Protesters in Berlin gathered at Potsdamer Platz on Saturday, 19 January to stand in solidarity with Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Palestinian and Arab community groups and solidarity activists came together with signs, banners and information about the situation facing Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Photo: Afif El-Ali
Israeli Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan, also charged with leading the government’s global anti-BDS campaign aimed at suppressing international solidarity with Palestine, has launched a series of attacks on the rights of Palestinian prisoners obtained through years of struggle.
Instead, Palestinian prisoners are being treated as imprisoned pawns in the upcoming Israeli elections, with various candidates touting their willingness and eagerness to intensify the brutal nature of the treatment that they face behind Israeli bars.
Photo: Abed Khattar
Erdan has directed the confiscation of thousands of books from Israeli prisoners as well as sharp limitations on water, prohibitions on family visits and various attempts to block Palestinian political organizing inside prison. Of course, Erdan is not alone in this regard; his actions reflect only the latest aspect of Israeli repression of Palestinian political prisoners, a consistent policy for over 70 years of occupation.
Photo: Abed Khattar
Palestinian community groups in Berlin involved in the Palestinian Democratic Assembly, including the Democratic Palestine Committees, Palestinian Community in Germany (PGD), Palestinian Women’s Association (PFD), FOR-Palestine, Palestine House and others, came together to call for a demonstration on 19 January in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners, part of the Week of Action to Free Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian Prisoners. It came in response not only to Erdan’s threats but to a series of racist laws introduced in the Knesset, including bills to prevent the early release of Palestinian prisoners, promote the use of the death penalty and bill prisoners for already inadequate, neglectful healthcare.
Photo: Abed Khattar
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network participated in the demonstration, distributing information about the case of Ahmad Sa’adat and other Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails. International coordinator Charlotte Kates spoke at the event, urging escalation of the movement to boycott Israel.
Photo: Abed Khattar
She noted that Erdan is engaged in attacking the prisoners at the same time that his Ministry of Strategic Affairs is attacking Palestine solidarity and BDS campaigns around the world. Efforts backed by the ministry have aimed to block solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners in particular. She noted that contrary to the allegations of supporters of Israeli apartheid, the BDS campaign and Palestinian liberation are critical anti-racist movements on the front lines of social justice struggles not only in Palestine but in Germany and around the world.
Photo: Abed Khattar
Speakers from FOR-Palestine and the Palestinian Democratic Assembly spoke in German and in Arabic about the situation facing Palestinian prisoners and the urgent need to defend the prisoners. They highlighted the situation of women prisoners, who have been targeted for particular repression, as well as the hundreds of Palestinian children in Israeli jails.
The leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Ahmad Sa’adat, does not cry out from prison to complain about his own conditions. He asks nothing for himself except books and some pictures of his family. But we, his friends, comrades and supporters, can and must shout for him, at the very least. This could be described as a challenging time for the Palestinian liberation movement, when the cause and its solid revolutionary core (the Palestinian prisoners’ movement) are subject to escalating Zionist attacks, backed to the hilt by an unparalleled American alliance with Arab reactionary regimes. The Palestinian people and their strugglers in the Gaza Strip are confronting with all forms of resistance the most well-armed force in the region.
At this time, movements of solidarity with the Palestinian people are active in many countries of the world. On this occasion, they are organizing the International Week of Solidarity with Ahmad Sa’adat, for the freedom of this imprisoned national leader. He resembles his people and their exceptional strugglers; he brings to mind the pain of the forgotten, suppressed refugee camps, the voices of the Palestinian popular majority, forced under the wheel of occupation and colonialism and into the fires of a regime of total oppression.
The true character of a person can become clear at the most severe moments of challenge. In the case of Ahmad Sa’adat, he has faced a daily test in interrogation rooms and torture cells since 1969, when he was first arrested as a rebellious Palestinian boy on the streets of Ramallah and its camps. Since then, Ahmad Sa’adat, a student at the school of Al-Hakim (George Habash), has always stood firm in each stage of challenge, succeeding in passing the tests – and revealing the essence and meaning of the freedom fighter.
This true character is apparent under the sun, in the time of isolation, exhaustion and retreat, not in the moments of progress, advancement and forward movement. It appears at a time when the situation degenerates, the leadership has no political compas, and there is instead much talk of “peace”, “reconcilation,” and adaptation to the conditions of Zionism and colonialism. In these periods, the intellectuals of the defeated authority also strive, without being pursued or imprisoned by the enemy, to convince the people that they see a rose garden ahead when the Palestinian people know that there is only a dustbin ahead.
The real nature of the revolutionary fighter is shown when their ideas and will are tested on the harsh rocks of reality, which does not lie and is only biased toward the truth. These are important moments in the history of the peopl, the party and the national liberation movement.
“I do not have the right to forget or be tired. I do not have the right to complain,” Ahmad Sa’adat told us in a private message.
And Ahmad is not forgotten
Forgetting, in the Palestinian situation, is more than an error or a lack of follow-through. It is the equivalent of death, acceptance of defeat, submission and its conditions, a betrayal of the very fundamental questions of Palestinian existence. Forgetting is the secret scourge of those who submit and collude with the occupier – and an active and public participation in its crimes. It is the poison of the enemy and its daily weapon, providing the arguments and pretexts for surrender.
Perhaps this is why you find a phrase on the walls of poor Palestinians, in the camps, in the village and in the prisons: We will not forgive and we will not forget.
This stubborn insistence on preserving and protecting Palestinian collective memory and popular consciousness, this steadfastness in defending the cause, is the inspiration to a fighter in a difficult time. And it is a humanitarian and revolutionary value that confirms the meaning of loyalty and commitment to the path of the martyrs, the comrades and the captives who came before, who lived, who will be born, some of whom will never be known. How can his comrades forget Mohammed al-Khawaja, when he remained firm on his last cold night, declaring “confession is treason?” How can Ibrahim al-Rai be forgotten, when he went to death smiling to protect the secrets of his comrades? And Khalil Abu Khadija, Mustafa al-Akkawi, and hundreds of comrades who refused the shackles on their wrists and would not adapt to their conditions. They said: “No.” In a difficult times, without greatness or clarity, how could we forget the leader or the human, or grow tired of the struggle?
Comrade Ahmad Sa’adat shows us the experience of true leaders, the existence of a revolutionary and alternative Palestinian leadership of a different type inside the Zionist prisons. A national leadership born from the womb of the people, born of revolution, intifada and experiences of struggle, a leadership that looks like the Palestinian people – and not like the “brigadier general,” “the colonel,” “the president,” “the minister” or “the ambassador.” A leadership elected through struggle and suffering that derives its legitimacy from higher and more important ethical sources than the Authority’s elections and its confiscated insitutions. Yet, shamefully, those without true political authority, occupy the Authority with authoritarian practices from the palaces of Ramallah.
Ignoring this bitter Palestinian reality or abandoning it in difficult times is a disgrace, as it provides all authority to palaces, bank owners and corporations, while it deprives the camps, subjecting them to punishment and liquidation. There is a close relationship between the camp and the prison; there is also a close relationship between the palace and the treasonous authority.
In the experience of struggle, we recognize some important facts:
The leaders of the national liberation struggle, with revolutionary conviction and steadfastness in the face of the Zionist enemy, also show the highest levels of democracy, flexibility and compassion in dealing with internal issues, in understanding of people’s conditions and situations. On the other hand, you can find that most of the leaders of normalization and security coordination with the enemy are the most harsh and dictatorial in their relations with the masses, within their parties and even inside their homes.
As Palestinians we say: they are soft doves in front of the enemy, and a lion in front of you!
The national leader Ahmad Sa’adat and dozens of his fellow leaders and strugglers in the occupation prisons represent a unique and important model in this Palestinian context. They are imprisoned because the colonizer fears them. This is a fact that must not be forgotten. The issue is not simply that of a person. Instead, the occupier knows that the prsence of these people outside the walls of the prisons, leading the daily struggle, means a change in reality, their noble principles becoming the rule rather than the exception. It is always in the interests of the enemy to deal with a corrupt, ineffective “leadership,” always prepared to fight for its small privileges and crumbs from the rulers of oil and capital.
The reader may ask:
Why do we not see mass popular demonstrations in occupied Palestine and the Arab homeland against the Zionist onslaught on the prisoners’ movement? Or on the anniversary of the kidnapping of the leader Sa’adat and his comrades, which passed without such any action?
This is a burning, logical and legitimate question, yes. But it is also a collective question, and the answer requires work, not mere words or excuses. This is a question for the entire Palestinian national movement, and at the heart of it, the comrades of Ahmad Sa’adat, first and foremost.
Marzieh Hashemi, an anchor with Press TV and a U.S. citizen, was suddenly detained by U.S. officials in St. Louis airport on Sunday, 13 January while visiting her birth country to visit family and gather information for a documentary project on the Black Lives Matter movement. Hashemi, 59, is a Press TV anchor who has interviewed a number of Palestine solidarity activists and organizers for programs on the Iranian English-language channel highlighting struggles in occupied Palestine. Learn more about the #FreeMarziehHashemi TwitterStorm on Sunday, 20 January.
She is a mother of three and a grandmother of three. Initial reports indicated that Hashemi, who has lived between Iran and Colorado since 2009, was initially forcibly stripped of her hijab and denied access to halal food by her captors. Others have noted that she could be detained in an attempt at some form of leverage by the U.S. government regarding Americans imprisoned in Iran, often on espionage charges. Hashemi had not been contacted by government agencies or questioned prior to her sudden detention, although her family members noted that she is frequently harassed, searched and questioned at length when traveling through American airports.
Hashemi was held incommunicado for two days before finally contacting her family on Tuesday night, 15 January. Reports later indicated that Hashemi was being held as a material witness for an unspecified grand jury hearing taking place in Washington, D.C. The material witness statute gives government officials extensive powers to detain and imprison people who are neither suspected nor charged of committing any crime, as in Hashemi’s case. Of course, grand juries are often used as a means of investigating and extracting information about social movements, because there are fewer restrictions on grand jury procedures in comparison to traditional trials. In addition, people may be granted immunity (even against their will) and compelled to testify before a grand jury at the risk of being imprisoned for contempt of court if they refuse.
Abuse of the grand jury system has been used on multiple occasions to attack Palestinian and solidarity organizers in the United States. For example, 23 activists were subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury in the “Midwest 23” case. Homes of multiple activists were raided, their papers confiscated, their computers seized, in these attacks targeting Palestine solidarity and anti-war activists across the country. All 23 activists refused to appear before the grand jury, and no charges were ever filed in the case; however, the infiltration and attacks were later connected to the deportation of Rasmea Odeh, longtime Palestinian community leader in Chicago, former political prisoner and torture survivor.
In addition, several of the most infamous cases of repression against the Palestinian community also centered on grand jury investigations. Muhammad Salah, a former Palestinian political prisoner living in Chicago, won a major political and legal victory over attempts to name him as a “Specially Designated Terrorist” despite the fact that he was a U.S. citizen. The attack on Salah continued, however, including attempts to imprison him and force him to testify before a grand jury investigating Palestinian and Muslim community organizing. Dr. Abdelhaleem Ashqar was acquitted of substantive charges against him, but served 11 years in prison for refusing to testify before a grand jury similarly digging into community groups.
Sami al-Arian also won a major political and legal victory in his case, when he and several others were accused of “material support for terrorism” – ie, Palestinian liberation. Several co-defendants were acquitted, while Al-Arian was acquitted on 8 of 17, facing a hung jury on the other counts, strongly favoring acquittal. However, Al-Arian’s persecution did not end there. He agreed to a guilty plea to one count to end the case; after being sentenced to 57 months in prison, he then was subpoenaed to four separate grand juries investigating community activism. He was held under house arrest even after his released and threatened with lengthy sentences for contempt of court. Al-Arian was finally deported to Turkey in 2015 after nearly two decades of surveillance, investigations, trials and imprisonment.
Hashemi’s children have launched a Facebook page to advocate for their mother’s immediate release. They issued a statement urging not only support for their mother, but challenging the laws that make her detention possible:
“Alhamdulillah our mother has access and exposure, but there are unfortunately many Muslims in American prisons who need similar accommodations that are never arranged for them. Many Muslims in American prisons who do not, and cannot afford the most qualified legal teams. Our main worry should be with them.
They are invisible, and may go years without their religious requests taken seriously by anyone. Perhaps our mother’s imprisonment will bring exposure to these less known members of our community, and encourage on the ground activism to ensure the rights of these brothers and sisters.
We are all responsible for their wellbeing. These are the people that our mother speaks to us about most often, and tells us not to forget them, not to ignore them.
For us; Hossein, Sarah, and Reza Hashemi, this is not just about our mother. Her case highlights a larger constitutionally legitimized process by way of which people who have not committed a crime can be put in prison through legal means. They can be kept in prison for an indefinite period of time, and all of this is deemed legal and legitimate under U.S. law. This is highly problematic and can effect any one of us at any time.
We believe that it is imperative, especially for marginalized people in the United States of America to understand these controversial laws pertaining to being a “material witness” and other laws that can lead to our detention even if we have done nothing wrong.
We echo the voice of many legal and rights advocacy groups in the United States that find the constitutionality of these laws highly problematic, and, moving forward, we intend to assist organizations that are challenging this legal loophole.”
Hashemi’s family has called for a Twitter storm on Sunday, 20 January. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges people to participate in the social media action (below) and take action to free Marzieh Hashemi. We will continue to update and share actions in support of Marzieh Hashemi and other political prisoners in U.S. jails.
From the Facebook page for the action: Sunday, January 20th at 12pm (EST) to call for the release of Ms. Marzieh Hashemi.
Marzieh Hashemi is a grandmother, mother, an African-American Muslim journalist who has been in the United States, visiting family including her ailing brother and her grandchildren.
On Sunday 13th January she was taking an internal flight from St Louis airport to Denver when she was unjustly detained and transferred to a Washington DC facility by the FBI. She hasn’t been charged of anything and the reason for her detainment hasn’t been made clear.
Marzieh was born in the United States and is an American citizen. She is a Journalism graduate from Louisiana State University. She has been a journalist for several decades. In recent years she has been living in Iran for work as a journalist and often travels home to the United States to visit family and friends.
A phone call to a family member on Tuesday 15th January, Marzieh described that her hijab was removed against her will and she was forced to take a mug shot without her hijab on. She was given short-sleeved clothing that does not comply with her religious dress code and she was forced to wrap a t-shirt on her hair as a temporary head-covering. The police had refused to give her halal or vegetarian meals, effectively denying her food and meaning she has only been able to eat a little bread since being detained.
THESE ARE HUMAN RIGHT ABUSES. WE CAN NOT ALLOW THE FBI OR ANY GOVERNMENT BODY TO INFRINGE ON ANY ONE PERSON INDIVIDUALS HUMAN RIGHTS.
THIS IS INJUSTICE AND WE CALL ACTION AGAINST IT.
We believe in the POWER OF THE PEOPLE. Help up create a Twitter Storm using the hashtag #FreeMarziehHashemi this Sunday at 12 PM (EST)
Today it is Ms. Marzieh who is being unjustly detained and violated, tomorrow it could be you or someone you love.
Join International Action Center and Workers World Party for a political forum and discussion featuring Khaled Barakat, International Coordinator of the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat!
WHEN: Thursday, January 24 @ 6:30PM WHERE: Solidarity Center, 147 W. 24th St, 2nd Floor
MORE INFO ON THE CAMPAIGN TO FREE AHMAD SA’ADAT (taken from http://freeahmadsaadat.org/):
Ahmad Sa’adat, General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, is one of nearly 5,000 Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli jails. These political prisoners, men, women and children, are activists, organizers and political leaders of the Palestinian people.
Sa’adat, with five other Palestinian prisoners, was kidnapped by the Israeli military on March 14, 2006 after a siege upon the prison in Jericho, where he was being held under a U.S. and British guard at a Palestinian Authority prison.
This is a campaign of human rights activists and concerned people from around the world, coming together to address the travesty of justice taking place, and calling for justice and freedom for Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian political prisoners.
Point du Jour Hall/Pierre Tachouhttps://www.facebook.com/events/1901829143272302/ 44 Rue Joseph Brunet (Tram B: Brandebourg stop) Bordeaux, France Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1901829143272302/
Support Georges Ibrahim Abdallah – 35 years is enough!
Evenings organized by the association Petits-Tréteaux Bordeaux Grand Parc and the Free Georges Abdallah collective 33
Georges Ibrahim Abdallah is the longest-held political prisoner in Europe. This Lebanese struggler for the Palestinian cause has entered his 35th year of imprisonment in Lannemezan, France. We are mobilizing to demand his release! These evenings will focus on two subjects that Georges Abdallah consistently demands: Palestine and youth struggles.
Friday, 1 February
7:30 pm: Projection of the documentary: “Truth Lost at Sea” on the Mavi Marmara attack by a survivor, Rifat Audeh. Rifat Audehh is a Palestinian filmmaker living in Jordan who has long campaigned for Palestinian rights.
8:30 pm: Discussion with Sarah Katz (French Jewish Union for Peace UJFP). Sarah Katz was a long-term international activist in Gaza. She arrived in April 2011 and was continuously present from September 2012 to April 2014. She is co-author of two books, “Chronicles of Gaza” (2016) and “People of Gaza” (2017). She participated in the 2018 Freedom Flotilla to break the siege on Gaza, invaded by Israeli forces in international waters on 19 July.
Saturday, 2 February
4:30 pm: Discussion – Youth and Imprisonment, from Gaza to Gradignan. Featuring Sarah Katz and Jean-Marc Rouillan. Jean-Marc Rouillan was incarcerated from 1987 to 2011 for his activities with the group Action Directe.
7:00 pm – 9:45 pm: Concert with Skalpel, HPS, Fils du Beton, Myriam. Entrance free, snacks and drinks available, literature tablesSoutien à Georges Ibrahim Abdallah 35 ANS ça suffit ! Vendredi 1 et samedi 2 février 2019
Salle Point du Jour / Pierre Tachou (quartier Bacalan) Adresse : 44 rue Joseph Brunet – 33300 Bordeaux Tram B : arrêt Brandebourg
Georges Ibrahim Abdallah est le plus vieux prisonnier politique d’Europe. Ce militant libanais de la cause palestinienne est enfermé depuis 35 ans à Lannemezan en France. Nous nous mobilisons pour exiger sa libération ! Nous organisons ces soirées autour de deux sujets que Georges Ibrahim Abdallah porte et défend depuis toujours : La Palestine et la jeunesse. Dans ce cadre, Les Petits Tréteaux et Libérons Georges 33 invitent des intellectuels et des artistes concernés et impliqués pour la libération de Georges.
🇵🇸 Vendredi 1er février 2019 🇵🇸
➡ 19h30 : Projection du documentaire : « La vérité, perdue en mer. La tragédie du Mavi Marmara par un survivant. » de Rifat Audeh (Palestinien vivant en Jordanie, milite depuis longtemps pour la reconnaissance des droits palestiniens.)
➡ 20h30 : Débat avec Sarah Katz (Union Juive Française pour la Paix UJFP). Sarah Katz a fait partie des « longs séjours » militants à Gaza, où elle arrive en avril 2011. Elle y sera en particulier continûment présente de septembre 2012 à avril 2014. Elle est co-auteure de deux livres, « Chroniques de Gaza » (2016) et « Gens de Gaza » (2017). Elle vient de participer à la « flottille de la liberté » 2018, partie pour briser le blocus de Gaza et arraisonnée en eaux internationales le 29 juillet.
🇵🇸 Samedi 2 février 2019 🇵🇸
➡ 16h30 : Rencontre débat : « Jeunesse et enfermement de Gaza à Gradignan » « On ne mesure pas l’inhumanité de notre système à l’inhumanité de l’holocauste mais à la prolifération des lieux d’enfermement. » avec Sarah Katz Et Jann Marc Rouillan Jann Marc Rouillan a été incarcéré de 1987 à 2011 pour ses activités au sein du groupe Action Directe. « Voici plus de treize ans que je matricule en rond. J’ai beaucoup désappris. J’ai désappris la nuit. Il ne fait jamais nuit dans vos prisons. (…) J’ai désappris le silence. La prison ne connaît pas le silence. Il s’en écoule toujours une plainte, un cri, une rumeur. (J.M R – Extrait de « Je hais les matins »)
➡ 19h / 21H45 : Apéro concert avec Skalpel – Première Ligne, HPS, Fils du Béton, m. pour L’Orchestre Poétique d’Avant guerre – O.P.A (Artistes invité-e-s du soutien à Georges Abdallah) Entrée : Prix libre Petits grignotages et rafraîchissements sur place – Tables de presse
The Plate-Forme Charleroi-Palestine invites you to its birthday celebration.
Solidarity with Palestine has existed for a long time in Charleroi, organized by many associations and collectives.
Ten years ago, in January 2009, Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine was formed in response to Israel’s massacres in Gaza.
Supported by the MOC and the FGTB, rallies and events were organized. The Plate-forme has tken shape and become a group of various associations and activists on the ground.
We will mark this anniversary with a friendly meal to support the activities of the Plate-Forme.
This is an opportunity to inform attendees of projects for 2019, but also to review the strongest actions of the past.
We will show videos of BDS and other actions (soon to be resumed!)
On the menu: Palestinian appetizers; couscous; birthday cakes
Tickets are 12 EUR (free for children under 6). Vegetarian and halal dishes will be available.
Save the date and reserve by messaging the Plate-Forme or calling 0473.28.63.75
La Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine met les petits plats dans les grands et vous invite à son repas d’anniversaire.
La solidarité avec la Palestine existe de longue date à Charleroi. Elle était organisée par de nombreuses associations et collectifs.
Il y a 10 ans, au mois de janvier 2009, la Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine a été formée en réaction aux massacres d’Israël dans la Bande de Gaza.
Épaulés par le MOC et la FGTB, des rassemblements et manifestations ont été organisés. La Plate-forme s’est structurée et est devenue un regroupement des diverses associations et militants déjà actifs auparavant sur le terrain.
Nous voulons marquer cet anniversaire avec un repas convivial et de soutien aux activités de la Plate-forme.
Ce sera évidemment l’occasion de vous parler de nos projets pour 2019, mais nous ferons aussi un retour dans le passé pour évoquer les actions les plus fortes.
Au programme : animation et ambiance Plus d’info bientôt, mais sachez déjà qu’au moment de l’apéro, on montrera les vidéos d’actions BDS et autres (et qui sont à recommencer !)
Au menu : -entrée : dégustations palestiniennes -plat : couscous (*) -dessert : gâteaux d’anniversaire
Nous vous proposons une participation de 12 € (gratuit pour les enfants de moins de 6 ans).
(*) des plats végétariens et halal sont prévus
Bloquez déjà la date et n’hésitez pas de réserver dès maintenant par retour de courrier ou en téléphonant au 0473.28.63.75
Thousands of people around the world come together to defend the Palestinian cause and call for liberation. The International Week of Solidarity with Ahmad Sa’adat and the Palestinian Prisoners is a call for support for the prisoners’ struggle for dignity and against the oppression committed by the Zionist state of Israel.
Al Janiah, as part of his duty to carry out the Palestinian struggle, has joined this global event that bears the name of Ahmad Sa’adat, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and prominent figure of the international political left.
The event, which will include video presentations, will discuss the prospects for international struggle in this period of the growing threat ultra-right governments around the world, including in Brazil, with the Bolsonaro government.
WHEN: 22/1 TIME: 19H ENTRY: Free
MEET THE SPEAKERS:
Cel. Adilson Paes – Policiais Antifascistas
Charlotte Kates – International coordinator of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network.
Khaled Barakat – Palestinian writer and activist in defense of free Palestine. He is the spokesperson for the International Campaign for the Liberation of Ahmad Sa’adat.
Marcelo Buzetto – MST and Global Campaign for Return to Palestine
Soraya Misleh – Palestinian-Brazilian, journalist and author of the book “Al Nakba – a study of the Palestinian catastrophe”
Representative of the MTST (Movement of the Homeless Workers)
WHAT DO WE HAVE TO SEE?
Brazil, under Bolsonaro’s government, is further tightening relations with the Zionist state of Israel. There have even been affirmations that the Brazilian embassy would be transferred to Jerusalem, following the earlier action of Donald Trump’s government in the United States.
However, the Palestinian resistance remains strong and alive, giving examples of steadfastness and resilience each day. All fighters for a better world must support this cause. We, Brazilians, with an ultra-right government that flirts with Zionism, have the duty to strengthen this struggle.
VIOLATIONS AGAINST PALESTINIANS:
It is estimated that there are 5,500 Palestinian prisoners held by the Israeli authorities. Among them are women and children who have not even had a trial.
Reports of torture and ill-treatment within the jails by the Israeli authorities are common. Now Israel’s far right, as represented by cabinet minister Gilad Erdan, is threatening to further harden repression within the prisons as a desperate measure to stifle Palestinian fighters.
Similarly, in Gaza and the West Bank, attacks and violations against the Palestinian Arab population continue, with residents facing a severe intensification of the occupation’s clearly racist laws.
Milhares de pessoas ao redor do mundo se unem por um grito de liberdade em defesa da causa Palestina. A Semana Internacional de Solidariedade a Ahmad Sa’adat e aos Presos Palestinos é um chamado de apoio contra a opressão cometida pelo estado sionista de Israel e à luta por dignidade.
O Al Janiah, no dever de levar adiante a luta palestina, faz parte deste evento global que leva o nome de Ahmad Sa’adat, líder da Frente Popular pela Libertação Palestina e figura proeminente da esquerda política internacional.
O evento, que terá participações online direto da Palestina, discutirá as perspectivas de luta internacional nesse período em que crescem os governos de ultra-direita pelo mundo, incluindo no Brasil, com o governo Bolsonaro.
QUANDO: 22/1 HORÁRIO: 19H ENTRADA: Gratuita
CONHEÇA OS DEBATEDORES:
Cel. Adilson Paes – Policiais Antifascistas
Charlotte Kates – Coordenadora da Rede Samidoun de Solidariedade aos Presos Palestinos. Ela é também membro da Organização nos Estados Unidos pela Campanha de Boicote Acadêmico e Cultural a Israel e Coordenadora do Comitê Internacional da Associação Nacional de Advogados dos EUA.
Khaled Barakat – Escritor palestino e ativista em defesa da Palestina livre. É o porta-voz da campanha Internacional pela Libertação de Ahmad Sa’adat Marcelo Buzetto – MST e Campanha Global pelo Retorno a Palestina
Marcelo Buzetto – MST e Campanha Global pelo Retorno à Palestina
Soraya Misleh – Palestino-brasileira, jornalista e escritora autora do livro “Al Nakba – um estudo sobre a catástrofe palestina”
Representante do MTST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem-Teto)
O QUE TEMOS A VER?
O Brasil, sob governo de Bolsonaro, estreita ainda mais as relações com o estado sionista de Israel. Já houve, inclusive, afirmações de que a embaixada brasileira seria transferida para Jerusalém, seguindo os moldes da cartilha do governo de Donald Trump.
No entanto, a resistência palestina continua forte e viva, dando exemplos de superação a cada dia. Todos os lutadores por um mundo melhor devem somar a esta causa. Nós, brasileiros, com um governo de ultra-direita que flerta com o sionismo, temos o dever de fortalecemos essa luta.
VIOLAÇÕES CONTRA PALESTINOS:
Estima-se que existam 5.500 presos palestinos nas mãos das autoridades de Israel. Entre eles, mulheres e crianças que sequer tiveram julgamento.
São comuns os relatos de tortura e maus tratos dentro das cadeias, por parte das autoridades israelenses. Agora, a extrema direita de Israel, encarnada na figura do premier Gilad Erdan, está ameaçando endurecer ainda mais a repressão dentro das penitenciárias, como uma medida desesperada para sufocar os lutadores palestinos.
Da mesma forma, em Gaza e na Cisjordânia continuam as humilhações e a violência contra a população árabe palestina, com os moradores enfrentando um agravamento nas leis nitidamente racistas aplicadas na região.
Discuss Palestine and the resistance of the prisoners, the Great March of Return, the boycott movement against Israeli apartheid, the 25 April march confronting Zionist propaganda, to share experiences and potentials for organizing, struggling and building the people’s movement.
On Tuesday, 15 January, the international week of action for Ahmad Sa’adat began in Gothenburg, Sweden, with a solidarity evening for Sa’adat, the imprisoned General Secretary for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and other Palestinian prisoners.
The event begin with a presentation on Sa’adat’s case and why we in Samidoun Gothenburg are working with many others to highlight this example among the thousands of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli occupation jails.
After this presentation, various initiatives and organizing campaigns for Palestine were discussed in order to build greater solidarity with the Palestinian liberation movement. Participants took solidarity photos, mingled and discussed together and wrote letters to Ahmad Sa’adat and other Palestinian prisoners, including Khalida Jarrar and Mustapha Awad.
Were you unable to participate in the event, but would you like to receive the materials in the event in digital format?
Tuesday, 22 January 6:00 pm Kapnikarea Athens, Greece
As part of an international call for solidarity with Ahmad Sa’adat, General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), who has been imprisoned in Israeli dungeons for 13 years, the Initiative for Solidarity to the Palestinian People calls for a supportive protest on Tuesday, 22nd January at Kapnikarea at 18:00.
FREEDOM FOR AHMAD SA’ADAT FREEDOM FOR PALESTINIAN POLITICAL PRISONERS
