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9 October, Online Event: The New McCarthyism and How We Can Fight Back

Monday, 9 October
5 pm Pacific – 8 pm Eastern
Register on Zoom: bit.ly/fightmccarthyism

Organizations working for justice in Palestine, like Samidoun, regularly face attempts to blacklist and criminalize our activities. Similarly, anti-imperialist organizations and activities face a broad array of attacks from imperialist powers.

On October 9, 8pm EST, The Canada Files and CovertAction Magazine, with Samidoun as lead sponsor, are co-hosting an event featuring Jodie Evans (Codepink Co-founder), Wenran Jiang (Institute for Peace and Diplomacy advisor), Ben Norton (Geopolitical Economy Report’s Editor-in-Chief) and Eleanor Wong (A stateless Canadian expat exiled in Hong Kong by the Canadian government).

It focuses on the new McCarthyism in Canada and the US, and how we can fight back against it.

Sign up! You don’t want to miss it. Sign up below

bit.ly/fightmccarthyism

Joint Statement: We Denounce UN Security Council’s Approval to Send a Kenya-led Mission to Haiti

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is one of many signatories to the statement below, issued by the Black Alliance for Peace:

WE DENOUNCE UN SECURITY COUNCIL’S

APPROVAL TO SEND A KENYA-LED MISSION TO HAITI

We, the undersigned, strongly condemn the decision by the United States and its allies to deploy a foreign military force to Haiti. We are adamant that a U.S./UN-led armed foreign intervention in Haiti is not only illegitimate, but illegal. And we support Haitian people and civil society organizations who have been consistent in their opposition to foreign armed military intervention – and who have argued that the problems of Haiti are a direct result of the persistent and long-term meddling of the United States, the United Nations, and the Core Group.

On Monday, October 2nd, 2023, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) voted on a resolution for a Multinational Security Support Mission authorizing the deployment of a foreign  military and police intervention into the Republic of Haiti. Although the vote did not receive unanimous approval as it saw abstentions from two permanent UNSC members, 13 other permanent and non-permanent members voted in support, including 3 African countries (Gabon, Ghana and Mozambique). This is a particularly egregious betrayal of Haiti, which has been for Africans and Black people around the world, a beacon in the fight against slavery, colonialism and imperialism. Yet the U.S. administration, the corporate media, alongside figures such as Linda Thomas-Greenfield, have hailed the vote as a victory. We note, also, that the U.S. has tapped Kenya, another African country, to lead a multinational force of “volunteer” nations to occupy Haiti, leaving their own troops at home while offering at leas t$100 million in support.

There is a long history here. For more than two years now, the U.S. has been pushing for a build-up of the military presence in Haiti to protect the puppet government of the unelected and unpopular Ariel Henry. Yet the U.S. is not willing to put its own boots on the ground, turning instead, first to Canada, then Brazil, then the CELAC and CARICOM countries–all of whom were reluctant to lead the mission, even if they supported the call for military intervention. The Kenyan government leapt at the opportunity to lead the intervention, bought off by a bag of silver and an approving pat on their neoliberal heads. Haiti will now be invaded by the U.S., but with the Black face of Kenya as cover. Kenya erroneously claims this is “Pan-Africanism;” it is, in fact, neocolonialism.

We are told that the interest of the U.S. in Haiti is humanitarian, that the U.S wants to protect the Haitian people from “criminal gangs.” Yet U.S. weapons have flooded Haiti, and the U.S. has consistently rejected calls to effectively enforce the UNSC resolution for an arms embargo against the Haitian and U.S. elite who import guns into the country. Moreover, when we speak of “gangs,” we must recognize that the most powerful gangs in the country are subsidiaries of the U.S. itself: the United Nations Integrated Office (BINUH) and the Core Group, the two colonial entities who have effectively ruled the country since the U.S./France/Canada-backed coup d’etat of 2004. Haiti has no sovereignty and has long been under foreign occupation. The current de facto “Prime Minister” was installed by the Core Group and whatever calls for military intervention are being made by those already occupying Haiti.

We hold in contempt the neocolonial governments that are taking part in this mission to further oppress Haitian people and deny them sovereignty. We denounce the governments of Kenya and the CARICOM nations, such as Bahamas, Jamaica, and Antigua and Barbuda, which have  failed Haiti and have violated the notion of the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace.

Furthermore, we demand that:

  1. The U.S. and the UN must end their interference in Haiti and the Core Group must be disbanded.

  2. The U.S. must stop its criminal gangster actions against Haiti and stop propping up the illegitimate government they installed.

  3. Kenya must end its support for a racist and imperialist intervention in Haiti

  4. The governments of the U.S. and the Dominican Republic stop dumping arms and ammunition into the country and for the de facto Prime Minister to stop arming paramilitaries in the country.

  5. The United Nations pay restitution for the devastating 2010 cholera outbreak by rebuilding Haiti’s water, sanitation, health, and educational infrastructure.

  6. That fuel subsidies for Haiti are reinstated and the minimum wage increased.

  7. The CARICOM countries, alongside other regional nations, normalize pathways for work visas and citizenship for Haitian nationals.

We vow to stand on the side of the Haitian people against imperialism!

SIGNED,

718 Coalition

Acción Afro-Dominicana, RD

ADDI Caribbean

Al-Awda, the Palestinian Right to Return Coalition 

All African People’s Revolutionary Party

Alliance for Global Justice

Anti Displacement NYC

Ban Killer Drones

Black Alliance for Peace, Haiti/Americas Team

Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration

Caribbean Organisation for Peoples Empowerment

Caribbean Solidarity Network

Chicago Antiwar Coalition (CAWC)

CODEPINK

Comité Dominicano de Derechos Humanos -CDDH-, RD

Committee of Anti-Imperialists in Solidarity with Iran

Communist Party of Kenya

Community Movement Builders

Consejo de Organizaciones Sociales y Populares del Paraguay

Consejo por la Emancipación Plurinacional Peruana

Cooperation Jackson

COPLAC-Confederación Palestina Latinoamericana y del Caribe

Dar al Janub – Verein für antirassistische und Friedenspolitische Initiative

Decolonial Feminist Collective

Diaspora Pa’lante Collective

Dr. Alejandro Rusconi – Movimiento Evita

Frente Patriótico Manuel Rodríguez

International Action Center

La Articulación Regional Afrodescendiente de las Américas y el Caribe (ARAAC)

Left Alliance for National Democracy and Socialism – Jamaica LANDS

Malcolm X Center for Self Determination

Michigan General Defense Committee

Midwestern Marx Institute

MOLEGHAF (Mouvman Libèté, Egalite sou chimen Fratènite tout Ayisyen)

Movimiento Argentino de Solidaridad con Cuba (Mascuba)

Movimiento Caamañista -MC-, RD

Movimiento Popular Dominicano -MPD-, RD

Movimiento Rebelde -MR-, RD

Movimiento Reconocido

Observatorio de Derechos Humanos de los Pueblos

Palestinian Youth Movement – Detroit Chapter

Pan-African Community Action (PACA)

Partido Comunista del Trabajo -PCT-, RD

Partido Movimiento del Socialismo Allendista de Chile

Partido Nuevo Encuentro – Argentina

Partido Socialista de Peru

Pro Derechos Humanos Bolivia (PRODEHBOL)

Rasanbleman Pou Ayiti

Rethink New Orleans

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

Socialist Workers League-Nigeria

SOLI Puerto Rico

Solidaridad Dominicana Con Haití, Rep. Dominicana

Solidarity Committee of the Americas, Minnesota 

The African Diaspora Foundation (Barbados)

The Barbados Sovereignty Party

The Global Pan African Movement (GPAM) North American Chapter

The Global Sovereign Peoples Movement

The International Black Chamber of Commerce and Industry

The People’s Forum

The Regional Coordination Committee of the Pan Afrikan and Indigenous Movement of the Caribbean

The Ubuntu Reading Group

Troika Collective

Workers World Party

World BEYOND War

Zimbabwe Movement of Pan African Socialists

——-ESPAÑOL——-

DENUNCIAMOS LA APROBACIÓN POR EL CONSEJO DE SEGURIDAD DE LA ONU DEL ENVÍO DE UNA MISIÓN DIRIGIDA POR KENIA A HAITÍ

Nosotros, los firmantes, condenamos enérgicamente la decisión de Estados Unidos y sus aliados de desplegar una fuerza militar extranjera en Haití. Sostenemos firmemente que una intervención armada extranjera liderada por Estados Unidos y la ONU en Haití no sólo es ilegítima, sino también ilegal. Apoyamos al pueblo haitiano y a las organizaciones de la sociedad civil que han sido coherentes en su oposición a la intervención militar extranjera armada y que han argumentado que los problemas de Haití son resultado directo de la persistente e intervención a largo plazo de Estados Unidos, la ONU y el ‘Core Group’ (Grupo Principal).

El lunes 2 de octubre de 2023, el Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU votó sobre una resolución para una Misión de Apoyo de Seguridad Multinacional que autoriza el despliegue de una intervención militar y policial extranjera en la República de Haití. Aunque la votación no recibió la aprobación unánime, ya que se registraron abstenciones de dos miembros permanentes del Consejo de Seguridad de la ONU, otros 13 miembros permanentes y no permanentes votaron a favor, incluyendo a 3 países africanos (Gabón, Ghana y Mozambique). Esto representa una traición especialmente grave hacia Haití, que ha sido un faro en la lucha contra la esclavitud, el colonialismo y el imperialismo para los africanos y las personas negras de todo el mundo. Sin embargo, la administración de Estados Unidos, los medios corporativos, junto con figuras como Linda Thomas-Greenfield, han celebrado la votación como una victoria. También observamos que Estados Unidos ha designado a Kenia, otro país africano, para liderar una fuerza multinacional de naciones “voluntarias” para ocupar Haití, dejando a sus propias tropas en casa y ofreciendo al menos $100 millones en apoyo.

Hay una larga historia aquí. Durante más de dos años, Estados Unidos ha estado presionando para aumentar la presencia militar en Haití para proteger al gobierno títere del impopular e ilegítimo Ariel Henry. Sin embargo, Estados Unidos no está dispuesto a poner sus propias botas en el terreno, recurriendo en su lugar primero a Canadá, luego a Brasil, y luego a los países de CELAC y CARICOM, todos los cuales se mostraron renuentes a liderar la misión, incluso si apoyaban la llamada a la intervención militar. El gobierno de Kenia se lanzó a la oportunidad de liderar la intervención, comprado con una bolsa de plata y una aprobación en sus cabezas neoliberales. Haití será invadido por Estados Unidos, pero con la cara negra de Kenia como fachada. Kenia afirma erróneamente que esto es “panafricanismo”; de hecho, es neocolonialismo.

Se nos dice que el interés de Estados Unidos en Haití es humanitario, que Estados Unidos quiere proteger al pueblo haitiano de las “bandas criminales”. Sin embargo, las armas estadounidenses han inundado Haití, y Estados Unidos ha rechazado constantemente las llamadas para hacer cumplir efectivamente la resolución del CSNU para un embargo de armas contra la élite haitiana y estadounidense que importa armas al país. Además, cuando hablamos de “bandas”, debemos reconocer que las bandas más poderosas en el país son subsidiarias de Estados Unidos mismo: la Oficina Integrada de las Naciones Unidas (BINUH) y el Core Group, las dos entidades coloniales que han gobernado efectivamente el país desde el golpe de Estado respaldado por Estados Unidos/Francia/Canadá de 2004. Haití no tiene soberanía y ha estado bajo ocupación extranjera durante mucho tiempo. El actual “Primer Ministro de facto” fue instalado por el Core Group, y cualquier llamado a la intervención militar proviene de aquellos que ya están ocupando Haití.

Despreciamos a los gobiernos neocoloniales que participan en esta misión para oprimir aún más al pueblo haitiano y negarles su soberanía. Denunciamos a los gobiernos de Kenia y las naciones del CARICOM, como Bahamas, Jamaica y Antigua y Barbuda, que han fallado a Haití y han violado el concepto del Caribe como una zona de paz.

Además, exigimos que:

  1. Estados Unidos y la ONU pongan fin a su interferencia en Haití y que se disuelva el ‘Core Group’.

  2. Estados Unidos debe poner fin a sus acciones criminales de gánster contra Haití y dejar de sostener al gobierno ilegítimo que instaló.

  3. Kenia debe poner fin a su apoyo a una intervención racista e imperialista en Haití.

  4. Los gobiernos de Estados Unidos y la República Dominicana dejen de arrojar armas y municiones al país, y el Primer Ministro de facto deje de armar a los paramilitares en el país.

  5. La ONU indemniza por el devastador brote de cólera de 2010 reconstruyendo la infraestructura de agua, saneamiento, salud y educación de Haití.

  6. Se restablezcan los subsidios a los combustibles en Haití y se aumente el salario mínimo.

  7. Los países del CARICOM, junto con otras naciones de la región, normalizan los caminos para visas de trabajo y ciudadanía para los nacionales haitianos.

  8. Nos comprometemos a estar del lado del pueblo haitiano contra el imperialismo.

FIRMADO,

718 Coalition

Acción Afro-Dominicana, RD

ADDI Caribbean

Al-Awda, the Palestinian Right to Return Coalition 

All African People’s Revolutionary Party

Alliance for Global Justice

Anti Displacement NYC

Ban Killer Drones

Black Alliance for Peace, Haiti/Americas Team

Caribbean Movement for Peace and Integration

Caribbean Organisation for Peoples Empowerment

Caribbean Solidarity Network

Chicago Antiwar Coalition (CAWC)

CODEPINK

Comité Dominicano de Derechos Humanos -CDDH-, RD

Committee of Anti-Imperialists in Solidarity with Iran

Communist Party of Kenya

Community Movement Builders

Consejo de Organizaciones Sociales y Populares del Paraguay

Consejo por la Emancipación Plurinacional Peruana

Cooperation Jackson

COPLAC-Confederación Palestina Latinoamericana y del Caribe

Dar al Janub – Verein für antirassistische und Friedenspolitische Initiative

Decolonial Feminist Collective

Diaspora Pa’lante Collective

Dr. Alejandro Rusconi – Movimiento Evita

Frente Patriótico Manuel Rodríguez

International Action Center

La Articulación Regional Afrodescendiente de las Américas y el Caribe (ARAAC)

Left Alliance for National Democracy and Socialism – Jamaica LANDS

Malcolm X Center for Self Determination

Michigan General Defense Committee

Midwestern Marx Institute

MOLEGHAF (Mouvman Libèté, Egalite sou chimen Fratènite tout Ayisyen)

Movimiento Argentino de Solidaridad con Cuba (Mascuba)

Movimiento Caamañista -MC-, RD

Movimiento Popular Dominicano -MPD-, RD

Movimiento Rebelde -MR-, RD

Movimiento Reconocido

Observatorio de Derechos Humanos de los Pueblos

Palestinian Youth Movement – Detroit Chapter

Pan-African Community Action (PACA)

Partido Comunista del Trabajo -PCT-, RD

Partido Movimiento del Socialismo Allendista de Chile

Partido Nuevo Encuentro – Argentina

Partido Socialista de Peru

Pro Derechos Humanos Bolivia (PRODEHBOL)

Rasanbleman Pou Ayiti

Rethink New Orleans

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

Socialist Workers League-Nigeria

SOLI Puerto Rico

Solidaridad Dominicana Con Haití, Rep. Dominicana

Solidarity Committee of the Americas, Minnesota 

The African Diaspora Foundation (Barbados)

The Barbados Sovereignty Party

The Global Pan African Movement (GPAM) North American Chapter

The Global Sovereign Peoples Movement

The International Black Chamber of Commerce and Industry

The People’s Forum

The Regional Coordination Committee of the Pan Afrikan and Indigenous Movement of the Caribbean

The Ubuntu Reading Group

Troika Collective

Workers World Party

World BEYOND War

Zimbabwe Movement of Pan African Socialists

Banner art and flier: by Okra Sanyika

Musaab Abu Atta speaks to “Palestine Today” about political bans in Germany

 

Musaab Abu Atta, a leading member of Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and the Masar Badil, the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement, spoke to “Palestine Today” TV today during their news update, speaking about the political repression he and his comrades are facing in Germany. The Berlin immigration office imposed a comprehensive political ban on him at the same time that German immigration authorities are seeking to strip the residency of Zaid Abdulnasser, coordinator of Samidoun Network in Germany. “This ban came specifically to target the activity of people who are active in the Palestinian community, chanting for resistance and organizing the Arab neighbourhoods, where the community is present in large numbers. Today, this kind of repression is taking place because they believe they can silence this voice with such attacks,” Abu Atta said.

“We are a people who have been resisting for over 100 years,” Abu Atta said. “Our identity was founded through resistance, and our work in supporting the prisoners’ movement is a simple matter compared to the sacrifices and commitment of our people at home, from the martyrs of Jenin, Nablus and Gaza, to the struggle that has been continuing for decades.” He explained that these various repressive measures, including threats to withdraw residency permits for Palestinian refugees in Berlin and bans on political participation, are intended to stop the work defending the prisoners and raising their images in the streets, as this is the primary activity of Samidoun’s work in Berlin.

“When the Israeli ambassador came to the Arab street [Sonnenallee, a busy street with Arab community businesses] in Berlin, he said it looked like the streets of Gaza. This is one of the arguments given for this ban, under the argument that this can disrupt the relations of the Zionist occupation with Germany, given that the institutions of the occupation regime are closely monitoring these activities in the streets of Berlin,” he said.

“We do not rely on Europe to defend our rights. We must organize ourselves in the streets of Berlin and Europe in order to reclaim our rights. These measures will not silence us as individuals or groups, as we are continuing on the path of the martyrs and prisoners, a path founded by our Palestinian people,” he affirmed.

#JusticeForMusaab: Palestinian organizer Musaab Abu Atta subjected to political ban in Germany

The repression against Palestinian voices in Germany is mounting. On Friday, 29 September, German police arrived at the home of Musaab Abu Atta, a Palestinian refugee from Syria, member of Samidoun Germany, member of the executive committee of the Masar Badil, the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement; artist and student, where they issued a political ban, prohibiting him from attending any political and social events and activities until 31 October 2023 or “until you leave the country.” Not only do the German immigration authorities ban Musaab from attending events with Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and the Masar Badil, they explicitly forbid him from events being organized to #StandWithZaid and challenge anti-Palestinian repression in Germany.

The immediate aim of the ban was to forbid Musaab from attending the 30 September speak-out for Palestine and against German repression in Berlin, where 6 people were arrested for chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” By banning him from #StandWithZaid events — named for Zaid Abdulnasser, fellow Samidoun Germany organizer who is facing the stripping of his refugee status for his political activism for Palestine — the Berlin immigration authorities are making clear that they are specifically suppressing Palestinians’ freedom of speech, expression and association and denying them the ability to even speak about the repression they face. 

The German authorities state that Musaab is a Palestinian born in Syria, of “unclear” nationality — when it is, in reality, quite clear that he is a Palestinian refugee, denied, with his family, the right to return home to Palestine for the past 75 years. Musaab is 26 and he has, all his life, been denied his most fundamental rights due to the Zionist colonization of Palestine and its unmitigated backing by the Western imperialist powers, including and particularly Germany. Since he arrived in Germany in 2015, he has been subjected to state racism, criminalization, surveillance and stigmatization; the German authorities actually criminally prosecuted him for making posts on Facebook as a teenager in support of Palestinian resistance, mimicking similar prosecutions in occupied Palestine. Like other Palestinians, his status has been stripped from him and he lives under a “duldung” status, “toleration.” He cannot be deported, and at the same time is denied access to basic rights and fundamental needs — and is now being stripped of his fundamental civil and political rights. 

German-Palestinian lawyer Nadija Samour, speaking to 972mag, said: “Duldung is a very typical Palestinian story here in Germany,” Samour explained. “It basically means that he would be in an open air prison and wouldn’t be able to travel, and likely wouldn’t be able to work or study at a university.”

The German immigration authorities’ political ban on Musaab attempts to label his speaking out for Palestinian prisoners — including Ahmad Sa’adat and Georges Abdallah — as “supporting terrorism,” echoing Israeli defamation and propaganda being used to attack Samidoun and the Palestinian movement more broadly. They repeatedly note Musaab’s charisma and skill in leading chants and involving young people, especially Palestinians and Arabs, in the movement and in demonstrations — and indicate that this is precisely why they are targeting in the latest manifestation of state racism. We believe that this ban is specifically constructed to prevent Musaab from joining in the October 19-21 events in Toulouse and Lannemezan, especially the Lannemezan march to free Georges Abdallah on 21 October 2023. The 18-page document indicates that Musaab has been subjected to intense surveillance, documenting his presence at protests and meetings for Palestinian liberation in Madrid, Brussels and elsewhere, including the founding meeting of the Masar Badil movement.

The political ban was previously used in Germany against Palestinian writer Khaled Barakat, prior to his deportation, specifically to prevent him from speaking against then-U.S. President Donald Trump’s “Deal of the Century” and Arab normalization deals with Israel — and all other political events; and against torture survivor and former Palestinian prisoner Rasmea Odeh, subject to a political ban outside the door of an International Women’s Day event banned moments before by the Berlin police in 2019. 

In fact, the German immigration authorities attempt to use the fact that Musaab spoke up against the political ban on Khaled Barakat as a justification for subjecting him to the same outrageous treatment. The latest attack on Musaab is part of a series of repressive assaults targeting the Palestinian community in Berlin — the largest Palestinian community in Europe — and all of Germany, as well as the Palestine solidarity movement. It is a specific attack targeting Palestinian refugees in order to intimidate, criminalize and prevent them from speaking out for their right to return to Palestine and get engaged in the Palestinian liberation movement in exile and diaspora. 

In the past two years, Berlin officials have banned demonstrations commemorating the Nakba and Palestinian Prisoners’ Day. The one Nakba memorial event that was not initially banned, organized by Jewish solidarity organizers, was attacked by police after the organizers refused to exclude Palestinian activists from their demonstration or bar people from chanting, “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” Jewish, Palestinian and solidarity activists were violently arrested by Berlin police. The scene repeated itself on Saturday, 30 September, when 200 police surrounded a demonstration in solidarity with Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike, Kayed Fasfous, and against anti-Palestinian repression in Germany, arresting six people for saying “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”

The attack on Musaab Abu Atta is an attack on him as a Palestinian refugee, youth organizer and artist; it is also an attack on Samidoun and on the Masar Badil. More broadly, however, it reflects a general attack against the Palestinian prisoners’ movement and the Palestinian people as a whole, specifically Palestinian refugee youth organizing their community to speak out for justice and take action for Palestinian liberation. Instead, Germany is lining up alongside the Israeli regime to label Palestinian identity, expression and organizing as criminal and terrorist. 

We also note that this political ban on Musaab comes shortly after Zionist ambassador Ron Prosor denounced the posters on the streets of the Neukolln neighbourhood in Berlin, stating that it “looks like Gaza,” calling for Samidoun to be banned. Musaab is the artist and designer of many of these posters, and a political ban against him seems precisely targeted to silence his images as well as his words, as demanded by the Israeli ambassador’s racist calls.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network calls for #JusticeForMusaab and the broadest support for Musaab Abu Atta, Zaid Abdulnasser, and all Palestinians and Palestine activists targeted for repression in Germany and around the world. Musaab’s organizing reflects the role of Palestinians in diaspora claiming their role in the liberation movement – and that role is now under sustained attack by the Zionist regime, the German state and other imperialist powers. Now is the time to speak out against these political bans – and for the liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea! 

Take action:

  • Download the poster, take a selfie or group photo, and send it to us at samidoun@samidoun.net, @samidounnetwork (Instagram) or @SamidounPP (Twitter/X)!
  • To financially support the legal defence of Musaab, Zaid and other Palestinians in Germany bearing the brunt of the state’s repressive measures against Palestine, you can make a donation to the following account:
    Name: Rote Hilfe e.V.
    IBAN: DE55 4306 0967 4007 2383 17
    BIC: GENODEM1GLS
    Note: Palaestina gegen Repression

 

 

All out to Lannemezan! All out to Toulouse! Free Georges Abdallah and all Palestinian Prisoners

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network calls on Palestinian communities in exile and diaspora, organizers and activists in solidarity with the Palestinian cause, anti-imperialist movements, and all people of conscience to join us this October 19-21, 2023 in Toulouse and Lannemezan, France, to mobilize for the liberation of Georges Abdallah and all Palestinian prisoners. For those unable to attend in France, we urge you to organize actions and demonstrations in your communities, to raise high the banners of the Palestinian prisoners, of Georges Abdallah, and of the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea.

On 21 October 2023, the annual mass march will take place at Lannemezan Prison in Lannemezan, France, marching from the train station to the gates of the prison where Georges Abdallah is held. Georges Abdallah is a Lebanese Arab struggler for Palestine, imprisoned in France for the past 39 years. Join the unified, collective march of many organizations, movements, unions and collectives to express our common goal for the liberation of Georges and the liberation of Palestine. 

In advance of the march, on 19-20 October 2023, the Masar Badil, the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement will hold two days of internal planning and strategy sessions for the next steps of the Palestinian revolutionary movement, hosted by our comrades in the Collectif Palestine Vaincra in Toulouse, France. 

On the evening of Friday, 20 October — the eve of the march — the Collectif Palestine Vaincra, together with Samidoun and the Masar Badil, will hold a mass public mobilizing meeting and event in Toulouse, at the Bourse du Travail. 

We encourage all to join us for these events. 

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all of our supporters, members and friends to join us in a collective bloc at the Lannemezan demonstration under the slogan: Free Georges Abdallah! Free all Palestinian Prisoners! Free Palestine, from the River to the Sea!

Who is Georges Abdallah? 

A Lebanese Arab struggler for Palestine, Georges Abdallah has been imprisoned in French prisons since 1984, convicted on charges of participation in armed actions by the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Faction, working to fight off colonialist and Zionist invasions in Lebanon.

From his youth, Georges Abdallah was an activist and engaged in the struggles of the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. With the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), he resisted and was injured by Israeli forces invading Lebanon in 1978. A committed Communist and internationalist, he views the Arab struggle for liberation from Zionism and imperialism as part and parcel of the international workers’ struggle for liberation from capitalism.

He has been eligible for release since 1999 yet continues to be denied parole, despite having parole requests approved several times by French judges. The Lebanese government has officially asked for his release, and he is asking to be deported to Lebanon. Yet the French state has intervened at the highest levels, alongside the U.S and Israeli regimes, to deny Georges Abdallah’s parole requests. He has filed a new appeal for his immediate release, accompanied by a call to build the movement for his liberation.

The Palestinian prisoners’ movement considers Georges Abdallah to be part of the movement from inside French prisons, where he has participated in collective hunger strikes by returning meals. 

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Movement

There are currently 5,200 Palestinian political prisoners in Zionist jails, including over 1319 jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention, 170 children and 36 Palestinian women. Since 1948, over one million Palestinians have been imprisoned by the occupation. Palestinian prisoners are mothers and fathers, workers and farmers, teachers and students; they represent all sectors of the Palestinian people and primarily reflect the Palestinian popular classes in the refugee camps, villages and cities.

The prisoners behind bars are not merely victims of the occupation; they are leaders of the Palestinian resistance movement and of the Palestinian revolution. They represent a unifying symbol of the Palestinian people and a leadership that is not compromised by the Oslo Accords and the so-called “peace process.” Fundamentally, they represent Palestinian resistance, in all means and forms, and its legitimacy; outside and inside the prisons. Palestinian prisoners organize, read, study and act together, turning the dungeons of the occupier into revolutionary schools. 

Over 90% of Palestinian prisoners are tortured physically and/or psychologically under interrogation, and Palestinian prisoners are routinely denied medical care or subjected to systemic medical neglect or negligence. The occupation continues to detain over 200 Palestinian martyrs, including the bodies of 12 Palestinian prisoners who lost their lives behind bars. 

Despite these circumstances, the Palestinian prisoners continue to fight back, to resist, to lead and to move towards liberation. They carry out hunger strikes, they create art and literature, and they participate directly in the resistance, confronting the jailers on a daily basis and at a strategic level. The prisoners’ battle is part and parcel of the unity of all fronts! 

Palestinian prisoners are not only held in the prisons of the occupation. There are Palestinian prisoners in U.S. jails – Ghassan Elashi, Shukri Abu Baker and Mufid Abdulqader, the Holy Land Foundation Humanitarians, imprisoned for up to 65 years for serving their people. In Britain, 100 Palestine Action activists are fighting charges where they face jail time for confronting the Israeli war machine with direct action. In the Netherlands, Amin Abu Rashed is imprisoned for his charitable work to support Palestinian refugees and their right to return. And of course, in France, Georges Abdallah, the Lebanese Arab struggler for Palestine, imprisoned for the past 39 years. This form of repression also includes the attack on Palestinian organizing in Germany, the attempt to strip the residency and refugee status from Samidoun coordinator Zaid Abdulnasser and the deportation of Palestinian figures like Khaled Barakat and Rasmea Odeh.

In reactionary Arab regime prisons, Palestinians are jailed for supporting their resistance and liberation. Of course, the prisoners’ battle also includes the prisoners of the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, jailed under “security cooperation” with the Israeli occupation, the reason for the PA’s creation and existence.

This reflects the Palestinian cause: the struggle against Zionism, imperialism and reactionary regimes. The struggle of the Palestinian prisoners is an internationalist struggle, aligned with the struggle of the revolutionary prisoners of the world confronting the same forces in common cause – toward national and global liberation.

Join our actions and our march for Georges Abdallah and for the liberation of Palestinian prisoners! 

About the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement (Masar Badil) 

Our popular movement was launched in late October 2021 in Madrid, Beirut and Sao Paulo as a Palestinian, Arab and international movement to confront the path of liquidation and surrender, in order to straighten the Palestinian national compass and mobilize the energies and resources of the Palestinian people in the diaspora. The Masar Badil firmly rejects the path of the Oslo process and is committed to Palestinian resistance until total liberation and return.

The Masar Badil is a Palestinian revolutionary path with Arab and international dimensions, whose features were drawn by thousands of Palestinian, Arab and international martyrs over decades of struggle, a path of radical change that interprets reality in order to change it, understands the challenges and national and local specificities in every Palestinian community and sees them as a source of strength and pluralism. We adhere to our rights and roots while looking to the future and keeping pace with the times. This revolutionary approach is rising today to walk confidently and with steady steps toward liberated Palestine, from the river to the sea…towards a new Arab and human dawn.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is part of the Masar Badil Movement!

If you can’t come to Lannemezan: 

We urge all supporters of Palestine to join activities in your city or organize initiatives to highlight the case of Georges Abdallah and demand his liberation. Here are some examples:

  • Print, distribute and post these posters (images below and downloadable here) calling for the liberation of Georges Abdallah in your community.
  • Organize a screening of the new film, Fedayin, the Struggle of Georges Abdallah in your community. The film is fully subtitled and available in English, French, Arabic, German, Italian, Spanish, Catalan and Turkish. To organize a screening, please contact vacarmesfilms@gmail.com
  • Protest or deliver a letter demanding Georges Abdallah’s release at the French consulate or embassy in your city.
  • Include Georges Abdallah’s liberation – and the liberation of Palestinian prisoners – in demonstrations, actions and vigils for Palestine in your city
  • Write Georges Abdallah and send him solidarity messages (individually or as a collective action of your group). Send letters to:

Monsieur Georges Ibrahim ABDALLAH
2388/A221 CP de Lannemezan
204 rue des Saligues
BP 70166
65307 LANNEMEZAN
France

Contact us at samidoun@samidoun.net for more information or to let us know about your action or send us a message on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)

Misbah al-Suri and the Gaza prison break of 1987: Sparks toward the Intifada

October 2023 marks the 36th anniversary of the martyrdom of Misbah al-Suri, the leader of a daring escape from the Israeli occupation’s Gaza Central Prison in May 1987, one of the sparks of the great popular Intifada of 1987. Al-Suri was one of the leaders of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement and one of its founders, and his martyrdom — and the battle of Shujaiya days later on 6 October — is commemorated as the founding date of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement.

Al-Suri, born in al-Maghazi refugee camp in 1954, to a family of Palestinian refugees expelled from Ashdod in the 1947-48 Nakba, the Zionist colonization of Palestine, Living through severe poverty and poor housing and the 1967 assault on and occupation of Gaza, including th bombing of his refugee camp, he joined the Palestinian resistance from a young age. As a member of the Palestine Liberation Front, he threw a bomb at an occupation army force in Jabalia at the age of 16; he was hit by bullets in several areas of his body, arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. He was held in solitary confinement for two months after his last attempt to liberate himself was discovered. In 1985, he was one of the 1150 Palestinian prisoners released in the prisoner exchange conducted by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command. (Others included Kozo Okamoto of the Japanese Red Army; Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, later the spiritual leader of Hamas; and Ziad Nakhaleh, later to become the General Secretary of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement.)

During his time in detention, Al-Suri participated in the prisoners’ hunger strike in Kfar Yona prison, which lasted for a week until occupation forces suppressed the prisoners and transferred them to Bir al-Saba prison. There, he became familiar with the nascent development of what would become the Islamic Jihad Movement and the ideas of Fathi Shiqaqi, founder of the movement. When he was released, he returned to the Palestinian resistance, establishing groups to resist the occupation in various areas of Gaza.

In 1986, he was again seized by occupation forces, who ordered him to 30 years in prison. During his previous time in prison, he had attempted to escape on multiple occasions, but this time, he developed a plan, alongside several of his fellow prisoners, to secure his liberation. On 17 May 1987, Misbah al-Suri, Sami al-Sheikh Khalil, Mohammed al-Jamal, Imad Saftawi, Khaled Saleh and Saleh Ishteiwi, liberated themselves from the Gaza central prison. Reports indicate that prisoners refashioned kitchen tools into screwdrivers and were able to smuggle in a tiny saw inside a loaf of bread. The prisoners tied bedsheets together to make a rope ladder to scale down the wall of the prison and secure their liberation.

Only days after their self-liberation, Al-Suri returned to the resistance, alongside his fellow self-liberated prisoners. While Ishteiwi was re-captured again after 7 days, Imad Saftawi and Khaled Saleh were able to leave Gaza. Imad Saftawi was later re-imprisoned in 2000 after re-entering Gaza, and was released in December 2018.

In his resistance work after the escape, al-Suri and his liberated comrades participated in the killing of Galili Grossi, an intelligence officer working for the occupation in Gaza, in an attempt to capture him to exchange for Palestinian prisoners, as well as the assassination of Ron Tal, the commander of the Israeli occupation military police in Gaza. During this time, he worked, remaining underground, to establish resistance cells throughout the area and develop the new movement.

On 1 October, occupation forces ambushed Misbah al-Suri together with his two companions, Mohammed Alayan and Mohammed Abu Obeid, who were martyred at the scene. However, the occupdation did not announce al-Suri’s death for two more days; most Palestinian observers believe that he was not killed at the scene but martyred under torture for refusing to give up the location of his comrades.

On 6 October 1987, Sami al-Sheikh Khalil and Mohammed al-Jamal (two of al-Suri’s fellow escapees from Gaza prion), together with Ahmed Hallis and Zuhdi Quraiqa, traveled to confront a military base of the occupation, during which they were spotted by intelligence agents. In the ensung battle, the four were martyred, and one of the intelligence agents were killed.

After his death, the occupation forces demolished al-Suri’s family home, harassed his family members and barred them from participating in his funeral.

These events took place only months before December 1987 and the beginning of the great popular Intifada, and were some of the major sparks that lit the fuse of the uprising to come, representing the Palestinian people’s commitment to resistance and struggle until liberation, despite all odds, and unbreakable will to freedom. In the week following, demonstrations began at the Islamic University of Gaza and spread to many towns and refugee camps, while general strikes and demonstrations shut down Gaza and the West Bank for over a week.

The story of Misbah al-Suri and his fellow prisoners has taken on new life since the 2021 Freedom Tunnel operation, in which six Palestinian prisoners: Mahmoud al-Ardah, Mohammed al-Ardah, Ayham Kamamji, Yaqoub Qadri, Munadel Nafa’at and Zakaria Zubaidi, liberated themselves from the high-security Gilboa prison. While they were re-captured, the story of their escape once again illustrated Palestinians’ commitment to resist and free themselves despite the high levels of physical repression and technological surveillance that they face.

The Gaza prison break and the resistance struggle that ensued as a spark of the great Intifada once again illustrates the central leading role of the prisoners’ movement in the development of the resistance and the Palestinian national liberation movement as a whole. Today’s struggles, behind prison bars, in occupied Palestine and everywhere in exile and diaspora, continue that tradition of active leadership and organizing for liberation. 

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all supporters of Palestine, of the Palestinian people and their resistance, and of the struggle against imperialism, Zionism and reactionary forces, to join us in Lannemezan, France, on 21 October 2023 for the mass march to free Georges Abdallah and for the liberation of Palestinian prisoners, and in Toulouse, France, on 19-20 October 2023 for the Masar Badil meetings and public event. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free! 

 

Palestine and the Palestinian prisoners’ movement at the Spanish Communist Party’s 2023 Fiesta

From 29 September through 1 October, the Spanish Communist Party (PCE) organized its annual festival, the Fiesta, in Rivas-Vaciamadrid, Spain. As in past years, the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement (Masar Badil) and Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network had a strong presence at the Fiesta, together with Al-Yudur, the Palestinian Youth Mobilization in the Spanish State, and Alkarama, the Palestinian Women’s Mobilization.

The PCE Fiesta is a political and cultural event that has been commemorated each year since the PCE emerged from the underground after the end of the Franco regime in the late 1970s. The event is a space for discussions, lectures, book presentations and concerts, as well as meetings with various organizations and groups, with participants from the left throughout the Spanish state and internationally.

Enrique Santiago, General Secretary of PCE and elected parliamentary deputy Spain, showing solidarity with Georges Abdallah and Zaid Abdulnasser.

The Masar Badil and Palestine tent, as an internationalist organization, was present in the Fiesta alongide other nations and peoples fighting imperialism and colonialism, such as Cuba, Venezuela, and Western Sahara.

Manu Pineda, Member of European Parliament, supports the campaign against the German state’s repression of Zaid Abdulnasser.

This year, activities at the stand focused on the liberation of Palestinian prisoners and all of Palestine and its people, from the river to the sea, as well as several campaigns in Europe. Participants in the stand raised the case of Zaid Abdulnasser and the #StandWithZaid campaign. Zaid is the coordinator of Samidoun Germany who is being threatened with revocation of his refugee status and residency in Germany simply for his activism for the Palestinian cause. This is the latest in a series of attacks on Palestinians in Germany, from denial of residency to deportation of prominent Palestinian writers and activists, such as Khaled Barakat and Rasmea Odeh.

The stand also highlighted the case of our comrades from Madrid. As they protested the presence of the Israeli ambassador on the campus of the Complutense University of Madrid, an Israeli agent pointed a gun at the protesters. However, rather than restraining the Israeli agent, the riot squad of the National Police repressed the demonstration and violently removed the protesters from campus, causing wounds and bruises; they also detained two of the participants and are unjustly prosecuting them through a police setup. The PCE provided Masar Badil and Samidoun organizers with an adjacent stand to provide specific information about the case and the campaign to defend the persecuted activists against repression.

On Saturday, 30 September, Samidoun screened the film, “Fedayin: The Struggle of Georges Abdallah,” accompanied by an informative talk by Jaldía Abubakra of the Masar Badil and Ghassan Saliba of the Communist Party of Lebanon. The stand sold copies of the book, “Manual de militancia dentro y fuera de la cárcel. Georges Ibrahim Abdallah,” along with t-shirts calling for his release. These actions are also part of the month of action for Georges Abdallah’s release, leading up to the Masar Badil gathering in Toulouse, France on 19-20 October and the mass demonstration to liberate Georges Abdallah at Lannemezan, France, outside the prison where he is held, on 21 October. These activities raised awareness about the tireless struggle of Georges Abdallah, the Lebanese Communist Arab fighter for Palestine jailed in France for 39 years, who continues to highlight his alignment with the Palestinian resistance and the Palestinian prisoners’ movement.

The discussion also highlighted the boycott campaign against Teva, the major Israeli pharmaceutical company and the largest producer of generic drugs. Teva provides large tax revenues to the Zionist colonial regime, thus financing its military operations. We informed the people who came to our stand and told them that of the taxes that TEVA pays to Israel, which runs into millions, 13.25% of those taxes are destined to continue developing the arms industry.

Many people who visited the stand were inspired to boycott TEVA after learning of the massive taxes paid to the Zionist state by this company and the millions sent to develop its arms industry and military occupation.

Manu Pineda, deputy of the European Parliament, supports the campaign to free Georges Abdallah.

The stand also sold and distributed many t-shirts, bags, flag, posters and materials to stand with Palestine. We look forward to continuing to participate in the Fiesta in the coming years, continuing our work and struggle for the liberation of Palestine and in the fight to end imperialism and colonialism.

Freedom to all Palestinian prisoners!

Down with state repression!

Long live international solidarity!

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!

In Toulouse and elsewhere, the launch of the international month of action for Georges Abdallah

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all to participate in the month of action to free Georges Abdallah, the Lebanese Arab struggler for Palestine jailed in France for 39 years. On 19-20 October, the Masar Badil, the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement, will hold two days of meetings in Toulouse, capped by a public event on Friday evening, 20 October. On Saturday, 21 October, a collective unified march will take place to Lannemezan prison, where Georges Abdallah is held. Georges Abdallah will enter his 40th year in prison this year. Collectively, we must demand Georges’ freedom and the freedom of all Palestinian prisoners, in Zionist, imperialist and reactionary regime (including Palestinian Authority) prisons. Join us on 21 October and in the coming weeks to rally, march and raise our voices for liberation and return, for Georges Abdallah, the prisoners’ movement, and all of Palestine!

Every year, a large international mobilization in October demands the release of Abdallah, who has been denied release and return to Lebanon despite being eligible for release since 1999. He is being jailed for political reasons by the French authorities, acting together with the United States and the Zionist regime. Samidoun and the Collectif Palestine Vaincra, a member organization of the Samidoun Network based in Toulouse, have joined an appeal alongside many organizations, issued by the Unitary Campaign for the Release of Georges Abdallah.

In Toulouse, the Collectif Palestine Vaincra is dedicated to campaigning for the liberation of Georges Abdallah, postering and flyering throughout the city to inform people widely about the scandalous actions of the French state.

As students return to class at Jean Jaurès University in Toulouse, the Collectif organized a stand to publicize the campaign to free Georges Abdallah and support the Palestinian people’s struggle for national liberation; the stand received a warm welcome from many supportive students!

On Saturday, 30 September, the Collectif organized a stand in downtown Toulouse, displaying a banner, flags and signs in support of Georges Abdallah and Palestine. Participants distributed hundreds of flyers and engaged in many discussions with passers-by about the history of the case, denouncing the political and judicial assault on this resistance struggler. Several young Algerians participated in the stand, illustrating their profound attachment to the Palestinian cause, and we met several Palestinians from Gaza enthusiastic to see the support for Georges Abdallah and Palestine displayed so visibly in Toulouse.

Initiatives throughout France are growing as well. On 28 September in Paris, many people joined the Unitary Campaign for a rally outside the French Ministry of Justice demanding Georges Abdallah’s liberation.

On 30 September, Samidoun Paris Banlieue organized a solidarity stand for Georges Abdallah at its monthly Palestine stand at the Aubervilliers market.

More demonstrations and actions have been organized by collectives and groups in Marseille, Lyon, Limoges and Tarbes.

Activities for the release of Georges Abdallah are also organized in many countries, in particular by different chapters of Samidoun. For example, a delegation to Lebanon organized by Samidoun and Masar Badil called from the Shatila refugee camp to mobilize for the month of action for the release of Georges Abdallah.

In the Netherlands, Revolutionaire Eenheid and Samidoun NL issued a call from Shatila camp in Lebanon to join the mobilization to free Georges Abdallah.

All these initiatives will converge on Saturday, 21 October during a major march for the release of Georges Abdallah in front of the gates of Lannemezan prison, where he is detained. Several buses and carpools are organized from Toulouse and other French cities and neighbouring countries. Please do not hesitate to reserve a place by email at collectifpalestinevaincra@gmail.com. Furthermore, we are co-organizing a meeting the day before for its liberation and that of Palestine from 7 p.m. at the Bourse du Travail (Place Saint Sernin) with the participation of Palestinian, Lebanese and internationalist activists!

Berlin rally for Palestine confronts police repression: From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!

German police again demonstrated their dedication to repressing Palestinian organizing in the city — home to the largest Palestinian community in Europe — on Saturday, 30 September 2023, when over 200 Berlin police surrounded a rally in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners and against anti-Palestinian repression. 

Watch the video:

In a move clearly aimed at intimidating the community from attending the event, a massive police presence surrounded Sonnenallee near Hermannplatz.

Samidoun members and fellow Palestinian and Palestine solidarity activists gathered to speak out about the case of Kayed Fasfous, on hunger strike for 60 days, and about the #StandWithZaid campaign, in support of Zaid Abdulnasser, Samidoun coordinator in Germany, who is being threatened with the withdrawal of his residency in Germany as a Palestinian refugee from Syria because of his political activities for Palestine. 

Police began inspecting every image and text, employing a translator to translate Arabic text, including decorative calligraphy on attendees’ bags or shirts. They demanded that Samidoun flags not be raised, keeping in mind that the event itself is organised by Samidoun Network. They then attempted to demand that flags and signs featuring the image of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, the Lebanese struggler for Palestine jailed in France for the past 39 years, be taken down. The rally participants refused these arbitrary restrictions, insisting on raising Samidoun and Georges Abdallah flags until the police backed down with their demands.

After speeches in support of Kayed Fasfous’ hunger strike, about the repression in Germany and the campaign against it, the demonstrators chanted repeatedly in support of the prisoners, the resistance, and for the liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.

The police then threatened to cancel the rally if the participants chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” claiming that “this chant denies Israel’s right to exist” and is therefore “not allowed in this country”. The demonstrators expressed their absolute refusal of these demands and declared clearly and repeatedly “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, with the clear understanding that this is the most central principal in the Palestinian struggle for liberation and return, and that they will not be silenced, even if the police attack and ban the rally. After multiple chants, the police disbanded the rally and arrested 6 demonstrators, issuing them fines and releasing them shortly after, solely for chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”. 

The overwhelming police presence is clearly designed to intimidate the Palestinian and Arab community in Berlin, especially given the attack on Zaid and on other members of Samidoun and Palestinians more broadly. This is an attempt by the German state to make it risky and dangerous to express opinions in public, particularly for the liberation of Palestine and Palestinian prisoners. It comes after the Israeli ambassador to Germany, Ron Prosor, demanded that Palestinian posters be stripped from the streets of Berlin, which he declared “looked like the streets of Gaza,” and demanded that Samidoun be banned in Germany.

In the past several years, all demonstrations commemorating the Nakba day have been banned in Berlin, as have demonstrations for Palestinian Prisoners’ Day. This year, when Jewish groups organized a rally to commemorate the Nakba after multiple rallies and demonstrations by diverse groups were banned, Berlin police attacked the demonstrators, including physically assaulting participants in the gathering, and then attempted to label the Palestinian participants in the demonstration — welcomed by the organizers — as interlopers “invading” the gathering. This follows the massive police violence and repression directed against Al-Nakba demonstrations in May 2021, as well as the deportation of Palestinian writer Khaled Barakat and feminist, torture survivor and former prisoner Rasmea Odeh. 

This latest attack illustrates the point made in the statement of the International Campaign Against Anti-Palestinian Repression in Germany, now endorsed by over 230 organizations: “We view this as an attack first and foremost on the Palestinian community in Germany and an expression of state-sponsored anti-Palestinian rhetoric and full identification with Israeli colonisation of occupied Palestine. This is particularly important as the vast majority of the Palestinian community in Berlin are refugees denied their right to return to their cities and villages since 1948. Their engagement in the liberation of their land and return to their homes is their natural right and the state’s attempt at repressing them will fail as they have failed for the past 100 years of unyielding Palestinian struggle.”

We declare now, and will always affirm: From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free! 

Take action:

 

Kayed Fasfous on 60th day of hunger strike: Freedom Now!

Palestinian political prisoner Kayed Fasfous is on his 60th day of hunger strike in occupation prisons against his administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial. Fasfous, 34, entered his third month of hunger strike on 1 October 2023. On Monday, 2 October, an Israeli occupation military court is scheduled to hear another appeal by Fasfous against his arbitrary imprisonment.

Fasfous, from the town of Dura, near al-Khalil, is married and the father of a daughter, Jawan. He previously won his freedom from administrative detention in 2021 in a 131-day hunger strike that caught the attention of the world, especially after he was moved to a civilian hospital and received visits from journalists and his family, who took pictures and videos illustrating his emaciated state. (Prior to his imprisonment, Fasfous was a bodybuilder.)

Fasfous’ health has deteriorated significantly in the last weeks of his strike, and he was transferred to the Ramle prison clinic; he has repeatedly been denied transfer to a civilian hospital, where he could be seen and his case publicized outside the confines of the colonial prison system. Since he began his hunger strike, Fasfous has been subjected to systematic mechanisms of coercion and repression amounting to torture, including being isolated in harsh conditions in Al-Naqab prison, repeatedly abused through searches of his cell, being deprived of a mattress for a long period of time. He was then transferred to isolation in Ashkelon prison and now to the infamous Ramle prison clinic, referred to as a slaughterhouse by Palestinian prisoners.

While Fasfous is appealing his administrative detention through the occupation courts, it is clear that the occupation courts are not a mechanism of justice but part and parcel of the system of colonial imprisonment. The military courts rubber stamp the orders of the Shin Bet, the Israeli intelligence agency, at the expense of Palestinians jailed by the occupation. Palestinian prisoners have been working for years to institute a comprehensive boycott of the occupation courts and expose the fig leaf of pseudo-legality being imposed on arbitrary mass imprisonment.

On Thursday, 28 September, administrative detainees in the Naqab desert prison collectively returned their meals in solidarity with Fasfous, calling for his release and the end of his detention.

A former prisoner, Fasfous has spent around 7 years in total in occupation prisons since his first arrest in 2007. He was re-arrested by occupation forces on 2 May 2023 and ordered to administrative detention once again, alongside four of his brothers: Khaled, Akram, Hafez and Hassan. Hassan was released during Kayed’s strike, but four of the Fasfous brothers remain detained, imprisoned without charge or trial.

They are among 1319 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention, a number that has skyrocketed in the past year, out of 5,200 Palestinian political prisoners in occupation jails. This number includes 20 children and four women. Administrative detention was first introduced to Palestine by the British colonial mandate and was adopted by the Zionist regime. Palestinians are routinely jailed for years at a time under repeatedly renewed detention orders issued for up to six months at a time. In the past year, the number of administrative detainees has more than doubled as part of the ongoing “war” on the prisoners’ movement.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all supporters of Palestine to take action to support Kayed Fasfous and all Palestinian prisoners struggling for freedom, for their own lives and for the Palestinian people. These sons of the Palestinian popular masses are confronting the system of Israeli oppression on the front lines behind bars, with their bodies and their lives, to bring the system of administrative detention to an end.

It is particularly important to stand with the strikers and not let their cases be silenced — earlier this year, on 2 May, Sheikh Khader Adnan’s life was taken after 86 days of hunger strike while being actively denied medical care. He had previously won his freedom four times through hunger strikes. These Palestinian prisoners are putting their bodies, health and lives on the line for liberation.

With over 1200 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial — over 20% of all Palestinian prisoners — the struggle to bring down administrative detention is more urgent than ever. Take these actions below to stand with the hunger strikers and the struggle for liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea!

Download these signs for use in your campaigns:

 

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Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
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