Conference for the Alternative Palestinian Path will convene in Madrid in 2021

2 November 2020

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes the initiators of this conference and we look forward to joining them in struggle, and in Madrid in 2021! For more information, please see https://masarbadil.org/

Palestinian organizers and associations in occupied Palestine and the diaspora issued a call on Monday, 2 November, marking the 103rd anniversary of the Balfour declaration. They announced the launch of planning and preparations for the “Conference for the Alternative Palestinian Path,” to be convened in Madrid, Spain, at the end of October 2021, in one year’s time.

In the call for participation in the conference, which will coincide with the 30th anniversary of the so-called “Madrid Peace Conference” in 1991 – the event that laid the path to Oslo – they say:

“We call on the masses of our Palestinian people, and all student, youth and women’s organizations and movements, and civil and popular institutions throughout the diaspora, for unity, cooperation and active participation in launching the widest popular, Palestinian, Arab and international movement, that breaks with the constraints of the previous phase and the Madrid-Oslo approach, and establishes a news stage of struggle, through broad popular participation in the “All of Palestine Conference, All of the Palestinian People, All Palestinian Rights … The Alternative National, Popular and Democratic Conference.”

Reports about the organizing noted that “the organizers who are participating in this project, the early announcement of the conference and the documents that have so far been published all are positive elements that herald a new Palestinian movement, building on a mass, popular basis and outside the expected context, that can stir the stagnant waters in Palestinian politics and create a necessary dialogue, which we hope will go beyond the traditional discourse of Palestinian forces and the repeated talk of elections and rounds of reconciliation talks.”

The Madrid Peace Conference, held at the end of October and early November 1991, was the first major public occasion that brought together almost all Arab countries with Israel under U.S. and Russian (shortly following the dismantlement of the Soviet Union) sponsorship. This marked a fast track to normalization and the official, public Arab rupture with the “three No’s” of Khartoum after the 1967 aggression: “No reconciliation, no negotiation and no recognition.”

Preparatory committee members said, “The time has come for the Palestinian people to free their voice and their national cause from the grip and domination of the path of Madrid and Oslo. The basic elements for the success of this popular initiative lie in the breadth and depth of youth and student participation and the involvement of activists and organizations from all regions and conferences, to provide a positive atmosphere for this work. Through national action and responsible dialogue, the right of all is secured to participate in directing the future of the conference.”

They noted further that “what is important is after the conference, not just before it,” emphasizing that “the conference itself is not our goal. What we want is a radical change in the entire course of Palestinian politics that reflects the Palestinian popular will.”

They said, “We want to knock on the walls of the tank, in the famous metaphor of Ghassan Kanafani, and pose the right questions that require a collective answer. No progress may be made on the Palestinian internal front in order to strengthen our movement to confront Zionism, imperialism and colonialism without ensuring the full participation of people and breaking the silence. This cause has a compass, owners and one reliable reference — the Palestinian people.”

From the call to the conference:

“The Palestinian people, who re-established the Palestine Liberation Organization and all its institutions, launched a popular and armed historical revolution in the 1960s, restored the Palestinian national identity, established the Palestinian National Charter, and assumed their national and national responsibilities, are best able to correct the national, Arab and international compass. They are the most capable of turning the tables on all the enemy forces that participated in the Madrid-Oslo crime, and the most capable of restoring balance to the two wings of the Palestinian national movement, between the homeland and the diaspora, supporting the steadfastness of the popular classes, and directing the target of the Palestinian liberation struggle towards Palestine, all of Palestine, in order to protect the unity of the Palestinian people and their inalienable national rights.”

Visit the conference website:

الرئيسة

Israeli arrest raids target Palestinian women activists and leftist organizers: Free Khitam Saafin, Shatha Tawil and all Palestinian prisoners!

2 November 2020

In the pre-dawn hours of 2 November 2020 – on the anniversary of the colonial Balfour declaration and only days after the one-year anniversary of the imprisonment of Palestinian feminist, leftist and parliamentarian Khalida Jarrar – Israeli occupation forces stormed the homes of women’s movement and student movement leaders, former prisoners and leftist organizers throughout the occupied West Bank of Palestine. They seized Khitam Saafin, the president of the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees and student leader Shatha al-Tawil, a Bir Zeit University student, after invading their homes in al-Bireh.

The Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees denounced the arrest of Saafin, who has previously been subjected to arbitrary administrative detention, noting that it comes amid an ongoing attack on Palestinian women, especially women students. Shatha Tawil is now among hundreds of Palestinian university students imprisoned by the Israeli occupation, including a number of student leaders at Bir Zeit University.

The UPWC called on “all strugglers for freedom in Palestine and internationally to carry out campaigns of solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners and all of the strugglers of our people until their liberation.”

At almost the same time, Israeli occupation forces seized former prisoner and longtime trade union activist Mohammed Jawabreh, 55, from Izbat al-Jarad southwest of Tulkarem, and prominent Palestinian leftist Jamal Barham, 60, from the village of Ramin, also near Tulkarem, ransacking their homes and abducting these community leaders.

Jamal Barham has been detained in the past without charge or trial under administrative detention and served as the head of the Arab Studies Department in the Palestine Liberation Organization.

In Qalqilya, occupation forces invaded and ransacked the homes of and seized Shaher al-Rai, 50 and Ahmed Mohammed al-Rai, 65, longtime community leaders. Shaher al-Rai is a former prisoner who has been detained on multiple occasions by Israeli occupation forces, often under administrative detention, indefinite imprisonment without charge or trial. He has been arrested seven times, including three stints in administrative detention, and imprisoned for over 12 years in total.

Al-Rai is married to Palestinian activist Manal al-Rai and they have three children, Jarrah, Wajla and Kanaan. Manal al-Rai spoke about the impact of her husband’s earlier administrative detention on their young son in this video from Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association:

Shaher Al-Rai was earlier imprisoned by Palestinian Authority security forces for multiple years after he and his cousin were implicated in a false affidavit given by a Palestinian prisoner under Israeli torture. The confession was proven false by incontrovertible evidence and the Palestinian who made the confession under torture released and later compensated by Israeli intelligence, in an unusual case. Nevertheless, al-Rai remained held in PA prison for years after the discrediting of the confession, and released only after a widespread campaign.

These latest attacks come amid several urgent situations threatening Palestinian prisoners, including an announcement of an outbreak of the novel coronavirus among at least 12 Palestinian prisoners detained in the Israeli occupation’s Gilboa prison, where around 90 prisoners in total are held. Palestinian prisoners in Gilboa, Ramon and Nafha prisons announced that they will escalate their protests given the ongoing negligence and deliberate neglect of Palestinian prisoners’ health by the Israeli prison administration.

Meanwhile, Palestinian detainee Maher al-Akhras is entering his 99th day of hunger strike against his Israeli administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial. His health condition has weakened dramatically and he is no longer able to walk and can barely talk. He has insisted on continuing his hunger strike until he wins his freedom from unjust imprisonment. Al-Akhras’ case has spurred worldwide outrage, including a statement from Irish trade unions, international lawyers and multiple social media campaigns to demand his immediate release.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and many organizations, including Within Our Lifetime – United for Palestine, will campaign on social media on Tuesday, 3 November, the 100th day of Maher’s hunger strike for dignity, justice and freedom. We urge you to join us with tweets, photos and videos – and protests and actions – to share your solidarity at this critical moment. Follow @SamidounPP on Twitter to join the Twitterstorm at 10 am Pacific time, 1 pm Eastern time, 7 pm in central Europe and 8 pm Palestine time.

Samidoun Network in occupied Palestine, alongside the families of the prisoners and the martyrs, will hold a protest in occupied Ramallah, Palestine, at 4:30 pm on Tuesday, 3 November, to march for liberation for Maher al-Akhras and all Palestinian prisoners.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network denounces these latest attacks on the Palestinian women’s movement, student movement and community organizers. We urge women’s organizations, student organizations and people of conscience everywhere to raise their voices and act in solidarity with Khitam Saafin, Shatha al-Tawil and their 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 and G4S. The Israeli occupation wants, on this anniversary of the Balfour declaration, 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!

Activists in Sweden call for freedom and justice for Palestinian prisoners

28 October 2020

Activists in Gothenburg, Sweden, including comrades from Samidoun Göteborg, gathered to stand in solidarity with Palestinian prisoner Maher al-Akhras, on his 94th day of hunger strike to demand his freedom from Israeli administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial. The father of six has declared that he will continue his strike until he wins his freedom, despite the increasing severity of his medical situation.

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, including solidarity one-day hunger strikes around the world.

Several days prior, on 24 October, Samidoun Göteborg organizers also gathered with internationalist comrades outside the French consulate in Gothenburg to call for freedom for Georges Ibrahim Abdallah. The action came alongside the mass demonstration in Lannemezan, France and protests in Beirut, Tunis, Ramallah, Gaza, Geneva, Brussels and elsewhere, demanding freedom for the Lebanese Arab Communist struggler for Palestine imprisoned in France for 36 years.

“We fight for Georges Abdallah’s release and continue his struggle against capitalist imperialism and against the colonization and occupation of Palestine!” the activists declared.

**

Join over 2,000 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

Irish activists announce solidarity hunger strike for Maher al-Akhras

28 October 2020

Irish activists announced a solidarity hunger strike to support Maher al-Akhras, part of the global one-day hunger strike campaign to demand freedom for the Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike for 94 days. Maher al-Akhras is jailed without charge or trial under Israeli administrative detention, and the father of six launched his hunger strike in order to demand his immediate release. His medical situation has become increasingly dire, even as Israeli occupation forces have stepped up the level of repression against him.

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.

“Palestinians continue to have our (Irish and Irish Republican) unconditional support and we will continue to take actions in solidarity with their cause which is just and is our cause too. Victory to all the prisoners in Palestine and victory to the hunger strike!” said Michael Butler of The Red Nation and Samidoun, one of the participants in the rolling hunger strike.

Irish organizer Patrick Murphy of Anti Internment Munster announced the strike and organized a group of Irish republican activists from different counties in Ireland to host a 10 day fast in solidarity with Maher Al Akhras on his hunger strike. The strike announcement follows:

“Tomorrow the 28 October we join activists around the world in support of Maher al-Akhras, the Palestinian prisoner jailed without charge or trial now on his 93rd day of hunger strike.

From tomorrow night 9pm, I will start a 24hr fast followed each day by another volunteer for 10 days to show solidarity with Maher and his family and to raise awareness to his hungerstrike

Maher al-Akhras is jailed without charge or trial under Israeli administrative detention along with approximately 350 other Palestinians. He launched his hunger strike immediately after being ordered to administrative detention after he was seized by Israeli occupation forces in July 2020.

The hunger strike is an individual and collective tool used by Palestinian and Irish prisoners, putting their bodies and lives on the line in the struggle for freedom.

The order in which we will do the 10 day fast is as follows:
Wednesday 9pm-9pm Patrick Murphy
Thursday 9pm-9pm Cinaed De Canntun
Friday 9pm-9pm Alex KH
Saturday 9pm-9pm Steven Billings
Sunday 9pm-9pm Cairionn Uí Páircéir
Monday 9pm-9pm Alex McCrory
Tuesday 9pm-9pm Vicky Duffy
Wednesday 9pm-9pm Eddie Reade
Thursday 9pm-9pm Fra Hughes
Friday 9pm-9pm Michael Butler”

There is a long history of mutual solidarity between Irish and Palestinian organizers against colonialism and political prisoners; both have used hunger strikes to defend their rights and expressed support to one another during these hunger strikes. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes these Irish activists for their important and meaningful solidarity with Maher al-Akhras. Freedom for all Palestinian and Irish political prisoners – freedom for Palestine and Ireland!

Beirut protest demands freedom for Georges Abdallah

27 October 2020

On Saturday, 24 October, protesters gathered in Beirut outside the French embassy to demand freedom for Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, the Lebanese Arab Communist struggler for Palestine jailed in France. The rally marked the beginning of Georges Abdallah’s 37th year in prison and accompanied the mass march to Lannemezan prison in France as well as actions in Frankfurt, Tunis, Ramallah, Gaza and elsewhere to demand his freedom.

The French embassy was surrounded by large numbers of police, while many roads were closed around the location, making it difficult for participants to find a path to the demonstration. Still, despite all the serious political, economic and social difficulties facing Lebanon, a strong crowd turned out to demand the immediate release of a Lebanese freedom fighter and political prisoner jailed in France. Youth from the north and south of Lebanon traveled to Beirut to join the demonstration.

“We are now gathered here, coinciding with the central demonstration now underway in France and specifically in front of where he is being held in Lannemezan prison. It is clear that the issue of Georges is not only a Lebanese or Palestinian national issue, as George has struggled since his youth with the Palestinian resistance factions, but rather an issue of the global fight for freedom and the right of peoples to self-determination,” declared the statement of the Lebanese Campaign to Free Georges Abdallah, read out at the demonstration.

The protest took place a few hours before another demonstration in Beirut, marking the 96th anniversary of the formation of the Lebanese Communist Party. This mass demonstration marched from the Hamra neighborhood of Beirut to the downtown district, and included many slogans of support for the liberation of Palestine and resistance to imperialism as well as banners and flags carrying Georges Abdallah’s image. Georges Abdallah’s family members, including his brother and sister, took part in both marches.

Remarking on the protest, Mohammed Khatib, Europe coordinator of Samidoun, said, “There is a new generation in Lebanon, the Georges Abdallah generation of youth that wont give up the struggle. Seeing the youth and our Lebanese comrades protest today in front of the French colonial embassy, for the liberation of Georges Abdallah and all Palestinian political prisoners, and also confronting the colonial role that the French state and its president, Emmanuel Macron, are trying to play in Lebanon for their imperial benefit, is a strong inspiration. This is particularly important amid the economic and social situation in the country. We hear Georges’ name on the lips of new organizers and young revolutionaries. This is a victory for Georges’ struggle and for the people’s movement.”

Sign the petition: Free Maher al-Akhras!

27 October 2020

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.

Take action: Sign the petition!

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

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.

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

Statement by Georges Abdallah on 37 years of confinement

26 October 2020

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.

The following statement is translated from the French original, which can be read here: https://liberonsgeorges.samizdat.net/ses-declarations/declaration-de-georges-abdallah-24-octobre-2020/

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.

Your Comrade Georges Abdallah

International lawyers’ association demands freedom for Maher al-Akhras

26 October 2020

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.

At its Council meeting on 25 October, the International Association of Democratic Lawyers adopted a resolution calling for the immediate release of al-Akhras, an end to administrative detention and an end to U.S. and European support of Israel.

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:

1. Demands the immediate release of Maher al-Akhras and other Palestinians jailed without charge or trial under Israeli administrative detention.
2. 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.
3. Demands an end to the practice of administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their struggle for national liberation, self-determination, equality and return.”

Read the full statement below:

IADL Resolution on Maher al-Akhras

https://samidoun.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/IADL-Resolution-on-Maher-al-Akhras.pdf

Call for action October 28: Global one-day hunger strike to free Maher al-Akhras

26 October 2020

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.

We urge all supporters of Palestine to join in the global hunger strike for Maher al-Akhras on Wednesday, 28 October and to share the following images on social media and elsewhere along with your personal photos, videos and statements. Please share your contributions with us at Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network on Facebook, @SamidounPP on Twitter, and at samidoun@samidoun.net, and with the Global Campaign to Return to Palestine.

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1 November, Online Event: Perfecting Liberation Legacies of Colonialism In Algeria and South Africa ~ Lessons For Palestine

26 October 2020

Sunday, 1 November
11 am Pacific – 2 pm Eastern – 8 pm central Europe – 9 pm Palestine
Register on Zoom: https://bit.ly/lackingliberation
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/2894768600755826/

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.

Zoom Registration: https://bit.ly/lackingliberation

The Panel will be followed by working discussion and registrants will receive a synthesis of the discussion.

Facebook page for invitations: https://www.facebook.com/events/2894768600755826

PANELISTS

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

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