Take Action: Demand freedom for imprisoned Palestinian leader Khalida Jarrar!

12 June 2018

Take action: Sign the petition now – http://bit.ly/FreeKhalidaJarrar

UPDATE, 15 June 2018: Khalida Jarrar’s administrative detention has reportedly been extended one more time by the Israeli occupation.

The extension of Khalida’s administrative detention does not mean that the campaign is stopping – on the contrary, it illustrates just how critical it is to pressure the Israeli occupation to demand her freedom.

Administrative detention orders, first introduced to Palestine by the British colonial mandate and continued in frequent use by the Israeli occupier, are indefinitely renewable, with no charge or trial, on the basis of secret evidence. The Israeli military courts have not yet confirmed the administrative detention order. While they operate as an essential rubber stamp for such orders – prompting an ongoing boycott by the approximately 450 Palestinians held without charge or trial in administrative detention, including Khalida – this period is particularly critical to escalate international demands for her freedom.

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Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network joins the call to action to demand freedom for imprisoned Palestinian leader, parliamentarian, feminist and leftist Khalida Jarrar, who has dedicated her life to struggling for justice for the Palestinian people and freedom for Palestinian prisoners. A member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Jarrar was seized on 2 July 2017 by Israeli occupation forces who raided her family home, only one year after she was released from a prior term of political imprisonment. International protests and calls for her freedom from popular movements and officials met her arrest; nevertheless, in a clear show of impunity, the Israeli occupation ordered her to six months’ imprisonment without charge or trial under administrative detention.

Administrative detention orders are indefinitely renewable, with no charge or trial, on the basis of secret evidence. This is one reason why nearly 500 Palestinian administrative detainees – including Jarrar – are engaged in a collective boycott of the Israeli military courts to demand the abolition of the practice. The boycott has been ongoing for more than 100 days. Khalida Jarrar’s administrative detention order will expire on 30 June 2018 – international action and solidarity is necessary in order to pressure the Israeli occupation into releasing her rather than continuing her unjust and arbitrary detention once more.

Jarrar is one of Palestine’s foremost advocates for freedom and justice. As Vice-Chair of the Board of Addameer, she works to free Palestinian political prisoners. Within the Palestinian Legislative Council, she is a member of the Palestinian national committee to bring Palestinian cases to the International Criminal Court and hold Israeli officials accountable internationally.

She is also facing repression inside Israeli prisons. Suha Jarrar, Khalida’s daughter, described her recent experience on Facebook. She was told that Israeli intelligence forces had banned her mother from receiving any books while detained. “When I asked for an explanation to such measure, the officer referred to two books that I had attempted to bring in at a previous visit. The two books were studies published by the Palestinian Center for Israeli Studies, “Madar”. One was Madar’s strategic report, the other titled “The Roots of Zionist Right-Wing Ideology”. The two books were banned from entering, noting that Madar’s studies are amongst the few books of political content that are regularly allowed inside Israeli prisons. This is not the first time Hasharon prison administration rejects the entry of the books I try to bring to mom, but it is the first time they impose such a punitive measure merely for rejecting the content of books I previously attempted to bring,” Suha wrote.

Take action!

1. Sign the petition! Sign today and share with others on social media – https://www.change.org/p/free-khalida-jarrar-palestinian-parliamentarian-and-feminist. Use this petition to spread the word and demand Khalida’s freedom!

2. Organize a protest or demonstration at an the Israeli consulate or embassy or a public square for Khalida Jarrar and distribute this post and other news about Khalida and the Palestinian prisoners. Find your nearest Israeli embassy here: https://embassy.goabroad.com/embassies-of/israel. Write to us at samidoun@samidoun.net or contact us on Facebook to let us know about your action! You can use the campaign graphics and materials at your action.

3. Write a letter and mail it yourself – this can increase the effectiveness of your call! The letter text and addresses are included in the call from Addameer, reprinted below.

Addameer’s call to action:

Khalida Jarrar has been imprisoned since 2 July 2017 without charge or trial. Her administrative detention order runs the risk of being renewed on 30 June 2018.

As an administrative detainee, she has not been made privy to the information used to deny her of her freedom, and thus has not had a genuine chance to refute claims made against her. Such a situation represents a core of the occupation’s system of control. If you are a powerful and committed advocate for the human rights of the Palestinian people, then you are likely to lose your freedom in your struggle for basic dignity.

Khalida has worked tirelessly over her career as an advocate for the Palestinian prisoners, and for the rights of women. Following her time as the Director of Addameer, she was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) in 2006. Her roles as a PLC member included heading the Prisoners’ Commission and was a member of the Palestinian National Committee for the follow up with International Criminal Court (ICC). As part of her work, she was instrumental in facilitating the Palestinian ascension to the Rome Statute. As a result of her work, she has been denied permission to travel multiple times and was expelled to Jericho in 2014.

Khalida has been held in Administrative Detention on a separate occasion in 2015, prior to being sentenced to 15 months imprisonment by an Israeli Military Court. Following international pressure, she was released in June 2016. Since July 2017, she has had her administrative detention renewed once. For more details on her case, please see her prisoner profile and to learn more about her teaching international law to female prisoners while incarcerated, check here.

With this call for action and support, we hope to place pressure on the occupation to not renew her administrative detention order again. Her imprisonment represents a grave violation of international law and the international community must not stand silent in the face of such action.

There are very few times where there is a possibility of us having a genuine impact, but this is one of them. Khalida has committed her life to realizing basic Palestinian dignity through utilizing the international legal framework. For all of us who believe in justice, it is incumbent upon us to do all that we can to ensure her freedom.

As such, we call on all supporters to contact the key decision makers located below. Urge them to abide by international law, and release Khalida Jarrar.

TAKE ACTION:

1. Organize a protest, demonstration, speaking event or banner drop in your city, community or campus calling for freedom for Khalida Jarrar and her fellow Palestinian prisoners.

2. Write to Israeli officials to demand Khalida Jarrar’s release.

Sample Letter and Contact information:

Dear __,

I write today to demand the immediate release of the Palestinian Legislative Council member Khalida Jarrar, who has been under administrative detention since June 2017.

Khalida Jarrar has been imprisoned since 2 July 2017 without charge or trial. Her administrative detention order runs the risk of being renewed on 30 June 2018. Khalida has been held in Administrative Detention on a separate occasion in 2015, prior to being sentenced to 15 months imprisonment by an Israeli Military Court. Following international pressure, she was released in June 2016. Since July 2017, she has had her administrative detention renewed once.

I demand the immediate release of Khalida Jarrar and an end to the administrative detention policy which is on the basis of so-called secret information. This is an attempt to prevent PLC members and human rights advocates, such as Khalida Jarrar, from dedicating their lives to achieving basic dignity for Palestinians. Her continued detention is arbitrary and unjust, and I demand her immediate freedom.

Sincerely,

Minister of Defence

Avigdor Liberman

Ministry of Defence

37 Kaplan Street

Hakirya

Tel Aviv 61909, Israel

Fax: +972 73 323 3300

Email: minister@mod.gov.il

Email: pniot@mod.gov.il

Salutation: Dear Minister

Attorney General

Avichai Mendelbilt

Ministry of Justice

29 Salah al-Din Street

Jerusalem 91010, Israel

Fax: +972 2 530 3367

Email: ishkat-yoetz@justice.gov.il

Military Judge Advocate General

Brigadier General Sharon Afek

Hakirya, Tel Aviv, Israel

Fax: +972 3 569 4526

Email: Mag@idf.gov.il

Commander of the IOF – West Bank

Major-General Roni Numa

GOC Central Command

Military Post 01149, Battalion 877

Israel Defense Forces, Israel

Fax: +972 2 530 5741, +972 2 530 5724

Salutation: Dear Major-General Roni Numa

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Prime Minister’s Office

Jerusalem
3 Kaplan St. Hakirya

91950

Fax: +972-2-6496659

Email: bnetanyahu@KNESSET.GOV.IL

Samidoun joins Berlin delegation to Venezuelan embassy carrying letter from Ahmad Sa’adat

12 June 2018

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network joined a delegation to the Venezuelan embassy in Berlin, Germany on Monday, 11 June. Samidoun’s international coordinator Charlotte Kates participated in the delegation with Abu Mohammed Sakran, one of the earliest prisoners of the modern Palestinian struggle and the first prisoner of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Palestinian writer Khaled Barakat, coordinator of the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat.

The delegation met with Venezuelan Ambassador to Germany Orlando Maniglia Ferreira, the former Defense Minister of Venezuela, and presented him with a letter from imprisoned Palestinian leader Ahmad Sa’adat, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, from his prison cell in Ramon prison. “We know that we face a common enemy, with U.S. imperialism at the forefront, working to destroy the Venezuelan people’s project that presents an alternative to unbridled greed and capitalism,” wrote Sa’adat in a letter addressed to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

The delegates expressed their congratulations to President Maduro and the Venezuelan people on the successful outcomes of the 20 May 2018 elections and the continuation of the Bolivarian Revolution. They also expressed their solidarity with Venezuela against the intensified sanctions imposed by the United States, Canada and the European Union.

Ambassador Ferreira welcomed the delegation and expressed his thanks for the message and Venezuela’s solid and consistent commitment to stand with the Palestinian people, their legitimate national rights and their struggle for freedom from colonization. He also pointed to the common interests of the Venezuelan and Palestinian people in confronting imperialism, highlighting the role of corporations in plundering the resources of the peoples of Latin America and the Arab world, backed up by the U.S. government.

In his presentation, Barakat noted that the purpose of the delegation is to highlight the current situation of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as well as the struggles of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. “The delegation will continue its meetings in the coming period with representatives of countries and political organizations that support the rights of the Palestinian people and declare their opposition to the Zionist occupation and the policy of hegemony and submission directed by the United States in the Arab region and around the world,” he noted.

The delegation briefed the ambassador on the latest developments in the Palestinian arena, especially the effects of the siege and repeated wars and aggression against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip at the hands of the Israeli state with U.S. and Arab participation and European complicity. In addition, Barakat denounced the sanctions and penalties imposed on Palestinians in Gaza by the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, highlighting the popular movements that took to the streets in Ramallah, Dheisheh and elsewhere for Palestinian unity and rejection of such coercion. In addition, the delegates discussed the continuing rising in Gaza since 30 March and the importance of supporting the Great Return March and its continuation in Gaza and throughout occupied Palestine.

In her presentation, Kates noted the situation of Palestinian political prisoners, giving a brief overview of the situation of over 6,000 Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails. In particular, she highlighted the situation of the nearly 500 Palestinians held without charge or trial under administrative detention, and their boycott of the Israeli military courts that has continued for over 100 days. She discussed several cases of Palestinians held under administrative detention, including Palestinian legislator, feminist and advocate Khalida Jarrar and French-Palestinian lawyer Salah Hamouri, emphasizing the importance of international support for the prisoners’ struggle.

The delegates also discussed the case of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, the Lebanese Communist struggler for Palestine imprisoned for over 33 years in France, urging more international attention to the struggle for his freedom. The delegation presented a package of information to the Ambassador, including Sa’adat’s letter and a letter from Ahmad Abu al-Saud, a former Palestinian prisoner, a comrade of Sa’adat’s and the leader of a committee of former Palestinian prisoners and current prisoners.

They also provided a packet of information on the case of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah and one on the current situation of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, including the military court boycott of the administrative detainees.

Ahmad Sa’adat’s letter to President Nicolas Maduro is below:

11 June 2018

Dear Ambassador Orlando Maniglia Ferreira,

Dear President Nicolas Maduro,

From our prison cell, we send our salutes and greetings to you and to the Venezuelan people on the victorious outcome of the elections on 20 May. The ongoing progress of the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela continues to give us hope and support even as we struggle behind bars. We know that we face a common enemy, with U.S. imperialism at the forefront, working to destroy the Venezuelan people’s project that presents an alternative to unbridled greed and capitalism.

We know that your victory is also one for the Palestinian people. First, because a victory for justice anywhere is always a victory for our struggle, and second, because it came in rejection of all of these attempts by the U.S. and its allies to undermine your people’s progress over the past two decades. At the same time that Trump and his allies are continuing the U.S. campaign of destabilization and sanctions against Venezuela, he is working hand in hand with Netanyahu and the most reactionary regimes in an attempt to liquidate the Palestinian people’s struggle for freedom.

Nevertheless, the Palestinian people, like the Venezuelan people, have not given up nor have they conceded to the dictates of imperialism. The attempts to impose a new “deal of the century” on Palestinians have been met with tens of thousands of Palestinians marching in Gaza as part of the Great March of Return. They are demanding an end to the siege on Gaza and, fundamentally, their right to return home, denied to Palestinian refugees for over 70 years.

Throughout this time, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has been a stalwart friend of the Palestinian people. In all international arenas and forums and through practical support and material solidarity, the Venezuelan people and state have stood with the Palestinian people, confronting imperialism and Zionism. Venezuela’s rejection of diplomatic ties with the Israeli colonial regime stands as an example in the world of principled solidarity and boycott, especially as the Palestinian movement, including the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, urges international boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel.

We know well the words and actions of Hugo Chavez in support of the Palestinian people and his clear condemnations of the Zionist attacks on the Palestinian people. “The State of Israel has become a murderous lackey at the service of imperialism…It’s a genocidal government. I condemn that Zionist government that persecutes the heroic Palestinian people,” Chavez said. His words on Palestine and in support of the struggle of our people have bolstered the strength and resolve of Palestinians everywhere.

As Venezuela stands with the Palestinian people, so do we stand with Venezuela. On behalf of my comrades in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and expressing the sentiments of the Palestinian people, we condemn all of the attempts to isolate Venezuela through sanctions from the United States, the European Union, and other colonialist and imperialist powers. These sanctions are – much like the internationally-backed and -imposed siege on Gaza – an attempt to punish the Venezuelan people for choosing their own leaders, democratically, in rejection of the will of imperialism.

Once again, our hearty congratulations to Comrade President Nicolas Maduro on his re-election and to the Venezuelan people on continuing on the path of resistance to imperialism. Together, the Venezuelan and Palestinian people are struggling for freedom and liberation, confronting Zionism and imperialism, on the road to socialism.

With comradely greetings,

Ahmad Sa’adat

General Secretary, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine

Ramon Prison

Ahmad Abu Saud’s letter:

11 June 2018

Dear respected Ambassador Orlando Maniglia Ferreira,

The Palestinian prisoners who are behind bars in the prisons of the Zionist occupation, who number 6500, send their greetings, accompanied with some of their groans of pain.

In our struggle with the occupation over our homeland, the colonizer is backed by unjust and aggressive forces such as United States imperialism and its partners, who are trying to liquidate our cause and the rights of our people to self-determination in our homeland and the establishment of a democratic state with our capital, Jerusalem. Our people face a bloody, unending conflict, even as they have given hundreds of thousands of martyrs and more than a million prisoners for over 70 years.

We, in the Committee of Prisoners and Freed Prisoners in the diaspora, are following up on the issue of the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, where children, women, the sick, the elderly and the Palestinian leaders, most notably the General Secretary of the Popular Front, Ahmad Sa’adat, and Marwan Barghouthi, are held. There are many prisoners with lengthy years of detention, including Karim and Maher Younis who have spent 36 years in prison and Walid Daqqa, Rushdi Abu Mukh and Ibrahim Abu Mukh, who have spent more than 33 years in the prisons. There is no day that passes without additional arrests joining the convoys of prisoners, along with the martyrs and wounded of the Palestinian struggle for freedom.

Dear Ambassador,

The prisoners need your support and for you to stand with them and their just human cause, because the Zionist prisons of the occupation violate international law. You can help to shine the media spotlight on the oppression and injustice suffered by the Palestinian and Arab prisoners by hosting meetings or press conferences that help to expose the crimes of the occupation against the prisoners.

One blatant example of the injustice inflicted on our people is the policy of administrative detention, to which any Palestinian inside occupied Palestine may be subject at any time. This is arbitrary detention that is subject to no standards and is exercised in violation of international humanitarian law. Administrative detention can be continued indefinitely with no charge and no trial in violation of international law. Many Palestinians have spent years in administrative detention and some up to 10 years through multiple arrests. Many others have gone on hunger strikes for lengthy periods to demand the end of administrative detention as well as countless abuses such as the policy of medical neglect that has led to the deaths of dozens of martyrs, the arrest of children, the imprisonment of Palestinian women, and so on.

Dear Ambassador,

The boycott of the occupation is growing in various countries around the world and in various fields of work, including cultural boycott, academic boycott, military boycott and diplomatic sanctions. These efforts are achieving successes in revealing the ugly face of the occupation. We know that the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has taken a consistent and principled stand beside the Palestinian people, and we hope that you will continue to help to expand the boycott and expose the crimes of the occupation in international forums. Your actions and support are greatly appreciated by our people.

With respect and appreciation,

Ahmad Abu Saud, Freed Prisoner

on behalf of

The Committee of Prisoners and Freed Prisoners in Diaspora

Samidoun’s statement on Venezuela:

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network expresses its solidarity with the Venezuelan people and the Bolivarian revolution, against attacks by the United States and the European Union. Together, the Palestinian and Venezuelan people’s movements are confronting imperialism and Zionism. We denounce the sanctions imposed on Venezuela and all attempts by the U.S. and the European Union to undermine or defeat the Bolivarian Revolution and its historic gains.

In response to the recent elections in Venezuela, in which the people of the country rejected violent and aggressive attempts by imperialist states to force them to abandon the Bolivarian project and the road to socialism, the United States and the EU announced even more intensified sanctions targeting the country. The use of sanctions to reject popular, democratic choices not only echoes the attacks on Chile in 1973 and repeated similar examples throughout Latin America but also the imposition of international siege and sanctions on Palestinians in Gaza after the elections of 2006, when Palestinians voted for resistance rather than accommodation with imperialism.

The Venezuelan people have been strong friends and allies of the Palestinian people. Hugo Chavez’ statements on Palestine have echoed throughout the Palestinian movement and the solidarity movement, and the continued moral and material support for Palestine from the Venezuelan people and the Bolivarian republic have sparked continued hope for international alliance against imperialism in an era in which imperialist forces have sought to criminalize all aspects of resistance to their global domination.

The sanctions on Venezuela, the war threats against Iran and the global criminalization of Palestinian resistance are part of one war on the people carried out by these imperialist powers. As we stand for the freedom of Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinian people, we stand with Venezuela and the Venezuelan people against the sanctions and attacks of imperialism. The threats of the U.S. against Venezuela only confirm the justice of the Bolivarian revolution and the path toward socialism, including economic development, social justice and popular participation.

In 2002, as Palestinians rose up in a great Intifada and faced brutal Israeli massacres in Jenin, the global movement for Palestine surged and found great inspiration in the victory of the Venezuelan people in defeating the U.S.-supported coup. At the same time, the Israeli state stands with the U.S. in supporting right-wing Venezuelan opposition forces who wish to return the country to subservience to imperialist and capitalist exploitation.

Today, as Venezuela has stood with Palestine, by boycotting Israel, cutting diplomatic ties and advocating for Palestinian rights in international forums, we stand in solidarity with the people of Venezuela alongside the people of Palestine, united in common struggle.

Al-Quds Day march in New York demands justice and freedom for Palestine

12 June 2018

New Yorkers rallied on Friday, 8 June – Al-Quds Day – in Times Square in central Manhattan to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and demand freedom and justice for Palestine as well as to express solidarity with Yemen under Saudi bombs. The event was one of hundreds around the world held on 8 June and over the weekend marking al-Quds Day, commemorated on the last Friday in Ramadan each year.

Speakers at the rally included representatives of Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, the Muslim Congress, Within Our Lifetime, the International Action Center, Labor for Palestine, BAYAN USA and a number of other organizations.

Joe Catron, the U.S. coordinator of Samidoun spoke at the rally (full text of speech below)

“We also see all the historic enemies of the Palestinian people – the so-called “State of Israel,” the Zionist movement, imperialism, and Arab reaction – united in an attempt to force the “deal of the century,” a Camp David-style surrender agreement, upon them.

But the Great Return March has been Palestinians’ unmistakeable response.

The children of their revolutionary classes – workers and farmers – have made perfectly clear that they will never allow their holy sites, their land, their prisoners, or their right of return to be bargained or sold.

Nerdeen Kiswani of Within Our Lifetime led the crowd in passionate chants for justice in Palestine. Bill Dores of the International Action Center denounced the relationship between the U.S. and the Israeli state, while Michael Letwin urged greater involvement of the labor movement in organizing to defend Palestinian workers.

In addition, Neturei Karta, the Orthodox Jewish organization, brought a strong anti-Zionist religious Jewish contingent to the rally.

There were numerous signs and chants at the rally and march drawing attention to Palestinian prisoners, including signs demanding freedom for Ahmad Sa’adat, Khalida Jarrar and Ahed Tamimi.

Lydia of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression – NYC also spoke about Palestinian prisoners, noting that “They repeatedly imprison Palestinians like the Tamimi family in Nabi Salah; without forgetting thousands of political prisoners who have been in israeli dungeons like Ahmed Sa’adat and Marwan Barghouti for years.”

One speaker, a medic, focused on the case of Razan al-Najjar, the Palestinian paramedic shot dead by Israeli occupation forces as she provided medical treatment to people participating in the Great Return March in Gaza on 1 June. Groups of health workers also participated in the protest, carrying signs to highlight their call for justice for Razan.

After the rally, demonstrators dressed in black led a mock funeral procession for the Palestinians shot down by Israeli occupation forces, especially the over 135 Palestinians killed since 30 March, Land Day and the beginning of the Great Return March in Gaza. They marched to the Israeli consulate carrying mock coffins and signs memorializing the martyrs of Palestine.

The march and rally was followed by the annual Al-Quds Day Iftar, organized by Within Our Lifetime at the International Action Center.

Full speech of Joe Catron, U.S. Coordinator, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network:

One, two, three, four:
Open up the prison door!
Five, six, seven, eight:
Smash the settler-Zionist state!

As we mourn the losses and celebrate the gains of eleven weeks of the Great March of Return, we should also reflect on its significance at the centennial of the Palestinian national movement, which began with the founding of the Muslim-Christian Association in British-occupied Jaffa on May 8, 1918.

At that time, Great Britain and the world’s other imperialist powers, in collusion with the Zionist movement, were already determined to implant their own colonial outpost in the ancient land of Palestine.

Over the ensuing decades, it became clear that this meant nothing less than wiping Palestine off the map.

But through the strength of its people and the ferocity of their struggle, Palestine survived.

In the face of imperialism and occupation, followed by settler-colonialism, ethnic cleansing and fragmentation, their popular mobilizations, strikes, guerrilla warfare, bombings and hijackings shattered the hopes of imperialists and Zionists, who had assume Palestinians’ expulsion and subjugation would result in their disappearance.

And today, we celebrate the perseverance of the Palestinian national movement: the unbelievable fact that, despite the ferocity of its enemies, and often the betrayal of its allies, it’s still alive and fighting.

As one of its leaders, Ahmad Sa’adat, wrote from his Israeli prison cell last year, “Despite oppression, exclusion, marginalization and siege, the masses of our people continue to fight for their sacred right to return to their land and to the homes, villages and towns from which they were forcibly displaced.”

We also see all the historic enemies of the Palestinian people – the so-called “State of Israel,” the Zionist movement, imperialism, and Arab reaction – united in an attempt to force the “deal of the century,” a Camp David-style surrender agreement, upon them.

But the Great Return March has been Palestinians’ unmistakeable response.

The children of their revolutionary classes – workers and farmers – have made perfectly clear that they will never allow their holy sites, their land, their prisoners, or their right of return to be bargained or sold.

Shortly before her murder, Razan al-Najjar, the 21-year-old Palestinian medic martyred by Israeli gunfire a week ago today, wrote on Facebook:

“To all those who think they know better than the March of Return; than the weapons of the Resistance; than the medics, and the press:

“We go to the fence without anyone forcing us, and it is we who feel the pain, not you.”

Yet even as they struggle, bleed and die, our comrades, friends and heroes under the Israeli occupation are thinking deeply about their need for a strategy capable of not only holding these enemies at bay, but defeating them.

Sa’adat also wrote last year, “What our Palestinian political forces and factions must do to support the prisoners and strengthen their steadfastness is to restore our national unity toward a path of advancement and leave behind this stage of going around endlessly in circles.”

Can we, who face infinitely more favorable conditions, do any less?

We find ourselves in a moment of peak struggle, when we can do little but mobilize, again and again.

But this, too, shall pass.

And we know that mass mobilizations, corporate campaigns and educational projects, as necessary as they are, are still insufficient to the task facing us here, inside the world’s strongest superpower, whose economic, military and diplomatic strength enables every atrocity Israel commits against Palestinians.

As we continue to mobilize in the coming days and weeks, we should also think and discuss, as individuals and organizations, what it will actually take to defeat the Zionist movement, end U.S. support for Israel, and enable the Palestinian people to erase this criminal regime from the pages of history.

The martyrs of the Great March of Return, and of a century of Palestinian struggle, demand no less of us.

It is right to rebel;
Israel, go to hell!

There is only one solution:
Intifada, revolution!

Full speech of Lydia, Committee to Stop FBI Repression – NYC:

One month ago was the anniversary of Victory day, which was celebrated on May 8th 1945 in Europe as the defeat of Nazi Germany. On the same day across the Mediterranean sea, Algerians, who fought alongside France during the second world war, were protesting for their own liberation, waving the new Algerian flag, demanding their turn and hoping for independence from their French colonizers, when they would be citizens of their own land instead of subjects…however, that was prohibited. Their protests were met with violent responses, a massacre of thousands from village to village in Sétif, Kherrata, Guelma in the northeast of the country; the press was censored about repression of Algerians, only reporting the French casualties. They estimated just 1500 deaths, whereas their American allies, who didn’t bother intervene, announced 17,000; the final count according to the FLN (National Liberation Front) was 45,000, and that started with one guy waving a flag. The Great March of Return in Gaza reminded me of this.

Razan Ashraf al-Najjar was a 21-yr-old volunteer medic who was killed one week ago and on Monday her cousin Ramzi was killed protesting her death; on May 14th alone, the Nakba commemoration, 60 Palestinians were killed. Laila al-Ghandour was the youngest, an 8-month-old infant who suffocated from tear gas. On April 6th, Yaser Murtaja was a 30-yr-old photojournalist killed. Since it started on March 30th Land Day, hundreds were murdered and tens of thousands were wounded; among them several children because israel wants to kill the next generation of resistance fighters. They have said that every bullet arrives at its destination and they strategically target Palestinians. They prevent wounded protesters from being treated and they silence journalists so news doesn’t get shared. They repeatedly imprison Palestinians like the Tamimi family in Nabi Salah; without forgetting thousands of political prisoners who have been in israeli dungeons like Ahmed Sa’adat and Marwan Barghouti for several years. We Algerians are not foreign to the idea of torture and imprisonment in French dungeons or extrajudicial killings after 13 decades of colonization, but we gained liberation and Palestine will be free as well, within our lifetime insh’Allah!

…but even right here in New York, political organizers are oppressed by the police who are trained by the israeli offense forces. The Strategic Response Group, which are military personnel trained in counter-terrorism tactics, try to silence us and follow activists while marching; they wait for any reason to arrest and lock us up. We won’t stop voicing our opinions due to their threats. Tell me now, are we terrorists? … That’s what they call Palestinian freedom-fighters and that’s how they considered Algerian mujahideen. We say that US imperialists are the #1 terrorists! The Committee to Stop FBI Repression will keep fighting against political repression whether it’s done by NYPD, la migra ICE which separates children from their families, FBI, or DHS which funds the SRG. We won’t stop rallying, protesting, marching, and we call on you to join us!

Palestinian youth in Athens hold volunteer day in Exarchia Square

12 June 2018

Palestinian youth organizers in Greece held a volunteer day in Exarchia Square in Athens, organized by the Jafra Youth Foundation and Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network on 26 May. Activists hung Palestinian flags from poles in the square, long a center of social activism and organizing in the city as well as a space for marginalized people.

They swept and cleaned the areas where trees are planted as well as applying fresh coats of paint to the ledges surrounding the square. In addition, they planted flowers and other greenery in some of the areas of the square that were plain soil and empty of plants.

Mohammed Khatib, the Europe coordinator of Samidoun, noted that there has been increasing social pressure on the community in and around the square, which has become a place where many Syrian and Algerian refugees living without homes have taken refuge. There has been an increase in the drug trade and growing tensions between dealers and the homeless residents of the area. He noted that the square action is part of a series of initiatives that Palestinian and Arab organizers are planning to support the Arab community in the area as well as marginalized Greek residents, including film screenings and food distribution of cooked meals.

Moataz Mahmoud, one of the participants in the action, said that “The Exarchia area in Athens has played an important role in the history of the Greek people’s struggles against occupation, fascism and dictatorship and is still considered to be the assembly point of revolutionary movements in Greece. It is also necessary to note that this area has also been a home to the Palestinian resistance and that here in Athens, dozens of Palestinian strugglers and resistance leaders engaged in struggle, pursuing the enemy and building the Palestinian revolution, and many were martyred here.”

Speaking about the action, he said that “Jafra Youth Foundation and the Samidoun Network here planted trees and flowers, cleaned the public area, painted the sidewalks and raised the Palestinian flag together with the people of the area. This activity stems from our vision of the importance of building bridges between refugees and host communities. We also aim to serve and support the refugees and migrants who face racism and who are deprived of their human rights. This area has been a safe place for them, and we need to begin activities that bring the communities together.”

“In this region, among children and young people especially, we need to strengthen our heritage and culture and arm the youth with knowledge. On the other hand, it is our duty to strengthen our relationship with the Greek people, especially the marginalized classes and solidarity movements with the Palestinian people and with the struggles of refugees and migrant people. Simply because we, the Palestinian people, love life and we fight in every way that we can!” Mahmoud said.

Samidoun in Greece is planning additional actions for Palestine and has been involved with many other organizations and Greek coalitions, including the Solidarity Initiative for the Palestinian People, in organizing a number of demonstrations to support the Great Return March and the Palestinian people’s struggle for return and liberation.

Al-Khalil city council member Suzan Owawi held under interrogation, joining 62 Palestinian women prisoners

12 June 2018

There are approximately 62 Palestinian women prisoners in Israeli prisons, including 17-year-old Ahed Tamimi, who was refused early release on 6 June in the latest decision of the Israeli military courts – the same day her cousin was shot dead by Israeli occupation forces. The decision came as no surprise, especially as Israeli occupation repression directed at the Tamimi family and their resistance to land confiscation and settlement building in Nabi Saleh has only escalated since the imprisonment of Ahed and her mother, Nariman. The Shin Bet had earlier recommended that Ahed be denied early release on the grounds that she has a “dangerous ideology” and should remain imprisoned to deter others.

Ahed, then 16, and her mother, Nariman, were seized on 19 December by Israeli occupation forces after a video was widely publicized of Ahed slapping an Israeli occupation soldier, demanding he leave her family’s occupied land in Nabi Saleh, the village near Ramallah. The Tamimi family has continued to face massive repression, including the imprisonment of a number of young people of the family and the assassination of Izzadine Tamimi in a so-called arrest raid on 6 June.

*Demonstrator holds a photo of Khalida Jarrar*

The 62 prisoners include several administrative detainees held without charge or trial, including Palestinian parliamentarian Khalida Jarrar, whose detention is scheduled to expire on 30 June. Organizers are urging action to demand that her detention not be renewed once more; arbitrary administrative detention orders can be renewed repeatedly by occupation forces.

Imprisoned Palestinian women are held in HaSharon and Damon prisons and continue to face repressive actions from occupation guards. The women in HaSharon prison told Palestinian lawyer Hiba Ighbariyeh during a prison visit that the administration was reducing the number of meals and amount of food provided, referring to a “new system” in all of the prisons.

They also said that the food was of poor quality and unfit for consumption and that they had to purchase the majority of their food from the so-called “canteen,” the prison store. In addition, they reiterated their opposition to the “bosta,” the vehicle used to transfer prisoners to the military courts. Prisoners are shackled on metal benches for lengthy periods of time and are often denied water or the chance to use the bathroom for hours. The journey can take a day or more, despite being a relatively short distance, due to repeated stops and transfers.

Palestinian activist Suzan Owawi was seized by Israeli occupation forces on 5 June 2018, after storming her present and previous homes in al-Khalil. Her brother Ahmad was also detained by occupation forces before being informed that she had been arrested. She was taken to the Ashkelon detention center for interrogation and on 7 June 2018, the Israeli occupation extended her detention for 11 more days.

A member of the city council of al-Khalil Municipality, Owawi, 39, is also the mother of three children. She is a longtime activist for Palestinian rights and for the freedom of Palestinian prisoners. During her election campaign, she received phone calls attributed to Israeli intelligence demanding she withdraw from the elections and threatening her with arrest. Two of her brothers, Ali and Ahmed, are former prisoners who have spent a total of 10 years behind bars.

In addition, the Salem military court extended the detention of student prisoner Ola Marshoud, 21, from Balata refugee camp east of Nablus, until 1 July 2018. Marshoud, a student at An-Najah University in Nablus, is in her fourth year of studies in the College of Information. She was seized on 11 March 2018 after being called to the Huwwara checkpoint and military installation for interrogaion. She is being imprisoned on allegations related to her involvement in student organizing and campaigning at the university; there are approximately 300 Palestinian university students in Israeli jails, many of them imprisoned for their student advocacy.

In addition, on 29 May, occupation forces invaded the Beit Ummar home of Fida Akhalil, 23, a former Palestinian political prisoner and a student at al-Quds Open University. They used a device to forcibly remove the home’s door and brandished weapons in her family’s face. She was recently released after 6 months in Israeli prisons.

Fadwa Hamada, 30, has been imprisoned since 12 August 2017 and accused of attempting to stab occupation forces near Bab al-Amoud in Jerusalem. Facing an Israeli military court, her hearings have been postponed repeatedly, over 16 times despite the arduous, difficult nature of the trip to and from the military court from the prisons. The trip on the “bosta” can take many hours due to repeated stops and it can take women a full day or more to be taken to and from the military court.

22 June, Toulouse: Don’t dance with Israeli apartheid!

12 June 2018

Friday, 22 June
7:30 pm
Outside Theatre Garonne
1 Avenue du Chateau d’Eau
Toulouse, France
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/345688105967549/

Rally to raise our voices loudly and clearly to say, “Don’t dance with Israeli apartheid!” and call for the cancellation of the premier event in Toulouse for the “France-Israel season,” a dance performance called “Tel Aviv Fever” co-produced by the Ballet du Capitole.

RASSEMBLEMENT pour dire ensemble haut et fort ON NE DANSE PAS AVEC L’APARTHEID ISRAELIEN et appeler à l’annulation du premier spectacle à Toulouse de la saison France-Israël “Tel Aviv fever” co-produit par le Ballet du Capitole. Notez bien la date sur vos agendas,faites le savoir autour de vous, invitez vos ami.e.s…Vous serez tenu.e.s au courant de la préparation de l’initiative.

23 June, Manchester: Protest – Boycott Israel’s British backers!

12 June 2018

Saturday, 23 June
12:00 pm
Piccadilly Gardens
Manchester, UK
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/859914570854668/

Support Palestine’s march of return! Rolling picket protest against British complicity in Israeli colonisation. Bring voices, flags, placards and people!

Boycott Israel!
Victory to the Palestinian people!
Free all Palestinian political prisoners!

Hassan Shokeh launches hunger strike against administrative detention as mass court boycott continues

12 June 2018

Palestinian prisoner Hassan Hassanein Shokeh, 29, launched a hunger strike eight days ago to demand his freedom after he was ordered to administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial, after completing his six-month prison sentence. Shokeh, who has spent over 13 years in Israeli prisons over multiple arrests, many times in administrative detention, previously conducted a hunger strike in October 2017 to demand his freedom.

Shokeh launched his strike on 5 June. He has been imprisoned since 29 September 2017, when he was seized from his home in al-Ram. He was arrested less than one month after he was released, on 31 August 2017, from his previous period of detention without charge or trial. He was initially ordered imprisoned without charge or trial under administrative detention, and he launched a hunger strike in October 2017 to demand his release. After a 35-day strike, he suspended his protest after he was told he would be charged and his case moved to the military courts.

The Ofer military court sentenced him to six months in prison and he was scheduled for release on 3 June. However, instead of being released, he was again ordered imprisoned without charge or trial under administrative detention, sparking the renewal of his strike.

Throughout his imprisonment, he has been denied family visits as his family members have been denied permits under “security” pretexts; only his 10-year-old sister has been allowed to visit him. On 9 June, he was transferred to Hadarim prison from Ofer prison.

The Israeli occupation prison administration frequently uses transfer and isolation against Palestinian prisoners who launch hunger strikes. The transfer process is physically arduous and damaging and often requires the striking prisoners to stand, shackled, for lengthy periods waiting for transportation or to sit in an un-air-conditioned vehicle on metal benches, shackled to the seats. The use of frequent abusive transfers is a mechanism of physical abuse and mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners in retaliation for launching hunger strikes or involvement in the prisoners’ movement.

Shokeh’s strike comes as Palestinian administrative detainees have been carrying out a boycott of Israeli military courts for over 100 days. They are refusing to participate in the system that is used to give a faint veneer of a “legal process” to an extralegal process of imprisonment without charge and without trial at the behest of the Israeli occupation military.

There are approximately 500 Palestinian prisoners held without charge or trial under administrative detention, out of nearly 6,500 total Palestinian prisoners. Administrative detention orders are indefinitely renewable, and Palestinian prisoners have spent years at a time jailed through repeatedly renewed detention orders, all on the basis of a so-called “secret file” to which both the detainees and their lawyers are denied access.

The strike also comes as fellow administrative detainee Ayman al-Tabeesh, 37, once again had his isolation extended. He was transferred from Ofer prison to Ohli Kedar prison on 28 November 2017 with no reason given and moved into isolation. He was then transferred into isolation in Ramon prison. Al-Tabeesh, imprisoned previously for membership in the Islamic Jihad movement and then held on multiple occasions without charge or trial under administrative detention, has been imprisoned since 2 August 2016. He has previously conducted long-term hunger strikes, including one for 105 days, against his imprisonment without charge or trial; he has previously won release from his imprisonment through hunger strikes.

19 June, Paris: Rally for revolutionary prisoners

12 June 2018

Tuesday, 19 June
6:00 pm
Menilmontant (Paris Metro)
Paris, France
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/196518014511340/

The Unified Campaign to Free Georges Abdallah calls for a rally on Tuesday, 19 June 2018, from 6 pm to 8 pm, at Metro Menilmontant (Paris 11th) to mark the international day of revolutionary prisoners and for the freedom of our comrade Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.

All organizations that struggle for the liberation of the prisoners are invited to seize the moment and take part with us, for we gather to raise our voices high for the freedom of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Leonard Peltier, Ahmad Sa’adat, Salah Hamouri, Ahed Tamimi, Nadia Lioce, Ajith, Saibaba, Gonzalo, Musa Asoglu, numerous Kurdish and Turkish revolutionary prisoners, Basque and Corsican prisoners, Palestinian prisoners, 500 political prisoners in Morocco, and more.

13 June, Alicante: Screening of “Radiance of Resistance”

10 June 2018

Wednesday, 13 June
7:00 pm
Centre Social
C/Cervantes 10-12
San Vicente del Raspeig, Spain
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/454973218249480/

Screening of the documentary and discussion on the current situation in Palestine

Speakers: Cristian Santiago and Naiara Davó (Unadikum International Brigades)

Organized by: Unadikum International Brigades, BDS-PV, Entrepobles-PV, Ecologists in Action of Sant Vicent del Raspeig and BDS UA

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