Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network in New York organized a protest on Tuesday, 15 January, as one of the inaugural events of the International Week of Action to Free Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian prisoners. Supporters of Palestinian liberation gathered in Washington Square Park under the famous arch, chanting “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!” and other slogans in support of justice for Palestine.
Photo: Bud Korotzer/Desertpeace
Members of a number of left parties and organizations joined the demonstration, carrying signs and banners in support of the Palestinian struggle. Demonstrators distributed flyers and information about Palestine and the Palestinian prisoners to passers-by, including information about the case of Ahmad Sa’adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Photo: Bud Korotzer/Desertpeace
The week of action marks the 17th anniversary of Sa’adat’s arrest by the Palestinian Authority, after he was lured to a meeting under false pretenses. Sa’adat was imprisoned by the PA for over four years, where U.S. and British guards supervised his imprisonment. The arrest and imprisonment of Sa’adat and his comrades came in the context of the PA’s “security coordination” with the Israeli occupation.
Photo: Bud Korotzer/Desertpeace
In March 2006, Israeli occupation forces violently attacked the PA prison in Jericho, killing two Palestinian guards. The U.S. and British guards had earlier cleared the path for the Israeli invasion and capture of Sa’adat and his fellow political prisoners. Sa’adat is now serving a 30-year sentence in Israeli prison for his leadership role in the PFLP.
Photo: Bud Korotzer/Desertpeace
The protesters also distributed literature about the situation facing nearly 6,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. In the past weeks, Israeli minister Gilad Erdan (also responsible for the global propaganda campaign against the growing boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights) has threatened harsh repression against Palestinian prisoners, cutting their water supply, access to canteens and seeking to isolate them from one another. Prisoners have urged international solidarity to stop Erdan’s campaign of repression, abusing Palestinian prisoners as a means of seeking votes in the upcoming Israeli elections.
Photo: Bud Korotzer/Desertpeace
Samidoun activists in New York will continue their actions in support of Palestinian prisoners and as part of the Week of Action with a march for Palestinian women prisoners on Saturday, 19 January as part of the Women’s Unity Rally. This protest will focus on Khalida Jarrar, imprisoned Palestinian national leader, feminist, parliamentarian and leftist and other women prisoners, who have been on the front lines confronting Erdan’s latest repressive measures. Jarrar is jailed without charge or trial under an indefinitely renewable “administrative detention” order, along with 480 fellow Palestinian prisoners.
The Tunisian Network to Confront Normalization calls on all to attend the march on the occasion of the International Week of Solidarity with Ahmad Sa’adat, calling for the freedom of Ahmad Sa’adat from the Zionist occupation prisons and Georges Ibrahim Abdallah from French prisons. This march is also supported by the Tunisian Solidarity Committee for the release of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.
تدعو لجنة التضامن التونسية من أجل إطلاق سراح جورج إبراهيم عبد الله كل الأحرار الي الحضور في فعاليات أسبوع التضامن مع القائد أحمد سعدات و القائد جورج ابراهيم عبد الله التي تنظمها الشبكة التونسية للتصدي لمنظومة التطبيع يوم الخميس على الساعة الثانية بعد الزوال ،انطلاق المسيرة من أمام المسرح البلدي باتجاه وزارة السياحة.
Palestinian parliamentarian, feminist and leftist leader Khalida Jarrar is imprisoned without charge or trial by the Israeli occupation. Her “administrative detention” order was renewed for the fourth time on Thursday, October 25. Jarrar had already been jailed without charge or trial for 16 months. The new detention order once again renewed her imprisonment for four more.
Approximately 480 Palestinian prisoners are held under “administrative detention,” out of nearly 5,500 total Palestinian political prisoners. “Administrative detention” orders are indefinitely renewable. Palestinian prisoners have spent years at a time jailed through orders renewed repeatedly on the basis of so-called “secret files” to which both the detainees and their lawyers are denied access.
As the end of her latest detention order nears, stand with Jarrar to demand that Israel release her, other “administrative detainees” and all Palestinian prisoners.
Support the Palestinian national and prisoners’ movements, the Palestinian Resistance, and the liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.
Meet on the steps of the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse at 9:30 am, then cross Centre Street to Foley Square at 10:00.
Let’s make 2019 the year of freedom for Georges Abdallah!
While our comrade Georges Abdallah has begun his 35th year of detention since last october, the voices and forces that are mobilizing to demand his release continue to grow today. This is taking place on the national and international level and is having a real impact. The official visit led by the Lebanese ambassador to our comrade last December at Lannemezan Prison is one of the signals of this change. By this, the State of Lebanon finally shows a new position on this political issue and expresses its willingness to respond to the demands of the international campaign for the release of Georges Abdallah, going so far as to want to demand the release of Georges Abdallah to the French state officially, notably during the French president’s visit to Lebanon in February 2019.
More than ever, the demand for the liberation of our comrade must be defended and reaffirmed. As Georges Abdallah himself notes, this cannot be done by begging for his freedom but by fighting and establishing a real change in the balance of power through militant actions everywhere and on all fronts. It is through this expansion of our actions that we will succeed in compelling the French State to free our comrade.
We call all those who are on the side of the struggling peoples, on the side of the Palestinian resistance, who are fighting against capitalism, imperialism, Zionism, state racism, colonialism and the reactionary Arab States, to form a unitary Front of Actions for the release of Georges Abdallah.
We note that this political prisoner, incarcerated since 1984, for alleged complicity in acts of resistance to the Zionist invasion of his country Lebanon, eligible for release since 1999, is kept in prison by order of the US government, despite two orders for release pronounced by the judiciary.
Let us recall that this revolutionary communist militant, throughout his incarceration, has never denied any of his anti-imperialist political commitment, which he still confirms today by his unwavering will and unwavering commitment to the just cause of the oppressed peoples of Palestine, Lebanon, and around the world.
The struggle for his liberation is also fully part of the broader struggle for the defense of all revolutionary political prisoners in the world. And it is in this context that our solidarity with the struggle of Georges Abdallah is also a fight against imperialism and for a free Palestine.
We call to continue and amplify the work already undertaken within the framework of the unitary campaign and it is on the basis of this call that we invite you to the meeting for the release of Georges Abdallah, Saturday 02 February 2019, at the CICP, in Paris. 18:00. 21, ter rue Voltaire – Paris, 11th – metro rue des Boulets (line 9)
It is together and only together that we will overcome!
Unitary campaign for the release of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah (IDF) Contact: campagne.unitaire.gabdallah@gmail.com
Faisons de 2019 l’année de la libération de Georges Abdallah !
Alors que notre camarade Georges Abdallah a entamé, depuis octobre dernier, une 35ème année de détention, les voix et les forces qui se mobilisent pour exiger sa libération ne cessent aujourd’hui de s’amplifier. Cette mobilisation est portée sur le plan national et international et fait désormais bouger les lignes. La visite officielle menée par l’ambassadeur libanais à notre camarade, en décembre dernier, à la prison de Lannemezan est un des signaux de ce changement. Par-là, l’Etat du Liban montre enfin un nouveau positionnement dans ce dossier politique et exprime sa volonté de répondre aux exigences de la campagne internationale pour la libération de Georges Abdallah, en allant jusqu’à vouloir réclamer la libération de Georges Abdallah à l’Etat français, notamment lors de la visite du président français au Liban, en février 2019.
Plus que jamais, l’exigence de la libération de notre camarade doit être défendue et réaffirmée mais non, comme l’affirme Georges Abdallah lui-même en quémandant sa liberté mais par la lutte et l’établissement d’un véritable rapport de force à travers des actions militantes partout et sur tous les fronts. C’est par cet élargissement de nos actions que nous parviendrons à contraindre l’État français à libérer notre camarade.
Nous appelons ainsi toutes celles et tous ceux qui sont du côté des peuples en lutte, du côté de la résistance palestinienne, qui combattent le capitalisme, l’impérialisme, le sionisme, le racisme d’Etat, le colonialisme et les États réactionnaires arabes, à former un Front unitaire d’actions pour la libération de Georges Abdallah. Rappelons que ce prisonnier politique, incarcéré depuis 1984, pour complicité dans des actes de résistance à l’invasion sioniste de son pays le Liban, libérable depuis 1999, est maintenu en prison sur injonction du gouvernement étasunien, malgré deux libérations prononcées par le juge d’application des peines.
Rappelons que ce militant communiste révolutionnaire, tout au long de son incarcération, n’a jamais rien renié de son engagement politique anti-impérialiste, qu’il confirme encore aujourd’hui par son inébranlable volonté et son attachement indéfectible à la juste cause des peuples opprimés de Palestine, du Liban, et partout dans le monde.
La lutte pour sa libération s’inscrit aussi pleinement dans le combat plus large de la défense de tous les prisonniers politiques révolutionnaires du monde. Et c’est dans ce cadre que doit également s’affirmer notre solidarité au combat de Georges Abdallah, un combat de toute une vie, contre l’impérialisme et pour une Palestine libre.
Nous appelons à poursuivre et à amplifier le travail déjà engagé dans le cadre de la campagne unitaire et c’est sur la base de cet appel que nous vous invitons au
Meeting pour la libération de Georges Abdallah, samedi 02 février 2019, au C.I.C.P, à 18h00. 21, ter rue Voltaire – Paris, 11ème – métro rue des Boulets (ligne 9)
C’est ensemble et seulement ensemble que nous vaincrons !
Campagne unitaire pour la libération de Georges Ibrahim Abdallah (IDF) Contact : campagne.unitaire.gabdallah@gmail.com
As part of the International Week of Action to Free Ahmad Sa’adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the anti-imperialist collective Coup Pour Coup 31 invites you to an information stand on Palestine, with leaflets on the boycott of Israel, supporting Palestinian prisoners, Ahmad Sa’adat and Georges Abdallah cards and stickers and more.
Dans le cadre de la Semaine Internationale d’Actions pour la libération d’Ahmad Sa’adat, secrétaire général du Front Populaire de Libération de la Palestine, le collectif anti-impérialiste Coup Pour Coup 31 vous invite à un stand d’informations sur la Palestine : tracts et dépliants sur le Boycott d’Israël – infos sur le soutien aux prisonniers palestiniens, Ahmad Sa’adat et Georges Abdallah – cartes et autocollants etc.
Protest in Nørrebro, Copenhagen on Monday, 21 January: Free Ahmad Sa’adat – free all Palestinian political prisoners
As part of the International Week of Solidarity with Ahmad Sa’adat, the Internationalt Forum’s Middle East Group invites all to participate in this demonstration. We will meet at Blågårds Plads at 5 pm and go from here around Norrebro with lights and distribute flyers.
Ahmad Sa’adat is a Palestinian freedom fighter, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the strongest Palestinian leftist organization. Since 2002, Sa’adat has been behind bars, first under the Palestinian Authority in Jericho prison in the West Bank. From here he was kidnapped in March 2006 by the Israeli military and imprisoned in Israel. He has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for his role in a “terrorist organization” (PFLP) – though we all know it is the Zionist state of Israel that is the real terrorist. Sa’adat has participated in multiple prison struggles and hunger strikes. The struggle against the Israeli occupation takes place both inside and outside the prison bars.
Fight Zionism and imperialism – Boycott Israel – Free Palestine
Manifestation på Nørrebro i København mandag den 21. januar
Løslad Ahmad Sa’adat – løslad alle palæstinensiske politiske fanger
Som led i den internationale Ahmad Sa’adat solidaritetsuge inviterer Internationalt Forums Mellemøstgruppe til manifestation på Nørrebro mandag den 21. januar.
Vi mødes på Blågårds Plads kl. 17 og går herfra rundt omkring på Nørrebro med fakler og uddeler flyers
Ahmad Sa’adat er palæstinensisk frihedskæmper og generalsekretær for PFLP, Folkefronten til Palæstinas Befrielse, den stærkeste palæstinensiske venstrefløjsorganisation. Siden 2002 har Sa’adat siddet bag tremmer, først i det palæstinensiske selvstyrefængsel i Jericho på Vestbredden. Herfra blev han i marts 2006 kidnappet af det israelske militær og fængslet i Israel. Han er idømt 30 års fængsel for at tilhøre en ’terrororganisation’ (PFLP) – selvom vi alle ved at det er den zionistiske stat Israel som er den virkelige terrorist. Sa’dat har deltaget i flere fangeoprør og sultestrejker. Kampen mod den israelske besættelse og apartheid foregår både inden for og uden for fængslernes tremmer.
Bekæmp zionismen og imperialismen – Boykot Israel – Frit Palæstina
Join the Palestinian National Action Committee – Berlin for a demonstration of solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners in occupation prisons. Part of the international week of solidarity to Free Ahmad Sa’adat!
Kundgebung im Rahmen der internationalen Woche für die Freiheit von Ahmad Sa’adat
دعوة لجنة العمل الوطني الفلسطيني – برلين للمشاركة في وقفة التضامن معى الاسرى الفلسطينيين في سجون الاحتلال ….
Event and discussion on the campaign to free Ahmad Sa’adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. This event is part of the Week of Action to Free Ahmad Sa’adat (15-22 January)
Speakers: Mohammed Khatib – Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network Member of the NAR-NKA International Commission
Freedom for Ahmad Sa’adat – Solidarity with the Palestinian people – Victory to the Resistance
Στα πλαίσια της παγκόσμιας εβδομάδας δράσης (15-22 Ιανουαρίου) διοργανώνεται εκδήλωση-συζήτηση για την απελευθέρωση του ηγέτη του Λαϊκού Μετώπου Απελευθέρωσης της Παλαιστίνης (PFLP) Ahmad Sa’adat.
Ομιλητές: Mohammed Khatib – Δίκτυο Αλληλεγγύης Παλαιστίνιων Κρατουμένων Samidoun Μέλος της Επιτροπή Διεθνών ΝΑΡ-νΚΑ
Λευτεριά στον Ahmad Sa’adat Αλληλεγγύη στον Παλαιστινιακό λαό-Νίκη στην αντίσταση του
The International Week of Action to Free Ahmad Sa’adat kicked off in Berlin on Sunday, 13 January with the Palestinian contingent in the Liebknecht-Luxemburg-Lenin Demonstration as well as an evening event highlighting the struggle of Palestinian political prisoners. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network participated with other Palestinian and solidarity organizations in the morning’s demonstration, which brought over 10,000 people together not only to mourn the 100th anniversary of the assassination of Rosa Liebknecht and Karl Luxemburg, but to protest for revolutionary political change.
Samidoun banner in the LLL-Demo
The evening event featured guests from Coup Pour Coup 31, the anti-imperialist collective in Toulouse, France, that is a member of the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network. These activists are organizers with the Campaign to Free Georges Abdallah in France and have played a major role in popularizing his case and building the mobilization for his liberation. Organizers with Coup Pour Coup have visited with Georges Abdallah on many occasions in the prison of Lannemezan, where he is held.
Photo by Abed Khattar
The statement from Coup Pour Coup 31 is reprinted below, in English. Georges Ibrahim Abdallah has been imprisoned for 34 years in France; despite being eligible for release since 1999, he has remained behind bars. The French government has refused his release, intervening at the highest levels to override judicial decisions for his parole. This has come hand in hand with pressure from the Israeli and U.S. governments, including interference by successive U.S. Secretaries of State, including Condoleeza Rice and Hillary Clinton.
More recently, Lebanese President Michel Aoun expressed his interest in the case and securing Abdallah’s freedom; he is a Lebanese citizen who would return to Lebanon upon his release. For the first time since his imprisonment, the Lebanese ambassador to France visited him in prison. While these are indications that the growing campaign in Lebanon, France and internationally is having an effect, the organizers emphasized in their presentation that building the international campaign is critical to winning his liberation.
In addition, Georges Abdallah himself sent a voice message from prison to this event and to mark the International Week of Action to Free Ahmad Sa’adat. His statement was a strong call to action to liberate the prisoners as well as a denunciation of the policies of Palestinian Authority “security coordination” that led to the original imprisonment of Sa’adat by the Palestinian Authority in 2002 and that continue to participate with the Israeli occupation in the repression of Palestinian resistance today. (Listen in Arabic below or read the English text here)
Charlotte Kates, Samidoun international coordinator, spoke about the Week of Action to Free Ahmad Sa’adat, noting that events are taking place in many countries around the world, including Ireland, the United States, Canada, Argentina, Germany, Britain, Greece, Denmark and more. She also reviewed the case of Ahmad Sa’adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and the reasons for the international mobilization for his freedom. She noted that this week of action is organizing to free all Palestinian prisoners, but highlights Sa’adat’s leadership as well as the international responsibility in his imprisonment.
Photo by Abed Khattar
Sa’adat has been imprisoned since 2006 by the Israeli occupation; in March of that year, heavily armed occupation forces attacked the PA’s prison in Jericho, where he had been imprisoned by his comrades for the previous four years. They killed two Palestinian guards and injured many more in the process; Sa’adat is now serving a 30-year sentence for his role as General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He refused to participate in the Israeli military trial that convicted him, portions of which were observed by Kates as part of a legal/activist delegation to Palestine in 2007.
In the context of security coordination, the PA arrested Sa’adat after tricking him into a meeting under false pretenses. With his comrades, he was transferred to Jericho prison, where he was held under U.S. and British guard. Some of the British guards stationed there had actually previously served to guard Irish Republican political prisoners in the North of Ireland prior to this assignment. Those U.S. and British guards moved away in a coordinated fashion to later allow for the Israeli assault and kidnapping.
Photo by Abed Khattar
The event also included a presentation from a representative of the campaign to free Georges Abdallah in Berlin, who spoke about the challenges facing Palestinian organizing in Germany as well as the work being done to publicize Abdallah’s case and highlight why it is so important as the case of a prisoner of the Palestinian struggle in Europe. He also spoke about the importance of solidarity between struggles against repression, noting the Turkish and Kurdish political prisoners who have been jailed in Germany and elsewhere in Europe.
Photo by Abed Khattar
The representative of ATIK, the Confederation of Workers from Turkey in Europe, spoke about their support for Georges Abdallah as well as the mutual solidarity they have received for these imprisoned activists. She noted that despite 34 years in prison, Abdallah continues to express his support for other political prisoners and work to demand their freedom. She also noted several of the cases of imprisoned Turkish and Kurdish activists who have been targeted for their role in organizing the community and supporting progressive causes in Turkey.
Another activist involved in the campaign to free Mumia Abu-Jamal spoke about updates in the important case of the Black Liberation activist and journalist in Philadelphia who has also been imprisoned for over 34 years. There have been recent critical developments in the case, including a legal victory pointing towards the restoration of Abu Jamal’s appeal rights and the sudden discovery of six boxes of previously undisclosed evidence by the prosecutor’s office in Philadelphia. She reviewed the case and emphasized the need to connect across struggles to share solidarity, noting that Mumia himself has produced a number of articles and audio statements about Palestine and is a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause, leading to his case being known among Palestinians internationally.
Photo by Abed Khattar
The presentations were followed by a lively discussion about the need for greater unity in the movement and the challenges faced in resisting repression in Germany and elsewhere. The event was attended and supported by activists and members of a number of organizations, including the Hirak Shebabi youth movement, the Democratic Palestine Committees, BDS Berlin, ATIK, FOR-Palestine and the Communist Party of Spain in addition to the Campaign to Free Georges Abdallah, the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat, Coup Pour Coup 31, the Free Mumia campaign and Samidoun, among others.
Photo by Abed Khattar
Coup Pour Coup statement in English:
We begin by warmly thanking the comrades of Samidoun and the
Palestinian community of Berlin for this invitation. For us, it is very
important to develop international solidarity, especially when it comes to
fighting for Palestinian prisoners and Georges Abdallah.
We would also like to extend the warmest greetings from
Georges Abdallah to this event, which he had the opportunity to share with us
during our last visit with him in prison.
For 2 years, our anti-imperialist collective Coup Pour Coup
31 (based in Toulouse in the South of France) has joined Samidoun, the
solidarity network with Palestinian prisoners. Our desire was to intensify our
struggle and support for progressive and revolutionary Palestinian prisoners,
at the forefront of the struggle against Zionism. To us, supporting Palestinian
Prisoners also means supporting the only fighter for Palestine who is in French
imperialist prisons, Georges Abdallah!
Georges Abdallah is a political prisoner. Arrested in 1984
and sentenced to life in 198, following various political maneuvers, accused of
complicity in the assassination of a Mossad and a CIA official on French
territory. These were actions claimed by his organization, the Lebanese
Revolutionary Armed Fraction. He has been eligible for release since 1999, but
the French state refuses to release him. The US and Israel put pressure in this
direction, and it is the successive French governments that keep him in prison,
through various mechanisms. The French secret services are also involved in
this ongoing process.
Recently, Lebanese President Michel Aoun has declared his
desire to release Georges Abdallah during French President Macron’s visit to
Lebanon. A few weeks ago, Lebanon’s ambassador to France visited Georges
Abdallah in prison. These are obviously positive signs that come as results of
the international campaign and in particular the campaign in Lebanon. But only
the intensification of the international campaign will free him. It is more
than ever urgent to mobilize to compel the French state to do so.
Georges Abdallah is an Arab communist. From his time in the
Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, where he became politicized in the 1970s,
Georges Abdallah never stopped fighting capitalism. This fighter has always
affirmed his communist commitment, without ever denying it or denouncing his
comrades. He still stands today alongside peoples struggling against
imperialism, Zionism and reactionary regimes, as well as alongside proletarians
in imperialist centers fighting for their liberation.
He regularly makes statements of support for revolutionary political
prisoners throughout the world, particularly in Morocco, Turkey, the
Philippines … He has of course supported the various hunger strikes of
Palestinian prisoners as well as Turkish prisoners. Recently, he has been
supporting prisoners in ATIK, the Confederation of Turkish Workers in Europe,
detained in Germany.
Georges Abdallah is a prisoner of the Palestinian
Resistance. He joined the ranks of the PFLP and fought Zionist colonization.
His struggles, when he was free or once imprisoned, have always been a part of
the struggle for the liberation of Palestine. Today, he expresses a vision that
embodies the only just and lasting solution: a free and democratic Palestine
from the sea to the Jordan and the return of all Palestinian refugees.
Since 2009, we have been popularizing in Toulouse, France
and elsewhere, the case of Georges Abdallah, his battles of yesterday and
today. We continue to visit him regularly and correspond with the comrade
behind bars. By fighting for his release, we are building links with Palestine,
Lebanon and their freedom fighters. We are proud, for example, to have helped
strengthen the ties between Georges Abdallah and the PFLP.
In 2017, we proposed to Georges Abdallah to make a
solidarity photo in support of Ahmad Saadat. In return, Ahmad Saadat made
several statements in support of Georges. Today we come with an audio statement
from George in solidarity with Ahmad Saadat. For us, anti-imperialist
campaigners in Europe, it is very necessary to make the connection between Georges
Abdallah and Ahmad Saadat. To make this link is to bridge the gap between the
Palestinian Revolution and the revolutionary struggle here in Europe. This
bridge also brings to light the support of the European imperialist countries
for the Zionist entity, a support that we must fight by fighting our own
imperialism.
So let’s always continue to build and escalate international
solidarity. Intensify the campaigns for the release of Ahmad Saadat, for the
release of Georges Abdallah and for the liberation of Palestine, all Palestine,
from the river to the sea.
Tuesday, 22 January 8:00 pm Estacio de Renfe Alicante
Ahmad Sa’adat is the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He has been imprisoned since 2002 and is now serving a 30-year sentence in Israeli prison.
Ahmad Sa’adat es el Secreari General del Front Popular per l’Alliberament de Palestina. Empresonat des de 2002, ara es trobe a una preso israeliana comlint un condemna de 30 anys.
Organized by MRG: Moviment de Resistencia Global Alacant
