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Israeli censorship attempts defeated at European Parliament

Khaled Barakat, Mohammed Khatib and Charlotte Kates with Manu Pineda, MEP Photo: Izquierda Unida Europa

The European Parliament has delivered a blow to Israeli efforts to censor political discussion of Palestine within its parliamentary chambers. Palestinian writer Khaled Barakat has been fighting back extensively against a political ban imposed by the German state and the denial of his residence permit because of his speeches and activities for Palestine. As part of the campaign to protect Palestinian rights and freedom of expression in Europe as well as in occupied Palestine, Barakat spoke at the European Parliament on 10 July 2019 along with Charlotte Kates, Samidoun’s international coordinator, and Mohammed Khatib, Samidoun’s European coordinator.

They spoke at the invitation of MEP Manu Pineda, an elected representative from the Izquierda Unida (United Left) in the Spanish state. Since their talks, Barakat and Pineda have been attacked repeatedly by Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan as well as an array of Zionist groups, who not only demanded that Barakat be barred from speaking at the European Parliament but that Pineda be removed from his positions on parliamentary commissions. Zionist organizations have bombarded staff members and spokespeople at the parliament with these demands, echoing those issued officially by Erdan in a letter to parliamentary president David Sassoli.

In a response to these attempts to silence speech on Palestine within the parliament, a press officer for the parliament’s Directorate-General for Communication issued a clear response to the smears and incitement:

“All MEPs and political groups can invite individuals and organisations for meetings in the European Parliament. Access to Parliament is provided in this context in accordance with the relevant rules, which are based on Parliament’s Bureau decision of 2 October 2017 to systematically deny access to all persons, groups, or entities involved in terrorist acts, as covered by Articles 2, 3, and 4 of Common Position 2001/931/CFSP.

“In view of that decision, and in the context of combatting terrorism, MEPs and political groups are requested not to invite persons listed in the Council Decision or individuals representing entities or groups on that list, nor to facilitate their access to Parliament.

“In addition, these persons, entities, and groups may not be promoted through audio-visual presentations or other events on Parliament’s premises.

“Accordingly,” he continued, “Mr Barakat and Samidoun, the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, are not amongst the persons or groups and entities covered by these provisions. Further, Mr Barakat did not enter Parliament’s premises as a representative of the Popular Front For the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), nor did he speak on behalf of this group. The PFLP was not mentioned nor promoted during the event.

“The primary purpose of the visit was to offer Mr Barakat the opportunity to address a meeting in Parliament on Palestine-related matters, and oppose the speaking ban imposed upon Mr Barakat by German authorities in June 2019,” he concluded.

This response presents a clear rebuff to attempts to silence Khaled Barakat and others from speaking out on Palestine, particularly critical in a moment when European states such as Germany are imposing repressive political bans and residency orders on the basis of political advocacy for Palestine. German officials are even citing the May 2019 Bundestag resolution opposing the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign as justification for denying Barakat’s residency renewal, highlighting the very real dangers posed by these types of legal attacks on Palestinian rights.

International solidarity is continuing to mount in support of Barakat, whose political and legal fight – he is challenging these orders in German courts – has received solidarity from activists, parliamentarians and lawyers around the world. Jews for Palestinian Right of Return issued a statement in support, as follows:

Jews for Palestine Right of Return stands in solidarity with Khaled Barakat, a Palestinian writer and political activist who has been barred by the German state from participating in political activity. This is a racist form of repression and political targeting that aims to silence the Palestinian community in Germany, based on a false conflation of anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism.

Some claim that these attacks on Palestinian rights are a manifestation of German guilt over the Nazi holocaust against Jewish people. In reality, however, these repressive actions are encouraged, supported, and pushed forward by the far right in Germany, which embraces an alliance with Israel at the same time that it pushes anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian, and anti-Muslim propaganda. These far-right parties, such as the Alternative for Germany Political (AfD), are infamous for their own legacies of genuine anti-Semitism and racism.

Germany’s anti-Palestinian campaign is being promoted by Gilad Erdan’s Israeli “anti-BDS ministry,” funded with millions of dollars from the Netanyahu government to silence advocacy of Palestinian human rights, particularly in the U.S., Germany, UK, and other Western imperialist countries which arm apartheid Israel, just as they once armed apartheid South Africa.

In Germany, this repression includes the Bundestag’s recent anti-BDS resolution, the disinvitation of Talib Kweli and other performers who support justice in Palestine, the deportation of Rasmea Odeh, the closure of the bank account of Jewish Voices for a Just Peace, and the forced resignation of the director of the Jewish Museum. While Palestinians have been the primary target, the German state and right-wing similarly smear dissenting Jewish speech as anti-Semitic. Everyone who cares about justice and liberation suffers as a result.

All people, including those in Germany, have the right — and need — to hear directly from Palestinians. We call on Germany to immediately drop the political ban on Khaled Barakat, and end its policy of repression against those working for Palestinian freedom and human rights.

This struggle is, of course, not simply about an individual – it represents a threat to all advocates of Palestinian rights, and especially Palestinians themselves living in exile and diaspora. This is especially true at a time when Palestinians are facing attempts to liquidate their cause as manifested in escalating Israeli ethnic cleansing with the full support of the U.S. and the complicity of Arab reactionary regimes under the slogan of the “deal of the century.” In fact, Barakat was slapped with a political ban when he went to deliver a talk addressing how Palestinians and Arabs can confront U.S. president Donald Trump’s agenda for the region.

Internationally, your statements and voices of solidarity are critical in helping to fight back against this intensified repression. International solidarity can also help to make sure that more Israeli bids for censorship, suppression and silencing are defeated. 

Send your statements, protests, photos and actions in solidarity with Khaled Barakat and Palestine to samidoun@samidoun.net or contact us on Facebook.

List of organizations and statements in support of Khaled Barakat (under construction)

Here are some of the solidarity statements we have received, as well as articles covering the situation:

Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strikes continue to grow; Abu Aker and Hassanat announce victory

Palestinian women support hunger strikers. Photo: Prisoners through unity and liberation/Facebook

Palestinian prisoners Mohammed Abu Aker and Mustafa Hassanat suspended their hunger strikes after 36 days without food on Monday, 5 August, even as more prisoners joined the strike in solidarity with Palestinians demanding an end to administrative detention, Israeli imprisonment without charge or trial. Huzaifa Halabiya, who launched his strike with Abu Aker and Hassanat on 1 July, continues his strike for the 37th day despite increasingly critical health circumstances.

According to the agreement under which the strike was suspended, Abu Aker will be released in three months and his detention will not be extended again. Hassanat will be released in six months. The prison branch of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued a statement saluting the prisoners on their struggle and announcing that more prisoners are joining the strike. “We, your comrades in the prisons branch, consider every victory achieved by the prisoners’ striggle to be another nail in the coffin of the administrative detention policy,” the statement affirmed. Earlier, 20 PFLP prisoners announced that they were joining the strike, and now 40 more announced that they will be joining the hunger strikes in waves of struggle.

The first prisoners to announce their participation in the waves of solidarity strikes included Raed Alayan Shafei, Nader Sadaqa, Moyad Issa, Saed Salameh and Bahaa Qa’adan, all held in Gilboa prison, along with Hikmat Abdel-Jalil, Daoud Hermas, Hakim Awad, Majdi al-Jarashi and Amjad al-Shobaki in Ramon prison. In Nafha prison, Ibrahim Abu Massad, Nadim Kanaan, Mohammed al-Hawarin and Mohammed Salah joined the strike. In Ofer prison, Thaer Taha, Khaled Taha, Mohammed Maarouf, Mohammed Bargheeth, Mahmoud Saifi, Mohammed al-Affandi and Hassan Fatafta joined the collective hunger strike.

After the announcement of the escalation of the strike, Israeli repressive forces invaded Ofer prison, attacking sections 19 and 20, where child prisoners are held with adult prisoners, on 4 August. During the violent raids, Zionist forces used tear gas and beatings against prisoners, ransacked their rooms and transferred some to other sections within Ofer and still more to other detention centers throughout occupied Palestine.

In response to the attacks, six more prisoners joined the hunger strike protesting the repression and transfers: Mohammed Tabnaja, Osama Odeh, Moataz Hamed, Thaer Hamayel, Rami Haifa and Shadi Shalaldeh. Prisoners in Ofer are returning meals and closing their sections, and the prison administration is retaliating by shutting the laundry and “canteen” (prison store.)

Five more Palestinian prisoners are also on hunger strike; all are jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention. Administrative detention orders, introduced to Palestine by the British colonial mandate and adopted by the Israeli state, are issued for up to six months at a time and are indefinitely renewable. Palestinians can spend years at a time jailed without ever seeing any evidence against them under repeatedly renewed administrative detention orders. There are approximately 500 Palestinian prisoners jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention out of a total of approximately 5700 Palestinians in Israeli jails.

Halabiya, 33, from Abu Dis in Jerusalem, is suffering from severe health deterioration during his strike. He is a leukemia survivor who requires ongoing medical treatment and follow-up, and as a child he was burned over the majority of his body, also requiring ongoing care by a physician. Since his strike began, he has lost at least 16 kilograms (34 pounds) and is suffering intense pain, headaches, vomiting water and severe weakness. Halabiya was seized from his home on 10 June 2018 by occupation forces and taken from his pregnant wife; he has been denied the ability to meet his six-month-old daughter, Majdal, while under administrative detention.

Ahmad Ghannam, 45, who is also a leukemia survivor who requires ongoing medical care after receiving a bone marrow transplant two years ago, has been on hunger strike for 24 days against his imprisonment without charge or trial. He launched his strike immediately after being ordered to administrative detention, two weeks after he was seized from his home by Israeli occupation forces on 28 June 2019.  Sultan Khallouf, 38, has been on strike for 19 days, Ismail Ali for 16 days, Wajdi al-Awawda for 9 days and Tareq Qa’adan for one week.

Samidoun Network in occupied Palestine is organizing a protest on Wednesday, 7 August to win freedom for the prisoners and support their hunger strikes, as well as standing with Palestinian refugees in Lebanon struggling for civil, social and political rights – and their right to return home to occupied Palestine. The protest will take place at 4:30 pm in Manara Square in Ramallah. A number of organizations, including the National and Islamic Forces, have urged broad participation in the demonstration.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes Mohammed Abu Aker and Mustafa Hassanat on their victory over administrative detention. It is more urgent than ever that supporters and friends of Palestine everywhere around the world join people taking to the streets in Palestine 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.

Take Action:

1) Organize or join an event or protest for the Palestinian prisoners. 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. In particular, demand that your political officials put pressure on Israel to end the policy of administrative detention, the imprisonment of Palestinians without charge or trial.

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. Learn more about the BDS campaign at bdsmovement.net.

July 2019 report: 615 Palestinians seized by Israeli occupation forces

Illustrative photo. Ibtisam El Amir holds portraits of her sons Mohammad (left, age 24), who was arrested in the early morning hours of June 2, 2014, and Samir (right, age 30) who has served 11 years of a 19-year sentence in Israeli prison, Aida Refugee Camp, Bethlehem, West Bank. Photo: Ryan Roderick Beiler/Activestills

Palestinian human rights organizations, including the Prisoners’ Affairs Commission, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Palestinian Prisoners’ Society and Al-Mezan, issued a report documenting Palestinians’ experiences with Israeli arrest and imprisonment in July 2019. The following translation is provided by Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network.

Israeli occupation forces arrested 615 Palestinians from the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) in July 2019, including 93 children and nine women. They seized 266 people from Jerusalem, 76 from Ramallah and el-Bireh, 75 from al-Khalil (Hebron), 54 from Jenin, 33 from Bethlehem, 39 from Nablus, 17 from Tulkarem, 21 from Qalqilya, seven from Tubas, six from Salfit, eight from Jericho and 13 from the Gaza Strip.

The number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails reached approximately 5,700 including 37 women and approximately 230 children. Approximately 500 were jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention, including those under new administrative detention orders and renewals of previous orders.

The following is a summary of the situation faced by detainees in Israeli jails and detention centers, and the most prominent policies of the occupation authorities during the month of July:

Martyr Nasser Taqatqa faced torture and medical neglect before becoming martyr No. 220

On 16 July 2019, the Israeli Prison Administration announced the death of Nasser Majed Omar Taqatqa, 31, from the village of Beit Fajar in Bethlehem governorate, inside the cells of Nitzan Ramleh prison, where he spent his final hours.

From the day of his arrest on 19 June 2019 until his death, he was subjected to harsh and coercive conditions of interrogation and detention by interrogators and jailers, as well as repeated transfers between interrogation centers. During this time, he faced a serious aggravation of his health condition, according to the testimony of his fellow prisoners.

According to data received by prisoners’ institutions after his martyrdom, Taqatqa was tortured and neglected during the interrogation period. He was held first for interrogation at the Moskobiya interrogation center, then transferred to the Jalameh interrogation center and the Megiddo detention center, where he was beaten by jailers.

According to the autopsy carried out on Taqatqa’s body, the direct cause of death was severe pneumonia, confirming that he experienced medical neglect and denial of appropriate treatment while under interrogation, in addition to harsh conditions of interrogation itself, until he died alone and struggling inside his cell.

As of the date of this report, Israeli occupation authorities continue to detain the body of the martyr Taqatqa in order to further complete its repressive and arbitrary policies against the prisoners during their detention and even after their death.

The prisoners’ institutions consider that the prisoner was subjected to a crime, one of a long list of crimes committed by the occupation authorities and their various agencies against Palestinian prisoners, including torture, which is prohibited by international laws and norms.

It is worth mentioning that the number of the prisoners’ movement since 1967 has reached 220, with the martyrdom of Nasser Taqatqa.

Child prisoners: minors are no exception to harsh policies

Palestinian children in Israeli jails suffer from harsh, inhumane conditions of detention that fail to meet international standards for the rights of children and the rights of prisoners. They are detained in rooms with inadequate ventilation and lighting, subjected to medical neglect and a lack of health care, poor food, lack of play, education and entertainment, in addition to the lack of access to the outside world, denial of family visits, lack of counselors or psychologists, detention together with adults or Israeli criminal children, verbal abuse, beatings, isolation, collective punishment, heavy fines, and others.

During the past month, Israeli occupation forces continued to target minors for arrest, interrogation and detention. There were over 90 cases of the detention of Palestinian minors during July, bringing the total number of child prisoners in Israeli jails to 230, distributed between Ofer, Megiddo and Damon prisons. Many are held in detention centers, while fines amounting to tens of thousands of shekels were imposed.

In a troubling, serious precedent violating humanitarian and legal standards, occupation authorities called the father of the child Mohammed Rabia Alayan (4 years old) for interrogation as well as the father of the child Qais Firas Obeid (6 years old).

The battle against administrative detention continues; 22 prisoners on hunger strike during the month of July

In July 2019, 22 administrative detainees engaged in hunger strikes against the policy of administrative detention without charge or trial.

According to the prisoners’ institutiosn, the majority of these hunger strikers are also former prisoners who have spent years in administrative detention, an experience which has led them to wage a confrontation for freedom from the renewal of their imprisonment. As of the date of this report, six prisoners continue their open hunger strike. Huzaifa Halabiya has been on hunger strike for 37 days and continues his strike after his comrades Mohammed Abu Aker and Mustafa Hassanat suspended their strikes in an agreement to limit their administrative detention after a 36-day strike.

Ahmad Ghannam has been on hunger strike for 24 days, Sultan Khallouf for 20 days, Ismail Ali for 14 days, Wajdi al-Awawda for 9 days and Tareq Qa’adan for 7 days.

The prisoner Huzaifa Halabiya, 37 days of confrontation on hunger strike

The detainee Huzaifa Halabiya from Abu Dis has been on hunger strike for 37 days at the Ramle-Nitzan prison clinic. He is facing the serious deterioration of his health and refuses medical care or supplements, depending on water only in his strike. According to the lawyers who visited him, he has lost a great deal of weight and experiences severe fatigue. He must use a wheelchair when his lawyers visit him.

Halabiya has been detained since 10 June 2018. He is the father of an infant daughter born while he has been imprisoned. He has already suffered from leukemia, and as a child was subjected to severe burns that continue to affect his body. He was arrested on several occasions in the past.

A number of prisoners suspended their hunger strikes in July after reaching agreements to cap or end their administrative detention, including Jafar Ezzedine, who struck for 39 days against his transfer to administrative detention after the end of a 5-month prison sentence and Ahmad Zahran, who ended his strike after 34 days with an agreement to end his detention.

The prison administration carried out a series of systematic retaliatory measures against hunger-striking prisoners: isolating them in cells unfit for human survival, denying them family visits, obstructing legal visits and frequently transferring them from one detention center to another or to civilian hospitals in the “bosta” vehicle. The prisoners describe transport on the “bosta” as another journey of punishment for the striking prisoners.

In addition, jailers continue provocations against the prisoners around the clock, including bringing food to the strikers, deliberately eating in front of them, conducting repeated searches, especially during the night hours, and pressuring them psychologically in an attempt to deprive them of their ability to continue their struggle against administrative detention.

Support for the prisoners on hunger strike

In support of the hunger strikers, prisoners of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine have begun to enter a support strike in batches, and a new batch of support strikers have recently begun the strike.

Palestinian prisoner Bassam Sayeh struggling for his life in intensive care

Bassam Sayeh. photo: Hadf News

Palestinian prisoner Bassam Sayeh, 44, is suffering a serious deterioration in his health, and he was taken to intensive care on Tuesday, 6 August. Sayeh, imprisoned in Israeli jails since 8 October 2015, suffers from bone cancer and leukemia and chronic heart problems. After being repeatedly transferred to the Ramleh prison clinic, he was finally transferred to the civilian Afula hospital after his health deteriorated further.

Sayeh, from Nablus, is unable to eat and has reportedly lost consciousness. He is considered to be one of the most severely ill Palestinian prisoners, and his heart, liver and lungs have been weakening since his imprisonment. He suffers from heart failure, pulmonary congestion and an enlarged liver, and his lungs function at only 25% of normal capacity. He is sentenced to life imprisonment and an additional 30 years. He was accused of participating in supporting a resistance operation against Israeli settlers. Sayeh was seized by occupation forces as he went to the Salem military court near Jenin for the hearing of his then-imprisoned wife Mona.

Sayeh was denied visits from his wife Mona for almost three years, and only saw her for the first time since his arrest in January 2018.  He has suffered from bone cancer since 2011 and leukemia since 2013. Mona Sayeh said that despite his illness, he had been repeatedly subjected to crackdowns and mistreatment by Israeli jailers accusing him of having a cell phone.

During his time in Israeli prison, Sayeh has struggled for access to necessary surgery and has dealt with interference with chemotherapy as well as denial of access to independent specialist doctors. Sayeh’s health situation is one of the most severe inside Israeli prisons, but medical neglect is a significant issue for many Palestinians. 220 Palestinians have lost their lives inside Israeli jails, many in cases connected to medical neglect, like that of Nasser Taqatqa in July 2019.

There are at least 23 Palestinian prisoners with cancer and around 100 seriously ill prisoners.  In the past, Palestinian prisoners have died shortly after their release, reporting long-delayed testing and treatment during their time in Israeli prisons.

Samidoun in occupied Palestine urges all to join Ramallah demonstration for Palestinian prisoners

Samidoun in occupied Palestine is calling for a mass demonstration on Wednesday, 7 August to stand with the Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli prisons, especially those on hunger strike against imprisonment without charge or trial. The protest will begin at 4:30 pm at the center of Manara Square, highlighting the fight to end administrative detention and liberate all Palestinian prisoners.

In addition, the protest, being organized with a large participation of youth and students, is also meant to elevate the level of popular support for Palestinian refugees in the camps in Lebanon fighting for civil, social and economic rights and against unjust and discriminatory laws. Palestinians in the West Bank and in diaspora, including those in Lebanon, together filmed a video calling for the march and urging the widest participation in the event.

The protest will include human rights organizations, advocates for Palestinian prisoners, former prisoners and the families of the prisoners on hunger strike. Samidoun activists noted that the Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails are engaged in a daily battle of steadfastness to bring an end to administrative detention, while there is a rising movement in the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. They called people to participte in the demonstration, particularly as it aims to confront U.S. and Zionist attempts to liquidate Palestinian rights and the Palestinian cause altogether.

There are currently 29 Palestinian political prisoners on hunger strike and 40 more have expressed their intention to join the strike on Monday, 5 August. This demonstration comes to mobilize full support for the prisoners whose bodies and lives are on the line to win their freedom and that of the Palestinian people.

7 August, Ramallah: Freedom for the prisoners and return for the refugees – Protest!

Wednesday, 7 August
4:30 pm
Manara Square
Ramallah, Palestine
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/662027547540890/

For the prisoners of the struggle and the uprising of return and revolution…

We call on the masses of the Palestinian people, the workers, students and youth, our comrades and friends, to support the Palestinian prisoners’ movement in the occupation jails engaged in a daily battle of steadfastness and confrontation. And to stand with the struggles of the masses of the Palestinian people in exile and diaspora. We send our salutes from the heart of occupied Palestine to our steadfast people who stand up in the refugee camps in Lebanon for their legitimate civil and political rights.

In continuation of the activities of the Voice of Palestinian Students and the Samidoun Network in occupied Palestine, we call on all to attend a mass demonstration, expressing the unity of the Palestinian people in the homeland and exile and our firm commitment to the dignity and liberation of the prisoners and calling for revolution and uprising to achieve the return of the refugees to their homes and homeland.

للأسرى عَهد الحُرية و للاجئين عَهد الثورة و العودة.
جَماهير شعبنا .. عُمالنا البواسل .. طُلابنا وطالباتنا و شَبابنا .. رِفاقنا ورَفيقاتنا وأصدقائنا
إسناداً للحركة الوطنية الأسيرة في سجون الإحتلال وهي تخوض معارك الصمود والتحدي اليومية. وتواصلاً مع نضالات جماهير شعبنا الفلسطيني في الشتات والمنافي. وتحية وفاء من قلب الوطن الى شعبنا الصامد المنتفض في مخيمات لبنان من أجل حقوقه المدنية والسياسية المشروعة.
واستمرارًا لفعاليات صوت طلبة فلسطين
شَبكة صامدون للدّفاع عن الأسرى ــ فلسطين المحتلة
تدعوكم إلى
مُظاهرة جماهيرية غاضبة نُؤكد فيها على وحدة شعبنا الفلسطيني في الوطن والشتات
وقفة كرامة من أجل حرية أسرانا وأسيراتنا وصرخة للثورة والعصيان من أجل عودة اللاجئين إلى الوطن والديار.
يوم الأربعاء الموافق 7 ــ 8 ــ 2019
الساعة 4.30 عصرا
دوار المنارة ــ رام الله المحتلة.

8-9 August, Chicago: Janna Jihad – Palestine’s youngest reporter from the front lines

Thursday, 8 August (Arabic-language event)
7:00 pm
Al-Nahda Community Center
1055 Southwest Highway
Worth, IL
Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/events/2432755566996721/

Friday, 9 August (English-language event)
Grace Episcopal Church
637 South Dearborn
Chicago, IL
Facebook: https://web.facebook.com/events/2432755566996721/


USPCN-Chicago is proud to present:

Janna Jihad – Palestine’s Youngest Journalist – Reporting from the Front Lines

جنى جهاد – أصغر صحفية فلسطينية – تنقل لنا الأحداث من الخطوط الأمامية في فلسطين

August 8th: ARABIC LANGUAGE EVENT 7pm at Al-Nahda Center 10555 SW Hwy, Worth, IL 60482 (باللغة العربية)

August 9th: 7pm at Grace Place 637 South Dearborn Chicago IL

Janna Jihad began reporting to present the perspective of Palestinian youth growing up amid violence, originally using her mother’s iPhone to capture videos of protests near her home and uploading them to Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube. Eventually she began covering events and marches in Jerusalem and Jordan. She reports in Arabic and in English. She has over 270,000 followers on Facebook. In 2017 Tamimi, hosted by the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation, went to South Africa to spread awareness about the violence in Palestinian territories as part of the Pals4Peace tour with the Shamsaan Children of Palestine. In March 2017 Tamimi was awarded an International Benevolence Award in Istanbul, Turkey

2 August, Berlin: Protest to stand with Palestinian refugees in Lebanon

Friday, 2 August
6:00 pm
Rathaus Neukolln
Karl-Marx-Str. 83
Berlin, Germany

Join the Palestinian community in Berlin to stand with refugees in Lebanon struggling for justice and dignity against the attacks on Palestinians’ rights to work in Lebanon.

Samidoun meets South African ambassador in Berlin to advocate for Palestinian prisoners

Samidoun participated in a meeting with the South African Ambassador to Germany along with Palestinian writer Khaled Barakat, youth activist and journalist Ahmed Khalil and community activist Ghazi Hamad. Charlotte Kates, international coordinator of Samidoun, joined the delegation to discuss the urgent situation of Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails, particularly administrative detainees on hunger strike against their imprisonment without charge or trial.

The delegation presented a range of topics affecting the Palestinian people and their struggle for their rights and liberation inside Palestine and in exile during the meeting with Ambassador Phumelele Stone Sizani in the South African embassy in the German capital. During the meeting, Sizani emphasized South Africa’s commitment to Palestinian rights and the importance of Palestinian unity to achieve their national goals. In particular, he recalled the words of South African ANC leader Nelson Mandela, who said that “we know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”

Sizani noted that Mandela’s words continue to pose an important direction for South Africa as a whole and the African National Congres (ANC) in particular. He noted the historical support from the Palestinian movement for the South African liberation struggle. During the discussion, Hamad, now an activist with the Democratic Palestine Committees, noted that he and other Palestinians in Berlin were involved with anti-apartheid campaigns in the 1970s and 1980s.

Kates discussed the situation of Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails. In particular, she talked about the eight Palestinian administrative detainees on hunger strike for up to a full month against their imprisonment without charge or trial. Administrative detainees can spend years at a time in Israeli prison under repeatedly renewed administrative detention orders, and people who are targeted for administrative detention are often student organizers and community activists. Ambassador Sizani noted that he had himself been detained without charge and imprisoned under apartheid in South Africa.

She discussed the case of Huzaifa Halabiya, on hunger strike for a month, who has been jailed without charge or trial and has never met his infant daughter. He was seized by occupation forces while his wife was pregnant and his detention has been renewed. He is carrying out his hunger strike despite the fact that he is a leukemia survivor who suffered burns as a child over the majority of his body, requiring specialized medical care. She also noted that 20 more Palestinian prisoners had joined the hunger strike that day to demand an end to administrative detention.

She also discussed ongoing repression in Europe faced by advocates for Palestinian rights, including the political ban imposed on Barakat by German authorities, preventing him from speaking in public in Berlin about Palestine. She presented statements by lawyers’ organizations in support of Barakat, including the statement of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers. NADEL, the South African National Association of Democratic Lawyers, is a member of the IADL.

Barakat himself discussed the political ban as part of a campaign by the Israeli state and its imperialist allies to impose a form of siege on Palestinians wherever they are, including in places where it is not possible to put them in jail as the Israeli occupation does with Palestinians inside occupied Palestine. He discussed the escalating policy of home demolitions and land confiscation in occupied Jerusalem, including the home demolitions in Wadi al-Hummus, Sur Baher. Barakat expressed appreciation for South Africa’s co-sponsorship of a Security Council resolution in the United Nations along with Kuwait and Indonesia condemning the demolitions, a resolution vetoed by the lone vote of the United States.

Barakat also emphasized the broad Palestinian support for the boycott of Israel, especially given that the Israeli state is attempting to expand its networks in Africa and become a member of African economic and political bodies. He also focused on the need to build the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) and confront attempts to criminalize or repress the movement.

He noted that Palestinians want South Africa to cut all ties with the occupation state, recalling the strong historical relationship between the South African and Palestinian liberation movement and the escalating attack by Israel and the U.S. against the Palestinian people. Addressing the future of Palestine in response to the so-called “deal of the century,” Barakat said that “the so-called two-state solution is dead. There is no choice for the Palestinian people other than to continue our struggle until the liberation of all of Palestine and the construction of a democratic society in Palestine.”

Barakat noted the centrality of Palestinian refugees’ right to return, noting that Palestinian refugees are under attack in Gaza – where they are shot down while marching for their rights – and even in Lebanon from right-wing political forces. He linked all of these attempts to liquidate the Palestinian cause with the offensive being conducted by Israel and the United States under the banner of the “deal of the century.”

Hamad then presented further details about the situation of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, noting that they have been displaced since 1948 due to the creation of Israel as a settler-colonial state and the forced expulsion of the Palestinian people. He discussed the current conditions facing Palestinian refugees, in particular the protests taking place in the refugee camps across the country after the Lebanese Minister of Labor (Kamil Abu Sleiman of the Lebanese Forces) enforced a labor law against “foreign workers” on Palestinian refugees. He noted that the forces attacking Palestinian rights are affiliated with the right wing in Lebanon and have a long history of alignment with the U.S. and Israel. He also noted that the Lebanese popular movements are standing clearly with Palestinian refugees in Lebanon in their struggle for civil, human, social and economic rights.

He also noted that “Palestinians consider South Africa to be a supporter of the Palestinian cause,” expressing strong support for South Africa’s decision to downgrade its diplomatic presence in Tel Aviv. “We know that the people of South Africa know the horrors of war and racism and support the Palestinian people in confronting colonization and occupation in order to achieve return and liberation.”

Khalil discussed the situation of Palestinian students and youth in Lebanon, where they are denied access to 70 regulated professions, and the pressure on Palestinian refugees to migrate outside the country to find a future. He also discussed the racism and repression that Palestinian refugees face in Germany and throughout Europe, including the discrimination faced in applying for asylum and even, once again, the ability to work.

He noted that the fight against racism in Europe is also part of the fight for Palestinian rights and a just society, as well as the fact that Israel and the US are aligned with the most racist, far-right European forces.

All present emphasized the importance of continuing connections and discussions between Palestinians and South Africans, including the involvement of Palestinian communities in exile and diaspora around the world, especially in an era of escalated international attempts to marginalize the Palestinian cause.

Take action: 20 more Palestinian prisoners join administrative detainees in hunger strike for freedom

On Tuesday, 30 July, 20 more Palestinian prisoners joined the eight administrative detainees already on hunger strike as Mohammed Abu Aker, Mustafa Hassanat and Huzaifa Halabiya entered their second month without food. The prison branch of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine announced  that 20 prisoners in the Negev desert prison were joining the strike to demand freedom for administrative detainees and an end of imprisonment without charge or trial.

The 20 prisoners who joined the strike were led by Wael Jaghoub, the leader of the PFLP’s prison branch. The full list of the new strikers is as follows:

  • Wael Jaghoub
  • Thaer Hanani
  • Yahya Zahran, sentenced to 22 years, from Askar refugee camp
  • Fadi Khaizaran, serving a 26 year sentence, from Balata camp
  • Iyad Abu Khait, serving a 24 year sentence, from Askar refugee camp
  • Hassan Ahmad Abu Kamel,serving a 22 year sentence, from Askar refugee camp
  • Ra’afat Assous, serving a 20 year sentence, from Burin
  • Musaab Mahmoud, serving a 24 year sentence, from Beit Umrin
  • Muath Kaabi, serving a 3-year sentence, from Balata refugee camp
  • Tareq Darwish, serving a 7-year sentence, from Issawiya
  • Ahmad Abu Amsha, serving a 6 year sentence, from Zawat, Nablus
  • Ismail Alayan, held in administrative detention, from Dheisheh camp
  • Mahmoud Hamash, held in administative detention, from Dheisheh camp
  • Shehab Mezher, held in administrative detention, from Dheisheh camp
  • Shafiq Saabneh, serving an 11-year sentence, from Jenin
  • Mohammed al-Rashdi, serving an 11 year sentence, from Shu’afat refugee camp
  • Mohammed al-Zaanoun, serving an 18-yea sentence, from Hallal
  • Mohammed Firawi, serving an 8 year sentence, from Jerusalem
  • Mohammed Abu Hamad, serving a 7 year sentence, from Shu’afat refugee camp
  • Sultan Abu al-Hummus, serving a 7 year sentence, from Issawiya, Jerusalem

In joining the strike, the prisoners issued a statement that “the procrastination and evasion of the prison administration and its failure to implement an agreement for the three sriking prisoners: Huzaifa Halabiya, Mohammed Abu Aker and Mustafa al-Hassanat, will receive further escalation and response.” They emphasized that the Israeli prison administration holds full responsibility for the lives and health of the strikers as they enter their second month on hunger strike.

In retaliation for the announcement, Israeli repressive units stormed two sections of the prison, specifically those where PFLP prisoners are held. Their rooms in sections 10 and 13 were raided and searched, while many prisoners were transferred from section to section. In particular, prisoners were threatened with transfer to other prisons if they continue their strike.

Abu Aker turned 25 on 30 July as he ended his first month of hunger strike. A student leader and activist in Dheisheh refugee camp, he is the son of fellow former prisoner, journalist and activist Nidal Abu Aker, who spent approximately 14 years in Israeli prison and launched his own hunger strike against administrative detention in 2015. He was previously imprisoned for 27 months and has been jailed without charge or trial since November 2018. His father reported that Abu Aker rejected an Israeli offer to release him four months after the end of his current detention order to end his strike. Abu Aker has lost 20 kilos of weight (approximately 44 pounds) since launching his strike on 1 July.

A student at the University of Bethlehem, his education has been repeatedly interrupted by Israeli arrests and imprisonment, this time without charge or trial. He is known for his speeches and clear leftist politics, representing the Palestinian student movement at events and activities at the university. He is currently held under isolation in the Ramle prison clinic.

He is joined by Huzaifa Halabiya, 28, from Abu Dis, Jerusalem. Halabiya is a leukemia survivor who suffered burns over the majority of his body as a child and requires intensive medical care and treatment. Still, he has launched a hunger strike to demand his freedom after being jailed without charge or trial for over a year, since 10 June 2018. Halabiya is held in isolation at Nitzan Ramle; he has lost 14 kg (approximately 30 pounds) since launching his hunger strike on 1 July. He is boycotting the prison clinic and refusing to receive medication. When he was arrested by Israeli occupation forces, his wife was pregnant; he is now the father of a 6-month-old girl, Majdal, but has been denied the opportunity to even meet his daughter.

Mustafa Hassanat, 21, also from Dheisheh camp, has been on hunger strike with Abu Aker and Halabiya since 1 July. He has been detained since 5 June 2018 and has been issued two additional administrative detention orders sine the first, jailing him without charge or trial for over a year and sparking his strike.

Also on hunger strike are five more Palestinians jailed without charge or trial:

  • Ahmad Ghannam, 42, from Dura near al-Khalil, has been on hunger strike for 17 days against his administrative detention.
  • Sultan Khallouf, 38, of Burqin, who has been on hunger strike for 13 days. The Ofer military court postponed a hearing in his case until 8 August on 31 July.
  • Ismail Ali, 30, of Abu Dis, Jerusalem, also the hometown of Huzaifa Halabiya, has been on hunger strike for one week against his imprisonment without charge.
  • Wajdi Awawda, 20, launched his hunger strike against his imprisonment without charge or trial three days ago. In addition to being held under administrative detention without charge or trial, he needs surgery for a pelvic injury that has been repeatedly denied.
  • Tariq Qa’adan, 46, from Jenin, has been on hunger strike for one day against his imprisonment without charge or trial. A former prisoner who has spent 11 years in prison, he has been jailed since 23 February 2019. After his two-month sentence expired, he was transferred to administrative detention rather than being released as scheduled. He launched his hunger strike on 31 July.

Two more hunger strikers, Musab al-Abed and Hamza Awad, suspended their strikes on 30 July after an agreement to end their administrative detention.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all supporters and friends of Palestine everywhere around the world 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.

Take Action:

1) Organize or join an event or protest for the Palestinian prisoners. 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. In particular, demand that your political officials put pressure on Israel to end the policy of administrative detention, the imprisonment of Palestinians without charge or trial.

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. Learn more about the BDS campaign at bdsmovement.net.

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