Le Temps de la Palestine Toulouse calls for a rally on Wednesday, 17 April from 5:30 pm to 7 pm at the Metro Capitole in Toulouse on the International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian Prisoners. On the program: workshop for writing letters to prisoners, photos, music, flyer distribution and more…
Today, there are approximately 5440 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, including 205 children (32 less than 16 years). Mass imprisonment is a strategy that has been used since 1967 in an attempt to suppress the Palestinian people’s resistance. In December 2018, the Israeli army arrested 187 Palestinians in 5 days. Torture, ill treatment and denial of family visits are a reality for thousands of people.
Israeli military courts order imprisonment following night raids and arrests that take place daily in the occupied West Bank. Carrying a Paletinian flag, joining a political party or a student political organization, joining in a demonstration of over 10 people can all be reasons for imprisonment. In fact, all Palestinians are considered “terrorists” by Israel.
Two years ago, Palestinian prisoners went on hunger strike for 40 days for dignity and freedom. We join in the continuation of the international mobilization in support of their struggle. The Paestinian people have called for our solidarity, and we are responding!
Le Temps de la Palestine Toulouse appelle à un rassemblement mercredi 17 avril de 17h30 à 19h au métro Capitole à Toulouse à l’occasion de la Journée de Solidarité avec les prisonnier.er.s palestinien.ne.s. Au programme : atelier d’écriture aux prisonnier.e.s, photos, musique, diffusion de flyers, prises de parole…
Aujourd’hui, on compte 5 440 prisonnier.e.s dans les prisons israéliennes, dont 205 mineurs (32 ont moins de 16 ans). L’enfermement de masse s’inscrit dans une stratégie mise en œuvre depuis 1967 pour briser la résistance du peuple palestinien. En décembre 2018, l’armée israélienne a arrêté 187 Palestinien.ne.s en 5 jours. Torture et mauvais traitements, privation de visite pour les familles sont la réalité de milliers de personnes. Les Tribunaux militaires israéliens emprisonnent à la suite d’arrestations nocturnes lors de raids quasi quotidiens dans toute la Cisjordanie. Brandir un drapeau palestinien, faire parti d’un parti politique ou d’une organisation politique étudiante, jeter des pierres, participer à un regroupement de plus de dix personnes sont autant de motifs d’enfermement. En fait tout palestinien.n.e est considéré par Israël comme terroriste.
Il y a deux ans, après 40 jours de grève de la faim pour la liberté et la dignité les prisonnier.e.s ont obtenu satisfaction. Nous nous sommes joints et nous continuerons à nous joindre aux mobilisations internationales en soutien à leur lutte. Le peuple palestinien a besoin de notre solidarité ! Nous répondons présent !
Quelques chiffres 2019
Au mois de février 2019, 5 440 prisonniers politiques palestinien.ne.s sont détenu.e.s dans les prisons israéliennes. 540 prisonniers purgent des sentences de prison à vie, et 493 des sentences de plus de 20 ans de prison. Depuis 2000, au moins 8 000 enfants palestiniens ont été détenus, interrogés et inculpés par la justice militaire israélienne, soit 500 à 700 par an. En novembre 2018, Israël libérait les deux plus jeunes prisonniers après trois ans d’enfermement, âgés de 12 ans lors de leur arrestation.
Depuis 1967, 850 000 Palestiniens ont été emprisonnés par les autorités israéliennes. Ce chiffre représente presque un quart de la population de la Palestine occupée. On estime par ailleurs qu’entre 45 et 50 % des hommes de plus de 18 ans ont séjourné au moins une fois en prison.
La détention administrative est une procédure qui permet à l’armée israélienne de détenir une personne pour une période de 6 mois maximum, renouvelable de manière indéfinie, sans inculpation ni procès. 497 Palestiniens sont en détention administrative, dont 5 parlementaires.
Signataires : Campagne BDS France-Toulouse , Collectif Palestine Vaincra, Union des Etudiants de Toulouse, NPA 31, Tackticollectif, Les Amis du Monde Diplomatique …
Palestinian prisoners have announced the launch of a collective hunger strike in Israeli prisons on Monday, 8 April to demand an end to the ongoing and escalated repression inside the prisons. The strike is being led by a number of leaders from all of the Palestinian political parties and organizations inside Israeli prisons, with 120 prisoners launching the open hunger strike as a first step toward a collective hunger strike of all prisoners, in a declaration of a “second battle of dignity (Karameh).”
The Handala Center for Prisoners and Former Prisoners said that the strike was launched in response to the Israel Prison Service’s reneging on previously agreed-upon understandings to lessen the level of repression imposed on the prisoners. Specifically, Allam Kaabi said, the prison administration had previously agreed to make telephone calls available to all except for those classified by the occupation as “security matters,” but then disavowed that understanding. The prisoners are represented by a leadership group representing all political forces; Ahmad Sa’adat, Palestinian national leader and the imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, is part of this coordinating committee.
The strike comes one day before the Israeli elections, in which a slew of right-wing candidates have competed with one another to pledge harsher attacks against the Palestinian people, including Palestinians in Gaza and Palestinian political prisoners.
As part of his own campaign efforts, Gilad Erdan, Israeli Minister of Internal Security, has imposed even more harsh repressive measures on Palestinian prisoners alongside public announcements and displays in an attempt to boost support for the Likud. (It should be noted that Erdan is also head of the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, responsible for global campaigns against the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement (BDS) and Palestine solidarity. In this context, Erdan has focused specific attacks on human rights organizations and solidarity groups supporting Palestinian prisoners, including Samidoun.)
These repressive attacks have included multiple invasions of prisoners’ cells, rooms and sections by heavily armed repressive units. Prisoners’ belongings have been searched and confiscated, while multiple prisoners have been transferred from section to section. Prisoners have been beaten by these forces, who have also fired tear gas within the confined space of prison sections, leading to multiple injuries. Thouands of books have been confiscated from the prisoners, while family visits have been banned for many prisoners, especially those associated with the Hamas movement. In addition, devices such as surveillance cameras and alleged mobile-phone jammers have been installed in the prisons, further elevating the level of surveillance faced by the prisoners.
These attacks have come under the banner of Erdan’s committee to “examine the conditions of the prisoners” in order to “impose a new reality” on Palestinian prisoners – precisely designed to roll back the rights that the prisoners have only won through years of struggle, including hunger strikes and other protests. The prisoners’ demands include: the installation of public telephones in the prisons to allow them to communicate with their families, the removal of the jamming devices, the return of family visits to normal and the abolition of all of the repressive measures, sanctions and penalties imposed on the prisoners.
According to breaking news reports from Palestine, key leaders of the prisoners’ movement and the Palestinian national liberation movement as a whole have joined the strike and hundreds are planning to join the strike in the coming days. The strike is planned to escalate on 17 April, marked in Palestine and internationally as Palestinian Prisoners’ Day. There are currently around 5,500 Palestinians held in Israeli jails, including 48 women, 230 children and nearly 500 held without charge or trial under indefinitely renewable administrative detention orders.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network expresses its strongest support for the Palestinian prisoners’ movement as it launches this critical battle for dignity and justice. We urge people around the world to take action to support the prisoners’ strike and join their struggle. The Palestinian prisoners will not be isolated or left alone! International solidarity is critical to building support, attention and pressure to help them achieve their demands.
Take Action!
1) Organize or join an event or protest for the Palestinian prisoners. From today, organize demonstrations, actions and events and join in the Prisoners’ Week of Action from 17 to 24 April 2019! You can organize an info table, rally, solidarity hunger strike, protest or action to support the prisoners. If you are already holding an event about Palestine or social justice, include solidarity with the prisoners as part of your action. Send your events and reports to samidoun@samidoun.net.
2) Write letters and make phone calls to protest the violation of Palestinian prisoners’ rights. Demand your government take action to stop supporting Israeli occupation or to pressure the Israeli state to end the policies of repression of Palestinian political prisoners.
Call during your country’s regular office hours:
• Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Marise Payne: + 61 2 6277 7500
• Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland: +1-613-992-5234
• European Union Commissioner Federica Mogherini: +32 (0) 2 29 53516
• New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Winston Peters: +64 4 439 8000
• United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt: +44 20 7008 1500
• United States President Donald Trump: 1-202-456-1111
3) Boycott, Divest and Sanction. 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.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is a signatory of the statement below, initiated by Critical Resistance and members of the U.S. Prisoner, Labor and Academic Delegation to Palestine. We urge groups and activists involved in the prison abolition and prisoner justice movements to add their names to this important document.
We are formerly incarcerated people, activists and scholars committed to ending mass incarceration and dismantling the U.S. prison industrial complex. We are deeply concerned with the mounting effort on the part of pro-Israel, Zionist organizations in the U.S. to appropriate a criminal justice reform platform in order to advance the racist ideology and practice of Zionism. These organizations are using this platform to win prison reform advocates, especially Black and other people of color, to their political agenda of attacking the human rights of the Palestinian people. This subterfuge is particularly hypocritical at a time when Zionist groups have recently mounted frontal attacks against Black leaders such as Angela Davis, Michelle Alexander and Marc Lamont Hill because of their support for Palestinian freedom, and at a time when Israel is brutally escalating their offensive against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. We call upon all those involved in the prison reform and abolition movements to refuse to participate in these dishonest and destructive programs.
A case in point is the recent Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA) conference. The conference had panels, speakers and workshops on prison reform side by side with workshops and lobbying aimed at attacking and defeating the grassroots movement for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS). The BDS movement was initiated in 2005 to expose the brutal reality of Israeli apartheid and pressure Israel to comply with international law with respect to Palestinian rights and freedom. Israel and Zionist organizations in the U.S. are determined to undermine the success of BDS through a lethal combination of threats, attacks, repressive legislation and cooptation.
Michelle Alexander explains, in her recent breakthrough opinion piece in the New York Times, that many civil rights advocates have remained silent on the issue of Palestine “not because they lack concern or sympathy for the Palestinian people, but because they fear loss of funding from foundations, and false charges of anti-Semitism. They worry, as I once did, that their important social justice work will be compromised or discredited by smear campaigns.” Alexander’s article was immediately met with angry denunciations by organizations that are members of the JCPA such as B’nai B’rith International, which called the piece an error-ridden “rant,” and the Anti-Defamation League, which condemned it as “dangerously flawed.”
It is two-faced for Zionist organizations to set themselves up as prison reformers while turning a blind eye to—and covering up—the abhorrent conditions that Palestinians experience in Israeli prisons. Since 1967, Israel has imprisoned over 800,000 Palestinians meaning that 1 in 5 Palestinians have been incarcerated since that time.
Some of us have traveled to Palestine and have witnessed firsthand how Palestinian children are tried in Israeli military courts, against international law, and convicted in “trials” conducted in a language they don’t understand. We have learned about the system of administrative detention where Palestinians can be held in prison without charge or a trial for an indefinite amount of time. We have met with Palestinian families whose homes have been destroyed as “collective punishment” after the arrest of a family member. We have understood that Israel imprisons Palestinians in order to suppress their struggle for freedom, just as the U.S. criminal legal system targets Black and Brown communities as a means of continuing their subjugation.
Conferences about criminal justice should have formerly incarcerated people as keynote speakers, panelists and workshop presenters. Even more importantly, formerly incarcerated people should be central to setting the agenda for conferences, organizations and the movement for fundamental change against the U.S. prison industrial complex. But we cannot challenge a system that is founded on racism by aligning with Zionism, an ideology and practice rooted in racism against Palestinians. Our struggle can only grow stronger when we join in solidarity with Palestine’s struggle for self-determination and freedom.
In Joint Struggle,
– Members of the U.S. Prisoner, Labor and Academic Solidarity Delegation to Palestine
– Critical Resistance
Delegation Members:
Hank Jones, formerly incarcerated activist
Claude Marks, formerly incarcerated activist and archivist
Laura Whitehorn, formerly incarcerated activist and author
Rabab Abdulhadi, professor, author, and activist
Diana Block, activist and author
Dennis Childs, professor, author and activist
Susie Day, writer and activist
Emory Douglas, artist and activist
Johanna Fernández, professor, author and activist
Diane Fujino, professor, author and activist
Anna Henry, activist
Rachel Herzing, independent scholar
Isaac Ontiveros, activist
Jaime Veve, organizer
Endorsing Organizations:
Addameer – Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association
As we approach the one-year anniversary of the Great March of Return and Breaking the Siege in Gaza – also the 43rd anniversary of Land Day – Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network joins Palestinians and people around the world in encouraging all supporters of justice to join in solidarity actions at this critical time. Land Day has been marked since 1976 not only to highlight Palestinians’ connection to the land and their struggle to liberate it from ongoing colonialism, but also to remember the six Palestinians slain on 30 March of that year in Palestine ’48 as they protested against land theft and confiscation.
Palestinians in Gaza, 70 percent of them refugees denied their right to return home, marked Land Day in 2018 with a massive march, bringing tens of thousands and even more to the colonially-imposed “border” and its associated “fence.” They demanded not only an end to the suffocating siege under which they have suffered for over a decade, progressively intensifying and persisting through three devastating wars. They also brought to the forefront the core of the Palestinian struggle for liberation: the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and lands confiscated by Zionist colonization. It is a struggle that belongs not only to the Palestinians in Gaza, but to all Palestinians around the world, especially those in the refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and those Palestinians dispersed even further from their homeland.
For organizing in a mass, collective demonstration highlighting this most fundamental Palestinian right, these demonstrators have faced brutal repression and killing for nearly one year. Medics, journalists, children, elders and people with disabilities have been shot down in cold blood by Israeli occupation forces as they protested for their right. And despite the killing, they have persisted and remained, marching each Friday to claim their rights in an uprising that has inspired people around the world, and especially Palestinians, with a clear commitment to achieving their goals: return and liberation.
Indeed, the Israeli occupation state has repeatedly attempted to pressure Palestinians into stopping the marches, through continuing and intensified siege, military attack and brutal military might. Despite the impunity Israeli officials enjoy and the unparalleled support they receive from the U.S. government and other world powers, the reality of Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity has perhaps never been so clear, as was recently affirmed in a new report by an independent commission of the UN Human Rights Council.
In the context of the fragmentation of Palestinians, the Great March of Return, on Land Day, has once again highlighted that the Palestinian struggle is one struggle – from Palestinian citizens of Israel in ’48 Palestine, to those in Jerusalem, in the West Bank, in the Gaza Strip, in Jordan, in the camps in Lebanon and Syria and everywhere around the world in exile and diaspora. To this number must also be added the nearly 6,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, who through continued struggle inside the prisons continue to confront the siege and isolation imposed upon them as well.
Palestinians killed by occupation forces in the Great March of Return, have – like those shot down in extrajudicial executions and assassinations in the West Bank – had their bodies imprisoned by the Israeli occupation in an attempt to extort political concessions from Palestinians. In addition, participants from the demonstrations have themselves been kidnapped and imprisoned inside Israeli jails. Palestinian refugees who continue to be denied their right to return to their homes and lands may enter Palestine ’48 only when shackled, bound, tortured and imprisoned by the colonizing power that has confiscated that land.
Every uprising and act of resistance inside Israeli prisons is part of the same struggle against siege and isolation that the Great March of Return and Breaking the Siege represents. The Gaza Strip itself is often described as an “open-air prison,” the siege another form of colonial torture and isolation akin to that imposed on Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. The struggle to break the siege is a struggle to break all of the sieges encircling Palestinians, from the ever-intensifying racist campaigns of discrimination and exclusion in Palestine ’48, the ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem, the raids, killings and colonial settlements in the West Bank, the isolation of Palestinian refugees in the camps, the criminalization and repression of Palestinian activism worldwide.
Since 30 March 2018, the Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed that Israeli occupation forces have killed 266 people, including 50 children, six women and one elderly man. 30,398 people have been injured, 16,027 seriously enough to be hospitalized. The hospitalized Palestinians include 3,175 children and 1,008 women. During the demonstrations, 6,857 Palestinians have been shot with live bullets and another 844 with rubber-coated metal bullets. 1,503 were shot in the head and neck, 7,731 in the legs and 732 in the chest and back; 136 Palestinians have gone through amputations as a result. (This reflects another version of the infamous policy of Israeli commander “Captain Nidal” in shooting and disabling the Palestinian youth in Dheisheh and Aida refugee camps near Bethlehem.)
Medics Razan al-Najjar, Abdullah al-Qati and Musa Abu Hassanein were killed by occupation forces and 665 more were injured; 112 ambulances were damaged. Two journalists, Yaser Murtaja and Ahmed Abu Hussein, were killed and 347 more were wounded.
Despite this great price, Palestinians are continuing to march to break the siege, to win freedom for all, from the prisons to the camps to the streets, fields and shores of Gaza (where fishers and farmers risk death or imprisonment to ply their trade and support their families and communities.) They continue to march, most centrally, for their right to return home, for liberation for Palestine.
This weekend, we urge you to answer the calls for solidarity – to join the marches, events and demonstrations taking place around the world, to echo the calls of Palestinians from inside the prisons of the Israeli occupation and the open-air prison in Gaza for an end to the siege and for the right to return.
A list of events and activities is below. We know this list is not fully comprehensive, and we urge people to send their additional events and actions to us on Facebook or via email at samidoun@samidoun.net. Please join your local events and join in the uprising that Palestinians in Gaza have been leading for the past year – continuing over 100 years of anti-colonial Palestinian resistance.
On Wednesday evening, 27 March, Rasmea Odeh‘s voice and words were heard in Berlin, Germany, despite a harsh, repressive campaign that included yet another ban on her speaking in person issued by Berlin’s Senator for the Interior. The successful event at be’kech in Berlin’s Wedding district brought crowds to the space despite a large police presence; the space was so crowded that many people stayed outside to watch the event through glass windows.
Once again, as was the case on 15 March, when Rasmea was to join Palestinian poet and former prisoner Dareen Tatour for an evening of solidarity and celebration of Palestinian women’s struggle, the venue itself was subject to harassment and threats. Another media smear campaign was launched against Rasmea along with attempts to demand that she once again be prohibited from speaking.
On Wednesday afternoon, only hours before the event, Berlin Interior Senator Andreas Geisel, an SPD politician who had earlier declared that speaking “against the state of Israel” crossed a “red line” that justified the violation of freedom of speech, once again banned Odeh from delivering a public speech at the event. However, organizers presented a video from Odeh, ensuring that her message and her story would be able to be heard by supporters in person and everyone around the world who supports her and the struggle for justice in Palestine.
Photo: Salim Salim, Arabi21
Once again, several vans of police filled the area (although a smaller presence than that surrounding the 15 March event). They searched the crowd for Rasmea, but left partway through the event after it was clear that she was not attending in person. A claimed counter-demonstration by pro-apartheid Zionist organizations was not immediately visible, but there may have been several participants at the corner of the street.
The moderator of the evening opened the event with a stirring call against the silencing of oppressed and marginalized people, especially Palestinian women. She noted the growing support received by the event and the campaign to defend Odeh by a number of organizations, including the Internationale Liga für Menschenrechte, which sent a statement to the organization. The event was supported by Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, Berlin Muslim Feminists, Bündnis gegen Rassismus, HIRAK (Palestinian Youth Mobilization, Berlin), The Coalition Berlin, Bloque Latinoamericano Berlin, Brot und Rosen international socialist women’s organiation, Revolutionäre Internationalistische Organisation – Klasse Gegen Klasse, Berlin Against Pinkwashing, Jüdische Stimme für gerechten Frieden in Nahost (Jewish Voice for a Just Peace), RefrACTa Kollektiv Brasilien-Berlin, BDS Berlin and the Kali feminist collective.
Photo: Public-solidarity
The event also included a speech by a Palestinian student on behalf of HIRAK, emphasizing that this week also marks the one-year anniversary of the Great March of Return in Gaza. Just this week, Israel has been shelling Gaza, causing further destruction after taking hundreds of lives in the past year as Palestinians participated in collective, popular protests for their right to return and break the siege. She urged people to get involved in struggles here in Berlin, including Palestinian community organizing, the solidarity movement and the BDS campaign.
The organizers next showed a video from 2013 in which Rasmea speaks about her life as a Palestinian woman. The video was made when she received the 2013 Outstanding Community Leader award from the Chicago Cultural Alliance:
The screening was followed by a 20-minute video presentation – the main speech of the night – in which Rasmea discussed her situation in Berlin as well as presenting more broadly on Palestinian women, Palestinian prisoners and the continuing struggle for liberation. Full video coming shortly!
As Rasmea spoke, including discussing her personal experience of torture, people in the packed room were silent, watching and listening closely to the Arabic speech and the subtitles in German and English. The conclusion of her speech was met with loud and prolonged applause and cheers as the event’s moderator noted that “this is what they did not want you to hear.”
The event continued with a cultural evening featuring anti-colonial poetry by Wind Ma, a silent theater sketch by Maher Draidi of Almadina Theater, a musical performance of songs and guitar by Nicolás Miquea and a closing dabkeh performance by the Yafa Dabkeh Troupe. The event concluded with a stirring moment as people chanted together, “Viva, viva Palestina! Free, free Palestine!”
Photo: Public-solidarity
Rasmea Odeh, born in 1947, is a lifelong struggler for Palestine and a well-known feminist organizer and activist. After surviving torture and sexual assault under interrogation by occupation forces and serving 10 years in Israeli prison, she came to the United States, where she organized over 800 women in Chicago in the Arab Women’s Committee, a project of the Arab American Action Network. In 2013, she was targeted by the FBI and U.S. immigration authorities and accused of lying about her time in Israeli prison, despite the fact that it was publicly known; she even testified before a Special Committee of the United Nations about her experience under torture and imprisonment. After a years-long court battle that won widespread grassroots support, she was deported to Jordan in 2017. She was one of the initial signatories of the call for the International Women’s Strike.
Photo: Public-solidarity
After she was invited to speak in Berlin on 15 March, the U.S. ambassador (with ties to the German far right) Richard Grenell, Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan, charged with fighting Palestine solidarity and the BDS movement internationally, and the Israeli ambassador in Germany launched calls to censor her. Media propaganda falsely labeled her an “anti-Semite,” when she is in reality a longtime anti-racist struggler who developed strong connections with other oppressed communities, particularly the Black liberation movement. In the U.S., Angela Davis and Jewish Voice for Peace were among her supporters. In this context, Berlin politicians yielded to the demands of Trump and Netanyahu, and when Rasmea arrived at the event location, she was given a sheaf of papers. Her Schengen visa was ordered cancelled and she was directed to leave the country; she was banned from speaking at the event.
Most of the allegations in the documents simply restated attacks by pro-apartheid media publications, including labeling the BDS campaign “anti-Semitic”. The German authorities also claimed that allowing Rasmea to speak and retain her visa would “damage the relationship between Germany and Israel.” Thus, Rasmea Odeh’s voice, experience and analysis was ordered suppressed and silenced through the joint complicity of the German, U.S. and Israeli governments.
Rasmea is committed to fighting back in court. Her lawyer, Nadija Samour, said that “cancelling a visa based on what has happened so far in the past is a completely new concept from a legal point of view.” However, she and her supporters are aware that this is not simply a legal question but a clear political battle that requires support from the broadest number of people in Germany and internationally.
Supporters of Rasmea in the United States, including the US Palestinian Community Network, Committee to Stop FBI Repression, Rasmea Defense Committee and many other groups have worked to support the growing campaign in Germany, and more organizations have been adding their voices to express support for Rasmea. By cancelling her Schengen visa, German officials are not only attempting to silence Rasmea’s speech in Berlin but to prevent her from traveling elsewhere in Europe to speak about her experiences and her views – thus denying people across the continent the opportunity to hear from a leading transnational feminist and Palestinian organizer.
Rasmea was ordered silenced based on a desire to stop her from sharing her words and her experience, telling her story and presenting her analysis. The U.S. government is apparently committed to chasing Rasmea around the world in order to persecute her wherever she goes; meanwhile, the Israeli state continues its intensive attack on people’s right to support Palestine everywhere in the world, which has included the promotion of anti-BDS laws and falsely labeling Palestinian human rights defenders and solidarity groups as “terrorists.” The German state and Berlin authorities also chose to join this campaign, issuing two separate bans in less than two weeks against Rasmea Odeh to prevent her from delivering a live speech about her experiences, her involvement in women’s organizing and her view of Palestine.
In many ways, Rasmea’s case does not stand alone; in Germany, it comes alongside the Humboldt 3 case and the prosecution of activists for speaking up against war crimes, attempts to block Palestine events from taking place in any location and far-right campaigns particularly targeting migrant communities. It also comes alongside the pursuit of anti-BDS laws in the US, the use of “anti-terror” frameworks to criminalize Palestinian community work and the use of visa denial to suppress political and cultural expression, such as in Australia’s recent denial of a visa to Palestinian American poet Remi Kanazi.
In a particularly disturbing media article containing propaganda against Kanazi, pro-apartheid groups demand that Kanazi is barred for, among other things, supporting Rasmea and other Palestinian political prisoners. They also use the recent far-right, white-supremacist massacre in Christchurch, New Zealand, as a justification for banning him, despite the fact that this was an attack targeting Muslims, linked to racist, anti-Muslim and anti-Arab propaganda, based on white supremacy, and which took the lives of a number of Palestinians specifically. It is clear that there is a global attack, backed by Erdan and the Israeli government, aimed at all Palestinians and supporters of Palestine – and especially aiming to isolate Palestinian prisoners from the international movements that continue to defend their rights.
The campaign to defend Rasmea Odeh is not ending with this event – instead, it marks a strong beginning of a resurgent movement against the silencing of Palestinian women and for justice in Palestine. It also made it clear that Palestinian women, on the frontlines of struggle from inside Israeli prisons, to the Great Return March in Gaza to organizing for justice in Berlin, will not be silenced. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges people and organizations around the world to get involved and join this campaign by following the Facebook page, Rasmea spricht (Rasmea will speak) and sending statements of solidarity to samidoun@samidoun.net.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes Mustapha Awad on his release from Israeli prison this morning, Thursday, 28 March. He arrived at Brussels Airport in Belgium after winning early release from Israeli prison; he has been jailed for over eight months, targeted for attempting to visit his homeland, Palestine. Born a Palestinian refugee in Ain el-Helweh camp in Lebanon, Mustapha, a Belgian citizen, was seized by Israeli occupation forces at the border between Jordan and Palestine.
He was targeted, charged and imprisoned for his activities in support of justice for Palestine – including Palestinian political prisoners – and his work with the Palestinian community in Europe. Throughout his imprisonment, his friends, family and supporters – and especially the Free Mustapha Committee – worked tirelessly for his freedom, demanding that the Belgian government uphold its responsibility to its imprisoned citizen. At the same time, Israeli officials have gone on a global propaganda campaign targeting Mustapha in international media, even while unjustly imprisoning him. Today, we celebrate with all of the comrades of the Free Mustapha committee, Mustapha himself, and all supporters of justice in Palestine – and pledge to continue the struggle until the day all Palestinian prisoners will be free, and Palestine will be free!
See Mustapha’s video from the airport:
Below is the statement of the Free Mustapha Committee:
We invite you to a press conference in the presence of Mustapha Awad, Alexis Deswaef, honorary president of the League of Human Rights
And the members of the Free Mustapha Committee
Fridau, 29 March 2019 at 11 :00 am, at the Association belgo-palestinienne, 154 rue des Palais, 1030 Schaerbeek
Today, the Free Mustapha Committee is extremely pleased to announce that the Belgian artist and metalworker Mustapha Awad has been released from prison after more than 8 months of wrongful detention and imprisonment.
Mustapha was captured at the Jordanian-Palestinian border last July 19th and had since been subjected to abuse amounting to torture under the Geneva Convention and a Israeli far-right propaganda campaign accusing him of being a “terrorist.”
This propaganda campaign, we have confirmed today, ended in failure. Mustapha is not and never was a terrorist and neither is any person mobilizing for more justice and freedom in Palestine, or elsewhere in the world.
Today we are celebrating but we can’t forget that Israel keeps in custody more than 6000 other Mustaphas, Palestinian political prisoners. That is why the members of our committee will now work to send them the same support from the international community that it was able to gather for Mustapha.
This support was crucial to the success of our campaign and to our thanks go to all the people that supported us whether it be financially, artistically, by participating in our actions or by showing solidarity on social networks.
Our mobilization as well as the excellent legal defense by the Israeli lawyer Lea Tsemel, have been determinative in achieving the release of Mustapha. While we salute the consular assistance that Mustapha received, we also reiterate that Belgium has failed to protect citizen: it could have worked to obtain Mustapha’s freedom from the moment of his arrest.
As long as Palestinians continue to face injustice and discrimination every day, we will never stop our mobilization.
Freedom for Palestine and all of its political prisoners!
We support Rasmea Odeh and her freedom of speech. We strongly endorse Rasmea´s right to share her own life story, her experience as a torture and sexual assault survivor, and to speak about the conditions Palestinian women face living under occupation.
Who is Rasmea Odeh?
Rasmea Odeh is a well-known Palestinian women’s rights activist and community organizer. She has relentlessly advocated for the rights of migrant women and their children, palestinians, and grassroot initiatives for human and civil rights. Along with transnational
feminists such as Angela Davis, Nancy Fraser, and other supporters she has mobilized for the Women’s March and became an inspiration for young Arab and Muslim in women worldwide. Rasmea draws her inspiration from her own struggle as a Palestinian woman: arrested in 1969 for an attack in Israel of which she was unjustly accused, she was tortured until she made the confession the interrogators wanted to hear. An unlawful Israeli military court sentenced her to life imprisonment. After Rasmea was released during an exchange of prisoners, she testified before a UN Special Committee on the torture she had to endure during her arrest.
Rasmea´s struggle continues
On March 15, 2019, Rasmea was scheduled to speak in Berlin along with Palestinian poet Dareen Tatour in celebration of International Women’s Day. The event was planned to take place in the Kurdish Dersim cultural association as a symbol for cross-struggle solidarity between the Kurdish and Palestinian cause. However, under pressure from far-right Alternativ für Deutschland, U.S. Ambassador and Trump-appointee Richard Grenell, and the Israeli Ministry for Strategic Affairs was canceled by the Berlin Senat and Odeh’s visa was revoked. This step of the German authorities is part of a relentless campaign to silence Palestinian voices.
We stand strong against silencing attempts!
Germany’s decision sets a dangerous precedent. It puts any activities in favor of human rights, women’s rights, and civil rights at risk. To align opinions at the state’s convenience is the very contradiction of the enjoyment of freedom of speech. Moreover, the Berlin authorities’
absurd claim to declare Rasmea Odeh a “security threat” because of her stance towards Palestine and women’s voices turns all of those who support her and Palestine into public enemies number one.
Let’s be clear: The right-wing attack on Rasmea is an attack on women, survivors, migrants, minorities, Palestinians and the left. It is an attack on us all.
We will not be intimidated. We will hear #RasmeaSpeaks!
We invite you to hear Rasmea’s words at 7 pm on March 27th 2019 at be’kech (Exerzierstrasse 14, Berlin). The evening will include music, theater pieces, and poetry in a celebration of Palestinian voices and culture.
Please spread the event widely! If you are part of a group who wants to endorse this campaign or contribute financially in order to demonstrate your support freedom of speech in Germany, please email: rasmeaspricht@gmail.com.
Rasmea spricht! Palästinensische Frauen werden nicht zum Schweigen gebracht!
Wir möchten Rasmea Odeh und ihr Recht auf Meinungsfreiheit unterstützen. Wir fordern Rasmeas Recht ein, ihre Lebensgeschichte und ihre Erfahrung als Überlebende von Folter und sexualisierter Gewalt teilen und über die Umstände, unter denen palästinensische Frauen unter israelischer Besatzung leben müssen, sprechen zu können.
Wer ist Rasmea Odeh?
Rasmea Odeh ist eine bekannte Frauenrechtsaktivistin und Community Organisierin. Sie kämpfte unermüdlich für die Rechte von Migrat*innen und ihren Kindern, Palästinenser*innen und grasroots- Initiativen, für Menschen- und Bürgerrechte. Zusammen mit anderen transnationalen Feminist*innen wie Angela Davis, Nancy Fraser und anderen Unterstützer*innen, mobilisierte sie für den Women’s March und wurde so zur Inspiration für arabische und muslimische Frauen weltweit. Rasmea zieht ihre Inspiration aus ihren persönlichen Kämpfen als palästinensische Frau: 1969 wurde sie für eine Attacke in Israel verhaftet, für die sie zu unrecht beschuldigt wurde. Sie wurde gefoltert bis sie das Geständnis machte, das die Vernehmer*innen von ihr hören wollten und dann von einem rechtswidrigen israelischen Militärgericht zu einer lebenslangen Haftstrafe verurteilt. Nachdem Rasmea durch einen Gefangenenaustausch freikam, sprach sie vor einem UN Sonderkomittee über die Folter, der sie während ihrer Gefangennahme ausgesetzt war.
Rasmeas Kampf geht weiter
Am 15. März 2019 sollte Rasmea zusammen mit der palästinensischen Poetin Darren Tatour zum Anlass des internationalen Frauentages in Berlin sprechen. Die Veranstaltung sollte in der Dersim Kulturgemeinde stattfinden, welche symbolisch für die Solidarität zwischen Kurd*innen und Palästinenser*innen steht. Nach Druck der AfD, des US-Botschafters und Trump-verbündetem Richard Grenell sowie dem Israelischen Ministerium für strategische Angelegenheiten wurde die Veranstaltung vom Berliner Senat verboten und Odehs Visum entzogen. Dieser Schritt ist Teil einer Reihe von Angriffen, die palästinensische Stimmen in Deutschland zum Schweigen bringen sollen.
Mit der Entscheidung Odehs Auftritt zu verhindern und ihr Visum zu entziehen, setzt Deutschland einen gefährlichen Präzedenzfall und gefährdet damit jegliche Aktivitäten, die sich für Menschen-, Frauen und Bürgerrechte einsetzen. Stimmen die gegen die Interessen des Staates sprechen zu verbieten, steht im Widerspruch zum demokratischen Grundprinzip der Meinungsfreiheit. Die absurde Anschuldigung der Berliner Behörden, Odehs Anwesenheit in Deutschland würde eine Gefahr für die nationale Sicherheit darstellen, macht alle ihre Unterstützer*innen sowie denen, die sich für Gerechtigkeit in Palästina einsetzen, zu Staatsfeinden. Lasst es uns deutlich sagen: die Attacke auf Rasmea ist eine Attacke auf alle Frauen, Überlebende sexualisierter Gewalt, Migrant*innen, Minderheiten, Palästinenser*innen sowie Linke. Es ist eine Attacke auf uns alle.
Wir lassen uns nicht einschüchtern. Wir werden sie hören: #Rasmeaspricht! Deswegen laden wir euch ein, Rasmeas Worte am 27. März 2019 um 19 Uhr in be’kech (Exerzierstrasse 14, Berlin) zu hören. Das Abendprogramm beinhaltet Musik, Theaterstücke und Poesie um palästinensische Stimmen und Kultur zu feiern.
Bitte teilt dieses Event. Wenn ihr teil einer Gruppe seid, die diese Kampagne unterstützen möchte oder ihr einen finanziellen Betrag leisten könnt, schreibt bitte eine Email an rasmeaspricht@gmail.com.
نحن هنا لدعم رسمية عودة وحقها في حرية التعبير وتأييد حقها بقوة في أن تشارك قصة حياتها وتجربتها كناجية من التعذيب والاعتداء الجنسي والتحدث عن الظروف التي تواجهها النساء الفلسطينيات في ظل العيش تحت الاحتلال.
من هي رسمية عودة؟
رسمية عودة ناشطة فلسطينية في مجال حقوق المرأة وناشطة مجتمعية، لقد دافعت رسمية بلا كلل عن حقوق المهاجرات وأطفالهن والفلسطينيات وتبنت عدة مبادرات شعبية معنية بحقوق الإنسان على وجه الخصوص الحقوق المدنية.
جنبا إلى جنب مع نسويات عابرات للأوطان مثل أنجيلا ديفيز ونانسي فريزر ومؤيدين آخرين حشدت رسمية عودة لمسيرة النساء العالمية في الولايات المتحدة وأصبحت مصدر إلهام لكثير من النساء العربيات والمسلمات في حول العالم.
رسمية تستمد إلهامها للاستمرار في النضال من كونها إمرأة فلسطينية مكافحة: رسمية اعتقلت في عام 1969 أُجبرت على تقديم اعتراف تحت وطأة تعذيب نفسي وجسدي وجنسي شديد وحكمت عليها محكمة عسكرية إسرائيلية غير قانونية بالسجن مدى الحياة وأُطلق سراحها بعد ١٠ أعوام من خلال صفقة تبادل للأسرى وقامت بالإدلاء بشهادتها أمام لجنة خاصة تابعة للأمم المتحدة بشأن التعذيب الذي تعرضت له أثناء اعتقالها.
يستمر نضال رسمية
في 15 مارس 2019 ، كان من المقرر أن تتحدث رسمية في برلين مع الشاعرة الفلسطينية دارين طاطور في الاحتفال باليوم العالمي للمرأة على أن تكون الندوة في جمعية Dersim الثقافية كرمز للتضامن بين النضال الكردي والقضية الفلسطيني.
ومع ذلك بضغط من الحزب اليميني المتطرف والسفير الأميركي ريتشارد غرينيل وايضًا وزارة الشؤون الاستراتيجية الإسرائيلية تم إلغاء تأشيرة السفر الخاصة برسمية عودة وما هذه الخطوة إلا امتداد للحملة التي تقودها السلطات الألمانية بالنيابة عن اسرائيل لإسكات الأصوات الفلسطينية.
نقف بقوة ضد كل محاولات إخراس أصوات النشطاء
ان قرار ألمانيا بسحب تأشيرة رسمية عودة ومنعها من التحدث قرار لا يمس رسمية وحدها بل سابقة خطيرة تهدد كل ما يتعلق بحقوق الإنسان وحقوق المرأة والحقوق المدنية ،وإن استخدام الدولة لقرارات كهذه وفق ما تستدعيه مصلحتها يتناقض تماما مع ما تعنيه حرية التعبير.
علاوة على ذلك ، فإن زعم السلطات في برلين من خلال إدعاء مستهجن بأن رسمية عودة تعتبر “تهديدًا أمنيًا” بسبب موقفها تجاه القضية الفلسطينية يُحول أصوات النساء كافة وكل صوت يدعم القضية الفلسطينية الى العدو رقم واحد للعامة.
لنكن واضحين: الهجوم الذي تشنه قوى اليمين على رسمية هو هجوم على كل النساء والمهاجرين والأقليات والفلسطينيين والناجين من التعذيب واليسار.. هو هجوم علينا جميعًا.
لن نخاف. سوف نسمع #رسمية_تتحدث
ندعوكم للاستماع لرسمية عودة الساعة 7 مساء يوم 27 مارس 2019 في { مكان الفعالية سيتم الإعلان عنه لاحقًا} ستشمل الأمسية عرض موسيقي ودبكة وعرض مسرحي وإلقاء شعر احتفالًا بالأصوات الفلسطينية والثقافة الفلسطينية.
يرجى نشر إعلان الفعالية على نطاق واسع! إذا كنت جزءًا من مجموعة تريد تأييد هذه الحملة أو المساهمة مالياً لإظهار دعمك لحرية التعبير في ألمانيا ، فيرجى إرسال بريد إلكتروني إلى: rasmeaspricht@gmail.com.
In 2019, BDS Austria will once again be part of the international Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) – already for the fifth time. The worldwide motto of this year’s IAW is “Stop Arming Colonialism”.
On March 29th, an event with Ronnie Kasrils takes place.
Ronnie Kasrils is a former South African resistance fighter, human rights activist, former South African Minister of State Security, former member of the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the African National Congress (ANC), member of the Communist Party of South Africa (SACP).
Save the date!
Note: The information on Facebook (in terms of date, time, location and content of the events) are always the latest!
**
Auch 2019 ist BDS Austria wieder im Rahmen der international stattfindenden Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW) aktiv – und das heuer schon zum fünften Mal. Das weltweite Motto der diesjährigen IAW lautet „Stop Arming Colonialism“.
Am 29.03. findet eine Veranstaltung mit Ronnie Kasrils statt.
Ronnie Kasrils ist ehemaliger südafrikanischer Widerstandskämpfer, Menschenrechtsaktivist, ehemaliger südafrikanischer Minister für Staatssicherheit, ehemaliges Mitglied des National Executive Committee (NEC) des African National Congress (ANC), Mitglied der Kommunistischen Partei Südafrika (SACP).
Save the date!
Hinweis:
Die Infos online (in Bezug auf Datum, Zeit, Ort und Inhalte der Veranstaltungen) sind stets die aktuellsten!
**
حركة المقاطعة في النمسا (BDS Austria) ستشارك في عام ٢٠١٩ للمرة الخامسة على التوالي في أسبوع الابارتايد الاسرائيلي الدولي. الشعار لهذه السنة سيكون “توقفوا عن دعم الاستعمار” (“Stop Arming Colonialism”).
في ال٢٩ من شهر مارس سيقام نشاط مع روني كاسريلز.
كاسريلز كان سابقاً عضو في حركة المقاومة مسلحة في جنوب افريقيا، وزير الدفاع الجنوب أفريقي و عضو في اللجنة التنفيذية الوطنية (NEC) للمؤتمر الوطني الأفريقي (ANC)، و ما زال اليوم ناشط لحقوق الإنسان و عضو في الحزب الشيوعي في جنوب افريقيا (SACP).
احفظ الموعد!
ملاحظة: المعلومات الموجودة على الشبكة (التاريخ، الوقت، المكان و جدول الأنشطة) دائماً محدثة!
on Friday, 29 March 2019 at 18:00. The location for the event in Berlin will be announced.
Our friends from BDS Austria will be hosting Ronnie Kasrils from South Africa as part of the Israeli Apartheid Week in Vienna on Friday, March 29, 2019.
Am Freitag, den 29. März 2019 um 18:00 Uhr. Der Ort in Berlin wird noch bekannt gegeben.
Unsere Freund*innen von BDS Austria haben am Freitag, den 29. März 2019 Ronnie Kasrils aus Südafrika im Rahmen der Israeli Apartheid Week zu Gast bei sich in Wien.
Wir von BDS Berlin wollen diese Gelegenheit nutzen und mit euch zusammen über eine live-Schaltung an dieser Veranstaltung teilnehmen. Dazu laden wir alle herzlich ein. Der Ort in Berlin wird noch bekannt gegeben.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network strongly condemns the action of the Volkskundemuseum, a Vienna museum, in cancelling an event on Palestinian rights featuring South African anti-apartheid struggler Ronnie Kasrils. The event was organized by BDS Austria as part of Israeli Apartheid Week, and it will continue to take place at the Kent Restaurant Favoriten
on Friday, 29 March. At the same time, BDS Berlin is organizing a livestream of Kasrils’ event in the German capital.(Note, this event has been updated as its venue was changed once more since the original publication of the statement. Check Facebook for the latest news!)
In both cases, the voices that these forces are attempting to silence are those of progressive strugglers with a long history of involvement in the liberation movements of their people. These are critical, anti-racist, revolutionary voices that far-right forces – whether in Vienna, Berlin, Washington or Tel Aviv – are united in attempting to silence.
Anti-BDS laws and similar repressive mechanisms are intended to halt the growing movement in solidarity with the Palestinian people. These attacks are also intended to create an atmosphere of fear, terror and intimidation among the Palestinian and Arab communities in cities like Berlin, Vienna and elsewhere in Europe. They come hand in hand with threats to public funding for progressive institutions and particular centers and spaces linked to migrant communities.
Therefore, these types of cancellations reflect a multilayered racist assault: against Palestinian and Palestine solidarity organizing confronting Israeli apartheid and Zionist racism; against anti-racist strugglers with decades of experience in liberation movements whose voices are incredibly necessary amid far-right incitement in Europe; against Palestinian and other migrant communities already facing vicious attacks in their communities in an attempt to prevent and silence their organizing.
In BDS Austria’s statement in solidarity with Rasmea Odeh, they noted that “The attempt to silence Rasmea is not an isolated case, but a paradigmatic example for a time in which ‘constitutional states’ are increasingly becoming lawless states….instrumentalized and deployed to restrict fundamental rights such as freedom of expression, assembly or privacy. This is a development that affects all citizens. We at BDS Austria strongly condemn the actions of the US and German authorities. A state that uses the right of residence to silence critical voices is a state that is moving towards dictatorship.”
We echo those words and warn of the increasing repression of anti-racist strugglers, especially those who are involved in supporting the struggle of the Palestinian people for liberation. The museum’s act to cancel Kasrils’ talk echoes the repression of the South African apartheid regime – not to mention the ongoing forcible cancellation and suppression of Palestinian activities and events throughout occupied Palestine. It should also be noted that just as Kasrils struggled for the liberation of political prisoners under apartheid South Africa,he has been a clear and consistent voice in support of the liberation of Palestinian political prisoners from Israeli jails.
The messages, speeches and presence of Rasmea Odeh and Ronnie Kasrils should be welcomed by all who care about a just world or a liberated society. These lifelong fighters against racism and oppression have so much knowledge and experience to share with those taking up these continuing struggles today. It says a great deal about those who would use the power of the state to prevent them from passing on that experience and sharing their progressive vision for the future, in sharp contradiction to that of Zionism, imperialism and reactionary regimes and forces.
We express our strongest solidarity with Ronnie Kasrils, BDS Austria and all of the organizers of Israeli Apartheid Week events confronting repression and raising the banner for a liberated Palestine around the world. Together, we will continue to struggle for justice and liberation in Palestine and around the world – even more loudly and even more clearly. Rasmea Odeh and Ronnie Kasrils will continue to inspire all of us – and people around the world – to keep on marching forward.
We urge all supporters of justice in Palestine to attend Ronnie Kasrils’ events in Vienna and Berlin on 29 March!
Le Temps de la Palestine Toulouse calls for a rally on Wednesday, 17 April from 5:30 pm to 7 pm at the Metro Capitole in Toulouse on the International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian Prisoners. On the program: workshop for writing letters to prisoners, photos, music, flyer distribution and more…
