Demonstrate 12pm in Piccadilly Gardens This Saturday 27th July
Stop Israel’s House Demolitions in Sur Baher, East Jerusalem – the Biggest single ethnic cleansing since 1967.
Caterpillar bulldozers have been identified and are right now being used to demolish 70 Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem, in order to expand Israel’s illegal settlements, which are illegal under international law.
HSBC invests around £100million worth of shares in Caterpillar. It’s time for HSBC to end their complicity. Take action: bit.ly/HSBComplicity
From a family in Sur Baher:
“When the house is demolished, we will be in the streets.”
“We heard very loud bangs coming from a building right next door to where we are now, and that was a large mechanical digger used to rip off part of the roof of that building, which was home up until this morning to two families.”
Protest called by:
Manchester Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Manchester Palestine Action
Manchester Jewish Action for Palestine
Palestine is under attack. From the “Deal of the Century” to the home demolitions in Sur Baher to the attempts to liquidate Palestinian refugees’ right to return home, Palestinians are resisting an intensified assault on their rights and, indeed, their very existence. This attack is not confined to the borders of occupied Palestine or even to the refugee camps in the Arab countries surrounding Palestine where Palestinians have been forcibly exiled for over 71 years. The ongoing siege on Palestinian organizing, struggle and resistance is also taking place in countries around the world – and Palestinian writer Khaled Barakat is being targeted in Germany as part of that very same attack.
On 22 June, Barakat was scheduled to give a speech in Berlin, Germany on Trump’s “deal of the century” and the Bahrain economic normalization conference. Instead, he was stopped by dozens of police, taken to a police station and given an 8-page document banning him from political events, speeches and activities until 31 July and informing him that his residency in Germany will not be renewed. This action comes directly following the incitement of the Israeli anti-BDS ministry, the so-called “Ministry of Strategic Affairs,” waging a global propaganda and disinformation campaign against Palestinian writers, activists and human rights defenders, as well as the Palestine solidarity movement. We are urging you to join us in taking action on July 28-31 in solidarity with Khaled Barakat and for freedom of expression, opinion and conscience for Palestinian rights!
Barakat was told that violations were punishable by up to a year in prison. Under German law, non-citizens can be barred from political activity if it could harm the “security or stability” of Germany. The accusations, which purport to show that his political activity is “dangerous,” do not do so; instead, there is mainly a list of speeches and public events, most available in video and audio recordings online. Despite claiming that Barakat’s speech could increase tensions or “political conflict” between Jews and Palestinians and Arabs in Germany, the document points to absolutely no negative repercussions whatsoever of all of his previous speeches in the country.
The document also accuses Barakat of being a member of the Palestinian leftist party, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). Despite noting that the PFLP is, in fact, not banned in Germany, it notes that it is listed on the EU terrorist list and thus presents a danger, even though none of the listed allegations indicate any danger at all. It could not be more clear that this is the latest attempt on Palestinian expression and advocacy and the further restriction of freedom of speech, expression and association in Germany. Of course, this cannot be separated from the German state and capital’s own imperialist actions and interests in the region, including its ongoing alliance with the U.S. and Israel.
This is only the latest in a series of attacks on Palestinian rights in Germany, including the following:
On 10 July, Barakat spoke at the European Parliament, along with Samidoun activists Charlotte Kates and Mohammed Khatib, at the invitation of MEP Manu Pineda. Now, the parliamentarians who raised the issue of the silencing of Palestinian speakers at the European Parliament are themselves being attacked by the Israeli state demanding their silence – at the same time that Israel demolishes homes in Jerusalem, and shoots dead Palestinians marching for their right to return in Gaza.
Khaled Barakat has filed an urgent appeal in German courts against this political ban. This escalation in Germany reflects a serious danger that outright bans, police repression and residency revocation are becoming a police state norm for suppressing unwanted Palestinian political speech that defends rights, justice and liberation. German and international lawyers have highlighted the violation of fundamental human rights inherent in this political ban.
Internationally, your statements and voices of solidarity are critical in helping to fight back against this intensified repression. From the anti-BDS resolution of the Bundestag, to the account cancellations and forced resignations of Jewish groups and leaders who criticize Israel in any way, to the criminal prosecution of people who interrupt Israeli officials responsible for the war on Gaza to the deportation of Rasmea Odeh, it is critical to confront the escalating repression in Germany with international solidarity. These attacks will not silence Khaled Barakat or the Palestinian people – but it is critical that we build our international movement to defend Palestine, especially as it is targeted for liquidation.
Many organizations have spoken out – see below for an (incomplete and growing) list. You can help to fight back and stand against the political targeting and silencing of Palestine!
Take Action July 28-31:
1. Protest against the political ban on Khaled Barakat! Hold a demonstration, protest or event for free speech on Palestine. These attacks are taking place around the world, and Khaled’s case is part of them. You can also include a statement on Khaled’s case or the signs below as part of a broader protest in support of Palestine, against the home demolitions in Jerusalem or with Palestinian refugees in Lebanon struggling for their rights. Email us at samidoun@samidoun.net or contact us on Facebook about your event or action.
2. Call the German embassy or consulate in your area and speak up about the ongoing attack on Palestinian rights in Germany.Use this link to find the German embassy or consulate in your area! For easy reference, the German embassy in the US can be reached at +1 (202) 298-4000; the German embassy in Canada at +1 (613) 232 1101; and the German embassy to the UK at +44 20 78 24 13 00. Find the German embassy or consulate near you at: https://embassy.goabroad.com/embassies-of/germany
When you call, say, “My name is _____ and I am calling from _____. I am calling about the ongoing attacks on advocacy for justice in Palestine in Germany. In particular, the political ban on Palestinian writer Khaled Barakat in Berlin. This type of political ban is clearly undemocratic and a direct violation of fundamental human rights. Palestinians must have the right to speak, and the political ban must be lifted.”
3. Deliver a letter to the German embassy or consulate in your area on behalf of your organization against the political ban on Khaled Barakat and in support of Palestinian rights. Here is a quick sample letter that you can use or adapt as you wish:
Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany
ADDRESS
To whom it may concern;
We are writing to express our deepest concern about the ongoing repression of Palestinian rights and advocacy in Germany. We are very concerned that a police state atmosphere is being developed to silence Palestinian activism, an atmosphere that reflects racism, repression and discrimination.
In particular, we write to demand an end to the political ban imposed on Palestinian writer Khaled Barakat. The allegations against his speeches and writings are false and inaccurate; his writings challenge colonialism and injustice and present a vision of universal justice and liberation.
We also express our utmost concern about the resolution passed by the Bundestag in May 2019 condemning the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement as anti-Semitic. In reality, the BDS campaign is a Palestinian-led, anti-racist, global movement for justice and equality.
Once again, we are appalled by the ongoing silencing and suppression being directed at Palestinians and advocates for Palestine in Germany, and we see that fundamental human rights are at risk and already being violated.
Further, we also urge the Federal Republic of Germany to uphold human rights in international forums and take meaningful action to stop ongoing Israeli attacks on the Palestinian people, including supporting a military embargo on Israel.
4. Take an individual or group photo or video with the campaign poster (below), make your own sign and share on social media! Tag us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to show us your solidarity with Khaled Barakat and support for Palestinian rights!
You can show your solidarity with the graphics below! Print the signs and posters and bring them to a demonstration, or take a selfie and post on social media. You can use the cover photo on your Facebook or elsewhere to show your support for Khaled Barakat and your opposition to the escalating attempts to criminalize support for justice in Palestine in Germany and around the world. Download the images below:
Solidarity sit-in in support of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike, Dheisheh refugee camp. Photo: Hadf News
On 24 July, Palestinian prisoners Jafar Ezzedine and Ahmad Zahransuspended their hunger strikes after receiving a commitment from the Israeli occupation forces to end their administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial. Ezzedine had gone without food for 39 days and Zahran for 32 days. Both have spent years in Israeli prison in the past. Hassan al-Zaghari also suspended his hunger strike on 26 July after an agreement to end his administration and not renew his detention again, securing his release in six months. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes Jafar Ezzedine, Ahmad Zahran and Hassan al-Zaghari on their victories over injustice and arbitrary imprisonment and looks forward to their liberation.
One day later, reports noted that four more Palestinian prisoners had joined the five remaining striking prisoners; there are currently 8 Palestinians on hunger strike against imprisonment without charge or trial. Israeli administrative detention orders are issued for one to six months at a time on the basis of so-called “secret evidence” and are indefinitely renewable; Palestinians have spent years jailed with no charge and no trial under repeatedly renewed detention orders.
Abu Aker reported that he was transferred in the middle of the night while suffering from severe headaches and body pain as a result of his strike. He has lost at least 16 kilograms (33 pounds) since the beginning of his hunger strike and reports various types of retaliation: he was barred from recreation and even buying cigarettes for seven days, jailers have placed food in his room in repeated attempts to tempt him to eat (even telling him “today the food is tasty” and was denied underwear, toothbrush and toothpaste. Hassanat also reported losing 17 kilograms (35 pounds) since starting his strike and noted that the guards put meals at his door in order to pressure him to break the strike.
Abu Aker and Hassanat were reportedly taken on 25 July to the Ramle clinic along with Halabiya, whose health condition was already precarious. A leukemia survivor, he also suffered burns as a child over 90 percent of his body. His daughter, Majdal, is now six months old but has not met her father; she was born while he has been jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention.
Meanwhile, Sultan Khallouf of Burqin has been on hunger strike for nine days in Megiddo detention center. He immediately launched an open-ended hunger strike after his administrative detention order on 18 July to reject his imprisonment with no charge or trial on the basis of so-called “secret evidence.” He was arrested by occupation forces on 8 July and is a former prisoner who spent four years in Israeli prisons. He is married.
Palestinian hunger striker Munir al-Abed
Ahmad Ghannam, 42, from Dura near al-Khalil, also joined the hunger strike against his ongoing imprisonment without charge or trial, as did Ismail Ali, 30, of Abu Dis, Jerusalem (also the hometown of Huzaifa Halabiya.) Munir al-Abed, 22, and Hamza Awad, 23, both from the village of Kobar near Ramallah, have been jailed without charge or trial since February 2019. They launched their hunger strikes on 21 July to demand their liberation from administrative detention.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes the victories of Jafar Ezzedine, Ahmad Zahran and Hassan al-Zaghari. We know more such victories are possible for all Palestinian prisoners and against the system of Israeli colonial administrative detention. We urge all to stand with these courageous prisoners who have put their lives on the line to seek freedom and an end to the unjust system of administrative detention. International solidarity can help them win their struggles, so all of our participation, protests and petitions can play a role in helping them to seize victory for justice and freedom.
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are barred from 72 regulated professions, including medicine, public transit, farming and fishery, and the implementation of this Lebanese labor law barred Palestinians (and Syrian refugees) from working at all without costly and difficult-to-obtain work visas. These protests, led mostly by youth in the camps, which are home to nearly a half-million Palestinian refugees, also come in rejection of the harsh conditions that have impacted Palestinian refugees after the signing of the Oslo accords in 1993. In fact, the situation of deprivation, repression and despair has forced many Palestinian refugees in Lebanon to migrate to Europe or elsewhere, seeking human dignity.
Palestinian organizations in Lebanon have expressed specific demands, including:
– the granting of clear legal status to Palestinian refugees with civil, economic and social rights;
– amending Lebanese labor law to cancel the work permit requirement for Palestinian refugees and end their exclusion from regulated professions
– ending ongoing discrimination against Palestinian refugees in a range of areas, including allowing them to own property.
They pledged to continue to protest until the dignity of Palestinian refugees was respected, emphasizing that this campaign is part and parcel of the struggle to return to and liberate the entire land of Palestine and reject all attempts to undermine the Palestinian cause. (The statement was signed by the Al Naqab Center for Youth Activities, Arab Palestinian Cultural Club, Palestinian Cultural Club – Beirut, Palestinian Cultural Club at AUB, Palestinian Cultural Club at LIU, Camps Boycott and the Palestinian National Theater – Lebanon.)
Palestinian writer Khaled Barakat is continuing to fight back against a political ban imposed on him by Germany, while Israeli officials are attempting to pressure the European Parliament over inviting Palestinian speakers to discuss the repression they face in Europe as well as under Israeli occupation. Barakat, who has filed an urgent appeal in German courts against the ban on his participation in political events and activities on Palestine, spoke in the European Parliament on 10 July about the repression faced by Palestinian activists, along with Samidoun international coordinator Charlotte Kates and European coordinator Mohammed Khatib.
Khaled Barakat, Manu Pineda, Charlotte Kates and Mohammed Khatib at the European Parliament. Photo: Izquierda Unida Europa
Not satisfied with the political ban in Germany, Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan wrote a letter to the European Parliament’s president full of typical smear attacks, demanding that Barakat be barred from speaking to the parliament. During his presentation, Barakat specifically addressed Erdan’s role in promoting the censorship of Palestinian activists around the world.
Erdan even reportedly called for MEP Manu Pineda of Spain, who invited Barakat to speak, be removed from his position on the Commission on Foreign Affairs, despite the fact that the Israeli state has no authority or participation in the European parliament. The attack on freedom of expression at the European Parliament came at the same time that Erdan expressed his support for Israeli home demolitions targeting Palestinians in Sur Baher, Jerusalem, claiming that “we have the right to demolish any building or house that threatens our security.”
Even as Erdan and the Israeli state are intensifying their repressive attacks, people around the world are standing in solidarity with Khaled Barakat and the Palestinian people’s struggle for liberation. As part of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra delegation to Lebanon, parliamentarian Osama Saad expressed his support for Khaled Barakat’s struggle against the political ban and the campaign to fight repression in Germany, as did organizers of the Campaign to Free Georges Abdallah in Lebanon:
Lebanese MP Osama Saad. Photo: Collectif Palestine VaincraMembers of the Campaign to Free Georges Abdallah in Lebanon. Photo: Collectif Palestine Vaincra
Writer and activist Irene Clausen published an article in Danish left publication, Konfront.dk, focusing on the political ban on Barakat and other forms of repression in Germany. Earlier, on 6 July, activists with Boykot Israel in Copenhagen highlighted Barakat’s case and other repressive actions in Germany, including the Bundestag’s anti-BDS motion, as part of its monthly supermarket protest:
Photo: Boykot Israel Denmark
In Edinburgh, members of the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign protested for freedom of expression on Palestine and highlighted the Khaled Barakat case. The Scottish PSC issued a statement of solidarity:
Photo: Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign sends warm greetings in solidarity with Khaled Barakat, and wish him and his comrades in Germany well in their struggle against increased repression by the German establishment and Bundestag.
Barakat is yet another victim of the Zionist sponsored attacks on Palestinian resisters, solidarity activists and supporters of BDS internationally.
We are facing unprecedented attacks by an Israeli state along with it’s allies, intent on silencing those who dare to speak out against its countless crimes and to tell the truth about its Apartheid structures and it’s increasingly barbaric racist practices.
Here in Scotland,we will continue to stand firm on our principles of support for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, and defend free speech on Palestine. We will defy attempts by the political establishment, the powerful Zionist lobby and their media lackeys to smear us and others who speak out as anti-semitic.
They cannot and must not win this battle.
Stand strong Khaled Barakat and All who are lovers of justice and humanity.
The Portuguese Communist Party also affirmed its stand in support of Barakat and the Palestinian people’s struggle:
The Portuguese Communist Party expresses its solidarity with Khaled Barakat and with all other friends and supporters of the Palestinian people’s just struggle against Israeli occupation and repression, and for the creation of an independent and sovereign State of Palestine, as reaffirmed by numerous UN resolutions.
The PCP condemns the mounting repression and persecution of supporters and activists of solidarity movements with the Palestinian people’s struggle, in numerous countries of the European Union and in the USA. It is intolerable that the struggle against Israel’s crimes and its permanent violation of International Law is outrageously being equated with antisemitism. This form of repression is not just a sign of increasing collaboration of governments with Israel’s criminal policy. It is also an expression of authoritarianism, which is inseparable from the deepening structural crisis of capitalism and from the ever stronger currents that are pushing for violence and war worldwide.
In reaffirming the PCP’s permanent solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people for their inalienable rights, we pledge to further strengthen the solidarity, namely in Portugal, with the Palestinian resistance and against Israel’s politics of oppression and occupation.
International Department of the Portuguese Communist Party
The Revolutionary Communist Group (RCG) in Britain also issued a statement of solidarity with Barakat, highlighting the connections to the repression of activists who defend Palestinian rights in Britain and emphasizing the importance of clear opposition to Zionism:
The RCG sends its solidarity and stands firmly against the latest actions of the imperialist and pro-Zionist German government to censure and silence comrade Khaled Barakat. As the crisis of imperialism deepens, European ruling classes have set their sights on stamping out any resistance and, under the guise of tackling antisemitism, seek to crush pro-Palestine and anti-Zionist sentiment. In this mission, they are aided by opportunist currents such as the British Labour Party and the German Social Democrats, who spuriously equate opposition to Israel with anti-Jewish racism. The same political forces are silent on the internment of Palestinian political prisoners, on the drive to war on Iran, and line up with the counterrevolutionary coup-plotters in Venezuela.
In the absence of a strong anti-imperialist current in Britain, we have seen a witch-hunt against critics of Israeli colonialism and local Labour MPs have stood on platforms alongside street fascists and Zionists. Meetings of the RCG and other groups such as the International Solidarity Movement have been attended by undercover cops as local councils, Labour and Tory, adopt pro-Israel motions. Rather than accepting self-censorship in the name of a form of BDS stripped of its principles, we fight for an anti-Zionist Palestine solidarity movement. The actions of the German state are outrageous and reactionary, and are a shape of things to come across Europe unless a new movement is built. We stand with comrade Khaled, Samidoun and all who campaign against this censorship.
Fraternally,
Revolutionary Communist Group/Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism!
The Gruppe ArbeiterInnenMacht, the German section of the League for the Fifth International and REVOLUTION – international Communist youth organization, issued a statement in support of Khaled Barakat:
Defend Khaled Barakat, the freedom of speech and movement!
‘Oppose Germany’s and Israel’s racist offensive
To Khaled,
we stand next to you, we offer our solidarity and our support!
The order (see link: https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/riri-hylton/germany-threatens-journalist-prison-speaking-about-palestine) by the Federal Republic of Germany, which attempts to stop you from raising your voice against the atrocities against the Palestinian people by the Israeli state and with the support of the German government, which limits your freedom of movement in Germany, with the ultimate aim to deport you is a criminal act, which we vigorously condemn.
Nevertheless, this attack comes as no surprise. It is not the first attempt of the German state and Zionist nationalists to oppress the freedom of speech and solidarity with the Palestinian liberation movement with all means necessary. It is part of an orchestrated campaign, which is orchestrated by the far right Netanyahu government, supported by the imperialist governments, build on lies and carried out with vicious repression.
The German state claims that “the public should be protected from your expected anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements.” We know you as a courageous socialist and humanist. Someone who fights with conviction not just against the oppression of the Palestinians by the Israeli state, but against all forms of oppression. The claim you are anti-semitic is as laughable as the claim “Trump and Netanyahu want peace in the Middle East.”
At the same time it is Trump, Netanjahu and the officials of the German government who actually cooperate openly with antisemitic governments such as in Hungary or Poland. While the German state is “blind on the right eye”, fascists murder and the antisemitic Alternative für Deutschland is preparing to capture provincial governments, it is internationalists like you who are the target of repression.
While the danger for Jewish people is growing under the threat of growing fascist street movements, it is not this actual danger but the Palestinian rights movement that is branded antisemitic. The basis on which this aggressive ideological advance is made, is the advance of the far-right in Israel and the ever more aggressive offensive by the Israeli state against the Palestinian population. The Israeli state is realising a one state solution based on Apartheid, and activists like you who fight for a democratic one state solution are branded antisemitic. This of course is only possible if one accepts the reactionary idea that anti-zionism is antisemitism.
Opposing the idea of an exclusionary Apartheid state, which aims to establish a “Jewish State” by oppression, expulsion and constant war against the Palestinians is as anti-semitic, as opposing Daesh is anti-muslim. Naming it as such, reveals the true agenda of the German state, its agenda is not the protection of minorities and the struggle for democratic rights. It turns reality on its head to further German imperialism’s foreign and domestic agenda.
Socialists, and in fact all democrats, have to vigorously oppose this campaign. This is not an isolated issue. Standing with you Khaled, means standing with all those who are victims of racism and imperialism. We call on all left and labour organisations to support your struggle and the struggle of the Palestinians and Jewish anti-zionists for justice. Everyone who wants to fight for justice in Germany has to take a clear stance against the racist endeavour Israel. This is not because Israel in itself is “special” because it claims to be a Jewish state, it is important because the partnership with Israel is a centerpiece for Germany’s industrial arms complex and German imperialism’s Middle East strategy.
It is a shame, and it is telling that the attack against you is happening in Berlin, where a Red-Red-Green alliance (SPD, LINKE, Grüne) are forming a coalition. The blame has to go directly to the interior minister Andreas Geisel (SPD) and the minister of justice Dirk Behrendt (Grüne), but also to the two Berliner staunch zionists Klaus Lederer who is Minster for Culture and Stefan Liebich, the Left Party’s speaker for foreign affairs. They have been two of the most prominent figures in oppressing any solidarity with Palestine in the Left Party, and supporting the smear campaigns in the broader left against anti-imperialists. They, alongside the Senate in general and the Israeli Embassy should be the recipients of protests in Berlin.
We call on all those who are disgusted by this attack on the freedom of speech in general, and the racist context in particular to build a united front in defence of democratic rights both in Germany and in Palestine. We urge you to sign the resolution “Antizionism is not Antisemitism” (set link: http://arbeiterinnenmacht.de/2019/06/13/internationale-solidaritaet-gegen-die-angriffe-der-sogenannten-antideutschen-antizionismus-ist-kein-antisemitismus/) which was firstly signed by a series of internationalist organisations in Germany, and supported in particular by the comrades Charlotte Kates and Khaled Barakat. Every organisation which claims that “Such issues dont matter in Germany” does not deserve to call itself left. Indeed it does not deserve to be called democratic.
A clear line has been drawn now, and we are proud to stand on the righteous side, together with comrades like Khaled Barakat.
Immediate withdrawal of the orders against Khaled Barakat, for an unlimited extension for his and Charlotte Kates right to stay!
Withdraw or acquit all pending cases against activists who are criminalised for their solidarity with the Palestinian liberation movement!
The PFLP is not a terrorist organisation, BDS is not anti-semitic! For an end of all criminalistion of the Palestinian liberation movement, Jewish anti-zionists and anti-imperialist activists!
Let us come together to fight for a the only viable solution, a united, socialist and secular Palestine from the river to the sea!
Workers of the World Unite!
Gruppe ArbeiterInnenmacht, German section of the League for the Fifth International
REVOLUTION – Internationale Kommunistische Jugendorganisation
Earlier, in Toulouse, France, activists with the Collectif Palestine Vaincra painted a mural in solidarity with Palestine, with “Solidarity as a weapon” followed by calls to support Khaled Barakat and the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign:
The Collectif Palestine Vaincra, a member organization of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, recently completed a delegation to Lebanon, where members visited the Palestinian refugee camps and participated in several events to demand freedom for Georges Ibrahim Abdallah. Abdallah is a Lebanese Arab revolutionary for Palestine who has been jailed in France for 35 years, despite being eligible for release since 1999.
Photo: Collectif Palestine Vaincra
A full report of the delegation is available in French at the Collectif Palestine Vaincra website. On the first day of the delegation, Friday, 12 July, a representative of the collective spoke at a packed hall in Saida, Lebanon, where over 200 people came to the Maarouf Saad Cultural Center to demand freedom for Georges Abdallah.
They were joined by Osama Saad, a Lebanese parliamentarian and a Nasserite, who also expressed his support for Khaled Barakat, the Palestinian journalist and leftist confronting a political ban on his speeches in Germany.
Delegates also participated on Saturday, 13 July in a cultural festival organized by te Lebanese Communist Party, where many people expressed support for Georges Abdallah, demanding his immediate release by the French state.
Photo: Collectif Palestine Vaincra
On Sunday, 14 July – the French national day – over 100 protesters gathered outside the official residence of the French ambassador to Lebanon to call for freedom for Georges Abdallah.
Photo: Collectif Palestine Vaincra
There was a heavy police and security presence keeping protesters away from the location, but participants rallied for over an hour. Anwar Yassin, a former prisoner of the Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon released in a prisoner exchange after 17 years of detention, spoke to demand Abdallah’s liberation.
Delegates met with the Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel in Lebanon on Monday, 15 July. The campaign is a major part of the struggle against normalization in Lebanon, carrying out a number of campaigns targeting multinational corporations as well as cultural boycott efforts.
Photo: Collectif Palestine Vaincra
They interviewed Samah Idriss of the Campaign about the relationship of boycott to all forms of struggle to liberate Palestine:
They also visited Qubaiyat, a village in Northern Lebanon where Georges Abdallah grew up as a child. The delegates met with the Abdallah family who expressed their ongoing commitment to the struggle to liberate their beloved brother imprisoned for 35 years in France.
Photo: Collectif Palestine Vaincra
The delegates also met with artist Hind Nehme in Tripoli, who painted a mural for Georges Abdallah on one of Tripoli’s main streets.
Photo: Collectif Palestine Vaincra
The delegation coincided with a rise in protests throughout the Palestinian refugee camps in response to the repressive attacks by the Lebanese labor minister against Palestinian workers and businesses in the camp.
Delegates were able to join Palestinian refugees in Ain el-Helweh for the ongoing strike and protests against the repression directed at “foreign workers,” including the Palestinian refugees denied their right to return to Palestine since 1948, when they were forced to flee to Lebanon by Zionist occupation forces during the Nakba.
During the visit, delegates met with a number of political organizations, including the Lebanese Communist Party and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and social organizations, such as the Ghassan Kanafani Cultural Foundation, the Social Solidarity Association and many others, during which they shared copies of Collectif Palestine Vaincra’s charter in Arabic.
Photo: Collectif Palestine Vaincra
On the final day of the trip, the delegates traveled to south Lebanon and the border with occupied Palestine, where they visited the Museum of the Resistance in Mleeta, commemorating the victories of the Lebanese resistance in the 2006 war against the Israeli attack on Lebanon. They closed the visit with a declaration: “Support for the resistance for the liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea!”
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network expresses its strongest solidarity with Palestinian refugees in Lebanon struggling for their civil and human rights as well as their right to return to their occupied homeland, Palestine. In the past days, thousands of Palestinian refugees have taken to the streets of the refugee camps under banners demanding dignity and justice, a struggle that is continuing now.
The protests were sparked by the actions of the Lebanese Minister of Labor, Kamil Abu Sleiman, to impose new registration requirements on Palestinians working in Lebanon or operating their own businesses. Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, who have been present since 1948 when they were expelled from their homeland, Palestine, in the Nakba, have long faced severe discrimination and repression by the Lebanese state and, in particular, right-wing political parties and militias. It should be noted that Abu Sleiman represents the Lebanese Forces party, a right-wing political movement long known for its anti-Palestinian and anti-Syrian policies.
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon are barred from 72 regulated professions, including medicine, public transit, farming and fishery, and the implementation of this Lebanese labor law barred Palestinians (and Syrian refugees) from working at all without costly and difficult-to-obtain work visas. These protests, led mostly by youth in the camps, which are home to nearly a half-million Palestinian refugees, also come in rejection of the harsh conditions that have impacted Palestinian refugees after the signing of the Oslo accords in 1993. In fact, the situation of deprivation, repression and despair has forced many Palestinian refugees in Lebanon to migrate to Europe or elsewhere, seeking human dignity.
The signing of the Oslo accords and the creation of the Palestinian Authority, only 11 years after the massacres of Palestinian refugees carried out at Sabra and Shatila by Phalangist militias in alliance with Zionist occupation forces, led to even deeper deprivation among Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. From the center of the Palestinian revolution, they were pushed to the side and their demand for the right to return – the key struggle of the Palestinian liberation movement – marginalized by the official Palestinian leadership under the rubric of “state-building,” leaving Palestinian refugees with few resources with which to confront a multifaceted attack led by Israel and the United States and backed up by the most reactionary sectors of Lebanese politics and capital.
It is no coincidence that the latest attack on Palestinians in Lebanon comes amid ongoing Israeli threats of war against Lebanon; U.S. plans to restructure the region; intensified drives to normalization with the Israeli state by the reactionary Arab regimes in partnership with the U.S.; cuts to the funding of organizations like UNRWA, providing support to Palestinian refugees in Lebanon who are excluded from government services; the ongoing siege on Gaza and the massacres against Palestinian refugees marching there for their right to return and imperialist war drives against Iran. Much the same, the rising of Palestinian refugees is essential to the resistance against Zionism, imperialism and Arab reaction.
Mohammed Khatib, Samidoun coordinator in Europe and a Palestinian refugee from Ain el-Helweh camp in Lebanon, writes:
“The uprising in the camps is a clear protest against the continuous and prolonged state of oppression, exclusion and siege imposed on our people living in the camps in particular, an expression of the rejection of injustice, racism and government policies that deal with the Palestinian presence in Lebanon as a “security file.”…The protests that we witness in the camps of Beirut, in the North and the South reflect the long-term struggle of our people in Lebanon to defend their rights and to confront the policy of racism and marginalization practiced by the Lebanese sectarian regime against the Palestinians and against foreign workers and refugees on a sectarian and reactionary basis. These serious and angry protests in Lebanon remind us of the fact that the Palestinian camps, the reservoir of the revolution, have become miserable enclaves for the most oppressed and impoverished classes in Lebanon, of all nationalities. And these classes today are ready for uprising and even revolution, confronting these realities and regaining their role in the Palestinian national movement and in the resistance, in order to complete the project of return and liberation.”
Palestinian organizations in Lebanon have expressed specific demands, including:
the granting of clear legal status to Palestinian refugees with civil, economic and social rights;
amending Lebanese labor law to cancel the work permit requirement for Palestinian refugees and end their exclusion from regulated professions
ending ongoing discrimination against Palestinian refugees in a range of areas, including allowing them to own property.
They pledged to continue to protest until the dignity of Palestinian refugees was respected, emphasizing that this campaign is part and parcel of the struggle to return to and liberate the entire land of Palestine and reject all attempts to undermine the Palestinian cause. (The statement was signed by the Al Naqab Center for Youth Activities, Arab Palestinian Cultural Club, Palestinian Cultural Club – Beirut, Palestinian Cultural Club at AUB, Palestinian Cultural Club at LIU, Camps Boycott and the Palestinian National Theater – Lebanon.)
Samidoun urges all supporters of Palestine and the struggle of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and lands to support the protests taking place in Lebanon. These protests reflect an ongoing mobilization to defend Palestinian rights and the Palestinian people against a comprehensive attack – and to support their steadfastness to move towards victory and liberation.
Take Action:
1. Organize events or actions in your area to support Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. Hold a protest, gathering or event in a public square. You can also include support for the Great March of Return in Gaza as part of these events. Please contact samidoun@samidoun.net to tell us about your events!
2. Call the Lebanese embassy in your country to say that you support Palestinian refugees and that you want to see an end to unfair labor laws restricting Palestinian refugees from working or requiring expensive permits. We have included below a call from the Palestinian Youth Movement with one suggestion – if you are in the United States, call the Lebanese embassy at 202-939-6300. You can find the phone number for your local Lebanese embassy at this link.
Statement of Palestinian Youth Organizations in Lebanon
Palestinian camps in Lebanon have witnessed popular movements in response to the implementation of the discriminatory labor law which aims to “limit foreign labor” as the Lebanese Ministry of Labor calls it. This campaign has targeted our interests and work as Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, increasing our suffering due the deprivation our most basic civil and social rights. Most of the successive Lebanese governments have not spared any effort in increasing the suffering of our steadfast people in Lebanon. The Lebanese government has not yet defined the legal status of the Palestinian refugee in Lebanon and as such is treated sometimes as a refugee and others as a stateless individual.
As such, our people in the camps of Lebanon have moved in demand of the following:
The Lebanese state must release a law granting clear legal status to Palestinian refugees, guaranteeing them their civil and economic and social rights to live in dignity.
Amending Labor Law 129/2010 to cancel the work permit and grant Palestinian refugees the right to practice free professions and releasing the necessary implementary decrees.
Amending the laws regulating free professions in accordance with the Labor Law to complete the exemption from the condition of reciprocity and the condition to stop practicing in country of origin.
Stopping the composite discrimination against Palestinian refugees and releasing a legal amendment allowing them to own property.
We reaffirm that our protests will continue until our rightful demands are met.
Additionally, we call upon Palestinian factions to unite around the demands of our steadfast people in Lebanon. We call upon the Lebanese people who are the first supporters of Palestine and its people to support these popular movements and to stand with our rightful demands.
We call upon our people in occupied Palestine and in the Arab nations and in Europe and the United States and across the globe to support us in our demands by organizing events and mobilizations.
We as Palestinian people reaffirm our right to return to Palestine, all of Palestine, and reject resettlement and all conspiracies aiming to eliminating our Palestinian cause.
One united impenetrable front for the rights of our Palestinian people
Beirut 20-7-2019
Signatories:
Al Naqab Center for Youth Activities
Arab Palestinian Cultural Club
Palestinian Cultural Club in Beirut
Palestinian Cultural Club at American University of Beirut
Palestinian Cultural Club at Lebanese International University
Janna Jihad, the 13-year-old journalist from Nabi Saleh in occupied Palestine, spoke in New York City at Pearl Studios with Marc Lamont Hill on Thursday, 18 July. The event, organized by Existence is Resistance and Within Our Lifetime – United for Palestine, was also supported by Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network.
Janna, the cousin of Ahed Tamimi, began reporting on the occupation when she was seven years old after two of her family members were murdered by Israel. She is one of the youngest recognized journalists in the world. Hill, who was fired from CNN after giving a speech at the United Nations supporting Palestinian rights, is a professor at Temple University. Both speakers shared an informative exchange about the Black and Palestinian movements, their similarities, differences, histories and trajectories.
Turnout for the event was overwhelming, requiring organizers to set up an overflow room for people to watch a live video feed at the last minute. In addition, members of the far-right, extreme Jewish Defense League attempted to enter the event, but were prevented from doing so after they were spotted by activists in the crowd. The event was attended, among others, by former political prisoner of the Black Liberation Movement, Sekou Odinga, jailed in U.S. prisons for over 33 years.
The event comes as part of Janna Jihad’s U.S. tour, which is also taking her to New Jersey, Florida, Washington, DC, Northern and Southern California, Oregon and more. For more information, see Janna’s Facebook page: https://web.facebook.com/Janna.Jihad/
Seven Palestinian prisoners are continuing their open hunger strikes against Israeli administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial, despite intensified repression and worsening health situations. In particular, Jafar Ezzedine and Huzaifa Halabiya are suffering from serious health problems after 37 and 22 days of hunger strike, respectively.
The seven prisoners currently on hunger strike are:
Jafar Ezzedine, on hunger strike for 37 days
Ahmad Zahran, on hunger strike for 30 days
Mohammed Abu Aker, on hunger strike for 22 days
Mustafa Hasanat, on hunger strike for 22 days
Huzaifa Halabiya, on hunger strike for 22 days
Hassan al-Zaghari, on hunger strike for 14 days
Sultan Khalaf, on hunger strike for 5 days
Halabiya, 28, from Abu Dis near Jerusalem, is on strike to protest his imprisonment without charge or trial under Israeli administrative detention. He suffered burns over 60% of his body in childhood and is a leukemia survivor with heart and liver problems. He is being held in the Ela detention center in isolation, where he was transferred in retaliation for his hunger strike.
Ezzedine, 48, has been on hunger strike for 37 days after he was arbitrarily transferred to administrative detention after completing a five-month prison sentence on 16 June 2019. He is being held at the Ramleh prison clinic after losing over 22 kg (45 pounds) of weight and suffering from dizziness, weakness and severe headaches. He has carried out several long-term hunger strikes in the past while held in administrative detention. He suffers from severe and persistent insomnia and vomiting of stomach acids.
All of the strikers have been subjected to serious repression and retaliation for their hunger strikes, including denial of family visits, transfer from one prison to another, a particularly harsh situation for prisoners not receiving nutrients, and solitary confinement and isolation. The strikers face round-the-clock harassment, room invasions and loud noises from prison guards as a form of sleep deprivation. Abu Aker was tranferred to isolation in Ashkelon prison while Mustafa Hasanat was transferred to isolation in Ohli Kedar prison. Halabiya, Abu Aker and Hasanat were all transferred one day before their lawyers’ scheduled visits, preventing them from meeting with their lawyers.
Jafar Ezzedine has been detained since 30 January 2019. Sentenced to a five-month prison sentence by an Israeli military court, he was instead transferred to imprisonment without charge or trial under administrative detention on the day of his announced release. He has carried out three previous long-term hunger strikes. He is married and the father of eight children.
Ahmad Zahran, 42, from Deir Abu Mashal village near Ramallah, has spent a total of 15 years in Israeli prison; he has been jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention since March 2019 and is held in the Ramla prison clinic. He is married and the father of four children.
Mohammed Abu Aker, 24, from Dheisheh refugee camp in Bethlehem, is a former prisoner, student activist and organizer in the camp. He has been jailed without charge or trial since 1 November 2018; he is the son of Nidal Abu Aker, who has himself frequently been jailed under administrative detention.
Mustafa Hassanat, 21, from Dheisheh refugee camp, has been jailed without charge or trial by the Israeli occupation since 5 June 2018. He is also a youth activist and organizer in Dheisheh camp.
Huzaifa Halabiya has been jailed without charge or trial since 10 June 2018 despite a need for serious health treatment and follow-ups following his cancer treatment.
Hasan al-Zaghari, from Dheisheh camp, was also scheduled to be released after completing a seven-month prison sentence. Instead, he was ordered jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention on the day of his release. He is being held in isolation in Ofer prison.
Sultan Khalaf, 38, from Burqin near Jenin, was ordered to administrative detention on 18 July 2019. He immediately launched an open-ended hunger strike to reject his imprisonment with no charge or trial on the basis of so-called “secret evidence.” He was arrested by occupation forces on 8 July and is a former prisoner who spent four years in Israeli prisons. He is married.
Several other administrative detainees, including Ihsan Othman, Fidaa Damas and Jamal Tawil, suspended their hunger strikes after reaching agreements to end their imprisonment without charge or trial.
Lawyers from Addameer visited Ezzedine and Zahran at the Ramle prison clinic on 17 July. Both noted that immediately after announcing their hunger strikes, they were transferred to filthy, humid cells in the summer heat and subjected to ongoing invasions by prison guards, especially at night. Addameer lawyers were scheduled to meet with Abu Aker, Halabiya and Hasanat but were prevented from doing so due to the sudden transfers to isolation imposed on the three hunger strikers.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all to stand with these courageous prisoners who have put their lives on the line to seek freedom and an end to the unjust system of administrative detention. International solidarity can help them win their struggles, so all of our participation, protests, petitions and phone calls can play a role in helping them to seize victory for justice and freedom.
Nasser Taqatqa’s mother with a photo of her son. Photo: Asra Voice
Torture and medical neglect have once again had dire consequences for imprisoned Palestinians, as a Palestinian prisoner was found dead inside Israeli prison while being held under interrogation on 16 July. Nasser Taqatqa, 31, from Beit Fajar near Bethlehem, was found dead of acute pneumonia in an isolation cell in Nitzan Ramle detention center. He had been held under Israeli interrogation since 19 June in Jalameh detention center, after he was arrested by Israeli occupation forces from his home. After ongoing harsh interrogation, he was sent to solitary confinement in Nitzan prison.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Commission noted that signs of his pneumonia were visible , but rather than being transferred to a civilian hospital, Taqatqa was instead thrown into solitary confinement. As he was weak and ill with visible signs of disease, he was held in isolation rather than given proper treatment. Even though he had reportedly been taken to the Ramle prison clinic on 14 July, he was not even kept in the inadequate prison facility but instead returned to Nitzan prison to die in isolation.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society noted that he had been restrained on a bed earlier in his detention and that Israeli prison authorities had refused to remove him from solitary confinement on multiple occasions, claiming he was being “punished.” He was subjected to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment amounting to torture under interrogation, the PPS noted.
During the autopsy, his hands and feet also showed clear signs where they had been shackled during his interrogation. They noted an ongoing crisis with medical neglect and mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners, especially those being subject to harsh, extended interrogation.
Taqatqa’s family learned about the loss of their son not by direct notification by the Israeli forces that imprisoned him, but rather through social media posts.
Taqatqa is the 220th Palestinian prisoner to lose his life in Israeli prisons, and medical neglect and abuse has been a consistent factor in the illness and death of Palestinian prisoners, along with torture and mistreatment under occupation. In February 2019, another isolated prisoner, Fares Baroud, died after medical mistreatment and 18 years of denial of family visits by the Israeli occupation.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network mourns the loss of Nasser Taqatqa, his life taken under interrogation and in isolation, under Israeli medical neglect and mistreatment. We note that his death is part of the systematic violence of medical mistreatment and abuse in Israeli prisons, including the poor conditions in Ramle prison clinic and the repeated administrative detention orders imposed on Palestinian prisoners with severe health problems. The Israeli state holds full responsibility for the death of Taqatqa and must be held accountable. We urge all supporters of justice in Palestine to organize and demand freedom and justice for nearly 6,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails – and freedom and justice for Palestine.
The 
