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Video: Webinar on the case of Georges Abdallah, prisoner for Palestine in France

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network organized a third webinar in its ongoing series on Thursday, 9 April 2020. Comrades from Collectif Palestine Vaincra, based in Toulouse, France and a member organization of the Samidoun Network, spoke about the case of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, Lebanese Communist and struggler for Palestine imprisoned in France for 35 years.

The discussion included an overview of the case of Georges Abdallah, his political commitment to resistance and historical involvement with the Palestinian liberation movement and the current situation of his case. His ongoing involvement in the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, including his participation in collective hunger strikes from French prison, was also highlighted.

Participants in the event were urged to escalate the campaign, especially by organizers in Lebanon and France. On Friday, 10 April, there will be a Twitterstorm in support of Georges Abdallah using the hashtag #FreeGeorgesAbdallah; participants were also reminded that writing letters can be an important act of solidarity, even knowing that they are subjected to surveillance by prison authorities.

Letters can be sent to:
Monsieur Georges Ibrahim ABDALLAH
2388/A221 CP de Lannemezan
204 rue des Saligues
BP 70166
65307 LANNEMEZAN
France

Watch the full video of the webinar here:

The workshop closed with a screening of the trailer of “Fedayin,” a new film in progress covering the life and struggle of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah. See the trailer here:

Palestinian Prisoners’ Day 2020: Week of Action for Palestinian Liberation

Call to Action | Suggested Actions |
Days of Solidarity | Visuals 

Call to Action in: Dutch | French | Italian | Swedish

Palestinian Prisoners’ Day 2020 approaches as 5,000 Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails face the ongoing threat of settler colonialism, apartheid and occupation, accompanied by the new threat to their health and lives posed by the global pandemic of coronavirus (COVID-19), accentuated by institutionalized Israeli medical negligence. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all supporters of justice and liberation in Palestine to join us between 10 and 17 April for a week of action to free all Palestinian prisoners! 

Today, there are approximately 5,000 Palestinians jailed by Zionist colonialism, including over 180 children, 430 administrative detainees jailed without charge or trial and 700 sick and ill prisoners, 200 with chronic and serious diseases that place them at even greater risk should COVID-19 spread throughout the prisons. 

The imprisonment of Palestinians is a colonial attack on the Palestinian people. Imprisonment affects nearly every Palestinian family, including Palestinians in the West Bank, Jerusalem, Gaza Strip, occupied Palestine ’48 and even in exile and diaspora. Palestinian prisoners are mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, students and teachers, labor organizers, women’s leaders, student activists, community builders, freedom fighters. 

Defending Palestinian prisoners and demanding their immediate release is not only a humanitarian necessity at a time when their lives are at great risk due to COVID-19, it is also a political imperative for all concerned with justice in Palestine. Palestinian prisoners represent the Palestinian resistance and the true leadership of the Palestinian liberation struggle, locked away in an attempt to preserve colonial control. Their liberation is critical to the victory of the Palestinian people and the freedom of Palestine, from the river to the sea. 

The struggle of the Palestinian prisoners – and the Palestinian people – is an internationalist one. They are on the front lines of struggle every day behind bars for liberation, confronting not only Zionism and the Israeli state but also imperialism and reactionary regimes. The struggle to free Georges Ibrahim Abdallah from French prison is a critical part of this movement. The Palestinian prisoners’ liberation struggle is also linked to the fight of Irish republican prisoners, political prisoners in the United States, the Philippines, Turkey, Egypt and everywhere around the world for justice and liberation, and to the struggle to end racist and colonial incarceration. 

The global pandemic of COVID-19 has presented new challenges for organizing everywhere, and the Palestinian prisoners – and, indeed, the Palestinian people – are also facing a severe attack. It is more necessary than ever to organize for Palestinian freedom and build our links of struggle, becoming more socially connected even as we are physically distant.

Samidoun calls on all friends of the Palestinian people, organizations concerned with justice in Palestine and Palestinian and Arab communities to join us in this week of action. A series of events that you can participate in is listed below. We encourage you to add your own! Please send your campaigns, virtual meetings and events to Samidoun at samidoun@samidoun.net or to our Facebook page for inclusion in this list or tag us on Twitter at @SamidounPP; now, more than ever, it is critical to unite our efforts to support the prisoners and fight together for the liberation of Palestine. 

Please use the graphics here (in English, French, Arabic, Dutch, Swedish and German) to show your support for Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinian liberation struggle! We will be sharing graphics, videos, written content and more throughout the week and we encourage you to amplify and re-share these materials. Translations are welcome: please send to samidoun@samidoun.net.

For each day of the week, we have emphasized themes to highlight. Follow @SamidounPP on Twitter, Samidoun on Facebook and @samidounnetwork on Instagram to share content about these aspects of the Palestinian struggle and the prisoners’ cause. However, we urge you to share any and all information and action steps for Palestine and the prisoners on every day throughout the week! 

Suggested Actions

  1. Videos and selfies are a great way to express solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners! Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association in Palestine issued a call for short video clips, and they have been pouring in from around the world. Share your video or selfie online using the hashtag #FreeOurPrisoners. Tag @Addameer to make sure that Addameer sees it, and tag us at @SamidounPP so that we can re-share and boost your solidarity efforts. 
  2. Along with many other organizations, we will be announcing a Twitterstorm on 17 April to support Palestinian prisoners. The hashtag will be announced on that day for maximum impact, but your Tweets, Facebook, Instagram and other social media posts throughout the week can emphasize the critical importance of the Palestinian struggle! Tweet with #FreeOurPrisoners and #LiberatePalestinianPrisoners to join people around the world in expressing your solidarity with imprisoned Palestinians. 
  3. If you cannot hold an in-person demonstration or action during this week, you can still support the prisoners with an online action or event! Several online meetings are listed below. Host a webinar or online meeting about Palestine and the prisoners’ struggle over Zoom, Facebook live or a platform of your choice. Send your event details – in any language – to Samidoun at samidoun@samidoun.net and we will include them in our list of activities. 
  4. Demand the Red Cross act. Call on the International Committee of the Red Cross to uphold its responsibility and urge the immediate release of all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Sign the online petition initiated by War on Want: https://secure.waronwant.org/page/58733/
  5. Call in for action. Governments around the world, specifically imperialist powers and reactionary regimes, are fully complicit in Israeli crimes against humanity, including the mass imprisonment of Palestinians. Even if you have to leave a message, call your government officials and demand they pressure Israel to free Palestinian prisoners. Express your disgust at these governments’ ongoing support for Israeli colonialism: 

Call during your country’s regular office hours:

    • Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Marise Payne: + 61 2 6277 7500
    • Canadian Foreign Minister François-Philippe Champagne: +1-613-995-4895
    • European Union Commissioner Josep Borrell Fontelles: +32(0) 470 18 24 05
    • New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters: +64 4 439 8000
    • United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab: +44 20 7008 1500
    • United States President Donald Trump: 1-202-456-1111
  1. Boycott, Divest and Sanction. It’s just as important to boycott Israel when buying online! Join the BDS campaign to highlight the complicity of corporations like Hewlett-Packard and the continuing involvement of G4S in Israeli policing and prisons. Build a campaign to boycott Israeli goods, impose a military embargo on Israel, or organize around the academic and cultural boycott of Israel.

Days of Solidarity

Friday, 10 April
Theme: Day of action for sick and ill prisoners: Fighting Coronavirus and Israeli Medical Neglect

  • Join the online actions and keep tweeting and posting with #FreeOurPrisoners and #LiberatePalestinianPrisoners. Share your videos and selfies of solidarity! 
  • Join the Twitterstorm to Free Georges Abdallah! 9 am Pacific/12 pm Eastern/6 pm Europe/7 pm Palestine and Lebanon. Use the hashtag #FreeGeorgesAbdallah and tag @NBelloubet @EmmanuelMacron and @General_Aoun

Saturday, 11 April
Theme: Day of action to free Khalida Jarrar and Palestinian women prisoners

  • Join the online actions and keep tweeting and posting with #FreeOurPrisoners and #LiberatePalestinianPrisoners. Share your videos and selfies of solidarity! 

Sunday, 12 April
Theme: Day of action to free Mays Abu Ghosh, Tareq Mattar and Palestinian student prisoners

  • Join the online actions and keep tweeting and posting with #FreeOurPrisoners and #LiberatePalestinianPrisoners. Share your videos and selfies of solidarity! 

Monday, 13 April
Theme: Day of action to free Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian political prisoners

  • Join the online actions and keep tweeting and posting with #FreeOurPrisoners and #LiberatePalestinianPrisoners. Share your videos and selfies of solidarity! 

Tuesday, 14 April
Theme: Day of Action against Home Demolitions and Collective Punishment
Day of Action for International and Arab Prisoners, including prisoners in Egypt, Turkey, the Philippines and the United States 

  • Join the online actions and keep tweeting and posting with #FreeOurPrisoners and #LiberatePalestinianPrisoners. Share your videos and selfies of solidarity! 

Wednesday, 15 April
Theme: Day of Action for Prisoners for Palestine in Arab and International Jails: Free Georges Abdallah, the Holy Land Five and fellow Palestinian prisoners

  • Join the online actions and keep tweeting and posting with #FreeOurPrisoners and #LiberatePalestinianPrisoners. Share your videos and selfies of solidarity! 
  • Participate in an online event: The International Association of Democratic Lawyers and the NLG International Committee will hold a webinar on economic sanctions and COVID-19, including among other speakers Raji Sourani of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights. This will take place at 10 am Pacific/1 pm Eastern/7 pm Europe/8 pm Palestine. Register online here:  https://bit.ly/SanctionsWarWebinar

Thursday, 16 April
Theme: Day of Action to free Palestinian Child Prisoners
Day of Action Against Torture and Ill-Treatment

  • Join the online actions and keep tweeting and posting with #FreeOurPrisoners and #LiberatePalestinianPrisoners. Share your videos and selfies of solidarity! 
  • Participate in an online event: Yafa Jarrar, Ghassan Abu Sitta and Tarek Loubani will speak on a webinar about COVID-19 and Palestine. 10 am Pacific/1 pm Eastern/7 pm Europe/8 pm Palestine. Event organized by University of Toronto Divest. Register online here: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/contain-the-pandemic-free-palestine-tickets-101936476746
  • Support Palestinian Prisoners, webinar with Brad Parker and Randa Wahbe. 10 am Pacific/1 pm Eastern/6 pm Britain/7 pm Europe/8 pm Palestine. Organized by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign UK. Register here: https://bit.ly/2Ve9x9o
  •  (In Spanish) How can people survive in confinement? Lessions from Gaza with Jaldia Abubakra and Nada Mughamis. 12 pm Pacific/3 pm Eastern/4 pm Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil/9 pm Europe/10 pm Palestine. Watch Facebook live at: https://facebook.com/bdscastellano/

Friday, 17 April
Palestinian Prisoners’ Day

Sunday, 19 April

  • NY4Palestine will host a webinar on the case of Ubai Aboudi and child prisoners in occupied Palestine at 11 am Pacific, 2 pm Eastern, 8 pm Europe, 9 pm Palestine. Register online to attend:  http://bit.ly/ImprisonedPalestiniansWebinar

Visuals

Join the Twitterstorm to #FreeGeorgesAbdallah on Friday, 10 April

Join the Twitter Storm to free Georges Abdallah on Friday, 10 April! 9 am Pacific/12 pm Eastern/6 pm Europe/7 pm Palestine and Lebanon.

Use the hashtag #FreeGeorgesAbdallah and tag @NBelloubet @EmmanuelMacron and @General_Aoun

Express your solidarity with Georges Abdallah, Lebanese Arab Communist struggler for Palestine, imprisoned in France for 35 years and call for his immediate release to Lebanon. This demand is especially urgent now as Georges, like other prisoners, faces a severe threat to his life and health due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This Twitter Storm was organized by campaign groups and George’s family in Lebanon, and Samidoun encourages all supporters of justice and liberation to participate.

Read the call to action:

All that is prevents the release of freedom fighter George Abdallah is the signature of the French Interior Minister on the order to deport him to Lebanon.

However, for more than twenty years, the French authorities have refused to release him, in particular under pressure from the US administration. The most recent example is the statement by Victoria Nuland, who opposed two judicial decisions taken in favour of George Abdallah’s release in 2013. This statement was preceded by a letter from Hillary Clinton asking the French authorities to overturn the decision of the judiciary for his release.

The French authorities should stop this policy of state vengeance and implement their claimed commitment to a fair judicial system and separation of powers.

The Lebanese state must also exercise its sovereign role towards one of its citizens, whose right to freedom is known to the whole world, and hold the French state responsible for preventing his return to Lebanon.

French call:

Il ne manque à la libération du combattant de la liberté, George Abdallah, que la signature du ministre français de l’Intérieur sur l’arrêté d’expulsion vers le Liban.

Cependant, depuis plus de vingt ans, les autorités françaises refusent de le libérer notamment sous la pression de l’administration états-unienne. La plus récente est la déclaration de Victoria Nuland qui s’est opposée à deux décisions judiciaires prises en faveur de la libération de George Abdallah en 2013. Cette déclaration a été précédée par une lettre d’Hillary Clinton demandant aux autorités françaises de casser leur décision juridique.

Les autorités françaises devraient cesser la vengeance d’État et mettre en œuvre leurs allégations de séparation des pouvoirs.

L’État libanais doit également exercer son rôle souverain envers un de ses citoyens, dont le monde entier connait son droit à la liberté, et tenir l’État français pour responsable de l’empêchement de son retour au Liban.

9 April, Online event: Webinar on Occupation and COVID-19

Thursday, 9 April
Over ZOOM, online
9 am Pacific/12 pm Eastern/6 pm Europe/7 pm Palestine
Register online: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_S_PdP_u_QcmEUnfy4WI4dA

Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1840644926069776/

Organized by Canadian Friends of Sabeel

As we are encouraged to self-isolate, we are reminded of our interconnectedness with one another. We are reminded of the importance of community, solidarity, and internationalism. And as we think of one another, Palestine is on our minds and in our hearts. We are facing the same pandemic, but under different conditions. In these times, we turn to Palestine to hear about the realities of dealing with a global pandemic while under occupation and blockade. We see the urgency for bold social transformation. Join us in a Webinar with those on the ground as we discuss the occupation, COVID-19, and ways to come together to fight for justice and peace.

Registration link: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_S_PdP_u_QcmEUnfy4WI4dA

Panelists:
Dr. Rand Askalan – Takween Center (Ramallah)
Hadeel Shatara – Samidoun Prisoner Solidarity Network (Palestine)
Raed Shakshak – We Are Not Numbers (Gaza)
Zoughbi and Tarek Alzoughbi – Wi’am (Bethlehem)

(And three hours later, join Samidoun for another webinar on the case of Georges Abdallah, prisoner for Palestine in France. Register online here: http://bit.ly/freegeorges )

Videos around the world urge freedom for Palestinian prisoners amid COVID-19 pandemic #FreeOurPrisoners

Organizers and activists around the world are joining the video campaign to call for the immediate release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association along with many activists in Palestine launched a call for people around the world to record themselves in short videos and post them using the hashtag #FreeOurPrisoners. The appeal has found a strong response around the world, especially amid the threat that the global COVID-19 pandemic presents to Palestinian prisoners suffering in unsafe, unsanitary conditions amid institutional Israeli medical negligence.

Samidoun’s U.S. coordinator, Joe Catron, recorded a video urging the prisoners’ release:

As did the comrades of Collectif Palestine Vaincra, members of the Samidoun Network in France:

In the United States, organizations like the Palestinian Youth Movement and Students for Justice in Palestine in Chicago joined the call for the prisoners’ freedom:

Mario Martone of Scientists for Palestine spoke about the campaign, discussing the threat of the spread of COVID-19 in Ofer prison and throughout the system and the imprisonment of Palestinian-American researcher Ubai Aboudi:

Aboudi’s family also joined the campaign, with Khaled, Ubai’s son, sending a message for freedom via video:

The Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE) joined the campaign with a video message from its general secretary Carmelo Suarez supporting Palestinian prisoners:

The International Union of Pensioners and Retirees – Pensionistas y Jubilistas, affilated to the World Federation of Trade Unions also urged freedom for imprisoned Palestinians:

The Internationalist Anti-Imperialist Front (FAI) also issued calls in Spanish, English and French urging the immediate liberation of Palestinian prisoners:

Manuel Pardo of Cadiz and writer Sara Rosemberg of Madrid also joined in the videos of the FAI:

Jose Luis Ruiz of GUK alliance in Getxo (Basque Country) called for the liberation of Palestinian prisoners:

And Juan Manuel Hernández Legazcue of the Ezkerretik Foroa called on the Red Cross to take action for the freedom of all Palestinian prisoners amid the COVID-19 pandemic:

Many more activists joined the campaign, including members of the Jeunes communistes (Young Communists) in France, activists from El Salvador, Mexico, Peru and Costa Rica, and many others around the world:

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network encourages activists, organizations and people of conscience around the world to continue the campaign and share their videos and images in support of Palestinian political prisoners fighting for their lives, their freedom and their people during the COVID-19 pandemic under the hashtag #FreeOurPrisoners. Feel free to tag us on Twitter (@SamidounPP) in addition to @Addameer or send us a link on our Facebook page! 

17 April, Online event: 5000 Prisoners – Israeli racism and medical neglect amidst COVID-19

Friday, 17 April
7 am Pacific/10 am Eastern/3 pm UTC/5 pm Europe/6 pm Palestine
Online over Zoom
Register at Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/5000-prisoners-israeli-racism-and-medical-negligence-amidst-covid-19-tickets-101540586628

Meeting ID to be provided to registered participants 2 days before the seminar

When: 15:00-17:00 GMT; 17:00-19:00 EEST; 10:00-12:00 EST

Background:

There are currently 5000 Palestinians languishing in Israeli Prison Service (IPS) facilities; 43 are women, 180 are children, and 430 are administrative detainees held without any form of due process.

Since 1967, a total of 222 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli custody; 67 of the 222 due to medical negligence. Current estimates note that there are 700 prisoners in urgent need of medical treatment, with 60% of all prisoners having a history of chronic diseases.

In January last year Israel’s Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan announced plans to ‘worsen’ the condition for prisoners, and to set ‘clear limits’ on a number of areas including water consumption and the capacity for prisoners to shower. Over the last month, and with the onset of the coronavirus, these measures have been accelerated and prisoners are now prohibited from accessing vital sanitation and hygiene products, from receiving family visits and visits from legal representatives, and key food supplies such as bread and water are being severely restricted. These developments, as well as many more aggressive measures enacted by the Israeli prisons’ administration, are not new – they represent a continuation of a policy of medical neglect and health care denial commonplace within the prison system since 1967 and the onset of Israel’s military occupation.

However, as the deadly covid-19 virus evidently threatens to exacerbate the situation in prisons to levels hitherto unseen, it is vital that awareness is raised as a matter of urgency.

It is in this context that EuroPal Forum brings you this online seminar, which seeks to raise awareness about the plight of Palestinian prisoners and the specific challenges they are facing during this global pandemic. To foster this seminar, EuroPal is bringing together those at the forefront of discourse and understanding on the condition of Palestinian prisoners for a 2-hour discussion on the dynamics of the situation in Israeli jails.

Speakers:

Charlotte Kates – Charlotte is the international coordinator of Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and the coordinator of the International Committee of the National Lawyers Guild. She is also a member of the Organizing Collective of the US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel and Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition.

Lana Ramadan – Lana is the international advocacy officer at Addameer. Lana previously worked with Badil Refugee Resource Centre where she worked as a researcher, specifically focusing on forced displacement and the creation of coercive environments by Israeli policies. In December 2017, she began at Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association as the International Advocacy Officer.

Motasem A Dalloul – Motasem Dalloul is a journalist based in Gaza and a specialist on Middle Eastern affairs. He is Middle East Monitor’s correspondent in the Gaza Strip. He holds an MA in international journalism from the University of Westminster.

Akram Satari – Akram is a news reporter and a translator for a number of international NGOs and cooperation agencies. He was shot by the Israeli occupation forces at the age of 13 and arrested at the age of 16.

————–

As this is an online webinar, please register to ensure that the meeting ID will be sent to your email 2 days prior to the start of the event.

Take action: Defend Palestinian refugee rights in Sweden!

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is sharing this important alert from our colleagues at Samidoun Gothenburg in Sweden. Palestinian refugees in Sweden are facing exclusion, denial of residency and threats to their most fundamental rights. For more details on the campaign, please visit Palestinian Refugees Rights in Sweden on Facebook.

We urge you to take action below:

Since 8 January 2020, a group of Palestinians have been on a sit-down strike in a public tent in Gothenburg, Sweden. They are all refugees, many of them stateless, and have had their applications for a renewed residency permit denied. Because of their status, they cannot receive help from the national or municipal governments or support for housing, employment or healthcare. This is a major concern in ordinary times, but amid the current pandemic, may well be fatal. This is why it is particularly important to act now to contact the Swedish government and the political parties and demand that they take responsibility for this situation and let the Palestinian refugees stay!

Please send the email below, which you can use directly, or write your own, using this text as information. The Swedish text is provided along with an English translation. Don’t forget to add your name and location to the email before you send it off!

Sample letter: send it on!

Subject: Let the Palestinian refugees stay!

Dear Swedish officials and political parties,

At present, there are a large number of Palestinian refugees in Sweden who have had their asylum applications denied and lack residence permits, but who, in practice, cannot be deported either to the occupied Palestinian territories or any other country, despite the Migration Agency’s contrary opinion. This state of legal limbo has the consequence that they do not have access to secure jobs, safe housing and safe schooling. If this situation was not already worthy of political action, it cannot have escaped the notice of anyone reading this that Sweden has been hit hard by an infectious and deadly pandemic, against which the best defense is clean and spacious housing to be able to self-isolate themselves if necessary, and a steady livelihood in order to take care of their own needs and those of the community.

It may not have been Swedish policies that forced the Palestinian refugees to flee and then made it impossible for them to return home, but if you choose to act, Swedish policies can help give the Palestinian refugees a more dignified existence.

In order to make this happen, it is critical that:

Statelessness is recognized as a basis for asylum.
Refugee status is recognized as a basis for asylum.
People with refugee status, stateless people and those without a residence permit are classified as a vulnerable group in the actions against the pandemic and that their access to the necessary resources (housing, livelihood and healthcare) is secured.

With sincere yet concerned greetings,
<Name>

Please send this to any or all of the following:

Thank you for your support! Please share this campaign in social media and call on your contacts to email and call. Together, we are strong!

Swedish text of the letter:

Ämne: Låt de palestinska flyktingarna stanna!

Kära politiker,

I dagsläget befinner det sig ett stort antal palestinska flyktingar i Sverige som har nekats och saknar uppehållstillstånd men som i praktiken inte heller kan utvisas, vare sig till ockuperade palestinska områden eller något annat land, trots Migrationsverkets motsatta omdöme. Detta tillstånd av rättsligt limbo får följden att de inte har tillgång till trygga jobb, trygga boenden och trygga skolgångar. Om inte denna situation redan var värd politiska åtgärder så kan det inte ha undgått den som läser detta att Sverige har nåtts av en smittsam och dödlig pandemi mot vilket det bästa försvaret är rena och rymliga bostäder att kunna isolera sig i vid behov och en stadig försörjning att kunna se till sina egna och sin omgivnings behov.

Det må ha varit annat än svensk politik som tvingat de palestinska flyktingarna på flykt och sedan gjort det omöjligt för dem att återvända hem, men om du väljer att agera kan svensk politik bidra till att de palestinska flyktingarna får en mer värdig tillvaro.

Vad du kan verka för:

Att statslöshet införs som grund för asyl.
Att flyktingstatus införs som grund för asyl.
Att människor med flyktingstatus, i statslöshet och utan uppehållstillstånd betecknas som en riskgrupp i arbetet mot pandemin och att deras tillgång till de därav nödvändiga resurserna (bostad, försörjning och vård) tryggas.

Med vänliga men bekymrade hälsningar
<Namn>

Response to COVID-19 in Gaza: Support Al-Awda Hospital!

The following fundraising campaign is being organized by the Collectif Palestine Vaincra, a member organization of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network. Please note, the fundraising page is in French, but you can donate from anywhere around the world. The site works well with Google Translate! If you are donating from the United States and don’t see your country, it is listed alphabetically as États-Unis. Donate here: https://www.helloasso.com/associations/asicp/collectes/solidarite-avec-l-hopital-al-awda-de-gaza-1

The COVID-19 pandemic poses a severe threat to the Gaza Strip. Under an Israeli blockade supported by Egypt since 2007, the besieged Palestinian area with over 2 million inhabitants faces a chronic lack of necessary equipment: there are only 56 respirators and 40 intensive care beds.

Founded in 1985, the Union of Health Work Committees (UHWC) is a leading Palestinian health organization. Around 300,000 people benefit from its services in the Gaza Strip every year. Located in Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, Al-Awda hospital is administered by the UHWC and provides medical services to thousands of Palestinians. Today, more than ever, Al-Awda hospital needs our support!

This secure platform allows you to make an online donation.

Al-Awda Hospital calls for solidarity

On 22 March 2020, Dr Ahmad Muhanna, chair of the Union of Health Work Committees in Gaza, urged international solidarity in a video message:

How will the funds be used?

Al-Awda Hospital in Gaza needs support more than ever to buy equipment and develop its structures. In partnership with Collectif Palestine Vaincra, the UHWC will provide regular reports on the use of donations, which will be available on palestinevaincra.com.

9 April, Online event: Webinar on Georges Ibrahim Abdallah: Prisoner for Palestine in France

Thursday, 9 April
12 pm Pacific/3 pm Eastern/9 pm Europe/10 pm Palestine
Register on Zoom: http://bit.ly/freegeorges
Join the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/2568057420116045/

Georges Ibrahim Abdallah is a Lebanese Arab communist and a lifelong struggler for Palestine. He has been imprisoned in French prisons for 35 years for his role in the resistance, despite being eligible for release since 1999. The French state has aligned with the United States and Israel in keeping him imprisoned. He remains politically active inside prison and even joins Palestinian political prisoners on their hunger strikes by returning his own meals.

Learn more about the case of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah by joining our online webinar over ZOOM, featuring a representative of Collectif Palestine Vaincra, a member organization of Samidoun and dedicated campaigners to free Georges Abdallah. Collective members have visited Georges many times behind bars.

Register online for the webinar at http://bit.ly/freegeorges

This webinar will take place in English.

Samidoun salutes the martyr Helin Bölek of Grup Yorum

Helin Bölek, before and during her strike. Photo credit: @FreeGrupYorum, Twitter

Helin Bölek, revolutionary musician in Turkey and Grup Yorum band member, was martyred during the morning of Friday 3 April 2020 after 288 days of being on hunger strike. She was on hunger strike together with fellow Grup Yorum member Ibrahim Gökçek, who is continuing his strike now for 291 days.

Grup Yorum, established by students in 1985, is a revolutionary music band composed of Turkish and Kurdish members. Their songs are about the struggle for freedom, the daily struggles and international solidarity. Grup Yorum is one of the most popular bands in Turkey, with concerts being attended by hundreds of thousands of people. The band has been a target of Turkish state repression for a long time. Their offices and cultural centres have been raided multiple times and dozens of members have been arrested and tortured.

Three weeks ago, on 11 March, the house where Helin Bölek and Ibrahim Gökçek were on hunger strike was raided by Turkish forces. Helin and Ibrahim were taken to Ümraniye Training and Research Hospital to be force fed. Both refused all force feeding and insisted on their right to resist through their hunger strike. After six days of torture in the hospital, including stress positions and prohibition of sanitary facilities, Helin and Ibrahim returned to their Resistance House in the neighborhood Küçük Amurtlu in Istanbul.

The hunger strike of Helin Bölek and Ibrahim Gökçek aimed for more than their own freedom. Rather, they formulated five clear demands:

  • End the police raids against İdil Cultural Center were Grup Yorum organizes.
  • Remove all Grup Yorum members from the wanted lists.
  • Remove the ban on the concerts of Grup Yorum.
  • Drop the lawsuits filed against Grup Yorum members.
  • Release all arrested Grup Yorum members, seven in total.

Even after Helin Bölek was released from Turkish prison in November 2019, and Ibrahim Gökçek three months later, both continued their hunger strike for these five demands. They made clear that their hunger strike was a death strike: they would continue until their five demands were met.

The death of Helin Bölek in the liberation struggle shows the deadly nature of the Turkish state, which continues to imprison tens of thousands political activists, lawyers, politicians, journalists and musicians. It is exactly against this system of mass imprisonment and repression that Helin Bölek was struggling.

In a statement, the People’s Front of Turkey said, “While the AKP has continued all this exploitation and persecution, it has attacked all sectors other than itself in order to silence the people in the face of all their injustices. To silence the people, to make them swear allegiance to its system, it has to silence the revolutionaries first. It has directed its greatest attacks upon the revolutionaries and tried to silence them with its policies of detention, imprisonment and massacres.”

When Samidoun participated in the Anti-Imperialist Symposium in February this year, we heard from Helin Bölek and people close to her. While it was clear her health condition was deteriorating, her spirit was extremely high. It was clear that she and her fellow hunger striker Ibrahim Gökçek would continue until their demands were met. With the martyrdom of Helin, it is our duty to continue her struggle and support Ibrahim and the Grup Yorum prisoners.

Helin stands with Palestine.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes the life and legacy of Helin Bölek, who struggled her whole life for people’s liberation in Turkey and Kurdistan. Her music, organizing and hunger strike has inspired thousands of people to stand up against Turkish state repression. We join all those who are continuing the struggle of Helin Bölek and we demand the immediate release of all Grup Yorum members and an end to their repression.

We end with the lyrics of Grup Yorum’s song “Zafere Kadar” (Until Victory), which was released in support of the second Intifada:

Every house is a castle
Our home is a school
“Revolution to Victory” in our language

A resistance in every home
A fedayeen (militant) in every home
“Revolution to Victory” in our language

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJsZh95TCuc

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Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
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