Belgium must act for imprisoned Mustapha Awad, demands Brussels protest

7 February 2019

Demonstrators gathered in Brussels on 6 February, almost seven months since Mustapha Awad has been unjustly imprisoned in Israel. The demonstration, organized by the Free Mustapha Committee, urged the Belgian Ministry to take action on the imprisonment of the Belgian citizen, metalworker and co-founder of the Palestinian popular dance troupe Raj’een.

The protest came days after attacks on Awad were repeated by Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Gilad Erdan, charged with the global repression of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign – as well as heading the Israel Prison Service, where he has directed repeated repressive attacks against Palestinian prisoners. The Free Mustapha Committee has urged supporters of justice in Palestine to write to Mustapha behind Israeli bars. Sending a letter to Mustapha can help to lift his morale while making clear to the Israeli jailers that Mustapha is not alone. Write to him at:

Gilboa Prison
To the attention of Mr. Mustapha AWAD
POB 65
Gilboa
Israel

The press release of the Free Mustapha Committee follows (original in French) :

It has been almost seven months that Mustapha Awad has been imprisoned in Israel.

Supporters of the Free Mustapha Committee gathered in front of the Belgian Foreign Ministry in Brussels, Belgium on 6 February. There, a delegation comprised of An Muylaert, Mustapha’s Belgian adoptive mother, Alexis Deswaef, honorary president of the League for Human Rights, and Myriam De Ly of the Free Mustapha Committee, visited the Foreign Ministry. The delegation had asked for an appointment with the minister or members of cabinet, but were instead received by administrative staff – sending a message in and of itself about the Belgian government’s failure to support Mustapha.

The delegation wished to make clear that an early release of Mustapha may be possible in March, after completing two-thirds of his “sentence,” but that Belgium’s intervention is absolutely critical in this regard.

From the beginning, the representatives of the Ministry said that Belgium would not intervene.

Alexis Deswaef gave a review of the history of five meetings between the Committee and the Ministry: “At the first meeting, we were told that we had to be patient, that diplomacy was progressing, that we would first make verbal notes. Then it was said that this is an exceptional case and it was necessary to wait for the trial. And now that the sentencing has taken place, but an early release is possible, we are told that nothing can be done. Belgium’s attitude was completely opposite in the case of the arrest of Amaya Coppens in Nicaragua. Minister Reynders intervened the day after her arrest with the Nicaraguan government. Why these two weights, two measures? Because it’s Israel.

An Muylaert, the spokesperson for Mustapha’s family in Lebanon and his Belgian adoptive mother, said once again that for over six and a half months, she has not even been able to hear Mustapha’s voice. Even a telephone call between them is banned: an intolerable situation, from a human point of view. This is one factor that leads Mr. Deswaef to say that Mustapha’s conditions of detention do not comply with international laws. Even one of his basic rights, seeing or calling his relatives, is not respected. At the time of his interrogation, Mustapha also underwent inhumane treatment: sleep deprivation and interrogations for 20 out of 24 hours in a day.

Myriam De Ly, speaking for the Free Mustapha Committee, spoke about Mustapha’s conditions of detention, held in the high-security prison of Gilboa. In late January, elite troops sent by the internal security minister Gilad Erdan invaded Israeli prisons with dogs, batons, machine guns, tear gas. 150 prisoners were seriously injured in Ofer prison. Mustapha, imprisoned in Gilboa, is not immune to this type of experience.

Alexis Deswaef also discussed an official report issued by that same minister, also responsible for “Strategic Affairs,” a text sent to international bodies attacking human rights defenders like Shawan Jabarin, the representative of Al-Haq and General Secretary of FIDH; Salah Hamouri, the recently released French-Palestinian lawyer; and Mustapha Awad, calling them “terrorists.”

Belgium should not accept these kinds of smears against its citizens. We ourselves can now be treated as “terrorists in suits.”

The Free Mustapha Committee has gone again and again to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Belgium could have helped to release Mustapha from his detention. It can still. But over the course of these meetings, the delegation has understood clearly that Belgium does not have the political will to act.

The next action to support Mustapha Awad will take place on 17 February at Het Wereldhuis in Aalst, where people will gather to write letters in solidarity with Mustapha. People can find out more and RSVP at the event Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/341107900078001/

Urgent: Palestinian prisoner Fares Baroud dies in Israeli prison; prisoners highlight medical neglect

6 February 2019

Palestinian prisoner Fares Baroud, 51, from al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza, died on Wednesday, 6 February only hours after being suddenly transferred to intensive care from Ramon prison. Baroud suffers from a number of health conditions, including a hernia and liver disease, and has repeatedly spoken about medical neglect and denial of needed health treatment to Palestinian prisoners.

Earlier, he had lost 80 percent of his sight due to a vision problem; treatment was delayed for four months by the prison administration for his condition. Palestinian prisoners’ associations said that Baroud has been subjected to deliberate medical neglect over the years and that he has been denied necessary medical care that could have sustained his life.

Baroud had been denied family visits for 18 years by the Israeli occupation, including with his mother, Rayya Baroud. Rayya suffered from the same vision condition, losing her sight and her life before seeing her son again. Before her death in 2018 at the age of 85 , she participated every week in the vigils of prisoners’ families outside the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza City, holding her son’s poster and demanding his release and that of his fellow prisoners.

*Fares Baroud’s mother Rayya. Photo: Palestine Information Center*

Imprisoned since 1991, Baroud was one of the prisoners slated to be released in 2013 as part of negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. Instead, the occupation violated the agreement, refusing to release the final 30 prisoners named, including Baroud.

He participated in numerous hunger strikes and protests during his years in Israeli prison. Most recently, he held an open hunger strike in 2018 against the Palestinian Authority’s cuts to prisoners’ support, particularly those against prisoners from Gaza. After his strike, he suffered severe liver disease, but did not receive prompt medical care. Months later, he required surgery on his liver.

Baroud was held in Ramon prison and had been transferred to multiple prisons over the years. He was repeatedly held in isolation through his 27 years of imprisonment.

Following Baroud’s death, there are reports of widespread anger and rising protest from Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. A closure and lockdown has been imposed at Ramon and Nafha prisons. Baroud is the 218th Palestinian prisoner to die in Israeli jails, many due to medical neglect, mistreatment or denial of necessary healthcare.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network mourns the loss of Fares Baroud, his life taken away by 28 years of imprisonment and isolation – including 18 painful years of collective punishment for him and his loved ones, denied family visits until the moment of his death. We note that this loss is part of the ongoing and systematic medical neglect and abuse taking place inside Israeli prisons – as we see in recent days with the renewal of administrative detention orders against severely ill Palestinian prisoners Walid Khaled Sharaf and Moataz Obaido, imprisoned without charge or trial while their lives are at risk. We urge all supporters of justice in Palestine to continue to organize to demand freedom and justice for nearly 6,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails – and freedom and justice for Palestine.

9 February, Vienna: Solidarity vigil for Palestinian political prisoners, child detainees and freedom for Ahmad Sa’adat

6 February 2019

Saturday, 9 February
2:00 pm
Graben/corner to Kohlmarkt
Vienna, Austria

Women in Black (Vienna) are holding a vigil on “Solidarity with the Palestinian Political Prisoners, child detainees and Freedom for Ahmad Sa’adat” on Saturday 9 February 2019, between 2 and 4 PM in the centre of Vienna, Austria.

One year of prisoner solidarity for Samidoun Gothenburg

6 February 2019

The international Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes our comrades in Gothenburg, Sweden on one year of organizing together as a collective for the liberation of Palestinian prisoners – and the liberation of Palestine. We urge all to visit the Samidoun Gothenburg website in Swedish and read the Swedish original statement: https://samidoun.net/sweden/ett-ar-av-fangsolidaritet/

One-year statement 24/1

One year ago, January 24 2018, a few us started the initiative Free Ahed Tamimi Gothenburg (Frihet åt Ahed Tamimi Göteborg). We created a Facebook page and called to protest to bring attention to the detention by the Israeli occupation of the then 16-year-old Palestinian girl Ahed tamimi. By then, the case had already received substantial attention around the world, but Swedish initiatives were glaringly absent. To us, it was an unmistakable opportunity to highlight that Ahed’s crime, like that of so many other Palestinians, was to defy Israel, an apartheid regime maintained by military occupation. A regime whose settler colonial violence is tied up in other imperialist projects such as Fortress Europe and numerous Western military adventures in the Middle East and North Africa in what are labeled wars on “terrorism” and “extremism”. A regime, whose ethnic cleansing, oppression and exploitation are motivated by false ethnonationalist claims of being the homeland of all Jewish people. A regime, whose allies are not to be found among those who combat racism, xenophobia and antisemitism, but among the antisemitic government of Hungary, the Nazi-dominated Ukraine and Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, who is prepared to sacrifice the jungles of the Amazon rainforest for private economic interests. With her “slap that was heard around the world”, Ahed Tamimi demonstrated that it is possible to resist, and with her words inside and outside the prison walls Ahed has recalled the necessity for all of us who struggle for liberation and a just future to connect our struggles in every way we can.

Since our first protest early last year, we have organized a number of other activities: More protests of different kinds, alone and together with others; letter writing evenings for Ahed Tamimi and other Palestinian prisoners; movie screenings and talks to advance our knowledge on Palestine and widen our understanding of how the struggle for a free Palestine is connected to so many other struggles for justice and liberation. We have established many connections locally and internationally through our work. Among others with the international network Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network. After discovering many common standpoints, we decided with the release of Ahed and her mother Nariman Tamimi at the end of July 2018 to regroup as an autonomous local group of the network, Samidoun Gothenburg (Samidoun Göteborg).

Today, a year later, January 24 2019, we in Samidoun Gothenburg have just finished marking the international week of action for the freedom of the Palestinian prisoner and General Secretary of the PFLP, Ahmad Sa’adat. Together with many international groups and in many different ways, we have highlighted the question and always pointed to the connection between individual important Palestinian prisoners such as Ahed Tamimi and Ahmad Sa’adat on the one hand and all Palestinian prisoners, the Palestinian liberation struggle and all international struggles for peace, freedom and justice on the other. We hope, and believe, that our work has contributed to generating interest, attention, engagement and hopes for the solidarity work for all Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinian liberation struggle. In the near future, we support the work for a boycott of the Eurovision Song Contest in Israel as part of the international BDS campaign för an end to the occupation of Palestine, for an end to the apartheid regime and for the right of return for all Palestinian refugees. During February, we will also highlight the prominent Palestinian feminist and leftist parliamentarian Khalida Jarrar, who by the end February will have been held for 16 months of administrative detention as part of the Israeli attempts to suppress resistance by attacking resistance leaders. In both of these issues, we work with others and encourage others to contribute with even the smallest of means to the solidarity work with the Palestinian liberation struggle.

Finally, we continue to push important issues of imperialism and international solidarity with Palestine and Palestinian prisoners as the focus of our work. Our solidarity with Palestinian prisoners is simultaneously solidarity with the repeatedly punished, but persistently struggling, leadership of the Palestinian struggle for liberation as well as with the Palestinian masses who after 70 years of Israeli oppression and more than 100 years of international occupation and colonisation steadfastly persist in their defiant existence and creative resistance. We struggle with a radical conviction that the struggle for the liberation of Palestine is an indispensible struggle for all those around the world who struggle against oppression and exploitation and for peace, freedom and justice.

Free all Palestinian prisoners!

Free Palestine!

6 February, Brussels: Protest – Will Belgium finally act to free Mustapha?

6 February 2019

Wednesday, 6 February
16h – 17h30
Rue de Petits Carmes
1000 Bruxelles
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/394681314441370/

Will Belgium finally act for the liberation of Mustapha ?

Mustapha Awad, a Belgian citizen of Palestinian origin, has been imprisoned for more than six months in a security jail in Israel. After being kidnapped by Israel on the border between Jordan and the occupied West Bank and interrogated under heavy conditions that amount to torture, Mustapha was sentenced to one year imprisonment for membership in an “illegal” organization. All Palestinian political parties and movements are considered as “illegal” by Israel. The lawyers of Mustapha’s plan to apply for his early release.

Till now Belgian government didn’t do anything to defend its citizen. Will Belgium finally act for the liberation of Mustapha ?

The Free Mustapha Committee is calling on all the people: join us in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to demand an immediate Belgian intervention with the Israeli government.

Mustapha must be released! Free Mustapha !!!

————

La Belgique agira-t-elle ENFIN pour libérer Mustapha ?

Mustapha Awad, citoyen belge d’origine palestinienne, est enfermé depuis plus de six mois dans une prison de haute sécurité en Israël. Après avoir été kidnappé à la frontière entre la Jordanie et la Cisjordanie occupée et interrogé dans des conditions de torture, il a été condamné à un an d’emprisonnement pour appartenance à une organisation « illégale ». Pour Israël, tous les partis politiques et mouvements palestiniens sont « illégaux ». L’avocate de Mustapha compte introduire une demande de libération anticipée.

La Belgique, qui n’a jusqu’ici pas levé le petit doigt pour défendre son ressortissant, va-t-elle ENFIN agir ? Le Comité Free Mustapha lance un appel : rejoignez-nous devant le ministère des Affaires étrangères, pour réclamer une intervention belge immédiate auprès du gouvernement israélien.

Mustapha doit être libéré ! Free Mustapha !!!

—–

Zal België EINDELIJK tussenkomen voor de bevrijding van Mustapha ?

Mustapha Awad, Belgisch burger van Palestijnse oorsprong, is sedert meer dans zes maanden opgesloten in een gevangenis in Israël. Nadat hij gekidnapt werd aan de grens tussen Jordanië en de bezette Westbank en verhoord werd in omstandigheden die kunnen omschreven worden als marteling, werd hij veroordeeld tot één jaar gevangenis voor lidmaatschap van een “illegale” organisatie. Israël beschouwt alle politieke partijen en bewegingen als “illegaal”. De advocate van Mustapha zal een aanvraag doen voor vervroegde vrijlating.

Gaat België, dat tot nu toe geen vinger heeft uitgestoken voor de vrijlating van Mustapha, EINDELIJK tussenkomen ?Het Comité Free Mustapha doet een dringende oproep : vervoeg ons voor het ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken : België moet onmiddellijk tussenkomen bij de Israëlische regering om de vrijlating van Mustapha te eisen.

Mustapha moet worden vrijgelaten ! Free Mustapha !!!

Samidoun call to action: Save the life of Walid Khaled Sharaf!

5 February 2019

Translations: Arabic/عربى | español | Deutsch | Türkçe

Palestinian prisoner Walid Khaled Sharaf, 25, from Abu Dis in occupied Jerusalem, is suffering from serious illness in Ramle prison clinic. Sharaf is jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention; the order against him was renewed for another six months on 4 February on the basis of so-called “secret evidence” despite his deteriorating health condition. He has been jailed without charge or trial since 10 June 2018 and has spent nearly five years in Israeli prison over multiple detention periods.

Sharaf is suffering from kidney, liver and intestinal disease as well as a skin disorder. His condition has worsened significantly and he was transferred from Ofer prison to the Ramle prison clinic, notorious for its neglect and mistreatment of ill Palestinian prisoners.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network emphasizes that the Israeli occupation holds full responsibility for the life and health of Walid Khaled Sharaf, imprisoned without charge or trial and facing a severe health crisis. Sick Palestinian prisoners are facing daily mistreatment, neglect and abuse conducted by the Israel Prison Service and the occupation security agencies.

Sharaf is one of approximately 500 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention. These orders are issued for up to six months at a time and are indefinitely renewable; Palestinians have spent years at a time jailed under administrative detention orders. This policy is frequently used to target student leaders, community organizers and other prominent Palestinians, such as members of the Palestinian Legislative Council like Khalida Jarrar.

There are 15 Palestinian prisoners held at the Ramle prison clinic with the most serious health conditions and 140 more with severe, life-threatening conditions. Twenty-one prisoners have cancer and 34 have some form of serious disability that prevents them from performing daily tasks. Israeli prisons are not accessible for prisoners with disabilities, who require assistance from other prisoners for basic needs. Another Palestinian jailed without charge or trial, Moataz Obeidu, requires the assistance of his fellow prisoners to move, uses a colostomy bag and needs help with personal needs. Despite needing treatment outside the prison walls, he is facing a four-month extension of his administrative detention.

Israa Jaabis is one of several women prisoners suffering from severe health problems. A cooking gas cylinder she was carrying caught on fire inside her car at an Israeli checkpoint, and Jaabis was forced to remain inside her car in the blaze. She suffered burns over 60 percent of her body, eight of her fingers were amputated and she suffered severe damage to her arms, ears, nose and face. She requires assistance with basic daily activities like eating, bathroom usage and changing clothes. Despite her severe health condition, Jaabis, a mother and social worker was sentenced to 11 years in Israeli prison, where she continues to require critical surgeries and depends on fellow prisoners for support.

Samidoun urges all international supporters of Palestine to join the call to free Walid Sharaf and all sick prisoners from Israeli occupation prisons. Their health is facing further deterioration and their lives are at risk due to the ongoing practices of the Israeli state.

Take Action:

1. Organize events, actions and protests at Israeli embassies and consulates around the world to highlight the struggle of Palestinian political prisoners. Protest in public squares and other open community spaces. Send us your events! Email us at samidoun@samidoun.net.

2. Distribute this call to action and take media actions, like posting photos with the photo of Walid Sharaf (above) and other Palestinian prisoners with messages of solidarity. Send us your links, statements and photos! Email us at samidoun@samidoun.net or send us a message on Facebook.

3. Include Walid Sharaf and the Palestinian prisoners in your Palestine solidarity, anti-racism, anti-imperialist and social justice events. Bring flyers and posters or share information about the prisoners as part of your program. Let us know what you’re doing: Email us at samidoun@samidoun.net or send us a message on Facebook.

4. Boycott, Divest and Sanction. Hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law through economic, cultural, academic and other forms of boycott. Don’t buy Israeli goods, and campaign to end investments in corporations that profit from the occupation. Learn more at bdsmovement.net.

عربى

صامدون تدعو الى تحرك عاجل لإنقاذ حياة الأسير وليد شرف

حّملت ” شبكة صامدون للدّفاع عن الاسرى ” سلطات الاحتلال الاسرائيلية المسؤولية الكاملة عن حياة الأسير وليد خالد شرف (25 عاماً) من بلدة أبو ديس في القدس المحتلة بعد تجديد أمر الاعتقال الإداري بحقه رغم وضعه الصحي الخطير حيث يعاني شرف من امراض في الكلى والأمعاء والكبد وضمور في الجلد، وقد تم نقله من معتقل ” عوفر ” إلى ” عيادة سجن الرملة ” بعد تدهور حالته الصحية لخطورة وضعه الصحي.

واعتبرت ” شبكة صامدون ” ان ممارسات الاحتلال وتجاهل الاسرى المرضى تُعد جرائم يومية يرتكبها كيان الاحتلال وسلطات السجون الصهيونية على مدار الساعة بحق الاسيرات والاسرى الفلسطينيين . وطالبت ” صامدون ” بالضغط الاوروبي والدولي على سلطة الاحتلال من أجل إطلاق سراح الاسير شرف وكل الاسرى المرضى من سجون الاحتلال محذرة من تداعيات استمرار اعتقالهم في ظل تدهور اوضاعهم الصحية كما في حالة الاسير شرف.

Español

Urgente

La Red Samidoun (solidaridad con los presos palestinos) insta a una movilización para salvar la vida del preso Walid Sharaf

La red Samidoun, hace responsable a la ocupación y a sus responsables carcelarios, sobre la vida del preso Walid Khaled Sharaf (25 años), de Abu Dis (Jerusalén), después de que las autoridades carcelarias, renovaran la detención administrativa del Sharaf, y a pesar de su grave estado de salud, ya que el preso sufre de una atrofia cutánea y problemas en los riñones, en los intestinos y en el hígado, habiendo sido trasladado de la presión de Ofer, a la clínica de Ramlah, y desde ahí, a un hospital civil dependiente de la ocupación, por el agravamiento de su estado de salud.

La red Samidoun, considera que las prácticas de la ocupación, hacia los presos enfermos, podría catalogarse como crímenes de guerra que se cometen a diario, tanto por la ocupación, como por las autoridades carcelarias, y de forma continuada, y en contra de las presas y presos.

Así también, la red Samidoun, reclama que se ejerza una presión internacional sobre la entidad de la ocupación, para la puesta en libertad del preso Sharaf, y de todos los presos enfermos en las cárceles de la ocupación, advirtiendo de las consecuencias de seguir las detenciones de los presos, cuando sus condiciones de salud son mermadas, como lo es el caso del preso Sharaf.

Red Samidoun. 5 febrero 2019

Traducido al castellano por Jamal Halawa

Deutsch

Samidoun ruft zur Aktion auf!!! Rettet das Leben von Walid Khaled Sharaf!!!

Das Samidoun Netzwerk, welches sich für die Rechte von politischen Gefangenen einsetzt, gibt dem israelischen Besatzungsregime die volle Verantwortung über das Leben des politischen Gefangenen Walid Khaled Sharaf (25 Jahre) aus Abu Dis, ein Vorort von Jerusalem. Das israelische Besatzungsregime hat die Administrativhaft (Haft ohne Urteil, Anschuldigung, Beweise oder Gerichtsverhandlung) ein weiteres Mal verlängert, obwohl Sharaf schwer erkrankt ist. Sharaf leidet unter einer Nieren-, Leber- und Darmerkrankung, sowie einem Gewebeschwund. Er wurde nun aus dem „Ofer“-Gefängnis in das Gefängniskrankenhaus „Ramle“ verlegt, nachdem sich seine Gesundheit weiter verschlechtert hat und Lebensgefahr besteht.

Samidoun sieht in dieser täglichen Praxis der bewussten Vernachlässigung und unterlassenen medizinischen Hilfeleistung für die palästinensischen politischen Gefangenen durch das israelische Besatzungsregime und die Gefängnisadministration eine klare Menschenrechtsverletzung. Samidoun fordert die europäische und internationale Gemeinschaft dazu auf, Druck auf das israelische Besatzungsregime auszuüben, um die Freilassung des erkrankten, politischen Gefangenen Sharaf und aller anderen erkrankten politischen Gefangenen zu erwirken. Darüber hinaus warnt Samidoun vor der gesundheitlichen Verschlechterung weiterer erkrankter Gefangener, sollte die Verlängerungen der Haft andauern.

Samidoun ruft alle internationalen Unterstützer des palästinensischen Freiheitskampfes auf, sich der Kampagne für die Befreiung von Walid Khaled Sharaf und aller erkrankten Gefangenen in den israelischen Besatzungsgefängnissen anzuschließen und solidarische Events, Demonstrationen, Kundgebungen und weitere Kampagnen und Aktionen für die palästinensischen Gefangenen zu organisieren. Infomaterial kann man über die Webseite von Samidoun (www.samidoun.net) anfordern!

Türkçe

Samidoun, Filistinli esir Velid Şeref’in hayatını kurtarmak için harekete geçme çağrısı yaptı.

Filistinli Esirlerle Dayanışma Ağı – Samidoun, işgal altındaki Kudüs’ten 25 yaşındakiesir Velid Halid Şeref’in hayatının tehlikeye atılmasının tüm sorumluluğunun İsrail İşgal yetkililerine ait olduğunu açıkladı. Özellikle son dönemde sağlık durumunun kötüleşmesi ve böbrek ve karaciğer hastalıkları üzerine Ofer Hapishanesinden Ramle Hapishanesi kliniğine nakledilmesine rağmen İsrail makamları Velid’in yargısız idari tutukluluğunu uzatma kararını aldı.

Samidoun ayrıca işgal devletinin hasta esirlere günlük olarak uyguladığı politikaların an be an işlenen suçlar olduğunu bildirdi ve esir Şeref şahsında hayatı tehlikeye atılan tüm Filistinli hasta esirlerin serbest bırakılması için ses yükseltme çağrısı yaptı.

25 January, Berlin: Protest in support of Palestinian prisoners

25 January 2019

Friday, 25 January
2:00 pm
Wittenbergplatz
Berlin, Germany

Palestinian and Arab organizations in Berlin invite all to gather in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

The boycott movement and the attack on Palestinian prisoners by Khaled Barakat

24 January 2019

The following article by Khaled Barakat, Palestinian writer and coordinator of the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat, was originally published on 24 January 2019 in Arabic at Quds News Network. English translation follows below:

The right-wing Zionist Cabinet minister, Gilad Erdan (Likud), is waging a furious and organized campaign against the prisoners’ movement in Israeli jails today. This campaign aims to distort the image of the prisoners and confiscate their voice and their achievements earned through hunger, blood and suffering. At the same time, he is personally leading official Zionist efforts against the international movement for the boycott of Israel. The BDS movement (boycott, divestment and sanctions) calls for the boycott of the occupation, withdrawing investments from its companies and institutions and imposing sanctions on it, including a military embargo.

Erdan heads the Ministry of Public Security, responsible over the prison administration. He also heads the Ministry of Strategic Affairs, founded for his right-wing, racist colleague Avigdor Lieberman in 2006. When appointed in 2015, he transformed its agenda toward a new primary task: to confront the growing international boycott movement. It is no coincidence that there is a strong relationship between the struggle of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and the international solidarity movement with the Palestinian people around the world. The task of Gilad Erdan is to criminalize both parties at the international level: the Palestinian prisoners and all those calling for the boycott of Zionism or the victory of Palestinian rights.

This strategy of Gilad Erdan is based on a simple, central framework: “moving from defense to attack.” This concept includes Zionist recognition of a serious problem, viewing the colonial settler entity as facing an existential crisis, what the Zionists term “the delegitimization of Israel.” Within this context, it is “logical” for the Zionist movement to attempt to criminalize and suppress the boycott movement in the United States, Canada, Europe and elsewhere due to its achievements and growing strength in support of the Palestinian struggle. Similarly, how can the policy of the “move toward attack” be justified in the case of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, held captive in prisons and detention centers, be justified and promoted without violating their rights, attempting to confiscate their achievements and distorting their image?

The Zionist attempt to delegitimize the resistance

In most of his numerous speeches and statements, Gilad Erdan repeatedly claims that the prisoners are not prisoners of war, political detainees or freedom fighters. Instead, he labels them “killers” and “terrorists,” claiming that those who support the “killers” are implicated in their “crimes.” He is well aware of the existence of various so-called “anti-terror” laws in the United States, Europe and their allies to criminalize the Palestinian resistance!

This is the daily international message of the Israeli state and the Zionist movement: criminalizing the Palestinian prisoners, the prisoners’ movement and the Palestinian resistance in general, while practicing terror against the popular movements and growing forces that fall within the framework of the global movement for boycott.

The Zionist organizations are trying to criminalize the Palestinian resistance and its supporters, both the popular resistance and the armed resistance. The latest example was the failed attempt to pass a resolution characterizing Hamas as a terrorist organization in the UN General Assembly, as well as the persistent attempts by the enemy to manufacture claims of “organizational links” between the international boycott movement and the Palestinian resistance forces. For example, Palestinian and solidarity organizations active in the United States, such as Students for Justice in Palestine, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and American Muslims for Palestine are repeatedly and dubiously accused of being “defenders of Palestinian terrorism” or linked to Hamas, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and others. The reality is that these and other groups are popular movements, human rights organizations and civil society institutions that are growing in popularity and strength in churches, trade unions, political parties and universities.

Many of these campaigns of disinformation and distortion carried out by anti-Palestinian institutions and centers in the United States and Europe attempt to link the international boycott movement with the Palestinian resistance forces by noting the leaders of the prisoners’ movement, characterizing them instead as “Palestinian terrorist leaders.” One additional purpose of such attacks is an attempt to pressure the international solidarity movement, and at its heart the boycott movement, to silence or abandon its moral support and political position in support of the legitimacy of Palestinian resistance against the occupation toward return and liberation.

It is a war of legitimacy, then, and it is true that there is an essential, existential conflict between the racist, settler-colonial Zionist project and the liberation movement of the Palestinian people under occupation and in exile. The search for “solutions” and “settlement” is not useful or realistic; both of these sides are looking for victory. The Arab-Zionist conflict has never been a struggle over shifting borders and small areas.

The repressive legislation that criminalizes the Popular Front, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and other organizations come under a well-known framework prohibiting “material support” for groups on “foreign terrorist lists.” Erdan and his colleagues are attempting to use the threat of these laws to bully and repress the boycott movement and its allies in Washington, London, Paris and other Western capitals. These laws often originate in finance ministries, with a stated purpose of “drying up support for terrorism.” But Israel and the Zionist movement wants more even than this criminalization of “material support” for the resistance. They want to criminalize political advocacy and growing movements in a desperate attempt to criminalize the entire Palestinian national liberation movement and strip it of its legitimacy and support.

If these efforts can run aground on the “prison front” because of the cohesion of the prisoners’ movement, their internal strength and their long experience of historical struggle, this calls for mobilizing the Palestinian people inside and outside Palestine and advancing Arab and international popular support and solidarity in order for the prisoners’ movement to recover its leading position as the solid nucleus of the Palestinian resistance. As always, the prisoners stand on the front line to defend the people and their rights. The occupation state and its institutions are also failing in their efforts against the boycott movement, due to the vigilance of the Palestinian people and solidarity movement, raising two basic principles: resistance and boycott.

To conclude:

Defending the achievements and rights of the prisoners in occupation prisons, uncovering the crimes of the Zionist forces against them and working to internationalize their cause at the popular and official levels as the legitimate representatives of the Palestinian resistance is a task of a special and critical nature. It is an existential question for the entire Palestinian people, not only for the prisoners themselves.

The Palestinian prisoners’ movement, which today is being subject to a furious, official campaign of attack directed by Gilad Erdan, is able to confront the special repressive forces like Masada, Dror, Yaman and others with its solid and unified will. It provides us with daily, living examples of unity in struggle within the dungeons of the occupier. We must learn and draw lessons from this example as well, to unite our efforts to confront Zionist aggression and all attempts to delegitimize the struggle of the Palestinian people and undermine its courageous and legitimate resistance.

It is also necessary that the struggles of the prisoners’ movement occupy their natural and advanced position on the agenda of the international solidarity movement with the Palestinian people. Those who do not stand in solidarity with the prisoners cannot support the resistance and will not defend the Palestinian people and their legitimate national rights.

26 January, Paris: Denounce French-Israeli collaboration and repression

24 January 2019

Saturday, 26 January
2:30 pm
Fontaine des Innocents (Métro-RER Châtelet-Les Halles)
Paris, France
More info: http://kzg.mj.am/nl/kzg/lktjn.html

While everything becomes much more severe for the Palestinians who are repeatedly showered with bombs, killed and wounded during the Freedom Marches from the Gaza Concentration Camp, under-nourished, imprisoned in droves (the Palestinian political prisoners being denied sufficient water), while Netanyahu, Macron’s friend, steals the lands of the Palestinians, destroys their houses and cultivated fields, our support must not falter.

WE CALL FOR A DEMONSTRATION IN PARIS

NEXT SATURDAY, 26 JANUARY FROM 14.30 ON

AT « LA FONTAINE DES INNOCENTS » (Métro-RER Châtelet-Les Halles)

to condemn the French government’s collaboration with the terrorism of the Israeli state

We also call on you to organise demonstrations in all the towns of France, in order to let the Palestinians know that we do not forget them.

More than ever, we must answer positively to the call from the Palestinians, through widening the BDS campaign (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) against the colonial Apartheid state.

In the supermarkets and the pharmacies, we say NO to the Occupation products! Watch out, the Medjoul dates produced on the Palestinian lands of the Jordan Valley, are fraudulently back in the shops!

Tandis que tout se durcit pour les Palestiniens, régulièrement bombardés, tués et blessés lors des marches pour la liberté et la fin du camp de concentration de Gaza, sous-alimentés, emprisonnés de manière encore plus massive (avec restriction de l’accès à l’eau pour les prisonniers politiques palestiniens), tandis que Netanyahou, l’ami de Macron, vole les terres des Palestiniens, démolit leurs maisons et détruit leurs cultures, notre soutien ne doit pas mollir.

NOUS APPELONS À UN RASSEMBLEMENT À PARIS

SAMEDI PROCHAIN 26 JANVIER À PARTIR DE 14 H 30

À LA FONTAINE DES INNOCENTS (Métro-RER Châtelet-Les Halles)

pour dénoncer la collaboration du gouvernement français avec le terrorisme d’Etat israélien.

Et nous vous appelons à organiser des manifestations dans toutes les villes de France, pour faire savoir aux Palestiniens que nous ne les oublions pas

Et plus que jamais, nous devons répondre positivement à l’appel des Palestiniens en amplifiant la campagne BDS (Boycott, Désinvestissement, Sanctions) contre l’état d’apartheid colonial.

Dans les supermarchés, dans les pharmacies, nous disons NON aux produits de l’occupation ! Attention, les dattes Medjoul cultivées sur les terres palestiniennes de la Vallée du Jourdain, reviennent de manière frauduleuse dans les magasins !

25 January, Copenhagen: Ung Aktion’s Campaign launch for a Free Palestine

23 January 2019

Friday, 25 January
5:30 pm
Kapelvej 44
Copenhagen, Denmark
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/328149314576291/

Program:

5:30 pm – OKO Gastronomy’s popular organic cooking
6:30 pm – Palestine presentation by the Internationalt Forum
7:00 pm – Ung Aktion (Youth Action)’s presentations on the lives of youn g people under occupation and its projects
7:30 pm – Film screening of “HOME,” this year’s campaign film
8:00 pm – Bar, cafe, DJs and dancing

This year, Ung Aktion visited Palestine for two weeks, living in the Balata refugee camp. In Balata, working with local young people, we launched various projects like rooftop gardens, murals, maps of the camp, street signs and children’s games.

Now we are back and would like to advance our campaign with you! We will tell you about the campaign and present our trip to Palestine with our personal experiences as well as the projects we support – a Balata Media Center and Ahed Tamimi’s project for unjustly imprisoned Palestinian children.

PROGRAM:
17.30: ØKO’s Gastronomis populære økologiske køkken laver delemad
18.30: Palæstinaoplæg fra International Forum
19.00: Ung Aktion oplæg om livet som ung under besættelsen og forklaring af Ung Aktions støtteprojekter.
19.30: Filmscreening på en af årets kampagnefilm “HOME”
20:00 Bar, Café, DJ’s og floor

I år har Ung Aktion været i Palæstina i 2 uger og boet i flygtningelejren Balata. I Balata har vi i samarbejde med lokale unge iværksat forskellige projekter som: Rooftop gardens, vægmalerier, kort over lejren, gadeskilte og gadespil til børnene.

Nu er vi tilbage og vil gerne skyde vores kampagne igang sammen med jer! Vi vil fortælle om kampagnen og holde oplæg om vores tur til Palæstina, og fortælle vores personlige oplevelser dernede fra, samt de projekter vi samler penge ind til – et Balata Medie Center og Ahed Tamimis projekt for børn der har været uretfærdigt fængslet af besættelsesmagten.

ØKO’s gastronomi serverer billigt new nordic med et tvist af mellemøsten i deres populære økologiske delemadskoncept

KAFFE/TE: 10 kr
SODAVAND: 10 kr
ØL: 15 kr
DRINK: 25 kr

UNG AKTION – For et frit Palæstina!

Ung Aktion er en græsrodsorganisation, der kæmper for social retfærdighed i verden, og oplyser samt motiverer unge til at tage stilling og handling ift. globale problemstillinger. Ung Aktions mission er at styrke unge lokalt og globalt, ved at lave ung-til-ung kampagner, aktivisme og fundraising til konkrete projekter for unge i det globale syd.

Ung Aktion består af 20 unge mellem 16 og 23 år og vi rejser hvert år ud i verden og udveksler med unge samt identificerer projekter, som vi vil skabe i samarbejde med lokale unge. Lande: Nepal, Vietnam, Jordan, Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana, Egypten og Palæstina. Ung Aktion har hjemme på Ravnsborgsgade nr. 18 på ØKO – Produktionsskole og Kombineret Ungdomsuddannelse, Nørrebro

Læs mere på vores Ung Aktion blog på konfront www.konfront.dk/author/ungaktion/

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