Samidoun Gothenburg joins internationalist 1 May demonstration in Sweden

4 May 2020

On 1 May, International Workers’ Day, Samidoun Gothenburg in Sweden joined other internationalists on the streets. They protested alongside several organizations, including Framåt kamrater (Forward comrades), Rojavakommittéerna Gothenburg and ATİK Haber Merkezi / AHM.

The demonstrators carried banners with various demands, including “Right to flee, right to stay, right to return,” upholding the rights of Palestinian refugees in Sweden facing repression and denial of residency permits, as well as “Solidarity against repression – solidarity with Khaled Barakat,” highlighting the case of Palestinian leftist writer and international coordinator of the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat, who was subjected to a political ban and ordered excluded from Germany for four years for his political activities in defense of Palestine.

In a speech given by Samidoun Gothenburg at the event, they affirmed:

“The struggle for the freedom of all political prisoners and all oppressed peoples continues this May First, despite the special circumstances of our time. Political prisoners such as Georges Abdallah, Ahmad Sa’adat, Khalida Jarrar, Müslüm Elma and Abdullah Öcalan continue their struggles for freedom, and resistance to other forms of repression also continue. Our comrade Khaled Barakat continues to fight against the German state’s political ban, deportation and exclusion that has been issued against him. An invisible but very serious form of repression is to be forced to flee and prohibited from finding sanctuary. The situation of Palestinian refugees in Sweden has been created jointly by the Israeli occupation and the Swedish immigration authorities. We end our speech with the following: Fight against the state and capital – No one is illegal!”

A further report on the demonstration and other 1 May activities in Gothenburg is available at the website of Framåt kamrater (Forward Comrades).

Statement: We demand the immediate release of Georges Abdallah!

4 May 2020

The following statement is signed by a wide array of groups, organizations and individuals, including Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, Collectif Palestine Vaincra (member organization of the Samidoun Network in France) and the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat. We urge all to act for freedom for this imprisoned Lebanese Communist struggler for Palestine jailed in France for 35 years:

On 25 March 2020, French Minister of Justice Nicole Belloubet announced that a decision had been made by the government, in view of the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, to release several thousand prisoners in advance of the end of their sentences.

Since then, many voices have been raised once more to demand the release of Georges Abdallah: we no longer count the letters addressed in this regard to the Minister by many collectives and support organizations nationally and internationally as well as the appeals by parliamentarians and elected officials who are increasingly active in this struggle.

And yet it is clear that this time, once again, despite the very exceptional context of the growing threat and the urgency of action, that the refusal to accept these appeals is again expressed through the deafening and criminal silence of the political and judicial authorities that are fully responsible and guilty of exposing Georges Abdallah to the threat of the coronavirus.

This time again, it seems, once more there is no question of freeing Abdallah! No question of releaseing Georges Abdallah for whom for over 21 years now, “the request for release is not accepted!”

No question of freeing Abdallah! While Georges Abdallah saw his mandatory sentence completed in 1999 and he has been eligible for release for over 20 years.

No question of freeing Abdallah! While Georges Abdallah, aged 69, is today one of the oldest political prisoners in Europe after 36 years of captivity.

And yet, if there is indeed a state of emergency that must be declared today, it is that of freeing Georges Abdallah!

Faced with the denial still reiterated by the authorities rather than the legitimate release of Georges Abdallah, we, the signatories of this appeal, once again demand the release of this resistance fighter and urge increased pressure to change the balance of power which alone will make these officials bend – as Georges Abdallah already pointed out when, in October 2019, he already declared: “It is not enough that the state of Lebanon asks for my release, it remains necessary to establish a real power struggle to make the representatives of French imperialism understand that my incarceration is starting to weigh more heavily than any possible “threats” inherent in my release!”

Let us hear as widely as possible, every day and everywhere, the call of Georges Abdallah and with him, of all political prisoners, and multiply all initiatives, in the diversity of our expressions, to demand his immediate release, here and now!

Let a thousand initiatives flourish!

It is together and only together that we will win!

Initial signatories: To add your name, email campagne.unitaire.gabdallah@gmail.com

Unified campaign for the release of Georges Abdallah, ACTA – média autonome et partisan, Action antifa NP2C, National Association of Communists (ANC), International Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat, CAPJPO-EuroPalestine, Cases Rebelles, Collectif “Bassin minier” for the liberation of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, Collective Against Police Abuse (CLAP33), Collective in support of the Palestinian resistance (CSRP59), Collective Jaunes Etc33, Collective Libérez Georges 33, Collectif Palestine Vaincra, Collective for the liberation of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah (CLGIA), Collective for the liberation of Georges Abdallah 65, Collective 69 to support the Palestinian people, Committee of action and support for the struggles of the Moroccan people, Committee of international support for the people’s war in India, Committee “Liberez-les!”(59-62), Front Uni des Immigrations et des Quartiers Populaires (F.U.I.Q.P), G.R.C, International Solidarity Movement -France (ISM-France), Jeunes révolutionnaires, Belgian Call for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah, le Cri rouge pour la libération des prisonniers révolutionnaires, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, Nouveau parti anticapitaliste (N.P.A), OCML Voie Prolétarienne, Orchestre Poétique d’Avant-guerre (O.P.A), Parti des Indigènes de la République (P.I.R), Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine Belgium, Plateforme des prisonniers politiques en Turquie et au Kurdistan, Secours Rouge Lille, Soccorso Rosso Proletario Italia, Solidarité Georges Abdallah Lille, Union Juive Française pour la Paix (U.J.F.P), International Committee for Political Prisoners London, Anti Internment Group London

Individual signatories:
Khaled BARAKAT, Badia BENJELLOUN, Saïd BOUAMAMA, Youssef BOUSSOUMAH (PIR), Houria BOUTELDJA (PIR), Michel COLLON, Philippe DAUMAS, Jacques GAILLOT (bishop), Dominique GRANGE (singer), TARDI (author-designer), Djelloul HATTAB (collectif 65), Sarah KATZ, Daniel LARREGOLA (collectif 65), Aline PAILLER (journalist, former Member of European Parliament), Pierre STAMBUL, Françoise VERGÈS

Le 25 mars 2020, Nicole Belloubet, ministre de la Justice, annonçait que décision était prise avec le gouvernement, au vu de la crise sanitaire engendrée par la pandémie, de libérer de façon anticipée plusieurs milliers de détenus en fin de peine.

Depuis lors, nombreuses sont les voix qui s’élèvent pour exiger une fois de plus la libération de Georges Abdallah : on ne compte plus les lettres adressées, en ce sens, à la Garde des Sceaux par les collectifs et les organisations de soutien sur le plan national et international mais aussi les interpellations formulées par des députés de plus en plus acteurs et actifs dans ce combat.

Et pour autant, force est de constater aujourd’hui cette fois encore, et ce malgré le contexte très exceptionnel de la menace grandissante et de l’urgence d’agir, qu’une fin de non-recevoir est là encore exprimée à travers le silence assourdissant et criminel de ce pouvoir politique et judiciaire pleinement responsable et coupable d’exposer Georges Abdallah au risque du coronavirus.

Cette fois encore, semble-t-il, pas question de libérer Abdallah ! Pas question de libérer Georges Abdallah, dont, depuis maintenant plus de 21 ans, « la demande de libération n’est pas recevable ! ».

Pas question de libérer Abdallah ! Alors que Georges Abdallah a vu sa peine de sûreté accomplie en 1999 et qu’il est libérable depuis plus de 20 ans.

Pas question de libérer Abdallah ! Alors qu’en 2012, le tribunal d’application des peines a donné un avis favorable à sa libération et que, depuis lors, le Liban, son pays, a réaffirmé à maintes reprises son accord pour son retour.

Pas question de libérer Abdallah ! Alors que Georges Abdallah, âgé de 69 ans, est aujourd’hui l’un des plus anciens prisonniers politiques en Europe après 36 ans de captivité.

Et pour autant, s’il est bien un état d’urgence qu’il faut décréter aujourd’hui, c’est bien celui de libérer Georges Abdallah !

Face à ce déni encore réitéré par le pouvoir en place de la légitime libération de Georges Abdallah, nous, signataires de ce texte, exigeons une fois de plus la libération de ce résistant et appelons à accentuer la pression pour imposer le rapport de force qui seul fera plier ces donneurs d’ordre – comme le signalait déjà en toute clairvoyance Georges Abdallah quand, en octobre 2019, il déclarait déjà : « il ne suffit pas que l’État du Liban “demande” ma libération, encore faut-il établir un rapport de force réellement existant pour faire comprendre aux représentants de l’impérialisme français que mon incarcération commence à peser plus lourd que les possibles menaces inhérentes à ma libération ! ».

Faisons entendre le plus largement possible, chaque jour et de partout, le cri de Georges Abdallah et avec lui de tous les prisonniers politiques et multiplions toutes les initiatives, dans la diversité de nos expressions, pour exiger sa libération immédiate, ici et maintenant !

Que mille initiatives fleurissent !

C’est ensemble et seulement ensemble que nous vaincrons !

Paris, 25 avril 2020

Premiers signataires (liste ouverte à signature) :

Campagne unitaire pour la libération de Georges Abdallah, ACTA – média autonome et partisan, Action antifa NP2C, Association Nationale des Communistes (A.N.C), Campagne internationale de solidarité avec Ahmad Sa’adat, CAPJPO-EuroPalestine, Cases Rebelles, Collectif « Bassin minier » pour la libération de Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, Collectif Contre Les Abus Policiers (C.L.A.P33), Collectif de soutien à la résistance palestinienne (CSRP59), Collectif Jaunes Etc33, Collectif Libérons Georges 33, Collectif Palestine Vaincra, Collectif pour la libération de Georges Ibrahim Abdallah (C.L.G.I.A), Collectif pour la libération de Georges Abdallah 65, Collectif 69 de soutien au peuple palestinien, Comité d’action et de soutien aux luttes du peuple Marocain, Comité de soutien international à la guerre populaire en Inde, Comité « Libérez-les ! » (59 – 62), Front Uni des Immigrations et des Quartiers Populaires (F.U.I.Q.P), G.R.C, International Solidarity Movement -France (ISM-France), Jeunes révolutionnaires, L’Appel belge pour la libération de Georges Abdallah, le Cri rouge pour la libération des prisonniers révolutionnaires, Réseau de soutien aux prisonniers palestiniens Samidoun, Nouveau parti anticapitaliste (N.P.A), OCML Voie Prolétarienne, Orchestre Poétique d’Avant-guerre (O.P.A), Parti des Indigènes de la République (P.I.R), Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine Belgique, Plateforme des prisonniers politiques en Turquie et au Kurdistan, Secours Rouge Lille, Soccorso Rosso Proletario Italia, Solidarité Georges Abdallah Lille, Union Juive Française pour la Paix (U.J.F.P)

Signataires à titre personnel :

Khaled BARAKAT, Badia BENJELLOUN, Saïd BOUAMAMA, Youssef BOUSSOUMAH (PIR), Houria BOUTELDJA (PIR), Michel COLLON, Philippe DAUMAS, Jacques GAILLOT (évêque), Dominique GRANGE (chanteuse engagée), TARDI (auteur-dessinateur), Djelloul HATTAB (collectif 65), Sarah KATZ, Daniel LARREGOLA (collectif 65), Aline PAILLER (journaliste ex députée européenne), Pierre STAMBUL, Françoise VERGÈS

Samidoun Netherlands joins international solidarity action for Grup Yorum hunger strikers in Turkey

4 May 2020

Samidoun Netherlands joined many other groups and organizations around the world in the International Internet Conference and Concert for Solidarity with the Resistance, organized by the Anti-Imperialist Front on Sunday, 3 May.

Watch the Samidoun Netherlands message here:

The online event was organized in particular to support the death fast hunger strikers in Turkey, where musician Ibrahim Gökçek of Grup Yorum has been engaged in a hunger strike for 322 days. Helin Bölek, another musician of Grup Yorum, lost her life after 288 days of hunger strike on 3 April, while imprisoned hunger striker Mustafa Koçak died on 24 April inside Turkish prisons after 297 days of hunger strike, during which he consumed only water and sugar. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network honors their deep sacrifices in the struggle for liberation; they stand as martyrs in the international movement for justice and liberation.

“Koçak and Bölek – along with another Grup Yorum member Ibrahim Gökçek, who is still continuing his protest – started their hunger strikes to demand the right to fair trial, while Bölek and Gökçek also demanded the lifting of concert bans on their band, an end to raids on its cultural centre, and for the release of imprisoned band members,” Ahval News noted.

Approximately 17,000 people watched the livestream of the solidarity event with speakers and participants around the world. Solidarity messages included speakers from the Anti-Imperialist Front in Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, Austria and Mexico, as well as Armutlu Resistance House, Group Comment, Mustafa Koçak’s family, People’s Law Firm, Anti Imperialist Front member in Greece Sadi Özpolat, European People’s Assembly, European Resistance Council, Syriac People’s Assembly, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network (Netherlands), International Solidarity of Lawyers, Anti Imperialist Action Flying Column (Ireland), migrants from the Philippines in Austria, International League of Peoples’ Struggles (ILPS), Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany (MLPD), Banda Basotti (Italy) and Donbass Borotba – Alexey Albu.

Following the conference, the online event concluded with a concert in which international musicians expressed their solidarity with fellow musician Ibrahim Gökçek, Grup Yorum and their fellow political prisoners and detainees. Performers included Hakan Akmaz, Haluk Tolga Ilhan, Efkan Sesen, Ibrahim Karaca, Muzaffer Gezer, Gabriel Morena (Gibraltar), Nicolas (Chile), Paul Mc Adaims (Ireland) and Kostas Navarino (Greece).

All participants emphasized the importance of international solidarity to support the hunger strikers and their just demands in Turkey. Watch the video of the event here:

Ibrahim Gökçek’s letter of 30 April is republished below:

“Today is the 318th day of our death fast resistance, which we have been continuing to make our art freely. By this time, much has been said, written and drawn on our resistance. Our resistance has already exceeded the borders of our country. It can be said that our resistance has been heard and supported all over the world from Antarctica to Latin America.

“There have been so many days that we shared the same stages, platforms with you, our intellectual and artist friends. With those we couldn’t share the same stage, we had the honor of making art for a more fair and livable world. We have also experienced the oppression of the dominant powers who are fed by people’s remaining ignorant and unorganized.

“As our intellectual and artist friends, you have more or less done your best to support this resistance and make it heard. You came to us, shared our hunger, you organized concerts for us. You have personally supported us with your productions and have made many efforts to make the voice of our resistance heard. But unfortunately, we were unable to keep Helin, with whom we resisted shoulder to shoulder, alive.

“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?

“As intellectuals and artists, we got our share from the oppression and attacks of the state. Our plays, concerts were banned, lawsuits and investigations opened against us because of our social media posts are endless. Didn’t these attacks become so reckless because we have failed to put up a stronger resistance together until today?

“Imprisoned Grup Yorum member Ali Araci should be released immediately. His arrest does not have a right reason, a legal justification. It was understood during the trials without evidence and unjust trials that how unfair and arbitrary the raids were. The lies and demagoguery about Group Yorum members and Idil Cultural Center have been in vain.

“All Grup Yorum members were arrested upon unfounded anonymous witness statements. Today, four Grup Yorum members are arrested because they had been to our Idil Cultural Center and due to the statements of the defamatory witnesses. I was released thanks to the power of my resistance and you adopted it. I want my friend, with whom we composed together, with me. I want to be able to make new compositions with Ali. i want the imprisoned Grup Yorum members to be released and concerts to be allowed!

“Why are such simple and humanly demands not met? 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!”

Call for audio messages to support Palestinian prisoners: Our Voice for the Palestinian Prisoners

4 May 2020

Many different organizations involved in working for the freedom of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, including Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, are coming together in a joint campaign for audio messages expressing support and solidarity with Palestinian prisoners.

These messages will be broadcast on Asra Voice Radio (Voice of the Prisoners Radio) on Thursday, 7 May, so the prisoners may hear them. For those prisoners celebrating Ramadan, these messages will provide additional support during this time and express the solidarity of Palestinians, Arabs and internationals of conscience with Palestinians struggling for freedom inside Israeli jails.

To participate in the campaign:

Send an audio message on WhatsApp for the prisoners expressing your support and solidarity.
These messages will be broadcast on 7 May by Asra Voice Radio in Palestine, where the prisoners themselves, their families and loved ones may hear your voice of solidarity directly.

How to participate:

Send an audio message as soon as possible over WhatsApp to the following numbers:

+96171469152
+96170970454

Please include your name and your country in the beginning of the audio message. Messages should not exceed one minute in length. You may send your messages in Arabic, English or another language.

Freedom for the imprisoned strugglers – Our voice for the Palestinian prisoners!

🔶 شارك بصوتك
وفي شهرِ رمضان المبارك.

في الحملة التضامنية
“صوتنا لأسرى فلسطين”

👈🏼 أرسل/ي رسالةً صوتية إلى الأسرى في سجون الاحتلال لدعمهم وإسنادهم.
👈🏼 حيث ستبث إذاعة “صوت الأسرى” في فلسطين، رسائلكم في 14 رمضان المبارك الموافق (7 أيّار/مايو).

⭕️ آلية المشاركة
أرسلوا رسائلكم الصوتية في أقرب وقت عبر واتساب إلى الأرقام التالية:
0096171469152
0096170970454

♦️يرجى ذكر الاسم والبلد في بداية الرسالة الصوتية
♦️على ألا تتجاوز الرسالة الدقيقة الواحدة.

الحريّة لأسرى الحرية
صوتنا لأسرى فلسطين

Belgian organizations call for the urgent liberation of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah

1 May 2020

42 associations and 229 individuals signed on to a Belgian statement calling for the immediate release of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah – Lebanese Communist and prisoner for Palestine held in French prisons – amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is one of the signatories of this statement, released on 29 April 2020. The statement and the signatories follow below in English, French and Dutch, republished from the original post at Plate-Forme Charleroi-Palestine.

COVID-19 crisis: Free Georges Abdallah Now!

English | French | Dutch

The coronavirus crisis accentuates the urgency of the immediate release of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.

We, the undersigned Belgian organizations and citizens, join with the numerous calls for the immediate release of detainees in order to deal with the threat posed by COVID-19 inside prisons.

We launch an urgent appeal for the release of Georges Abdallah, Lebanese Communist and anti-imperialist activist, the longest-held political prisoner in Europe, detained in France for over 35 years.

Georges Abdallah saw his mandatory sentence completed in 1999. He has been eligible for release for over 20 years.

Already in 2012, he received a favorable decision for his release from the court. His country, Lebanon, has repeatedly affirmed its agreement for his return. The only thing missing for Georges’ release was the signature of the French Minister of the Interior on the order deporting him to Lebanon. The French minister refused to affix this signature, in direct collaboration with the United States and Israel!

We reject endless sentences for political prisoners who, like Georges Abdallah, have remained faithful to their principles.

We reject the establishment of an American model of imprisonment that executes inmates through detention until death and which only releases them when they are seriously ill and on the verge of eath.

In 2013, political prisoner Herman Wallace died at the age of 71, just three days after his release. He had spent four decades in prison. Another political prisoner, Marilyn Buck, died in 2012, aged 62, one month after her release from prison, where she spent 25 years.

Georges Abdallah is now 69 years old. He is one of those elderly prisoners for whom the United Nations has requested immediate release in the context of the coronavirus crisis.

France has freed thousands of prisoners as part of the pandemic: France must free Georges Abdallah NOW!

Organizational signatories:

ABP, Belgian-Palestinian Association
ABP, Belgian-Palestinian Association, Liège
Alhirak Cha3bi Brussels
Antwerp for Palestine
Attac Brussels
BACBI Coördinatiecomité / Coordination committee
Be.One
BRussells Tribunal
Brussels Panthères
Campaign Stop Repression
Arab Cultural Center in Pays de Liège
De-colonizer
CLAC – Collectif de luttes anti-carcérales
Coalition européenne de soutien aux prisonniers palestiniens
Comité de Vigilance pour la Démocratie en Tunisie
Comité Free.Assange.Belgium
Comité Verviers Palestine
Communauté palestinienne en Belgique
Forum démocratique palestinien en Europe
Gauche anticapitaliste
GAPP – Gents Actie-Platform Palestina
Investig’Action
JOC, Jeunes Organisés et Combattifs, Bruxelles
Käthe Kollwitz Vredesloop
MCP, Mouvement Citoyen Palestine
MOC, Mouvement Ouvrier Chrétien, Charleroi-Thuin
Muslims for Socialism
Nouvelle Voie Anticoloniale
Palestina Solidariteit
Palestina Solidariteit Herent
PCB – CPB, Parti Communiste de Belgique – Communistische Partij België
PJPO BW – Paix Juste au Proche Orient, Brabant wallon
Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine
Plateforme Watermael-Boitsfort Palestine
Raj’een dabke dance group
Rebuild Christians for Socialism
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoners Network
Solidarity for All
UPJB – Union des Progressistes Juifs de Belgique
V-SB, Vlaams Socialistische Beweging
ViaVelo Palestina
Vrede vzw

Individual signatories:
Abou Jahjah Dyab, author
Aguidi Najat, author and BDS activist
Ahmed Bissan, Prof. of Pathology and Histology and Cancer Researcher in Pharmacology department, Arab international University
Al-Damiri Hamdan, Palestinian Community of Belgium
Alegre Gréta, retired producer and director of documentary films
Allouache Nadir, heating engineer
Amy Jean-Jacques, professor emeritus, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy, VUB
Andersen René, trade unionist Charleroi region
Arnaut Karel, anthropologist, KU Leuven
Awad Mustafa, former political prisoner in Israel
Bantuelle Martine, citizen
Barnet Rudy, cultural activist
Barrea Dirk, social worker CSC-ACV
Baudson Adeline, federal secretary of the MOC Charleroi-Thuin
Beauthier Georges Henri, lawyer at the bar of Brussels and Paris
Béghin Juliette, criminologist
Benkhelifa Selma, lawyer
Berger Anne, retired
Blaze Véronique, doctor in the public hospitals of Charleroi
Blume Marianne, Association Belgo-Palestinienne
Bonfanti Eve, actress, writer and director La Fabrique Imaginaire
Boumazzoughe Nadia, employee, Brussels
Bounir Yamina, president Comité Verviers Palestine
Bovy Yannick, journalist and editor
Brion Fabienne, professor Faculty of Law and Criminology UCL
Bronstein Eitan, De-Colonizer
Bronstein Eléonore Merza , De-Colonizer
Bruneel Jean-Marc, citizen of the world
Cailloux Guy, retired
Catherine Lucas, author
Chakri Abdelhamid, retired
Chakri-Robert Annick, retired from the civil service
Challande Brigitte, cultural administrator and BDS activist
Chaquiri Najib, artist
Claes John, Palestina Committee, sympathizer PVDA
Claessens Carmen, Antwerp for Palestine, health activist
Coen Renée, psychologist
Colicchio Pasquale, trade unionist
Constantini Valeriana, pensioner
Cordemans Marie-Françoise, retired teacher, member of the committees Free Ali Aarrass and Free Julian Assange Belgium
Cottenier Jo, study service PTB
Couturiaux Marie-Claire, retired secretary
Creuwels Leni, Hannah Interculture Projecten, vzw
D’Hallewin Grégory, active in education and the voluntary sector
David Eric, Professor Emeritus of public international law at ULB
David Marc, emeritus professor, Universiteit Antwerpen, Dep. Wiskunde
De Brabander Ludo, Vrede vzw
De Buck Lieve, yoga teacher
De Cauter Lieven, philosopher, art historian, author and activist, KU Leuven
De Ley Herman, Em.Prof. UGent, member of the BACBI Coordinating Committee
De Ly Myriam, Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine
De Maegd Frans, worker, Instituut voor Marxitische Studies (Imast-Inem) België
De Queecker Ida, feminist, actief in FURIA in BOEH!
De Walque Francis, unionized pensioner
De Witte Ludo, author
Defieuw Marij, volunteer for 11.11.11
Dekkers Daniel, engineer
Delporte Jean-Paul, member of PJPO-Walloon Brabant, ex-director ONE (French Community)
Delrez Marc, University of Liège
Delrue Jan Gabriel, Prof in the KU Leuven architecture department
Dembour Stany, former worker-priest
Den Hond Chris, video journalist
Deneckere Gita, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy UGent
Denis Baudouin, general practitioner
Depoorter Dounia, Artist and Choirmaster of Patshiva Cie
Depoortere Johan, retired journalist
Deprez -France, citizen
Deswaef Alexis, lawyer and vice-president of FIDH
Dethy André, retired hospital executive, active member of Amnesty International.
Devos Magda, UGent honorary professor.
Djebara Sarah, doctor
Doom Ruddy, Prof. Em. UGent
El Mahdi Madmad, computer scientist
Faraj Abdesslem, ULB teaching assistant
Ferrian Sandra, employee
Flémal Jean-Marie, translator
Flinker Jean, member of Attac-Bruxelles (1)
Franssen Lieve, member of BACBI
Frassini Ahmed, artist
Frères Geneviève, retired teacher
Fruchon Yves, retired
Gastaldi Eliane, retired
Germain Marc, Lecturer at the University of Lille
Gillis Pierre, honorary professor at UMONS
Ginsburg Victor, honorary professor at ULB
Goetelen Brunhilde, social worker
Goethuys Jean-Pierre, retired
Goldschmidt Tom, retired journalist
Goubeau Patrick, Professor Emeritus of UCLouvain
Graux Allain, writer-traveler
Gregoor Annick, supervisor / educator
Griez Jean-Pierre, director
Groffils Marie, retired clerk
Guzmàn Ringo, president asbl Arlac, Bruxelles
Haepers Chris, gepensioneerd paramedicus buitengewoon onderwijs
Helbo Marie, travel agent
Herlemont Louise, teacher at the School of Arts in Braine-l’Alleud
Hoyaux Anne, citizen
Hufkens Eric, doctor at MPLP
Hulsens Eric, honorary lecturer of the Provincial Higher Education Antwerp
Humblet Perrine, Honorary Professor, ULB
Hunstad Yves, author director La Fabrique Imaginaire
Hustache Serge, MP PS
Huyghens Suzanne, retired social worker
Ioannidis Fotoula, pensioner and pacifist
Iven Joris, poet – writer
Jabary Salamanca Omar, Ghent University, Department of Conflict and Development
Jamar David, sociologist UMONS
Jamar de Bolsée Albert, retired
Jaroszewski Julie, artist and activist
Jaumotte Anne-Marie, lawyer, member of Amnesty International and ABP
Kajoua Wafi, Alhirak Cha3bi Bruxelles
Karras Hafed, garden cultivator urban community organic; intal / viva salud
Kellens Dominique, secretary for secondary education
Kesenne Stefan, professor emeritus of economics, KULeuven
Khleifi Michel, director
La Meir Karin, marriage counselor
Laenens Leen, retired
Lalieu Gregory, journalist
Larnout Korneel, internationaal coördinator, Moslims voor het Socialism
Leburton Jean-Marie, union delegate FGTB, activist for the rights of the undocumented
Lepas Claude, retired surgeon
Leurin Marcel, honorary education inspector
Lothier Marie-Christine, member of the Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine, former director of Entraide and Fraternité
Louckx Fred, professor emeritus, VUB
Lutjeharms Madeline, professor emeritus VUB
Mahy Jean-Luc, educ’actor
Malchaire Jacques, Emeritus Professor UCLouvain
Marage Pierre, Honorary Professor ULB, former Dean of Faculty. des Sciences
Marchetti Lino, citizen
May Xavier, researcher at ULB
Mayer Cathy, retired teacher
Merckx Kris, physician, founder of Medicine for the People (PTB/PVDA)
Mielants Herman, prof. Em. UGent
Mignolet Huguette, retired
Mommaerts Omer, retired
Mommerency Michel, activist PTB
Mondelaers Toon, retired, member of Christenen voor het socialisme in PVDA
Mooren José, retired docent
Morelli Anne, honorary professor at ULB
Mottart Anne, PJPO
Mottequin Agnes, retired
Mrani Mohamed employed
Neefs Inge, teacher
Neve Marc, Président – Voorzitter Conseil Central de Surveillance Pénitentiaire – Centrale Toezichtsraad voor het Gevangeniswezen
Nicaise Idesbald, professor KULeuven
Nysthoven Lieve, clerk in the health sector
Off-Nathan Josiane, retired
Offermans Jerome, educator and activist
Pagnoulle Christine, ULiège, member of the Board of ATTAC-Liège and CADTM
Passos Monica, singer
Pauwels Mia, retired teacher
Pena Miguel, coordinator of Coordinadora Latinoamericana de solidaridad en Bégica
Péromet Mireille, retired teacher
Piérard Christine, activist for Palestine and defense of human rights
Piolat Jérémie, anthropologist
Plasman Robert, University professor, ULB
Polet Mia, retired
Poncin Léon, Belgian citizen, retired from the civil service
Poncin Corinne, honorary lawyer
Provoost Veerle, Professor UGent
Qasem Maysan, student in Environmental Sciences at ULB
Quoizola Magali, computer scientist
Raeymaekers Geert, retired
Ragala Naima, member of PJPO-Walloon Brabant
Ramon Maria, retired teacher
Renoir Milady, poet engaged in the struggle of the undocumented
Roeck Bob, retired psychologist
Roland Michel, family doctor, retired teacher general medicine and social medicine ULB, past-president Médecins du Monde
Rosa-Rosso Nadine, teacher
Sabbagh Nagi, Center Culturel Arabe en Pays de Liège
Sabbe Isabelle, pharmaceutical employee
Saey Pieter, honorary professor, UGent
Saïdi Nordine, Decolonial activist and member of Brussels Panthères
Salmon Michèle, retired teacher
Samraye Marianne, retired professor, coordinator of ViaVelo Palestina
Saublains Raymond, photographer
Schillings Jacques, retired from the European civil service
Schomblond Christiane, Honorary lecturer at ULB
Scohier Claire, criminologist and urban activist
Scordia Manu, designer
Scrève Marie-Christine, retired citizen, activist
Smit Johan, retired nurse
Sottieau Charles, retired
Souissi Youssef, teacher and sworn translator / interpreter
Staszewski Michel, retired teacher
Stengers Isabelle, philosopher
Takahashi Nozomi, Staff scientist VIB-UGent Center for Inflammation Research, BACBI coordination committee member
Terryn Peter, coördinator Solidarity for All
Thielemans Lea, retired
Thirifays Fanny, project manager in a participative democracy asbl in Namur
Timmermans Marie-Henriette, Honorary Wallonia-Brussels Delegate
Tits Viviane, humanist
Umay Tulay, sociologist
Van de Wateringen Ilja, theater technical director, in opera
Van den Berghe Gie, ethicist and historian
Van den Broeck Mieke, advocate
Van den Broeck Stefan, author / teacher
Van Dijk Hélène, founder and trainer of the association “Questions de justice”
Van Doninck Maria, retired
Van Doninck Irena, homemaker
Van Doninck Wouter, retired railway worker
Van Dyck Barbara, researcher, Coventry University
Van Haeren Mark, retired director of primary education
Van Hauwe Yvette, retired
Van Herck Catherine, retired nurse
Van Hove Anita, retired citizen
Van Langendonck Geert, coördinator van Käthe Kollwitz Vredesloop
Van Loock Lieve, higher school teacher (retired)
Van Moorter Geert, emergency doctor
Van Riet Thomas, Prof. KULeuven
Van Vlierden Rob, PVDA activist, retired social worker
Vandepitte Marc, philosopher
Vanderlooy Raymond, ex-delegate BNP Paribas Fortis
Vanhove Daniel, MCP
Vannyvelseel Noé, retired
Vercheval Véronique, photographer
Vercruyssen Frank, actor
Verlaine André, président de la Coordination Namuroise Belgo-Palestinienne asbl
Verschuere Piet, retired educator
Vervaet Luk, Prisoners’ News
Viart Pierre, doctor
Waroquiez Dominique, retired teacher
Watrin Philip, nurse
Zine Abdellah, worker

International signatories:

France

Organizations:
Campagne BDS France Montpellier
Groupe Non-Violent LOUIS LECOIN
Questions de Justice, association

Individuals:
Boumediene-Thiéry Alima, lawyer
Cabanne Valérie, UJFP 34
Cauvy Francis, physiotherapist and union activist CGT
Coudrais Geneviève, retired (lawyer), member of AFPS
Desbois Jean, activist for the Palestinian cause, member of the BDS Committee Montpellier
Franville Jean, France
Joseph Joëlle, member of PRCF Initiative Communiste
Moraguès José, BDS activist France Montpellier
Mousset Nelly, Montpellier 34
Nastasio Andro, Brest-France
Paumier François, co-founder of the association “Couserans Palestine” in Ariège
Sauty Philippe, France
Soursac Elisa, retired from national education (hygiene teacher: microbio and ecology)

Luxembourg

Organizations:
CPJPO (Committee for a Just Peace in the Middle East) -Luxembourg

Individuals:
Grégoire Claude, teacher
Kleinberg Martine, Committee for a Just Peace in the Middle East (Luxembourg)
Legrand Michel, CPJPO Luxembourg

Switzerland

Schöni Marc, pastor, Switzerland

Netherlands

Nieuwenhuijsen Gérard, Palestina Comité and Kifaia Rotterdam
Risseeuw Anita, chair, Palestina Komitee Rotterdam
Thieme Kees, church worker, Rotterdam
Verzijl Anne, Rotterdam 1 Mei Comitee

Crise COVID-19 : Libérez Georges Abdallah maintenant !

La crise du coronavirus accentue l’urgence de la libération immédiate de Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.

Nous, organisations et citoyen.ne.s belges soussignées, nous nous joignons aux nombreux appels à la libération immédiate des détenus pour pouvoir faire face au COVID-19 dans les prisons.

Nous lançons un appel urgent à la libération de Georges Abdallah, militant communiste et anti-impérialiste libanais, le plus vieux prisonnier politique en Europe, détenu en France depuis plus de 35 ans.

Georges Abdallah a vu sa peine de sûreté accomplie en 1999. Il est libérable depuis plus de 20 ans.

Déjà, en 2012, le tribunal a donné un avis favorable à sa libération et le Liban, son pays, a réaffirmé à maintes reprises son accord pour son retour. Il ne manque à la libération de Georges que la signature du ministre français de l’Intérieur sur l’arrêté d’expulsion vers le Liban. Signature que le ministre français refuse d’apposer, en collaboration directe avec les États-Unis et Israël.

Nous refusons les peines sans fin pour les prisonniers politiques qui, comme Georges Abdallah, sont restés fidèles à leurs convictions.

Nous refusons la mise en place d’un modèle carcéral américain qui exécute des détenus par la détention jusqu’à ce que mort s’ensuive et qui ne les libère que lorsqu’ils sont gravement malades et sur le point de mourir.

Ainsi, en 2013, le prisonnier politique Herman Wallace est mort à 71 ans, à peine trois jours après sa libération. Il avait passé quatre décennies en prison. Une autre prisonnière politique, Marilyn Buck, est morte en 2012, à 62 ans, un mois après sa libération de la prison où elle avait passé 25 ans.

Georges Abdallah est aujourd’hui âgé de 69 ans. Il fait partie de ces prisonniers âgés pour lesquels l’ONU demande la libération immédiate dans le cadre de la crise corona.

La France a libéré des milliers de prisonniers dans le cadre de la pandémie : qu’elle libère Georges Abdallah maintenant !
h3 class=”blue_color”>COVID-19-crisis: Georges Abdallah moet nu worden vrijgelaten

De coronacrisis vereist meer dan ooit de onmiddellijke vrijlating van Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.

Wij, ondergetekende Belgische organisaties en geëngageerde burgers, sluiten ons aan bij de talrijke oproepen voor de onmiddellijke vrijlating van gevangenen om zo het hoofd te kunnen bieden aan COVID-19 in de gevangenissen. Wij lanceren een dringende oproep voor de vrijlating van Georges Abdallah, de Libanese communist en anti-imperialistische activist, de oudste politieke gevangene in Europa, die al meer dan 35 jaar in een Franse gevangenis zit.

Georges Abdallah komt sinds meer dan twintig jaar in aanmerking voor een invrijheidsstelling. In 2012 gaf een Franse rechtbank daarvoor een positief advies. Libanon bevestigde meermaals zijn instemming met de terugkeer van Georges naar zijn vaderland. Het enige wat nog ontbrak, was de handtekening van de Franse minister van Binnenlandse Zaken, die het uitzettingsbevel naar Libanon moest bekrachtigen. Tot op vandaag weigert de minister echter zijn handtekening te zetten, in directe samenwerking met de Verenigde Staten en Israël.

Wij verzetten ons tegen de straffen-zonder-einde voor de politieke gevangenen die, zoals Georges Abdallah, hun overtuiging trouw zijn gebleven.

We verzetten ons tegen de invoering van een Amerikaans gevangenismodel in onze landen. Dat executeert gevangenen door hen in de gevangenis te houden tot de dood, en laat hen alleen nog vrij wanneer ze dodelijk ziek zijn. Zo stierf de politieke gevangene Herman Wallace in 2013, op 71-jarige leeftijd, drie dagen na zijn vrijlating. Hij had vier decennia in de gevangenis gezeten. Een andere politieke gevangene, Marilyn Buck, stierf in 2012, op 62-jarige leeftijd, een maand na haar vrijlating uit de gevangenis, waar ze 25 jaar had doorgebracht. Beiden waren dodelijk ziek.

Georges Abdallah is nu 69 jaar oud.

Hij behoort tot de categorie van de bejaarde gevangenen voor wie de Verenigde Naties de onmiddellijke vrijlating eisen in het kader van de strijd tegen de corona-crisis. Frankrijk heeft duizenden gevangenen vrijgelaten in het kader van de strijd tegen de pandemie.Frankrijk moet Georges Abdallah vrijlaten! NU!

Video: Webinar on Germany and the repression of Palestinian organizing

1 May 2020

HIRAK, the Palestinian Youth Mobilization in Berlin, and Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network hosted a webinar on Thursday, 30 April, 2020, on the repression directed againat Palestinian communities and Palestine solidarity organizing in Germany. Palestinian human rights lawyer in Germany Nadija Samour spoke about the case of Khaled Barakat and the legal and political environment in Germany surrounding the attacks on freedom of expression.

Watch the video online:

The discussion included a focus on the racist repression directed against Palestinian communities and other communities of color, including targeting Palestinian leftist writer Khaled Barakat and Palestinian feminist, community organizer and former prisoner Rasmea Odeh. Samour provided a thorough overview of the legal and political context in which communities are struggling to organize.

In the discussion following her presentation, Barakat commented about the need to respond to the situation with greater political clarity and conviction, including on the right to resist and the right to organize. Mohammed Khatib, Europe coordinator of Samidoun, urged participants to get involved in organizing, especially Palestinians in exile and diaspora.

Yasmine of HIRAK noted that “There is a siege on the Palestinian people overall, and every Palestinian community and group is affected and targeted in its own way, from the devastating siege on Gaza to the attacks on our rights in Germany…We refuse to be pushed into silence. We will not accept the criminalization of Palestinian organizing.” Christoph of the BDS Initiative Oldenburg commented that the German public was actually increasingly aware of the reality in Palestine, despite the repressive efforts to silence organizing, ban events, impose political bans or pass anti-BDS resolutions.

Samour noted a number of organizations working to defend Palestinian rights in Germany, including Palästina Spricht (Palestine Speaks) and the European Legal Support Centre, which has played a role alongside organizations like the European Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights, the Association of Democratic Jurists and the International League for Human Rights in defending Barakat’s rights and those of Palestinian and Palestine solidarity organizers in Germany. She also discussed the recent attacks on Achille Mbembe and the targeting of writers and cultural figures for their defense of Palestinian rights.

Samidoun invites all to join in upcoming webinars and events to continue to build our global solidarity and joint struggle. On Saturday, 16 May, join us for an English-language webinar with Khaled Barakat (Palestinian writer and activist, subjected to repression in Germany) on The Liberation of Palestine: From the River to the Sea. Register today: https://bit.ly/liberatepalestine The webinar will take place at 10 am Pacific, 1 pm Eastern, 7 pm Europe, 8 pm Palestine time.

The event concluded with the Redfish video on the Khaled Barakat case, which is shared below:

16 May, Online Event: Liberate Palestine: From the River to the Sea

1 May 2020

Saturday, 16 May
10 am Pacific/1 pm Eastern/7 pm central Europe/8 pm Palestine
Register online: https://bit.ly/liberatepalestine
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/252840772507550/

Join Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network for the Week of Palestinian Struggle, 15-22 May 2020!

On Saturday, 16 May, join us for a webinar with Palestinian writer Khaled Barakat on the illegitimacy of Israel and the defense of Palestine, Liberate Palestine: From the River to the Sea.

Register online to join us on ZOOM: https://bit.ly/liberatepalestine Event will also be livestreamed on the Samidoun facebook page at https://facebook.com/SamidounPrisonerSolidarity

30 April, Webinar: Germany and the Repression of Palestinian Organizing

26 April 2020

Thursday, 30 April
10:30 Pacific – 1:30 Eastern – 5:30 UTC – 7:30 Berlin/Europe – 8:30 Palestine
REGISTER ONLINE: http://bit.ly/germanypalestine
Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/2746379965490249/

With Palestinian human rights lawyer Nadija Samour

Palestinian lawyer Nadija Samour speaks from Berlin at a special seminar on the issue of writer Khaled Barakat and official German policies towards freedom of opinion and expression in relation to the Palestinian issue, the seminar also discusses attempts to criminalize the international boycott movement and highlight many rights issues similar to Palestinians and Arabs in Germany. On Thursday at 7:30 pm (Germany), 8:30 pm (Palestine) – 10:30 am Pacific, 1:30 pm Eastern, 5:30 PM UTC

Die palästinensische Anwältin Nadia Samour spricht aus Berlin bei einem Sonderseminar zum Thema des Schriftstellers Khaled Barakat und der offiziellen deutschen Politik der Meinungs- und Meinungsfreiheit in Bezug auf die palästinensische Frage, das Seminar diskutiert auch Versuche, die internationale Boykottbewegung zu kriminalisieren und viele Rechtsfragen aufzuzeigen, die Palästinensern und Arabern in Deutschland ähneln. Am Donnerstag um 8:30 Jerusalem Zeit besetzt um 7:30 Berliner Zeit.

Hinweis: Seminar in englischer Sprache

المحامية الفلسطينية نادية سمّور تتحدث من برلين في ندوة خاصة حول قضية الكاتب خالد بركات و السياسات الالمانية الرسمية تجاه حرية الراي والتعبير بما يتصل بالقضية الفلسطينية ، تتناول الندوة كذلك محاولات تجريم حركة المقاطعة الدولية وتسليط الضوء على العديد من القضايا الحقوقية المشابهة للفلسطينين والعرب في المانيا. وذلك يوم الخميس الساعة ٨:٣٠ توقيت القدس المحتلة الساعة ٧:٣٠ توقيت برلين.
عبر الرابط الاتي:
https://bit.ly/germanypalestine
ملاحظة: الندوة باللغة الإنجليزية

Organized by HIRAK, the Palestinian Youth Mobilization in Berlin, and Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

The Right to Health and Coronavirus Pandemic: Profit over Human Life by Ubai Aboudi

26 April 2020

by Ubai Al-Aboudi

The following article was originally published at Bisan Center for Research and Development, where Ubai Aboudi serves as Executive Director. He has been imprisoned since November 2019 – sparking international protest and pressure, including among his colleagues in Scientists for Palestine – and continues to be held inside Israeli jails. As the Bisan Center noted in their introduction to this piece, “Despite his arrest, Ubai is still a critical part of the productivity and the work of the Center.” We urge all readers of this article to join the actions to free Ubai Aboudi and his fellow Palestinian prisoners.

I will not start my article with a big speech on the right to health or even the right to enjoy suitable healthcare; nor will I remind you that they are both fundamental rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. This is indisputable and does not require renewal of a social contract that includes this essential term in human existence, which emanates from the right to life and is a natural extension of it. Thankfully, science has made great advancements in the field of medicine, as human life can be easily prolonged and its quality improved despite old age. Now that we are in the twenty-first century, and after all the medical advancements we have made, we cannot abandon this elixir of life and accept sudden death due to the lack of treatment or suitable healthcare.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is no different from other pandemics in the history of human life. Each pandemic is unclear and concerning in its early stages. It casts its shadow over a certain region paralyzing it, and then it victoriously spreads to other regions, turning people’s everyday lives to nightmares. The atrocity of such a pandemic increases when it takes the life of a person whose body has already been anguished by a handful of chronic diseases, as such completing the circle of life. Although the virus is devious, it is not irremediable. It can be tamed if suitable healthcare is provided to those afflicted by it until a vaccine to defeat and control the spread of the virus is found.

Normally at this stage and as a result of this pandemic, people will lose their lives due to the lack of healthcare provided to them. Such a death does not only take the lives of millions of impoverished people in developing countries, but also takes the lives of citizens of wealthy countries as well who are either excluded from the healthcare system in their countries or found that the healthcare system in their countries is not qualified for such medical emergencies. Palestinian prisoners at Israeli prisons possibly know best the meaning of lack of healthcare when needed, as many of them fell martyrs due to medical neglect by the Israeli occupation authorities.

The coronavirus pandemic has revealed the weakness of the globalized neoliberal system, or as Samir Amin calls it, “unbridled neoliberalism.” This system became dominant in the world after the collapse of socialism in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The system is based on absolute or semi-absolute free international trade. Capitalism has transcended the traditional borders of countries and opened markets on a globalized scale. Internet, social media and transportation developments mean that globalized industries depend in their production on relatively long value chains that extend across countries or continents, from the provision of raw materials to providing consumption markets. At this time, there is talk about freeing the service sectors to international trade as a new stage of global free trade.

The reality is, this pandemic and the resulting need for the health sector has revealed the reality of the globalized neoliberal system. The weak investment in the public health sector has also been revealed, even in wealthy countries such as France, Italy and the United States, since a number of services provided by the public sector have been transferred to the private sector under the premise of restructuring and realizing economic efficiency. Nevertheless, the story is different in developing countries, as their health sector suffers from weak capacities to provide services, and from poor services overall, which makes it unqualified to meet citizens’ needs in normal times let alone in an emergency.

One may see the worst point to which humanity has arrived when you track the international map of the division of work and production. You will see that the production of pharmaceutical and medical supplies were also included in such a division. China and Turkey specialized in the production of masks and medical protection tools, while India specialized in the production of basic materials used in pharmaceutical production. As the coronavirus has become a global crisis, the demand for medical supplies, ventilators and resuscitators has increased. As such, many countries have found themselves short on medical supplies in general, while the quantities that can be exported to the world have been limited or prevented altogether. This global shortage has resulted in the exacerbation of the health crisis in countries struck hard by the virus, and has led to the increase in the number of infections and deaths around the world.

With the increase in the bidding war and piracy over medical supplies, while turning their back on countries most in need, we can clearly see the hideousness and ethical degradation that the current global system has reached in facing this pandemic. Other phenomena that accompanied free trade in medicine and medical supplies, restructuring and reducing public expenses were provided the international monetary institutions, such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Such institutions have provided advice and put pressure on countries to change their spending patterns on social sectors, including the health sector, in order to reduce the deficiency in state budgets and realize higher growth rates.

Such recipes were adopted by both wealthy and poor countries, we can even say that the neoliberal theory has become a religious belief for the elite ruling most developing and advanced countries. For example, the US President Donald Trump has worked to cancel even the mild approaches to a comprehensive healthcare system adopted by his predecessor Obama, leaving millions of US citizens without medical coverage during crisis. In the last three decades, France and Italy have lose one hundred thousand and ninety thousand hospital beds respectively as a result of reduced government spending on the health sector based on the recommendations of neoliberal economists. It is worth noting that an entirely new branch of economy has emerged, which is the economy of health, that made the health sector subject to profit and loss calculations in accordance with the neoliberal theory in economy. This means that the supply and demand equilibrium is taken into account in deciding prices, without even considering that human life is more precious and important than any economic calculations.

It is worth noting that monopoly practices by major pharmaceutical companies during the spread of AIDS in Africa is the closest example. The said companies refused to reduce their prices or allow African companies to produce alternative medicines that prevent the transfer of the virus from mothers to their fetuses during pregnancy. They refused to do so under the premise that they need to protect their intellectual property and economic returns. The cries of French doctors on allowing them to use hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin – two cheap and widely available medicines that have shown efficiency in treating COVID-19 according to many specialists – to treat patients with coronavirus serves as proof of the extent to which French pharmaceutical companies intervene in the health system to attempt to market that expensive antiviral medications.

The situation is much direr in developing countries, as many of them have a weak health sector and are unable to meet the daily needs of citizens. Such countries do not have sufficient medical beds or medicines, nor do they have sufficient medical staff to handle emergencies.

We can study the conditions of the Palestinian Authority in terms of our current reality, as its health sector’s inability to face challenges and crises is evident. According to a report by the Coalition for Accountability and Integrity-AMAN on developmental spending in social sectors issued in 2019, the Palestinian health sector suffers an annual funding gap estimated at 1,400 million ILS, which has negatively reflected on its ability to respond to the people’s medical needs. To meet such needs, a system of medical transfers to Israeli and regional hospitals was created. This system is mainly based on purchasing medical services from abroad instead of building capacities in the Palestinian healthcare system and nationalizing services. The PA has spent an average of 700 million ILS annually in the last two decades on this transfer system. The funding gap in the health sector could have been covered by rechanneling funds from the governance sector, which consumes 43% of the PA’s annual budget, particularly reforming the security sector that consumes an annual budget of 5.8 billion ILS. Different analyses show that this budget can be cut by half through restructuring the security sector, merging different security apparatus and terminating the overlap between the activities of security services. This would meet the sectoral needs in the right to health and provide an excess of funds to realize economic development.

The current crisis poses the end of the global neoliberal system that we have seen throughout the past three decades. This system has resulted in an annual global economy of $85 trillion and a global debt of $250 trillion without solving poverty, unemployment or climate change. Moreover, this system has realized a complete failure in facing the first globalized health crisis seen by modern humanity. This promises an end to “privatized development”, which is the development that is controlled by the private sector without any central plan, leadership or guidance, as opposed to the state’s role in leading and guiding the development process in the country. “Privatized development” is limited to economic development without considering the essence of the development process, which is people. It attempts, through the terminology it uses, to present partnership between the public sector, private sector and civil society, to limit the state’s role and give way to the concepts of profit and investment. As such, the state’s role has become complementary to the private sector and citizens have abandoned the concepts of the right to health, food, education and life. The state is no longer required to provide such rights, but rather the market provides them in accordance with the concepts of profit and loss. As long as the private sector directs development, its investments that are governed by the principles of profit and competition in the context of free international trade will not be directed towards improving the conditions of humanity, but rather to increase the capital of its holders.

In an irrational global system where billionaires exist alongside starving people, where the wealth of the eight wealthiest people in the world is equal to the wealth of the poorer half of the population; changing the system to a more humanitarian system becomes an urgent necessity. Finding a system that redistributes wealth produced by humankind in accordance with our needs as people and based on the notion that we are part of a greater ecological system. I am reminded here of Barry Commoner’s statement: “Here we can learn a basic lesson from nature: that nothing can survive on the planet unless it is a cooperative part of a larger global whole.”

Detained Palestinian student tests positive for coronavirus while under interrogation at Moskobiyeh detention center

24 April 2020

Detained Palestinian student Mohammed Hassan, 21, reportedly tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, 24 April after being seized by Israeli occupation forces from his family home in the village of Deir Sudan only two days before, on Wednesday, 22 April. Mohammed, 21, is the Secretary of the Finance Committee of the Bir Zeit University student council; he was seized along with fellow Bir Zeit University student Abdel-Rahman Misbah, the coordinator of the Islamic Bloc on campus.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network emphasizes the complete responsibility of the Israeli state and the Israel Prison Service for the lives and health of Mohammed Hassan and his fellow Palestinian prisoners and demands his immediate release, and the release of all imprisoned Palestinians.

He is also the brother of fellow detained Bir Zeit University student Shatha Hassan, the president of the Student Council Convention at the university. She is jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention; these detention orders are indefinitely renewable, and Palestinians have spent years at a time imprisoned without ever being charged or tried.

*Mohammed Hassan and his family with a poster of his detained sister, Shatha Hassan.*

The coronavirus diagnosis came after the detained student was held at the notorious Moskobiyeh detention center under interrogation for two days. His detention had just been extended for eight days to further interrogate him; upon the announcement of his diagnosis, he was transferred to the Ramle Prison Clinic, according to Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, which informed his family of his condition and began advocating for his immediate release.

The Moskobiyeh interrogation center is notorious as a site for severe torture and abuse against Palestinians detained by Israeli occupation forces, including and particularly Palestinian student prisoners. In addition, the arrest of Mohammed Hassan and his fellow students highlights once again the systematic Israeli policy of targeting active Palestinian students for detention and imprisonment.

There are currently approximately 250 Palestinian students held in Israeli jails, including approximately 80 from Bir Zeit University alone, like Mohammed and Shatha Hassan. Over the years, thousands of Palestinian university students have been targeted for arrest and persecution. Palestinian universities have been frequently raided by Israeli occupation forces; student organizations’ offices have been ransacked, their belongings confiscated and destroyed. Student organizations and blocs are targeted under the same military orders that target Palestinian political parties and other social and cultural association.

Even when student associations are not officially labeled “prohibited organizations” by the Israeli occupation, detained students are routinely accused in military courts on the basis of alleged “connections” or political and ideological affinities with Palestinian political parties. Students have been imprisoned and sentenced for holding cultural activities, book fairs, film screenings and rallies or for participating in annual campus elections.

This policy of repression and criminalization also presents a threat to students’ lives and health, as illustrated in the case of Mohammed Hassan. Palestinian prisoners have not only been blocked from in-person family visits or legal visits under restrictions imposed by the Israel Prison Service under the pretext of COVID-19, but are also denied phone calls with their family members or even their lawyers in most circumstances. Over 140 different items were removed from the “canteen” or prison store, including necessary sanitation products, and prisoners have been repeatedly denied testing, even after documented exposure to Israeli interrogators and prison guards confirmed to be infected with the novel coronavirus.

The conditions inside any prison pose a high risk of the immediate and deadly spread of the virus, but this is severely accentuated by systematic Israeli medical neglect and mistreatment. Prisoners who have been quarantined for potential coronavirus exposure have been thrown into solitary confinement cells, and violent arrest raids and interrogations have continued, despite the fact that Israeli interrogators and soldiers continue to move about normally in society and put Palestinian prisoners and their families at great risk of exposure. At least 67 Palestinian prisoners have lost their lives since 1967 due to Israeli medical neglect and mistreatment.

Just three days ago, on 21 April, Nour Barghouthi, 23, lost his life after he fainted in the toilet and the Israeli prison authorities delayed at least 30 minutes in obtaining medical assistance or attempting to revive him; they only provided medical assistance after a loud clamor by his fellow detained Palestinians persisted for a long period of time.

The Ramle prison clinic, where Mohammed Hassan is now being held – rather than being released to his family and a hospital for treatment – is notorious among Palestinian prisoners for its poor conditions and treatment; they have called it a “slaughterhouse” and labeled it a location for “slow death.”

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network emphasizes that the case of Mohammed Hassan underlines the urgent necessity of his release and that of his fellow Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. The situation is not simply a humanitarian concern for the health of the prisoners, but it instead reflects a systematic and racist Israeli policy of targeting Palestinian prisoners with complete disregard for their lives and health. Medical neglect and insufficient health care pose a constant threat to the prisoners, especially those who are also most vulnerable for COVID-19.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network emphasizes the urgency of a global response to COVID-19 that focuses on solidarity, mutual aid and public health, rather than capitalist values of exploitation, oppression and marginalization of the must vulnerable. We reiterate our long-standing call for the immediate release of all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, at severe risk in this time of pandemic, and especially administrative detainees, sick and elderly prisoners, and child prisoners. Defending public health must mean freedom for Palestinian prisoners, freedom for Palestine, and freedom for all oppressed peoples and nations.

Take Action:

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/
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
Support the prisoners with an online action or event! 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.
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.

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COVID-19 crisis: Free Georges Abdallah Now!

Crise COVID-19 : Libérez Georges Abdallah maintenant !

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