As we commemorate the continuing Nakba, the theft of Palestinian land and the dispossession of Palestinian people, we also commemorate over 72 years of Palestinian resistance for liberation and return.
During this week, we salute the struggle of the Palestinian people, fighting to defend their land and resist exploitation and oppression in all of its forms.
This week of Palestinian struggle is also a week of struggle against imperialism! Palestinians have been on the front lines fighting imperialism for over 72 years.
Palestinian refugees are struggling to return, denied that right for decades. We defend the right to return and the right to resist!
Palestinian youth and students – Palestinian women – Palestinian workers and farmers – Palestinian prisoners, together stand on the front lines of struggle: confronting the racist ideology of Zionism, reactionary regimes and imperialist attacks.
With all forms of resistance and struggle, the Palestinian revolution is continuing. Join the week of Palestinian struggle – together, we fight for the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea. Remember the Nakba – long live the resistance. Victory for Palestine!
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is joining with many other organizations in a Twitterstorm on Friday, 15 May as part of the Week of Palestinian Struggle, and we encourage you to join us as well! Various organizations and campaigns have urged Palestinians and supporters of Palestine to use the hashtags #KeyToJustice and #NakbaDay, in order to focus on Palestinian refugees’ right to return to their original homes and lands throughout historic Palestine.
This video tutorial by prominent Palestinian artist and activist Rana Bishara, from Tarshiha, Galilee (Music: Marcel Khalife), demonstrates how to make a replica Palestinian key to photograph and tweet for these actions:
Friday, May 15th: On the 72nd anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba, you are kindly invited to mark the Nakba day and join the global struggle for the Palestinians right of return by
Tweeting with the two hashtags #NakbaDay and #KeyToJustice
Posting a photo while you are holding a Key of return. You can make it at home by yourself.
Posting a video while you are holding either a key of return, a Kuffiya, or Palestine flag. saying “One day, I will return to : your city or village name”, or “I support the Palestinian right of return”.
Vendredi 15 mai: À l’occasion du 72e anniversaire de la Nakba palestinienne, vous êtes cordialement invités à marquer la journée de la Nakba et à vous joindre à la lutte mondiale pour le droit des Palestiniens au retour en
Tweeter avec les deux hashtags #NakbaDay et #KeyToJustice
Publier une photo pendant que vous détenez une clé de retour. Vous pouvez le faire vous-même à la maison.
Publier une vidéo pendant que vous détenez une clé de retour, un drapeau Kuffiya ou Palestine. disant “Un jour, je reviendrai à: votre nom de ville ou de village”, ou “Je soutiens le droit de retour palestinien”.
Viernes 15 de mayo: Quieres participar en solidaridad con los refugiados palestinos?
Tuiteando con los dos hashtags #NakbaDay y #KeytoJustice con
Una foto tuya con una llave en la mano! Mejor una vieja llave grande, pero cualquier otra llave esta bien
Sube un video tuyo con una llave en la mano, un kufiya o una bandera palestina que diga: “Volvere a (nombre de tu ciudad o pueblo)”
Apoyo al derecho de los refugiados a regresar a Palestina como lo exige el derecho internacional.
Ubai Aboudi and his wife, Hind, with two of their children. Photo: family
Ubai Aboudi is a Palestinian-American civilian, father, researcher, educator, director of the Bisan Center for Research and Development who was abducted by Israeli military without charges on November 13, 2019. Ubai was also working to support Scientists for Palestine in organizing the Third International Meeting on Science in Palestine, which took place on January 10-12, 2020, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Ubai was prevented from attending and presenting his own research due to his Israeli military detention.
He was initially held under administrative detention – imprisonment without charge or trial – and then transferred to the Israeli military courts on later manufactured, baseless charges that are routinely imposed on Palestinians.
Despite the fact that Ubai is a U.S. citizen and that the U.S. government provides Israel with $3.8 billion in military aid every year, the U.S. State Department has largely left Ubai and Hind Shraydeh, his wife and the mother of their three children, to suffer alone. Your support is critical in pressuring the State Department to end its silence in the case of Ubai Aboudi and working to ensure his freedom.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Act by contacting the U.S. State Department and your Member of Congress. Use the draft talking points below to make your message clear.
Hi, my name is ____ and I am calling to demand that the Department of State [your Member of Congress] work to ensure the immediate release of Ubai Aboudi, a U.S. citizen, Palestinian civilian, father, and educator. Ubai is detained in Israeli military custody, where he has languished since November 13, 2019. Scholars, scientists, and activists from around the world have been calling for his release.
If you are calling your member of Congress, please identify your personal connection to your representative’s office as well as any relevant background you may have. For example: I am a constituent from _ _ _ _ _ (town/city) calling about an urgent matter regarding a US citizen, Ubai Aboudi, who is in an Israeli prison. I am particularly concerned because i am a _ _ _ _ _(professor at _ _ _ _ _ University or employed as a _ _ _ _ _ at _ _ _ _ (company) ) and this man is an internationally esteemed colleague. I am asking Rep/Senator _ _ _ _ to work for the immediate release of Ubai Aboudi by calling on Secretary of State Pompeo to secure his release.
I demand his case be given top priority as his preexisting health conditions may render his already unlawful detention a death sentence during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Israeli military is also known to torture more than 95% of the Palestinians it abducts- including children and convicts more than 99% of the Palestinians it detains. Israeli military practices against Palestinians are best- and most appallingly- highlighted by the fact that Israel is the only country in the world to systemically capture and keep children in military prison camps.
Israel is now being investigated by the International Criminal Court for grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, war crimes and crimes against humanity, including for its military abductions and treatment of Palestinian prisoners.
How can your Department allow U.S. citizens to be held and tried by a military regime that is being investigated by the ICC?
Israel’s military detention system systematically discriminates Palestinians and is inherently racist. Israel has shown deliberate disregard for the health and well-being of Palestinian detainees throughout the COVID-19 pandemic by not testing Palestinian prisoners, preventing prisoners to access appropriate sanitary equipment, and has ignoring multiple calls for their release from UN officials.
Israeli anti-Palestinian racism was also globally showcased when in response to the UNHCR Commissioner’s demand for the release of all political prisoners to protect them from coronavirus, Israel released 400 non-political Israeli prisoners and increased its military abduction of Palestinians – including children. If this is how they treat children, we can only imagine how they treat adults.
Palestinians are abducted by Israeli military and charged and tried for activities that are routine in every society- activities which are legal for Israelis to undertake. For example, the Israeli military prison system criminalizes Palestinian groups and individuals as security threats and terrorists for participating in mere gatherings “that could be construed as political.”
It is disturbing to know that our government and the Department of State would allow its citizens to be held and tried in such an unlawful and racist system. It is all the more appalling that our government and the Department of State adopts these Israeli “terrorism” designations in the US while knowing their obviously racist, arbitrary, and illegal genesis which not only criminalizes most of Palestinian society, but manages to ensnare and abuse an education worker, a farming and science advocate, and a civilian citizen of the US.
I ask that your Department reject these designations; that it reject the charges and conviction against Ubai as illegal and contrived; and that you please work to free Ubai immediately.
I cannot feel safe until I know your Department will protect Ubai as it would protect me and my family. Please write (call) back to let me know what steps your office will take.
Khalida upon her release from Israeli prison in 2016. Today, she is once again detained by the occupation. Photo: Facebook
by Hind Shraydeh
Many people snitched on Khalida to her father: “Better get hold of the situation before it is too late Kana’an…Your daughter is being carried on men’s shoulders and shouting slogans in demonstrations!”
In the Arab society in general, and in a conservative city like Nablus in particular, such acts may be subject to public scrutiny, and a young woman being carried by men who are not blood relatives may be considered shameful. Khalida’s father, the owner of a children’s toy shop where he earns a living for his family, his wife and eight children, had to overcome such taboos when informed of his daughter’s participation in political rallies against the Israeli occupation.
Khaleda was born in February 1963 in Nablus, known to locals as “Jabal an-Nar”; translated literally, this means “the mountain of fire.” Khalida belongs to the first generation born to Palestinian refugees after the Nakba[1], (catastrophe) of the Palestinian people in 1948, as her family was forced to flee from the occupied town of Bisan.
Khalida is a calm and balanced woman. She can be described as radical in her stances and insightful in her visions, as seen by her participation in areas and activities that address her people’s concerns. She is not easily provoked, and responds to absurd and irrational statements with a smile and a sound convincing answer. Khalida is not only a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), but also a wife, mother, comrade, friend and a sister. She is also a “totem pole for those who are alone,” as described by the distressed people who arrive at her office to seek her help.
Khalida while participating in the Dabke troupe at Birzeit University. Source: Her family
Today, Khalida Jarrar is known as one of the most prominent social and political Palestinian figures. She holds a master’s degree in Democracy and Human Rights and worked as the director of Addameer Prisoner Support & Human Rights Association from 1994 to 2006. In 2006, she was elected as a member of the PLC and appointed the person in charge of the prisoners’ committee. After this, she was appointed as Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of Addameer, as well as a member of the Higher National Committee responsible for following up on Palestine’s accession to the International Criminal Court.
Khalida’s commitment to Palestine stems from her family’s love for the country, and in particular from her mother and her uncle, Qadri Hannoud, who was a freedom fighter himself. Qadri is one of the founders of the Arab Nationalist Movement who was arrested and later deported to Jordan. Khalida enjoyed a special relationship with her uncle prior to his arrest and deportation. She recalls times spent with him and especially his attentiveness when a spilled cup of tea caused a burn on her neck. The incident and the burn became an irrefutable sign of the bond between them, their close relationship and the significant influence he had upon her to join on his path.
Khalida has struggled against the occupying power throughout the majority of her life. International Women’s Day 1989 marked her first arrest. She relayed the details later on, as she herself escaped being arrested by an Israeli soldier during a demonstration, only to see her sister Salam being harassed by another soldier. Khalida could not but to try to rescue her sister, ending with both sisters and a third sister, Nihaya, all being arrested by occupation soldiers. As the whole world celebrated International Women’s Day, the Ratrout family (Khalida’s family) had to deal with the arrest of three of their daughters only to be followed by two sons, Khalid and Tareq.
The above-mentioned oppressive measure was Khalida’s first experience at being arrested, but she was to experience a second, third and fourth arrest. Today, Khalida is held in the Damon Prison, which was once used as an animal stable. She has been detained awaiting a military court trial since the end of October 2019, when she was abducted from her home only eight months after her release from 20 months of administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial.
On that date, the Israeli soldiers stormed her house (noting that Khalida lives with her husband, Ghassan Jarrar, and their daughter, Suha, in a house near the Palestinian Security and Presidency Headquarters in Al-Bireh, while Yafa, her eldest, is living outside Palestine) and took her to the Ofer Military Detention Center, where she was searched and interrogated. After this, she was transported under very difficult conditions on the Bosta (a vehicle designed to transport political prisoners) to the Hasharon Prison. She spent nearly three days there before being moved back to the Moskobiyeh interrogation center, where she was subjected to harsh interrogation. She was transferred once more back to Hasharon prison and then to Damon. All these transfers were carried out using the notorious bosta, during which she was denied access to health care and sanitary facilities.
Khalida: Free despite confinement.
The occupation authorities filed an indictment against Khalida, accusing her of holding a position in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, an organization banned under military orders like all major Palestinian political parties. In addition, according to the unjust and illegitimate indictment, from the beginning of 2014 until the date of her arrest, she was responsible for the political aspects of the relationship with Palestinian institutions representing the Popular Front. In short, she was being dragged before a military court for her public political activity.
It is worth noting that Khalida was tried for the charge mentioned in 2015, which makes it a flagrant violation of the internationally established legal principle stating that the same person cannot be tried twice for the same accusation.
The Occupation’s Fear of Thought
As narrated by Ghassan, Khalida’s life partner, the occupation continues to regurgitate the same excuse for arresting and indicting Khalida, which is, according to them, belonging to a “banned” political organization, the Popular Front.
Recalling the proceedings of a court hearing that was held in 2015, Ghassan said that her lawyer was outraged by her arrest due to the absence of any real reason for her detention. It was then that the prosecution’s defeat was apparent when the military prosecutor shouted that the Khalida’s danger lies in the influence she possesses.”The unjust maneuvers of the prosecution that I witnessed on that day confirm that the occupation fears ideologies and mere thoughts, and Khalida is a case in point!” he said.
With a shiver of love and longing in his voice, Ghassan continues: “Khalida is intriguing, alluring and complex, a woman who represents thought, passion, emotion and conscience all at once. She is a politician in love with her country, the advocate for the underprivileged and oppressed. She is a wise person that can assess and balance each situation individually, as her office is always open to all citizens from all political factions and social classes. At the same time, Khalida is beautiful and kind as a mother and as a wife. We miss her presence, but feel she is with us at all times, as she alone is the one able to keep this family together.”
Khalida and her husband Ghassan upon their graduation from Birzeit University. Family photo.
Ghassan is unyielding in expressing his love for his wife. It is palpable when he utters any statement about her, as when he said: “Khalida is everything to me…she is the oxygen that I breathe.”
If it were not for radio broadcasts…!
“We have no information concerning my mother due to the halting of all visitations and court hearings at the beginning of March 2020. We are extremely worried about her, as means of communications have come to a stop except through sending our one-way regards over the radio,” said Khalida’s daughter Suha. Moreover, this has become especially difficult after the occupation intelligence issued a decision to prevent three female detainees, one of whom is Khalida, from making phone calls to their families after visits were cancelled amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This has amounted to a further escalation in the punitive measures against Khalida and her entire family.
Suha continues to express her concern for her mother, who suffers from chronic diseases, including infarction of the cerebral tissues due to hypoglycemia, vascular clotting and high cholesterol. She said: “My mom needs weekly check-ups. She needs blood thinner medications, and these must be monitored regularly since an overdose or an under-dose can cause serious problems for her. The former can cause internal bleeding and the latter could cause blood clots that can end in a stroke, especially since she has a history of such clots and she survived two strokes in the past. Our concerns are elevated due to the outbreak of the coronavirus and the information we have at hand, which is that all clinic visits have been suspended. And so we sit and wonder together with my father, who is suffering terribly on her behalf: Is there anyone who gives her medicine regularly? Does she have gloves, protective masks, or sterilizing agents available in the detention facility she is in…knowing that Damon prison, like all Israeli prisons, lacks the minimum requirements for a healthy life?”
Suha continues: “There has been much talk that prison authorities provide chlorine bleach in scarce quantities, but bleach is not a safe sterilizing agent to begin with. It is a poisonous substance that irritates the skin and the lungs and can continuous coughing. I am afraid that my mother’s body, with a history of two strokes, will not be able to survive under such conditions and amid a serious pandemic like the coronavirus.”
Khalida: a substitute mother to 42 Palestinian women prisoners
As Suha continues to talk, she says: “When I was a little girl, my father was arrested. He spent seven years in administrative detention. I had to learn the meaning of that phrase at an early age. My sister and I had to eavesdrop to understand what was happening with him. It was painful to us to learn of the torture he underwent. It affected us directly, and, I am sure, indirectly. Once he was freed, we thought we were immune to arrests and their ramifications, until my mother was arrested. Her imprisonment lays heavily on our hearts with pain that resembles no other. I realized that I am not the strong mature woman that is able to absorb pain; or that legal researcher and international advocacy officer who thought she was shielded by a mechanism to control pain. In fact, I realized that I was only human and that I can be hurt time and time again, especially when it relates to my mother’s continuing imprisonment. However, within all this mix of emotions, I am comforted when I hear that my mom has become a substitute mother to 42 other political prisoners who share her fate in Israeli jails.”
During her life, Khalida Jarrar was harassed by the occupying forces repeatedly, including an order for her forced displacement to Jericho[2], (considered area “A” according to the Oslo agreement) prior to her second arrest in 2014. This action was carried out under the pretext of a secret file, the same type of intelligence document used to order administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial. Khalida and her family protested this action by carrying out a sit-in that continued 24/7 for a month in front of the PLC building. The order was cancelled, but Khalida was then attacked for that victory and arrested for 15 months. In addition, Khalida has been banned from travel since 1998 until the present day, as retaliation for her participation in the preparatory meetings of the Universal Declaration for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders in Paris.
Khalida’s mother: Your favorite dish (Akkoub) is on the stove…we are awaiting you
Recalling her memories together with Khalida, her sister Nihaya says, “All I remember is that Khalida was always either reading or immersed in volunteer work and active in student unions. As a young child, she was always interested in Palestinian history and related novels. She enjoyed reading Ghassan Kanafani’s literature most.” Her sister went on to say, “Khalida is passionate, giving and an influential leader in her community. In addition, Khalida broke the customs of society and rejected our outdated traditions as a family. For example, when she got married, she refused a accept a dowry of more than one Jordanian Dinar, hence establishing a new tradition to be followed by the rest of the women of the family. Each stage in her life is a story in itself. She has always established a different approach, calling for development and progress even amongst us. She married her friend and companion from university after living a great love story. Their love and support for one another continued and remained strong despite life’s difficulties and multiple arrests and separations.”
Family photo of Khalida, Ghassan and their daughters, Yafa and Suha.
Last but not least, Khalida’s 80-year-old mother, who was also an activist from a young age in the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, expressed how proud she is of Khalida. She admits openly to her children that she is biased towards her: “There is Khalida and there are the rest,” she says. “My daughter wakes up every morning believing that she has something in this world, and she eagerly seeks to obtain this vision. This is how I raised her and I will continue to be proud of her as long as I live. I say to her: ‘We miss you my dear daughter, and want you to know that your favorite dish is on the stove…all of us are awaiting your return.'”
[1] The Palestinian Nakba occurred in 1948 when more than 700,000 Palestinians, about half of the Palestinian population were expelled or compelled to flee from their homes by Israeli terrorist groups.
[2] According to the Oslo agreement signed with Israel in 1993, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip were divided into three different areas (A, B, and C) that are subject to different laws in terms of control. The city of Jericho falls in area “A” which means that it is allegedly under the full control of the PA. In practice, however, this area is under occupation, the same as the rest of the Palestinian land mentioned, except that the Israeli occupation has disclaimed its responsibility as the occupying power for its civil affairs, such as health, education and social welfare.
The following letter was endorsed by Charlotte Kates, international coordinator of Samidoun; Joe Catron, U.S. coordinator of Samidoun; and many other activists, lawyers and people of conscience. We republish the press release and full letter below:
190 Arab and International personalities submit a public petition United Nations Human Rights Council calling on Israel to release Palestinian prisoners due to the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
At the initiative of Dr Anis Fawzi Kassim and others, a public petition was submitted today to United Nations Human Rights Council concerning the situation of Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli prisons and detention certers and calling on Israeli authorities to release those incarcerated in Israeli prisons and detention centers for fear for their lives due to the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The petition was signed by 190 international personalities of lawyers, academics, parliamentarians and human rights activists worldwide who expressed their deep concern for the well-being of some five thousand (5,000) Palestinian prisoners and detainees incarcerated in Israeli prisons and detention centers.
The signatories said: We are fully aware of the legal duty of Israel towards these detainees where Israel has been the belligerent occupant. They added: “Israel has been consistently negligent in shoring up its legal responsibilities under international law. In fact, it has utilized its formal organs, such as the courts, to justify its evasive practices of non-compliance with the law. Such failure has been manifestly evident during this pandemic. It has not taken any real step to protect the Palestinian prisoners against infection.”
The petition stated: “Israel remains negligent in and it could be called to account internationally for the “crimes against humanity” based on article (7-1-1-h) of Rome Statute.”
The signatories called on the United Nations and the international community to force Israel to release all Palestinian prisoners and detainees especially children, women and sick and elderly prisoners and provide those prisoners with all necessary equipment and hygienic material to protect them from the infection and to observe their internationally recognized right to health.
**
Public Statement on the State of Palestinian Prisoners and Detainees in Israeli Detention Camps
07 May 2020
In these pandemic days of coronavirus (COVID-19) where the world community has not as yet developed any medication except preventive measures, we, a group of concerned lawyers, human rights activists, and academics, are very much distressed with the fate and well-being of approximately five thousand (5,000) Palestinian prisoners and detainees that are being incarcerated in Israeli detention centers.
We are fully aware of the legal duty of Israel towards these detainees where Israel has been the belligerent occupant for the last fifty-two (52) years. Israel has been consistently negligent in shoring up its legal responsibilities under international law. In fact, it has utilized its formal organs, such as the courts, to justify its evasive practices of non-compliance with the law. Such failure has been manifestly evident during this pandemic. It has not taken any meaningful step to protect the Palestinian detainees against infection. They are still incarcerated in overcrowded cells and compounds, where the only preventative measures prescribed for dealing with the pandemic are social distancing and provision of hygiene products and materials.
The detainees include 194 children, 43 women (17 of whom are mothers), 430 administrative detainees (held indefinitely on suspicion without charge or trial), 750 convicted indefinitely, 50 who have been in jail for more than 20 years, 700 are very ill and in need of special medical care and treatment, and six (6) members of the Palestinian Legislative Council who were freely elected in the 2006 elections. They are all being held in three centers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and in 20 detention centers inside Israel in contravention of the Geneva Conventions.
The State of Israel is a state party to the main instruments dealing with human rights, which all provide for the human right to health and protection against contagious diseases. In December 2015, the UN General Assembly voted unanimously to adopt the Nelson Mandela Rules which set out the Standard Minimum Rules for the treatment of prisoners. Those rules provide, inter alia, that “In cases where prisoners are suspected of having contagious diseases, the physician in charge shall call for ’clinical isolation and elaborate treatment’ of the infected prisoners. In addition to the legal obligations imposed on Israel by virtue of the Geneva Convention, the Rome Treaty (to which Israel is not a party) provides that any persecution against any group “on political, racial, national, ethnic … or other grounds that are universally recognized as impermissible under international law…” is a crime against humanity. In the current situation of global pandemic crisis, Israel’s behavior towards the Palestinian detainees leaves them exposed to the risk of being infected by the disease, which could be categorized as a crime against humanity.
Furthermore, Israel’s continued incarceration of those detainees and prisoners deprives them of access to means of protection against the pandemic infection and creates imminent danger to their lives. Lack of testing kits,instruments and appropriate treatment of the sick, including denial of the entry of personal protective equipment, medication and sanitation equipment among others, are measures that are not allowed under international law.Reliable reports from inside prisons confirm that Israeli authorities have withdrawn 140 items from the Palestinian prisoners’ canteen or prison store, including ordinary disinfectants and cleaning products. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, Israel has banned lawyers and family visits to the prisoners. Yet, Israel has released hundreds of Israeli criminal prisoners to reduce the threat of the virus to them but,at the same time, refuses to release any Palestinian prisoner. Israel must realise that the infection does not discriminate between human beings. Their continued systemic and discriminatory policy towards Palestinian prisoners amount to “medical apartheid”.
We, the undersigned, call on Israel, the belligerent occupant, to:
release all Palestinian prisoners and detainees especially in these pandemic times; or in the alternative
release the children, women and sick and elderly prisoners; and, in any event
provide those prisoners with all necessary equipment and hygienic material and to observe their internationally recognized right to health.
Name
Position
1.
Dr. Mario Martone
Theoretical Physics, Postdoctoral Scholar, UT Austin
Nosotros, los componentes de las organizaciones juveniles y estudiantiles palestinas abajo firmantes, y con nosotros, las asociaciones, organizaciones e instituciones que han firmado esta declaración, instamos a las masas de jóvenes y estudiantes palestinos en toda Palestina ocupada y en el exilio, a que se unan a nosotros en una iniciativa popular para levantarse e iniciar la construcción nacional y recuperar la línea del cambio revolucionario y democrático, para pasar hacia una nueva etapa de lucha, cuyo núcleo, ha de ser, el proyecto de nuestro pueblo palestino por el retorno, la liberación y la lucha para realizar todos sus objetivos y aspiraciones nacionales, sin importar el tiempo que lleve realizar dicha tarea.
La causa de Palestina, es la causa sagrada de nuestro pueblo, la causa de las clases populares explotadas de nuestra nación árabe y es, la causa de todos los hombres y mujeres libres del mundo. Al día de hoy, se la pretende liquidar y arrancar de sus raíces y de la conciencia y memoria del pueblo y de la nación, ya que, los derechos de nuestro pueblo están siendo difamados y expropiados. Esta gran causa nuestra, solo será protegida por los brazos y cerebros de la gente de nuestro pueblo, por la voluntad de sus jóvenes patriotas vanguardistas revolucionarios y de la voluntad de sus mujeres, sus obreros y sus campesinos.
Por lo tanto, hoy hacemos un llamamiento a nuestro pueblo palestino, especialmente a las jóvenes generaciones palestinas, para que rechacen y repudien las políticas y posiciones representadas por la línea política del Presidente de la Autoridad Nacional Palestina, el Sr. Mahmoud Abbas y de su equipo, y para considerar, que la dirección de la ANP está fuera del consenso nacional, y no representa a nuestro pueblo. Así mismo, instamos a la mayoría patriótica para plasmar sobre el terreno la voluntad popular, a través de la organización de una amplia movilización popular unitaria, para sobrepasar la etapa de los desastrosos acuerdos de Oslo, sus anexos y sus negativas repercusiones.
Os invitamos a una amplia participación para un total derrocamiento del que se vino a llamarse “Programa del Liderazgo Palestino”, cuyo eje principal, está pasado en la línea de la claudicación y la desidia. Esta agonizante línea corrupta, que después de cuarenta años tratando de vender un ficticio proyecto de un estado. Esta clase política, que tan solo consiguió la vergüenza y el desastre, trata hoy de transformar una autonomía en la Cisjordania ocupada, en objetivo de nuestro proyecto de liberación. Es la clase social de las finanzas, agentes de la ocupación y rehén de los proyectos de la “Paz Económica” y la normalización de relaciones con la ocupación. Así pues, es una obligación para nuestro pueblo, la tarea de aislar a esta clase política, derrocar su programa en todas las plazas, las calles, las fabricas, los campos, las universidades, y las escuelas; dentro y fuera de Palestina Ocupada.
Ante todo lo que está ocurriendo hoy, viendo como las políticas estadounidenses, sionistas y reaccionarias árabes, tienen como objetivo a los derechos de nuestro pueblo a existir y a vivir, y ante la aceleración del proyecto de liquidación que pretende golpear todos los horizontes del proyecto nacional, abortando las posibilidades de su restablecimiento de nuevo, y ante el ataque diario y sin precedentes, contra los presos en las cárceles del enemigo y, la expropiación de todo derecho natural y humano de nuestro pueblo en los campamentos de refugiados, ante todo esto, cualquier silencio se convierte en complicidad, en traición y en una forma de esclavitud y sumisión.
Ya es hora, para que este liderazgo claudicado en la sede de Al Muqataa en Ramalah se marche. Ya es hora de aislar a este fragmento derrotado que se siente complacido, estando en el regazo de la entidad sionista y la CIA, que castiga a nuestro pueblo en Gaza, priva a las familias de los mártires y de los presos de sus derechos, apuñala por la espalda a la resistencia y coordina con las fuerzas de seguridad de la ocupación para atacar la seguridad de nuestra sociedad, a nuestra resistencia patriótica y a nuestra vanguardia juvenil y estudiantil.
La derrota del proyecto de Oslo y el aislamiento de Mahmoud Abbas y su equipo, es hoy una posibilidad realista más que nunca, a pesar de todas las capacidades y recursos que las fuerzas hostiles al pueblo palestino utilizan para apoyar al liderazgo de la ANP. Sin embargo, el elemento crucial en esta larga batalla histórica, es el papel de las masas populares y su capacidad para generar el método revolucionario desde la base hacia la luz, desde las profundidades de nuestra historia y nuestro legado combativo, desde la matriz de nuestras sociedades palestinas en cada colectivo popular, cada barrio, cada campamento, ciudad y pueblo.
Hacemos un llamamiento a todas las fuerzas de la resistencia palestina, con sus diversas corrientes y trayectorias políticas e ideológicas, para que pongan fin al estado de desintegración y fragmentación mediante la formación de un frente patriótico unificado que, sirva como punto de apoyo y soporte para nuestro pueblo en todas partes, como su espada y su escudo protectores, mientras continúa su marcha histórica con grandes sacrificios, para arrancar sus derechos y romper sus cadenas, y conseguir así, su salvación definitiva y colectiva de las garras del colonialismo sionista.
Os instamos a involucraros en esta amplia y popular iniciativa, intensificando las actividades populares y patrióticas en la semana de lucha del pueblo palestino, entre 15 al 22 del mes de Mayo del 2020, y para que marque esta etapa, un nuevo periodo de lucha bajo el eslogan:
El Día de Palestina, El Día del Retorno y la Liberación.
Y que esta fecha, vuelva a ser un testimonio del crimen de Al Nakba que continua desde 1947- 1948, y un testimonio de que la resistencia palestina continua y continuará hasta la victoria final, cuesten lo que cuesten los sacrificios, y dure lo que dure la contienda.
¡No al proyecto de la desidia y claudicación!
¡No al proyecto de autonomía!
¡Si al retorno y la liberación!
¡Sí a la línea de la resistencia e intifada hasta la victoria!
Para añadir la firma de su grupo u organización juvenil, por favor envíe un correo electrónico bayanyouth.students@gmail.com
Organizaciones juveniles firmantes:
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
HIRAK: Palestinian Youth Mobilization – Germany
Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM)
“Sada” Movement – Jerusalem- occupied Palestine
Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition / North America
Palestinian Arab Cultural Center \Rio Grande de Sol, Brazil المركز الثقافي العربي- الفلسطيني/ ساو بولو، البرازيل
Unione Democratica Arabo-Palestinese (UDAP)- Italy الاتحاد الديمقراطي العربي الفلسطيني- إيطاليا
Democratic Palestine Committees\ Brazil لجان فلسطين الديموقراطية- البرازيل
مركز النّقب للأنشطة الشبابيّة – ِAl Naqab Center for Youth Activities
On 15-22 May 2020 Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all organizations, activists and movements to join us in a collective Week of Palestinian Struggle.
On these days, we remember the Nakba, the theft of Palestinian land and the dispossession of the Palestinian people. At the same time, we celebrate, affirm and pledge to continue over 72 years of Palestinian resistance for liberation and return.
For decades, the Palestinian people’s movement has commemorated 15 May and the week that follows as a week of solidarity, resistance and struggle, affirming a revolution that will continue until victory. This week marks the Palestinian, Arab and international struggle for justice and liberation, a struggle that has continued for 72 years and continues every day. As the Nakba continues, the resistance continues!
Join us in a week of virtual and in-person actions to stand with the Palestinian people through 72 years of struggle confronting Zionism, imperialism and reaction and for the liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea!
We know that the Zionist ethnic cleansing project did not begin on 15 May 1948 – it was mostly completed by this point throughout 78% of historic Palestine after its launch the previous December. More than that, it was built upon decades of military escalation and European colonization in Palestine and throughout the region more broadly, particularly the British colonial mandate and its Balfour declaration. This week of struggle requires confronting the racist, imperial ideology of Zionism on which the colonial regime in Palestine has been constructed.
There are over seven million Palestinian refugees and over 13 million Palestinians in exile and diaspora. The implementation of the right of return to Palestine is a collective and individual right that is at the core of the liberation of Palestine. In recent years, the attempts to liquidate the right of return have intensified, culminating in the so-called “deal of the century.” This week of action pledges to intensify the struggle everywhere for the right to return to Palestine.
This struggle for return and liberation has meant that Palestinians have been on the front lines fighting imperialism for over 72 years, fighting alongside comrades in Ireland, the Philippines, Turkey, South Africa, the indigenous Americas and elsewhere. This week of Palestinian struggle is also a week of struggle against imperialism, especially as the U.S. attempts to impose its “deal of the century” and liquidate the Palestinian cause. Imperialist powers use “anti-terror” laws and repressive measures to repress the struggle for Palestine within their borders as well, from the imprisonment of Georges Abdallah in France to the Holy Land Five in the US, to the targeting of Palestinian activists like Khaled Barakat in Germany for political bans.
Every victory that is achieved for people’s struggles around the world is a victory for Palestine, and every attack on those movements – such as the attempts to foment a coup in Venezuela or blockade Cuba – is also an attack on the Palestinian people. The siege on Gaza is not simply an Israeli siege but also a U.S. and European siege in which Arab reactionary regimes are complicit. During this week of action, we struggle to break the siege on Gaza, bring an end to imperialist sanctions and fight all forms of repression.
Of course, Israel is not the only racist settler colony built on dispossession of indigenous peoples and extraction of their resources; the sponsors of Zionist policy in the United States, Canada and elsewhere. We stand with all oppressed peoples and indigenous movements defending their land from the ravages of settler colonial capitalism.
Just as the Palestinian cause is an international struggle, it is also deeply linked to the fight against imperialism throughout the Arab world and the region more broadly. Arab reactionary regimes like those in Saudi Arabia and Egypt work hand in hand with Israel and the United States to promote normalization, besiege the Palestinian people and squander an independent future for the peoples of the region – and this is reflected in their attacks on the Palestinian movement. We stand with the Arab people and the peoples of the region who continue to fight back and defend their sovereignty and their future against imperialism and reaction.
The Palestinian Authority continues to engage in “security coordination” with the Israeli occupier on a routine basis, attacking the Palestinian resistance. This week of action stands unconditionally with the Palestinian people’s right to resist occupation and oppression and against all forms of normalization and complicity with the liquidation of Palestine.
As we fight these attempts to normalize colonialism, the Week of Palestinian Struggle aims to intensify the boycott of Israel and the complicit corporations that profit from the oppression, dispossession and ethnic cleansing of Palestine. The boycott movement and BDS campaign has faced escalated repression because it poses a material challenge to Israel and its corporate partners. During this week of action, we will expand the movement to isolate and boycott Israel.
Palestinian youth and students are fighting back against imprisonment and for the future of a liberated Palestine .Resisting suppression and imprisonment inside and outside Palestine, they fight – generation after generation until total liberation.
Palestinian women have been on the front lines of struggle for over 72 years, defending the land, educating generations of strugglers and participating fully in leadership of the Palestinian struggle, political organization and armed and popular struggle.
From inside the prisons, Palestinian prisoners stand on the front lines of confrontation for the freedom of their land and people. The imprisonment of Palestinians has always been a tool of the colonial project in Palestine, meant to maintain occupation, apartheid and oppression and criminalize the existence and resistance of Palestinians. From the martial law imposed in 1948 on the Palestinians who remained in the 78% of historic Palestine occupied at that time, to the imprisonment of 5,000 Palestinian political leaders, journalists, and freedom fighters today, the imprisonment of Palestinians and their leaders has always been part and parcel of the Nakba – and the Palestinian prisoners behind bars continue to stand at the heart of the resistance.
We salute the struggle of the workers and farmers of Palestine, fighting to defend their land and resist exploitation and oppression in all of its forms. Labor organizers are locked inside prisons and fishermen in Gaza are targeted for Israeli gunfire and assault. The popular classes of Palestine have always been the leaders of the revolution and those who have propelled the national liberation movement forward: the farmers, the workers, the refugees in the camps.
Join this week of action to highlight the voices and struggles of the Palestinian people, inside and outside Palestine, from Haifa, Nazareth and Safad to Gaza, Ramallah and Nablus, from Cairo, Amman and Beirut to Berlin, Brussels, Santiago and New York.
Remember the Nakba: Long live the resistance! Victory for Palestine!
Endorsers include: Staat van Beleg, Actions 4 Palestine, Knocknacarra Palestine Network, Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine, Free Palestine FFM (Frankfurt), Labor for Palestine, Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, Anti-War Committee Minneapolis and more! Add your endorsement below:
Days of Action
Below are themes for each day through the week, although events may reflect any or all of these themes at any time! Samidoun’s social media will focus on these topics through each day. We encourage you to schedule events and actions on any day during the week, regardless of theme or topic, focusing on the Palestinian liberation struggle and 72 years of continuing resistance. We also present a schedule of the events we know of taking place during the week.
We want to add yours! Email us at samidoun@samidoun.net or use the form below to send in your events and actions!
10 through 17 May
Online screenings: Al Ard Doc Film Festival hosts “Screening the Nakba,” with a new film available each day in the Screening Room. Films may be in Italian or offer Italian subtitles to English and Arabic original films. Watch online here: https://www.alardfilmfestival.com/streaming-di-questa-settimana.html
15 to 22 May
Free Palestine FFM in Frankfurt, Germany calls for the Actionswoche des palästinensisichen Struggles https://www.facebook.com/events/928938670913039/ Download the images and posters and take photos around Frankfurt or your local community: submit them online!
Thursday, 14 May
Online Event: Webinar with Rasmea Odeh and George Khoury, moderated by Suzanne Adely. Organized by the US Palestinian Community Network. 11:30 am Pacific/2:30 pm Eastern/8:30 pm central Europe/9:30 pm Palestine. Watch on Facebook Live at: https://facebook.com/USPCN
Film screening and discussion, Gothenburg, Sweden: Screening of “Roadmap to Apartheid,” 6 pm, Syndikalistiskt Forum, Linnegatan 21, Gothenburg. Organized by Samidoun Gothenburg. Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/704603883702440/
Online Event (in Arabic): They can demolish our homes, but they cannot break our will: Discussion with Widad Barghouthi. 11:30 am Pacific/2:30 pm Eastern/8:30 pm central Europe/9:30 pm Palestine. Organized by Samidoun occupied Palestine. Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/events/761898511218239/
Friday, 15 May 72 years of struggle and ongoing resistance! Palestinian Workers’ and Farmers’ Struggle for Liberation
In Chicago: Car Caravan to Commemorate the Nakba. For more details, see US Palestinian Community Network. At 1:30 pm Central time, gather at AAAN, 9838 S. Roberts Rd, Palos Hills, IL
In Minneapolis: Car Caravan to Commemorate the Nakba. Organized by the Anti-War Committee. Meet at 6 pm @ large parking lot at 43rd and Central Ave. in Columbia Heights (at intersection with Filfillah Restaurant 4301 Central Ave NE). Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/events/252169372647362/
Online Event: The Holy Land 5 and COVID-19: Conversation with their Sons and Daughters, organized by the Coalition for Civil Freedoms. 11:30 am Pacific/2:30 pm Eastern/8:30 pm central Europe/9:30 pm Palestine time. Register on Zoom at https://bit.ly/3dHUyvR or watch Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/civilfreedoms/live/
Online event: Nakba72: The Continuation of Colonisation – Annexation and Peace. 7 am Pacific/10 am Eastern/3 pm London/5 pm Palestine. Organized by EuroPal Forum. Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/events/595772341287413/
Online event: Discussion with Palestinian Nakba survivors. 11 am Pacific/2 pm Eastern/7 pm Scotland/9 pm Palestine. Organized by Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign and Sheffield PSC. Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/events/554093915292170/
Online event: Nakba Day Rally, organized by Jewish Voice for Peace, BDS Movement, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, South Africa BDS Coalition. 11 am Pacific/2 pm Eastern/7 pm Britain/8 pm Europe/9 pm Palestine. Register online: https://bit.ly/2YHx0TR
Online Event: Documentary film 1948: Creation & Catastrophe followed by a Q&A with directors Ahlam Muhtaseb and Andy Trimlett. 2:30 pm Pacific/5:30 pm Eastern/11:30 pm central Europe/12:30 am Palestine. Organized by the Toronto Palestine Film Festival. Watch at tpff.ca or live on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/events/1624576931027490/
Online event: Friday Night Forums: Palestine and the Blockade of Gaza. Organized by The Red Nation, Arab Resource and Organizing Center and Center for Political Education. 5 pm Pacific/8 pm Eastern/2 am Europe/3 am Palestine. Register online: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_fSQJFHRzROKHyMqyqfM7Vg
Online event: Never Forgotten: 72 Years of Resilience, organized by American Muslims for Palestine. 7 pm Pacific/10 pm Eastern/4 am central Europe/5 am Palestine. With speakers: Dr. Salman Abu Sitta | Hanady Halawani | Dr. Hatem Bazian | Rawan Damen | Sh. Ibrahim Dardasawi | Raed Jarrar | Kefah Zreeqy | Taher Herzallah | Sh. Monzer Taleb | Tarek Khalil | Dr. Osama Abuirshaid | & special emcee Tessneem Abdallah from AMP Minnesota. Register online: bit.ly/AMPNeverForgotten
Saturday, 16 May Palestinian Struggle for Return and Liberation: Confronting Zionism – Boycott and Isolate Israel!
Join the online actions and keep tweeting and posting with #Nakba2020 #PalestinianResistance #PalestinianStruggle. Share your solidarity photos, videos and selfies!
Online Event: Liberate Palestine from the River to the Sea! With Palestinian writer Khaled Barakat. 10 am Pacific/1 pm Eastern/7 pm central Europe/8 pm Palestine. Organized by Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network. Register online: https://bit.ly/liberatepalestine
Online event: From Nakba to Return – the Struggle for Palestinian Liberation. 11 am Pacific/2 pm Eastern/8 pm Central Europe/9 pm Palestine. Organized by Palestinian Youth Movement and National SJP (Samidoun is an endorser!) Register online: bit.ly/nakba2return
Online event: The Nakba and Indigenous Struggles, with Ahed Tamimi, Nadya Tannous and Melanie Yazzie. 9 am Pacific/12 pm Eastern/6 pm central Europe/9 pm Palestine. Organized by Friends of Sabeel North America. Register at fosna.org/Nakba2020
Online event: Lift the siege on Gaza – Online rally for Palestine. 11 am Pacific/2 pm Eastern/8 pm Central Europe/9 pm Palestine. Organized by Canadian Palestinian Community Centre. Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/events/1086584601724111/
Online event: The Palestine Question, with Ramzy Baroud, Ghada Ageel and Mohammed Marandi. 11 am Pacific/2 pm Eastern/8 pm central Europe/9 pm Palestine. Organized by Mobilization for Justice. Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/events/539023010333963/
Online event: The right to return: the Palestinian Nakba, organized by Cadfa (Camden Abu Dis Friendship Association) 12 pm Pacific/3 pm Eastern/8 pm British time/9 pm central Europe/10 pm Palestine. With Jehan Aburaya, Abdullah Abu Hilal, Mona al-Farra, Abdelfattah Abu Srour, Basma Dhoukhi and Zeina. Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87535605255
Online event: Remember the Nakba. Organized by the Nottingham Palestine Solidarity Campaign. 11 am Pacific/2 pm Eastern/7 pm British time/8 pm Europe/9 pm Palestine. Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1414738382046138/
Sunday, 17 May Palestinian Refugees’ Struggle for Liberation and Return to Palestine!
Join the online actions and keep tweeting and posting with #Nakba2020 #PalestinianResistance #PalestinianStruggle. Share your solidarity photos, videos and selfies!
Online Event: Virtual Rally and Panel to Commemorate al-Nakba and For the Right to Return. Organized by Al-Awda, Palestine Right to Return Coalition. 12 pm Pacific/3 pm Eastern/9 pm central Europe/10 pm Palestine. Register online: https://bit.ly/alawda72
Online Event: Arabic-Language Webinar with Fawzi Ismail on Palestinian Struggle in Exile. Organized by Samidoun Palestine and fellow organizers. 11 am Pacific/2 pm Eastern/8 pm central Europe/9 pm Palestine. Follow on Facebook: https://facebook.com/samidoun3/
Online Event: Screening of Gaza Fights for Freedom and Nakba commemoration, organized by the Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine (Australia). 7 pm Eastern Australia time. Includes an introduction with Australian lawyer Hiba Farra. To register for the event, email cjpp@coalitionforpalestine.org
Online Event: Palestine, Free Speech and Becoming Strong on Campuses, organized by Students for Justice in Palestine activists. 2 pm Pacific/5 pm Eastern/11 pm central Europe/12 am Palestine. Join Zoom Meeting: tinyurl.com/palestineoncampus
Online Event: Reel Palestine Home Editition – 1948: Creation and Catastrophe. Ramzi Jabri in conversation with Dr. Ahlam Muhtaseb. 10 am Pacific/1 pm Eastern/7 pm central Europe/8 pm Palestine/9 pm UAE. On Instagram Live https://www.instagram.com/reelpalestine/
Monday, 18 May Palestinian Youth and Students – Generation after Generation until Total Liberation
Join the online actions and keep tweeting and posting with #Nakba2020 #PalestinianResistance #PalestinianStruggle. Share your solidarity photos, videos and selfies!
Tuesday, 19 May Confronting Reactionary Regimes, Normalization and Imperialism: Arab struggles for liberation
Join the online actions and keep tweeting and posting with #Nakba2020 #PalestinianResistance #PalestinianStruggle. Share your solidarity photos, videos and selfies!
Online Event: Honoring Malcolm X & Elombe Brath:Black Solidarity with Palestine. 11 am Pacific/2 pm Eastern/8 pm Europe/9 pm Palestine. Organized by AMED Studies at SFSU Open Classroom. Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/536552867060717/
Online event: Unite in Solidarity with Palestine, organized by Unite the Union. 10 am Pacific/1 pm Eastern/6 pm British time/7 pm Central Europe/8 pm Palestine. To register: https://bit.ly/2WdENad
Wednesday, 20 May Palestinian Women in the Liberation Movement: National and Social Liberation
Join the online actions and keep tweeting and posting with #Nakba2020 #PalestinianResistance #PalestinianStruggle. Share your solidarity photos, videos and selfies!
Thursday, 21 May Palestinian Prisoners on the Front Lines of the Freedom Struggle
Join the online actions and keep tweeting and posting with #Nakba2020 #PalestinianResistance #PalestinianStruggle. Share your solidarity photos, videos and selfies!
Online Event: Palestinian prisoners’ families: Collective punishment and steadfastness, with Basil Farraj. 12 pm Pacific/3 pm Eastern/9 pm central Europe/10 pm Palestine. Organized by Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network. Register online: https://bit.ly/prisonersfamilies
Friday, 22 May Palestinian, Arab and International Struggle Confronts Zionism, Reaction and Imperialism
Join the online actions and keep tweeting and posting with #Nakba2020 #PalestinianResistance #PalestinianStruggle. Share your solidarity photos, videos and selfies!
Online event: Why Palestine is still the issue, with Ilan Pappe, Rob Ferguson, Baha Hilo and Tamika Sankar. Organized by several organizations at the University of York. 10 am Pacific/1 pm Eastern/6 pm British time/7 pm central Europe/8 pm Palestine. Register online: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/why-palestine-is-still-the-issue-tickets-104451258526
Suggested Actions
Videos and selfies are a great way to express solidarity online! Create a short video clip or hold up a sign supporting the Palestinian people and their resistance through 72 years of ongoing Nakba. Your Tweets, Facebook, Instagram and other social media posts throughout the week can emphasize the critical importance of the Palestinian struggle! Use the hashtags #Nakba2020 #PalestinianResistance #PalestinianStruggle and tag us at @SamidounPP on Twitter so that we can re-share and boost your solidarity efforts.
If you cannot hold an in-person demonstration or action during this week, we encourage you to consider a car caravan. Of course, 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.
Call in for action. Governments around the world, specifically imperialist powers and reactionary regimes, are fully complicit in Israeli crimes against humanity. Even if you have to leave a message, call your government officials and demand they stop funding and supporting Israel’s ongoing Nakba with military, diplomatic and political support. 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
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.
Share history and record oral history. It is vitally important to recall the history of Palestinian struggle and share the stories of Nakba survivors and generations of Palestinian strugglers. Share your story, that of your family and loved ones, or that of your comrades. Tag us at @SamidounPP so that we share your story further!
Endorse or Submit Your Event
Use this form to endorse the week of action or submit your event. You can use the form just to endorse, just to submit an event, or you can do both at the same time. We will update the schedule and call and re-release it on Friday, 15 May and throughout the week! You can also always email us at samidoun@samidoun.net.
The last issue of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung, edited by Marx and banned in Germany in 1849.
May 5 is a national holiday in the Netherlands. We celebrate our liberation from the Nazi occupation from 1940-1945. On the same date in 1818, Karl Marx, one of the world’s greatest revolutionaries, was born. As I stayed inside the whole day due to COVID-19, I started scrolling through the liberating writings of Marx. The text that most resonated with me was not one of his famous economic or ideological writings. Instead, it was the last issue of the Neue Rheinische Zeitung (May 18, 1849, No. 301), by chief editor Comrade Marx. It was the last issue because the newspaper was being banned by the German regime in Berlin.
The German authorities did not like Marx’s calls for “violent revolution” and “establishing a social republic.” Marx quotes himself: “there is only one way in which the murderous death agonies of the old society and the bloody birth throes of the new society can be shortened, simplified and concentrated, and that way is revolutionary terror. […] the only alternatives are either a feudal absolutist counterrevolution or a social republican revolution.” With such articles, the authorities argued, Marx “abused” the “hospitality” of the German state. Marx was forced to leave his country. If he would not leave “voluntarily,” the police would kick him out.
While reading these strong and true words of Marx, which are so often left out of whitewashed popular images of Marx as a philosopher instead of an active revolutionary, I couldn’t help but think of Khaled Barakat, the Palestinian left-wing writer who was expelled from Germany last year.
On June 22, 2019, Barakat was on his way to deliver a speech on Donald Trump’s upcoming “Deal of the Century” in Berlin. While leaving the metro, he was stopped by dozens of German police officers. They told Barakat that, starting tonight, he would be forbidden from giving any speeches, participate in political meetings, or get together with more than ten people. Violating these sanctions would cost him one year in prison. Next to this, the residence permits of Barakat and his wife Charlotte Kates, international coordinator of Samidoun, were not renewed, forcing them to move to Canada a few months later.
The arguments put forward by the German state to ban Barakat resonate the words used against Marx. They accused Barakat of fueling “political conflict” in Germany. His outspoken support for the establishment of a democratic state on the whole of a liberated Palestine from the river to the sea amounted to support for “terrorism” and was “antisemitic.” In 1849 the call to revolution from a Jewish German writer was not tolerated. In 2019, the call to revolution from a Palestinian writer is not tolerated.
Barakat and Kates have since moved to Canada, but the German state does not think about leaving them alone. In March 2020, Germany escalated the attack on Barakat by imposing a four-year entry ban for the entire Schengen zone on him. Why? Because Barakat is “extreme”. His opposition to the dead-and-buried two-state solution is “extreme”. His call for the liberation of Palestine, all of Palestine, from the river to the sea, is “extreme.” His support for the BDS movement is “extreme”.
Barakat’s expulsion also serves as an example for other freedom fighters. “Your expulsion is also considered necessary to deter other foreigners… your expulsion must also make other foreign nationals aware that the state does not tolerate anti-Semitic statements approving the use of force and boycotts against sovereign states.” These so-called “anti-Semitic statements” are the same as the previously mentioned “extreme” statements. You can judge them for yourself:
“Palestinians have been resisting occupation and colonization for over a century. They have waged revolution after revolution. Their revolution is continuous; it has never stopped, and it will remain until the liberation of the land and people of Palestine. Palestinian resistance is a right, and this right belongs to all Palestinians. This right stems from the legitimacy of our just cause: the liberation of Palestine and the return of the refugees. If our aims are met, when our goals are achieved, then there will be no need for armed resistance.
But so long as Palestine is occupied, so long as colonization confiscates our homes, so long as there is a settler-colonial, apartheid system implanted in Palestine, Palestinians will continue to resist through all forms. Palestinians will resist through popular protest, by building their popular movements, and by strengthening their military resistance to occupation.”
Clearly, Khaled Barakat is appealing his banishment from Germany. The German state has no right to deny him access because of his revolutionary views and criticism of Germany and Israel. It is after all the German state itself which steals raw materials from “Third World countries” and wages deadly imperialist wars around the world. It is the German state which sponsors Israel’s state terrorism against the Palestinian people. In 2015, Germany subsidized the delivery of four warships destined for Israel to ensure their exploitation the occupied Palestinian gas fields in the Mediterranean Sea.
Let us face it, how ironic is it that the German state expels a Palestinian from the country because of “extreme” and “anti-Semitic statements” that are really a critique of Israel’s and Germany’s colonial policies? Just like in 1849 and 1933, the German state again positions itself at the forefront of reactionary politics and suppression of freedom fighters.
Marx and Barakat share the vision of a revolutionary and liberated world. And because they do not water down their rhetoric and are actively involved in organizing their communities, they are labeled as dangerous by the German state. As Barakat noted:
“They are not just worried about one writer who writes articles and gives talks. They are concerned about the strength of the Arab community in Berlin. They want to undermine the community’s attempts to organize itself, particularly the activities of Palestinian and Arab youth, who can become a real power if they come together, mobilize and organize for justice in Palestine, but also in Germany, fighting against racism and all forms of oppression” (https://samidoun.net/2020/03/oppression-and-resistance-khaled-barakat-speaks-on-germanys-repression-and-palestinian-liberation/ ).
To conclude, while we celebrate Dutch liberation from the Nazi occupation, we have to actualize that history in the fight against Israeli occupation. It is our duty to join forces with Khaled Barakat, the Palestinian liberation movement and all progressive movements in Germany, The Netherlands and around the world.
Just like Karl Marx was (and is) an important German voice, Khaled Barakat is an important Palestinian voice. But while Marx’s body – though certainly not his ideas – has been dead and buried for quite some time, Barakat is very much alive. Let us amplify Barakat’s call for the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea. Or as Marx said: “And in the East, a revolutionary army made up of fighters of all nationalities already confronts the alliance of the old Europe.”
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network strongly supports the struggle of Palestinian refugees in Sweden to claim their rights and fight against unjust denial of residency permits. European migration and asylum policies, including in Sweden, continue to revictimize Palestinians who are already denied their fundamental rights by Israeli colonialism and occupation and have been denied their right to return to their original homes and lands in Palestine for over 72 years. We affirm the slogan: Right to flee, right to stay, right to return! Yesterday’s police attack against Palestinian refugees in Sweden is another manifestation of anti-Palestinian repression that aims to undermine Palestinians’ right to live and organize. The following report is translated from the original Swedish statement by Samidoun Gothenburg:
Photo: Demonstration in Gothenburg in support of the Palestinian refugees on Saturday, 29 February 2020.
Yesterday, 6 May, Palestinian refugees in Gothenburg, Sweden, protested as they have done in various forms since the beginning of January of this year against the inhumane treatment they have faced by the Swedish migration authorities and for their right to security and dignity.
Palestinian refugees maintained their peaceful protests through a sit-in/standing demonstration outside the immigration agency’s offices in Gothenburg and through a limited traffic blockade at Brunnsparken. However, Palestinian refugees’ protests were met by police repression, violence, arrests and ongoing assaults, later in collaboration with local security guards. The detained Palestinian refugees were released later in the day, but the violent approach of the police indicates clearly the position of the Swedish state authorities. At the same time, the Palestinian refugees made clear that the fight for freedom and justice cannot be locked down.
Some clips from yesterday have been shared here, at the Facebook page maintained by Palestinian refugees advocating for their rights in Sweden:
From Israeli bombs and concrete walls to Swedish bureaucrats and batons – anti-Palestinian repression is international and must be met with international solidarity! Follow the pages Palestinian Refugees Rights in Sweden and Palestiniers asylsökande manifestation och sittstrejk for more detailed, up-to-the-minute reports on the struggle of Palestinian refugees. We demand media, politicians and social and political organizations pay attention to their important fight for freedom, security and dignity and express our support for the struggling Palestinian refugees!
Post a picture or video in less than a minute on social media in support of the Palestinian refugees with the slogans “Right to flee, right to stay, right to return”
Do you want to read more about the Palestinian refugees’ fight against the inhumane practices of the Swedish migration system?
Below are some articles on the subject (in Swedish):
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes Ibrahim Gökçek, who was martyred this morning, 7 May, two days after achieving victory in his 323-day hunger strike. Gökçek, a musician of the revolutionary music band Grup Yorum, is the third hunger striker to be martyred in Turkey in one month, after Helin Bölek and Mustafa Koçak were on hunger strikes for 288 and 297 days respectively.
Last Sunday, 3 May, Samidoun participated alongside organizations from all over the world in the International Internet Conference and Concert for Solidarity with the Resistance, organized by the Anti-Imperialist Front in support of the imprisoned hunger strikers of Grup Yorum and People’s Law Bureau. Approximately 17,000 people watched the livestream of the solidarity event with speakers and participants around the world.
Ibrahim Gökçek also spoke at the conference, reiterating the words of his letter from 30 April:
“After Helin and Mustafa Koçak, who continued the death fast for justice, lost their lives, calls are made for me not to die. Of course, I want to live, too. Well, friends, as the resistance has come to this stage, it has not made any solid gains, how can I quit the resistance?
I want our demands to be fulfilled! Now, with all our strength, we must put pressure on the government to meet our demands. Without losing time, our intellectual and artist friends should talk with the relevant ministry and the presidency by forming committees among themselves and ensure that our demands are met. I greet you all with the warmth of Helin and Mustafa and with the enthusiasm of our resistance!”
It is important to reiterate the victory achieved by Ibrahim Gökçek and Grup Yorum on Tuesday 5 May, two days before he died. He stopped his hunger strike after Turkish Ministries, politicians, and organizations “vouched for Grup Yorum and declared that they would struggle until the permission to hold concerts was obtained and the imprisoned members were released.” Grup Yorum has applied for three concerts in Istanbul and one in Ízmir.
Ibrahim Gökçek, revolutionary musician
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes the hunger strike martyrs Ibrahim Gökçek, Helin Bölek and Mustafa Koçak. We demand the immediate release of all political prisoners in Turkey, including members of Grup Yorum and the People’s Law Bureau. Political prisoners around the world should be liberated at a time when they face a double threat in COVID-19 and intensifying prison repression. Freedom for all political prisoners!
As Grup Yorum is an internationalist music band, we end with the lyrics of their song Kalbu Falestini:
