Ghassan Zawahreh ordered to 7 months in prison after administrative detention

23 April 2018

Palestinian activist Ghassan Zawahreh, former long-term hunger striker and organizer from Dheisheh refugee camp, was ordered to a 7-month prison sentence in Israeli occupation prisons and a fine of NIS 1,000 (USD $300) by the Ofer military court on Sunday, 22 April. Zawahreh, 36, had been held in administrative detention without charge or trial since 19 July 2016; his detention was renewed repeatedly until his case was suddenly transferred to the military courts.

He is the brother of Moataz Zawahreh, who was killed by occupation forces in 2015 as he protested in Bethlehem as part of the Jerusalem uprising of that time. When his brother was killed, he was imprisoned; Moataz had returned to Palestine from studying abroad in France in order to support Ghassan and his comrades in a hunger strike that took place in the summer of 2015 against administrative detention. He won his release in December 2015, only to be seized again by occupation forces seven months later.

Over previous arrests, he has spent nearly 12 years in Israeli occupation prisons, mostly in administrative detention without charge or trial. He has been a leader in the prisoners’ movement, participating in collective and small group hunger strikes against administrative detention, including the 2015 strike, the strike in solidarity with Bilal Kayed and the 2017 Freedom and Dignity strike.

The transfer of Zawahreh to the military courts comes in tandem with several cases in which Palestinian prisoners were transferred to administrative detention after completing their sentences. Addameer reported that two Palestinians, Tariq Jamal, 26, from al-Arroub camp in al-Khali, and Mohammed Namrouti, 26, from Balata camp in Nablus, were ordered to six months in administrative detention on 3 April. Jamal had completed his seven month sentence for posting on Facebook and Namrouti had completed his two month sentence for student political activity when they were both ordered imprisoned without charge or trial.

Abeer Abu Khdeir released after two-month sentence in Israeli prison

23 April 2018

*Photo: Abeer Abu Khdeir upon her release. By Asala Abu Khdeir.*

Palestinian activist Abeer Abu Khdeir was released after serving nearly two months in Israeli occupation prison on 20 April. Abu Khdeir, 43, was sentenced on 2 March to two months in Israeli prison on charges that dated back seven years to when she and her daughters resisted invading Israeli forces’ attempt to detain her son Anan in 2011. Anan was 14 years old at the time. Abu Khdeir is a leading organizer in Jerusalem and an activist with the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees.

Throughout her detention, she was held in isolation and Israeli occupation forces refused to transfer her to be with the other Palestinian women political prisoners. She was also reportedly denied books and was subject to ongoing verbal abuse from guards.

She is the wife of Nasser Abu Khdeir, a fellow leading Jerusalemite Palestinian organizer, currently serving a 16-month sentence in Israeli prison. He has spent over 15 years in Israeli prison through repeated jailings. Her case went on for years until she was sentenced to two months; several days were deducted from her sentence due to the time she and her daughters spent imprisoned upon their original arrest in 2011.

She has been detained on multiple occasions by occupation forces and beaten by occupation forces while participating in protests in Jerusalem; she has been active on the international and Arab levels as well in defending Jerusalem and organizing Palestinian women to confront occupation.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes Abeer Abu Khdeir upon her release and demands the immediate freedom for all 6,500 of her fellow Palestinian political prisoners behind Israeli occupation bars.

Ali al-Jamal, historic prisoners’ movement leader, passes away in Jenin

23 April 2018

On Monday, 16 April, Ali Awad Saleh al-Jamal, the Palestinian prisoner held longest at one time in administrative detention, passed away in Jenin after a long life in struggle. Born in Jenin on 30 January 1947, his father’s life was taken as he resisted the Zionist armed forces’ invasion of Jenin in 1948.

From an early age, he joined the Arab Nationalist Movement (ANM) of George Habash and Wadie Haddad as a high school student. From its founding, he became a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and a leading Palestinian organizer in Jenin.

After an Israeli occupation military officer was killed in the city market in Jenin in 1974, al-Jamal was targeted for arrest by the Israeli occupation forces. He was held under interrogation for 100 days and subject to severe torture throughout that time. Despite the intense torture and lengthy interrogation, he remained silent; at the end of this period, he was transferred to administrative detention and held without charge or trial.

Within the prisons, he became a leader of the prisoners’ movement. His administrative detention order was renewed over and over again and he spent 7 years in Israeli prison consecutively, without charge and without trial. He worked to build unity among the Palestinian political forces inside Israeli prisons in order to strengthen the prisoners’ movement and took part in a year-long struggle for the rights of the prisoners.

After his release on 3 March 1982, he was then subject to house arrest for over two years in an attempt to prevent him from resuming his role as a leader of the movement in Jenin. After the outbreak of the Intifada in December 1987, he was re-arrested on multiple occasions; he spent over 10 years in total in detention in Israeli prisons.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network joins with the Palestinian national liberation movement and the prisoners’ movement in remembering Ali al-Jamal, a significant contributor to the development and leadership of that movement inside Israeli jails.

Palestinian media institutions forcibly closed by Israeli forces in Jerusalem

23 April 2018

The Elia Association for Youth, a Palestinian youth center and media association based in Jerusalem, was forcibly closed on 16 April on the order of far-right racist Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who accused the center of being “terrorist” and linked to the Palestinian leftist political party, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Israeli intelligence reportedly described the video productions and news reports of the agency as “inflammatory,” as the center’s reports regularly covered ongoing attacks on Palestinian rights in Jerusalem. This is yet another example of the ongoing Israeli attacks on Palestinian expression, from the imprisonment of journalists to their targeting for violent attacks, including the killing of journalist Yaser Murtaja at the Great Return March in Gaza.

The closure of the Elia Association also comes as hundreds of Palestinians have been arrested and imprisoned for making political posts on social media sites, particularly Facebook.

Ahmad Safadi, director of the Elia Association, spoke with Wattan News, saying that the closure was first noted with a Tweet by Lieberman, which the Association ignored as it has no legal standing. The next day, police and intelligence agencies posted a closure order on the door of the association’s headquarters on Salah al-Din street. He said that the order stated that the closure was “temporary,” but that the experience of Palestinian institutions was that such orders were renewed constantly. He said that the Israeli occupation seeks to remove all Palestinian inatitutions from Jerusalem and prevent Palestinian media from presenting the perspective of Palestinians. Over the years, over 100 Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem have been forcibly closed by such Israeli orders.

Safadi said that Elia is a media institution that provides important information and reports about the situation in Jerusalem as well as providing youth an opportunity to develop their professional skills in media, including reporting, video production and distribution. In an interview with Israeli media, Lieberman said that Elia is “recruiting and preparing terrorist operatives to produce provocative videos that support terrorist activities,” labeling the act of reporting on Palestinians in Jerusalem as “terrorism.”

The Democratic Journalists’ Assembly denounced Lieberman’s action as “organized state terrorism and a new crime against the Palestinian media which monitors Israeli violations and crimes against the Palestinian people, especially in occupied Jerusalem,” noting that the “allegations against Elia are nothing more than pretexts of the occupation to close the institution and prosecute and terrorize Palestinian journalists and media institutions.”

Further, the Palestinian NGO Network said that the action reflected a trend of targeting Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem as the Palestinian population are subjected to a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing. “The closure order signed by the minister of the occupation army comes in the framework of a frantic quest to stop the social services of the Jerusalem institutions and the action against the Elia Association is a blatant example of this trend.” The statement also said that “Israel should be the last to speak about terrorism, considering its ongoing crimes and cold-blooded killings on a daily basis without accountability,” and expressed support to Elia and all of the institutions subject to a campaign of repression including pulling licenses, restrictions on transfers and bank accounts and international propaganda campaigns that attempt to dry up sources of funding.

One week later, repressive attacks on Palestinian institutions and expression in Jerusalem continued, as occupation forces stormed Safa Press in Beit Anan, northwest of Jerusalem on 22 April. At around 6:00 am, occupation forces violently entered the press, severely damaging the walls of the press and confiscating a printing machine and a computer and posting a notice on the door that the press would be closed for two months. Again, “supporting terrorism” was used as the pretext to forcibly silence Palestinian media.

24 April, University of New South Wales: Stand with Palestine! Raise the Flag!

21 April 2018

Tuesday, 24 April
1:00 pm
UNSW Library Lawn
University of New South Wales
Kensington, Australia
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/205526693389569/

Palestinians demanding the right of return to their homelands are under violent attack from Israeli military forces. At current count, 31 protesters in the #GreatReturnMarch have been killed by sniper fire. Disturbing videos have emerged of Palestinians convulsing from unknown nerve agents hurled at them by the IDF to drive them away from the Gaza “border”.

The media and establishment in the West is determined to see these events as “deadly unrest”. It’s clear however that the violence comes from Israeli forces upholding their colonial power and defending apartheid state from a largely peaceful mass movement.

The courage of Palestinians fighting against their oppression demands our solidarity. Join this speakout at UNSW to condemn the Gaza massacre, to demand the Australian government cut ties with Israel, and to support freedom and justice for Palestine.

21 April, Belfast: Support the Right of Return Rally

21 April 2018

Saturday, 21 April
3:00 pm
Belfast City Hall
Belfast, Ireland
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1316202045146684/

Organised by Belfast IPSC and TUFP

Given the level of anger at the new level of callousness being demonstrated by Israel, and the planned use of lethal force to prevent Palestinians demonstrating for their rights, we have agreed to stand alongside our Palestinian brothers and sisters by protesting every Saturday in the centre of Belfast. As they continue with their Great March of Return, so too do we continue to support them.

The Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign working alongside TUFP (Trade Union Friends of Palestine) and other solidarity organisations call on all people of conscience here to rally at Belfast City Hall to highlight the growing injustices against the Palestinian people, the inhumanity of the medieval siege of Gaza, causing untold suffering, and the denial of the fundamental right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland.

20 April, Albany: Rally to Support Gaza’s March of Return

20 April 2018

Friday, 20 April
4:00 pm
Townsend Park
45 Central Ave
Albany, NY
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/558956517836758/

Gazans are holding Friday protests as part of the #GreatMarchofReturn –leading up to The Nakba Day–marking 70 years of Palestinian displacement and injustice. In solidarity with all of Palestine, and especially holding the people of Gaza in our hearts, we say- NO MORE U.S. SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL. END OUR COMPLICITY IN WAR CRIMES. We support international law which protects the right to protest without fear of being shot or tear gassed, and we support the RIGHT OF REFUGEES TO RETURN TO THEIR HOMES.

20 April, Geneva and Lausanne: Rally for Gaza

20 April 2018

Geneva:
Friday, 20 April
5:30 pm to 6:30 pm
near the Poste du Mont-Blanc
Geneva, Switzerland
more info: http://www.urgencepalestine.ch/Agenda/news.html

Lausanne:
Friday, 20 April
5:30 pm
On the steps of Eglise Saint-Laurent
Lausanne, Switzerland
More info: http://europalestine.com/spip.php?article14181

Rally in support of the Palestinian people and for the March of Return, after 70 years of dispossession, forced displacement, colonization, occupation and apartheid – and to condemn the brutal repression of the Israeli army in Gaza

Across France: Rallies in Solidarity with Gaza and Palestinian prisoners

20 April 2018

Various communities across France will be home to demonstrations in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, in support of the Great Return March and against Israeli massacres, and marking Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, as follows:

FRIDAY, 20 APRIL

Vannes:
Friday, 20 April
3:00 pm – 6:00 pm
Esplanade du Port
Vannes, France

Evry:
Friday, 20 April
5:30 pm
Place des Terrasses
Evry, France

Nimes:
Friday, 20 April
5:30 pm
Avenue Feucheres
Nimes, France

Nantes:
Friday, 20 April
6:00 pm
Croisement Barillerie/50 Otages
Nantes, France

Angouleme:
Friday, 20 April
6:00 pm
Place Herge
Angouleme, France

Rennes:
Friday, 20 April
6:30 pm
Place de la Republique
Rennes, France

SATURDAY, 21 APRIL

Carhaix:
Saturday, 21 April
11:00 am
Place des Droits de Homme
Carhaix, France

Montpellier:
Saturday, 21 April
2:30 pm
Place de la Comedie
Montpellier, France

Grenoble:
Saturday, 21 April
3:00 pm
Place Notre-Dame
Grenoble, France

Reims:
Saturday, 21 April
3:00 pm
Fontaine de la Solidarite
Reims, France

Troyes:
Saturday, 21 April
3:00 pm
Place de l’Hotel de Ville
Troyes, France

La Roche-sur-Yon – Vendee:
Saturday, 21 April
3:00 pm
Place Napoleon
La Roche-sur-Yon, France

Lorient:
Saturday, 21 April
3:00 pm
Place Aristide Brand
Lorient, France

20 April, Evry: Rally in Solidarity with Palestine

20 April 2018

Friday, 20 April
5:30 pm
Place des Terrasses de l’Agora
Evry, France
More info: http://europalestine.com/spip.php?article14181

The Evry Palestine Committee calls on associations, groups, political parties and all people to gather for a protest against the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza by the Israeli occupation forces.

Le Comité Palestine Evry Palestine appelle les associations, organisations, partis politiques et l’ensemble des citoyen-ne-s à se rassembler pour protester contre le nouveau massacre de Palestiniens à Gaza par les forces armées israéliennes,
le Vendredi 20 avril, place des Terrasses de l’Agora à Evry, à 17h30.

Ce rassemblement sera précédé d’une distribution de tracts devant la Mairie d’Evry à 16h30.

La levée du blocus de Gaza
La protection du peuple palestinien
Des sanctions contre Israël.

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