanted by the British army and later continued by Israeli occupation forces towards Palestinian people.

Maher Al-Akhras has undergone such a measure many times in his life because of his engagement and support of political prisoners.

In this moment Maher is on a hunger strike for nearly 100 days to demand an end to the administrative detention imposed on him another time. His resistance is not only for his own freedom but on behalf of all the Palestinians who suffer from this repressive policy.

In this moment Maher Al-Akhras is in a hospital and due to his long-term hunger strike his health situation gets serious.

To support his just demand and avoid that his health condition gets worse and even a concrete threat for his life, AIF supporters of different countries are carrying out a solidarity hunger strike throughout this week.

Dates and countries where solidarity hunger strikes are being carried out:
Monday (2nd Nov.): Donbass
Tuesday (3rd Nov.): Greece
Wednesday (4th Nov.): Italy
Thursday (5th Nov.): Austria
Friday (6th Nov.): Austria

FREEDOM TO MAHER AL-AKHRAS!
FREEDOM FOR PALESTINE!
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY IS THE WEAPON OF THE PEOPLE!

Madrid protest demands justice for Palestinian fishers, end of Egyptian complicity in Gaza siege

2 November 2020

*Photo: Amparo Grolimund for #MadridEnAccion – Twitter*

On Friday, 30 October, activists in Madrid, capital of the Spanish state, gathered outside the Egyptian embassy to protest the murder of two Palestinian fishers, Hasan and Mahmoud Zaazu, and the injury of another, Yaser Zaazu, by Egyptian soldiers on 26 September. The three brothers are Palestinian fishers from Gaza who unintentionally strayed into Egyptian waters, and the Egyptian navy’s attack on the fishers comes as part and parcel of the vicious siege imposed upon Gaza by the Israeli occupation for the past 14 years.

As part of the framework of Camp David and security coordination, the Egyptian regime cooperates in the blockade of Gaza, not only by closing the Rafah border crossing, but with military force aimed at Palestinian fishermen working to sustain themselves and their families. The Israeli occupation forces have repeatedly narrowed the fishing window for Palestinian fishers in their own sea, leaving tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza who rely on small-scale fishing for their livelihood in desperate circumstances.

The Israeli siege on Gaza is fully enabled as well by the complicity and active cooperation of Arab reactionary regimes, specifically the Egyptian regime, as well as the support of the United States and the European Union, despite purported statements of concern for the well-being of Palestinians in Gaza. It is worth noting that Egyptian fishers who have accidentally crossed into Palestinian waters have not received the same treatment; indeed, Palestinian fishers have saved distressed Egyptian fishers, welcomed them and freely supported their routine return to Egypt in January 2019.

The protesters, including activists from Samidoun España, Alkarama Palestinian Women’s Mobilization and Unadikum, emphasized that this is not the only aspect of Egyptian official security coordination with Israel. In particular, they protested the abduction and ongoing detention of Ramy Shaath, the coordinator of BDS Egypt, for over one year, solely for his public political activities in support of fundamental Palestinian rights, and demanded his immediate release.

Follow us on Instagram @samidounnetwork