31 March, Amsterdam: Palestinian Day of the Land

30 March 2018

Saturday, 31 March
2:00 pm
De Dam, Amsterdam
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/351055542044849/

Join Palestine House for a commemoration of the Day of the Land and the Great March of Return on the Dam in Amsterdam. For more information, call +31687795970.

Het Palestijnse Huis nodigt jullie uit voor de jaarlijkse herdenkingsdag
‘🇵🇸De Dag van het Land🇵🇸’
ter herrinnering aan de dag
van 30 maart 1978.
Het vindt plaats:
*op zaterdag 31 maart 2018
*van 14.00 tot 17.00
*op de Dam in Amsterdam.

**Voor meer informatie kunt u bellen naar: +31687795970.

30 March, New York City: Emergency rally: solidarity with Gaza #GreatMarchofReturn

30 March 2018

Friday, 30 March
5:00 pm
Washington Square Park, NYC
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/431399140646232/

Join us today in Washington square park at 5 pm in solidarity with Gaza and the 12 that were martyred today as part of the Great March of return, a 45 day protest demanding the right of return as well as better conditions in the Gaza Strip. This was planned to coincide with land day (today) up until Nakba day (May 15th) which marks the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people that we know is ongoing. What is happening right now in Gaza is nothing short of a massacre and we must demand an end to Zionist violence and uplift the efforts of the Palestinian people struggling for human right and dignity! Bring flags signs and whatever you can to make sure everyone knows NYC stands with Gaza!

Palestine Towards Return and Liberation: The Land Day Massacre and the #GreatReturnMarch

30 March 2018

Send your events and actions to us at samidoun@samidoun.net, on Facebook, or use the form to tell us about your actions in response to the Land Day Massacre and for Palestinian Prisoners’ Day. We will be publishing an international list of events and actions that will be regularly updated. See the list of events.

See this statement in : German | Swedish

**

The Martyrs of the Land and the Prisoners of Return: A Call to Action for Liberation on Palestinian Prisoners’ Day

The 30th of March, Land Day, was first inscribed in Palestinian history in 1976, when a mass, popular uprising in occupied Palestine ’48 confronted land confiscation and expropriation at the hands of the settler-colonial Zionist state.

On that day in 1976, six Palestinians were killed as they protested in a general strike against the ongoing Nakba, after thirty years of repression and dispossession. Their names have become indelibly inked in Palestinian history and the history of those who struggle around the world – Kheir Mohammad Salim Yasin, Khadija Qasem Shawahneh, Raja Hussein Abu Rayya, Khader Eid Mahmoud Khalayleh, Muhsin Hasan Said Taha and Raafat Ali Al-Zheiri – shot down as they marched to defend their land.

Today, in besieged Gaza, occupied Palestine, tens of thousands of marchers rose up once again in a mass, popular march commemorating that day 42 years ago with today’s demand to liberate the land, centering the right to return of Palestinian refugees – the Great March of Return. Over 70 percent of the Palestinian population in Gaza are refugees denied their right to return to their homes, lands and villages for 70 years.

And once again, the Israeli state revealed its nature, shooting down 16 martyrs of the land and return in another Land Day massacre, 42 years after the first. The day began with the killing of Palestinian farmer Omar Samour by an Israeli tank shell. This latest murder of a Palestinian farmer further illustrates the unending drive to seize Palestinian land and attack Palestinian productive capacity and self-sufficiently, farmers in Gaza have been under severe attack. The so-called “buffer zone” imposed on farmers in Gaza has seized 30 percent of the land, including the most fertile. Indeed, Palestinian fishers and Palestinian farmers have particularly borne the brunt of repeated Israeli fire, attacks and murders, aimed at eliminating Palestinian self-sufficiency even in the narrow Gaza Strip, hemmed in by sky, land and sea by deadly occupation forces.

And as thousands of Palestinian refugees in Gaza massed in a popular march near the illegitimate colonial barrier and so-called “borders” imposed by the occupation state, occupation forces and sharpshooters opened fire directly on popular demonstrators calling for their rights – for return, liberation, an end to the siege. Their names are now also immortal in Palestinian history and the history of those who struggle – Naji Abu Hajir, Mohammed Kamal Al-Najjar, Wahid Nasrallah Abu Samour, Amin Mansour Abu Muammar, Mohammed Naeem Abu Amr, Ahmed Ibrahim Ashour Odeh, Jihad Ahmed Fraina, Mahmoud Saadi Rahmi, Abdel Fattah Abdel Nabi, Ibrahim Salah Abu Shaar, Abd al-Qader Marhi al-Hawajri, Sari Walid Abu Odeh, Hamdan Isma’il Abu Amsha, Jihad Zuhair Abu Jamous, and Bader al-Sabbagh.

They were farmers, students, talented artists, fathers, sons and loved ones, who loved their people, their land, and their vision of freedom, and their loss is painful and immense. It must also be an urgent call to action to honor the sacrifices of the martyrs of the land and return, to demand the freedom of the prisoners and the freedom of all of Palestine – the implementation of Palestinian refugees’ right to return, at the heart of the Palestinian cause.

Of course, this is far from the first such massacre. It comes in a long line of massacres and attacks targeting Palestinian popular resistance, especially that of Palestinian refugees demanding their right to return. We remember the murders of Palestinian refugees from Lebanon and Syria who marched to the borders and braved the crossing to their long-denied homeland in May and June 2011. We also recall the decades of killings of Palestinians labeled “infiltrators” for seeking to return to their own stolen land from exile.

These deaths must not be allowed to pass unnoticed and unremarked, and the movement for which their lives were taken must be supported with the widest popular mobilization. Let us take to the streets in every city in response to this massacre. Land Day has lived on to become an eternal anniversary because, everywhere, Palestinians, Arabs and supporters of the Palestinian cause responded to the land confiscation and the massacres with intensified struggle and resistance. Today’s sacrifices demand the same response.

Infamous IDF general and war criminal Gabi Eizenkot, the promoter of the “Dahiyeh Doctrine” for its murderous assault on the people of the southern suburbs of Beirut in a (failed) attempt to smash the resistance, personally commanded the attacks on Palestinian marchers in Gaza. Of course, Eizenkot and his gunmen did not act alone – they are the vicious arm of an entire state project attacking the Palestinian people’s very existence. And their weaponry is backed up by the United States, Canada European states and other imperialist and colonialist powers, with the complicity of Arab reactionary regimes.

These 16 precious lives deserve all of our mourning, but more urgently, all of our action. Demonstrations, mobilizations, artistic, cultural and legal actions to hold war criminals accountable and to end international imperialist backing for the ongoing war crimes in Gaza and against the entire Palestinian people are all urgently needed – today, tomorrow, in the coming week.

April 17 is Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, a national and international day of action for the freedom of all Palestinian political prisoners, the prisoners of freedom, the prisoners of return and liberation, behind Zionist bars because of their commitment to the freedom of their people and their land. This year, April 17 can and must be a day of mobilization to liberate Palestinian prisoners, free the land and people of Palestine, break the siege on Gaza and confront all imperialist and Zionist attacks.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges supporters of Palestine around the world to mobilize in immediate and ongoing response to the Land Day massacre in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and the entire Palestinian people – including all of the millions of Palestinian refugees in exile and diaspora who struggle for their right to return home, the key to Palestinian liberation.

**

Send your events and actions to us at samidoun@samidoun.net, on Facebook, or use the form to tell us about your actions in response to the Land Day Massacre and for Palestinian Prisoners’ Day. We will be publishing an international list of events and actions that will be regularly updated.

Events

Friday, 30 March:

30 March, New York City: Emergency rally: solidarity with Gaza #GreatMarchofReturn

Saturday, 31 March:

Sunday, 1 April

Monday, 2 April

Tuesday, 3 April

Wednesday, 4 April

Thursday, 5 April

Friday, 6 April

Saturday, 7 April

Sunday, 8 April

Monday, 9 April

Tuesday, 10 April

Wednesday, 11 April

Thursday, 12 April

Friday, 13 April

Saturday, 14 April

Sunday, 15 April

Monday, 16 April

Tuesday, 17 April

Wednesday, 18 April

Thursday, 19 April

Friday, 20 April

Saturday, 21 April

Sunday, 22 April

17 April, Vancouver: Mark Palestinian Prisoners Day, Boycott HP

26 March 2018

Tuesday, 17 April
5:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Best Buy
798 Granville (at Robson), Vancouver
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/159980661379898

April 17 marks Palestinian Prisoners Day, a day commemorated since 1979 when Palestinians remember their friends and family members held in Israeli prisons. And the large numbers of incarcerated Palestinians affect almost every family – currently over 6000 prisoners in total, including 450 administrative detainees (no charge or trial) and hundreds of child prisoners.

Join us to mark Palestinian Prisoners Day and to say #BoycottHP, Technology of Israeli Apartheid, Technology of Israeli Oppression!

Hewlett Packard companies play a key role in Israel’s oppression of Palestinians. They provide technology, equipment and services to the Israeli military, prison system and government, including the ID card system that underpin Israel’s apartheid policies and its movement restrictions for Palestinians.
The international Boycott HP campaign has already seen 17 U.S. churches (representing 7 denominations) divest from the company and has also attracted support from student governments.
More info at: https://bdsmovement.net/boycott-hp
and
http://investigate.afsc.org/company/hp-inc

29 March, Athens: Evening of support for Palestinian prisoners with Shireen Issawi

26 March 2018

Thursday, 29 March
7:00 pm
Athens Polytechnic University (Gini Building)
Athens, Greece
Web: http://palestineresist.gr/network/events/569-shireenissawi2.html

“I am a lawyer, I have the right and duty to defend our prisoners. To stand for their rights is not unlawful. Although I have been busy recently focusing on completing my Masters thesis, they arrested me. The real reason for my arrest is that the occupation wants to intimidate lawyers from performing their duty in the service of our prisoners. They will not succeed, I dedicate my life for the cause of our prisoners and will not stop fighting for their freedom until all our prisoners are released.”

This letter was written on 23 April 2014 by Palestinian lawyer Shireen Issawi, her first communication with the world after she was seized by occupation forces on 6 March of that year. She was held in isolation for 33 days and subjected to interrogation 16 hours a day. She was transferred without confessing to HaSharon prison.

She was jailed for nearly four years; her brother, Medhat, was sentenced to eight years in prison and remains imprisoned today. She engaged in a hunger strike while jailed and was isolated for a month and a half; after her release in October 2017, she has continued to defend the Palestinian prisoners.

Shireen Issawi will speak in Athens on Thursday, 29 March in an event organized by the Solidarity Initiative with the Palestinian People.

“Eίμαι δικηγόρος. Εχω το δικαίωμα και το καθήκον να υπερασπίζομαι τους φυλακισμένους μας. Να υπερασπίζομαι τα δικαιώματά τους δεν είναι παράνομο. Μολονότι ήμουν πρόσφατα απασχολημένη με την ολοκλήρωση του μάστερ μου, με συνέλαβαν. Ο πραγματικός λόγος για τη σύλληψή μου είναι ότι η κατοχή θέλει να εκφοβίσει τους δικηγόρους για να μην εκτελούν το καθήκον τους στην υπηρεσία των φυλακισμένων μας. Δε θα τα καταφέρουν. Αφιερώνω τη ζωή μου στην υπόθεση των φυλακισμένων μας και δε θα σταματήσω να αγωνίζομαι για την ελευθερία τους, μέχρις ότου όλοι οι φυλακισμένοι μας απελευθερωθούν”.

Αυτή την επιστολή έστειλε στις 23 Απρίλη του 2014 η παλαιστίνια δικηγόρος Σιρίν Ισάουι. Ηταν η πρώτη επικοινωνία της με τον έξω κόσμο, μετά τη σύλληψή της στις 6 Μάρτη της ίδιας χρονιάς. Επί 33 μέρες την κρατούσαν σε απομόνωση στο άντρο βασανιστηρίων της G4S και την υπέβαλαν σε 16ωρες ανακρίσεις με καθήλωση. Δεν της επέτρεψαν επαφή με δικηγόρο, ούτε με άλλους κρατούμενους. Οταν απέτυχαν να της αποσπάσουν οποιαδήποτε ομολογία, τη μετέφεραν στο κάτεργο της Χασαρόν, δηλαδή σε μια «κανονική» φυλακή.

Παρέμεινε προφυλακισμένη για δύο χρόνια. Το ίδιο και ο αδελφός της Μεντάτ, που είχε συλληφθεί μια βδομάδα μετά από τη Σιρίν. Μια διεθνής καμπάνια για την απελευθέρωση της Σιρίν αναπτύχθηκε. Στη δίκη, που έγινε τον Μάρτη του 2016, η Σιρίν δικάστηκε σε τέσσερα χρόνια φυλάκισης και ο αδερφός της σε οχτώ. Στη διάρκεια της σχεδόν τετράχρονης φυλάκισής της η Σιρίν πραγματοποίησε απεργία πείνας, ενώ κλείστηκε στην απομόνωση για περίπου ενάμιση μήνα. Αποφυλακίστηκε τον Οκτώβρη του 2017 και από τότε συνεχίζει αυτό που έκανε πάντοτε: να υπερασπίζεται τους παλαιστίνιους πολιτικούς κρατούμενους και ν’ αγωνίζεται ενάντια στην κατοχή.

Η σιωνιστική κατοχή —όπως και κάθε κατοχή— δεν κάνει διακρίσεις σε όσους αντιστέκονται. Γυναίκα ή άντρας, όποιος αγωνίζεται για την υπόθεση της ελευθερίας απέναντι στο πιστό μαντρόσκυλο των ΗΠΑ στη Μέση Ανατολή, το Ισραήλ, υφίσταται τα βασανιστήρια, τον εξευτελισμό, τη στέρηση της ελευθερίας του, τη δολοφονία. Οι λακέδες του ιμπεριαλισμού μιλάνε για ανθρώπινα δικαιώματα και την ίδια στιγμή συναινούν στην σκλήρυνση της κατοχής, στην ένταση της καταπίεσης των παλαιστίνιων, αντρών, γυναικών, παιδιών, παρουσιάζοντάς τους συλλήβδην ως τρομοκράτες. Τα Διεθνή ΜΜΕ έσπευσαν υποκριτικά να αναμεταδώσουν την εικόνα της αγέρωχης Αχεντ Ταμίμι που αντιστάθηκε στους εισβολείς στρατιώτες στο χωριό της. Λίγο αργότερα, ένα πέπλο σιωπής σκέπασε και πάλι την Παλαιστίνη της αντίστασης, ειδικά αυτής που μάχεται ένοπλα. Χρέος μας είναι να αναδεικνύουμε συνεχώς τα κατοχικά εγκλήματα, να στηρίζουμε τον παλαιστινιακό λαό που μάχεται έξω και μέσα από τα κάτεργα με όλα τα μέσα. Να μην ξεχνάμε ότι η κυβέρνηση ΣΥΡΙΖΑ-ΑΝΕΛ, όπως και οι προηγούμενες κυβερνήσεις, συνεργάζεται στενά με τους σιωνιστές, στηρίζοντας στη πράξη την κατοχή.

Η φυλακή είναι το μεγάλο σχολείο του εθνικοαπελευθερωτικού κινήματος, όπως και κάθε επαναστατικού κινήματος. Αναπόσπαστο τμήμα της παλαιστινιακής αντίστασης είναι οι παλαιστίνιοι πολιτικοί κρατούμενοι που κόντρα σε θεούς και δαίμονες κρατάνε τη σημαία του αγώνα ψηλά και δεν υποκύπτουν, δεν υπογράφουν δηλώσεις μετανοίας στον κατακτητή. Ετσι μεταφέρεται το πάθος για την λευτεριά από γενιά σε γενιά, μέχρι την συνολική απελευθέρωση, που για όλους τους λαούς, έτσι και για τους παλαιστίνιους έχει και κοινωνικό-ταξικό πρόσημο και περιεχόμενο.

Η Σιρίν Ισάουι θα είναι η κεντρική ομιλήτρια στην εκδήλωση που οργανώνει η Πρωτοβουλία Αλληλεγγύης στον Παλαιστινιακό Λαό, την Πέμπτη 29 Μάρτη, 7μμ., στο ΕΜΠ (αμφ. Γκίνη).

Νίκη στα όπλα της Παλαιστινιακής Αντίστασης!
Λευτεριά στους Παλαιστίνιους πολιτικούς κρατούμενους!

Πρωτοβουλία Αλληλεγγύης στον Παλαιστινιακό Λαό*

Occupation forces seize 23 Palestinians and shoot Abdullah Nayef of Dheisheh camp

26 March 2018

*Abdullah Nayef, Photo: Dheisheh Event, Facebook*

Forty-three Palestinians were seized by occupation forces throughout the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem in overnight raids by Israeli occupation forces on Monday, 26 March. Those seized by occupation forces include Abdullah al-Nayef of Dheisheh camp, who was shot in the leg by occupation forces and is currently hospitalized. Nayef is a former Palestinian prisoner and youth activist.

Dheisheh camp is where the infamous Israeli so-called “Captain Nidal” has repeatedly threatened youth of the refugee camp through text messages and phone calls, sending threats of injury or even death to young people and their families. A policy of shooting young Palestinians in the legs in Dheisheh has led to widespread injuries and disabilities. This policy was also seen in the killing of Palestinian youth activist Raed al-Salhi by occupation forces who shot him down at the same time that they shot fellow Palestinian prisoner Abdel-Aziz Arafa in the leg.

The violent attack and arrest was reportedly carried out by “mustaribeen,” the infamous Israeli forces who disguise themselves as Palestinians and who have conducted several recent attacks on prominent local Palestinians in Dheisheh and throughout the Bethlehem area.

Meanwhile, in the town of Issawiya, north of Jerusalem, occupation forces seized nine people, including a couple, Amna and Bassel Mahmoud. Also seized by occupation forces were Mu’min Mahmoud, Mamoun Mahmoud, Haitham Obaid, Hussein Obed, Mohammed Ahmed Attiya and Daoud Yousef Attiya. In Anata village, they seized Uday Raed al-Jamzawi, Walid Wajih al-Jamzawi and Ahmed Akram al-Yassini, while in Jenin they arrested Uday Bajawi and Mahdi Abu Hassan, a former prisoner. In al-Khalil, occupation forces arrested Ehab al-Rajabi, and they also seized Hamada Amin Shaath, Mohamed Nael Salama and Mahmoud Qatawi from Kfar Saba in Qalqilya.

31 March, Paris: Salute to Ahed Tamimi

25 March 2018

Saturday, 31 March
3:00 pm
Fontaine des Innocents
Paris, France
Metro: RER Chatelet-Les Halles
Web: http://europalestine.com/spip.php?article14067

At the end of the “trial”, when the guards took her away, she shouted: “there is no justice under occupation!”

The resistance, but also the sense of humor and grace of Ahed Tamimi, including in detention, infuriates the Israeli occupier,

So much so that we have heard everything in recent months in the commentaries of the colonial state, including the fact that the Tamimi family was not a real family but a “montage” to destabilize Israel!

In truth, Ahed has made the world aware of the reality of the Israeli occupation and the way it treatsthe Palestinian children that it kidnaps, tortures, jails, when it does not kill them or disable them for life.

Similarly, her closed-door trial before military judges, with a 99.74% conviction rate for Palestinians, and who are the same soldiers who arrest and brutalize children, revealed the reality of Israeli “democracy” to the world.

Months in detention, with endless interrogations without the presence of a parent, a lawyer or the slightest protection, when she is a minor.

Thank you Ahed! Thank you Tamimi family! Thank you all the village of Nabi Salah! Thank you to all the Palestinian resistance fighters, you who refuse to leave Palestine, despite all that the occupier is doing to you!

17 April, London: 100 years of fighting Zionism, colonialism and imperialism

25 March 2018

Tuesday, 17 April
6:30 pm
SOAS Alumni Lecture Theater, Paul Webley Wing, SOAS
London, UK
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/156553131709390/

Join us in this meeting with leading Palestinian activist Khaled Barakat, international coordinator for the campaign to free Ahmed Sa’adat to discuss how we can build the movement to free Ahed Tamimi and all Palestinian political prisoners. Also to discuss the Palestinian struggle for return and liberation.

Speakers include:

Charlottte Kates International Coordinator for Samidoun – Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network.

Maisa Shquier PhD Researcher at the University of Sussex

Ben Geraghty Revolutionary Communist Group

Free all Palestinian political prisoners! Free George Abdallah!
Break Britain’s links with Israel! Victory to the Palestinian resistance!
—————————————————
Time: 6:30 on 17th April at SOAS Alumni Lecture Theater, Paul Webley Wing of the Senate House, SOAS, University of London WC1E 7HX

(Organised by Victory to the Intifada and Samidoun – Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network)

16 April, Manchester: Khaled Barakat speaks on Palestine, prisoners and revolution

25 March 2018

Monday, 16 April
7:00 pm
Friends’ Meeting House, Manchester
6 Mount Street, M2 5NS Manchester, United Kingdom
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/201937427240576/

Manchester Boycott Israel Group – Victory to Palestine! are pleased to announce this meeting with leading Palestinian activist Khaled Barakat, international coordinator for the campaign for free Ahmed Sa’adat. This will be an opportunity to discuss how we can build the movement to free Ahed Tamimi and all Palestinian political prisoners, and debate the future of the movement for Palestinian liberation.

Free Palestine!
Free the prisoners!
Break Britain’s links with Israel!

10 April, Vancouver: Film Screening: Radiance of Resistance

25 March 2018

Film Screening: Radiance of Resistance تألق المقاومة
April 10th: Doors open at 7pm. Film starts at 7:30pm
Tickets: $10 General, $8 Seniors/Students,
Location: The Cinematheque 1131 Howe Street
Co-organized by: Canada Palestine Association, BDS-Vancouver Coast Salish Territories and Young Communist League-Vancouver

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/156016365102230/

The new film, Radiance of Resistance tells the story of Janna Ayyad 9 years old, and Ahed Tamimi 14 years old, who live under military occupation in Nabi Saleh, Palestine. Janna Ayyad has been called the youngest journalist in Palestine. Ahed is one of many Palestinian children unjustly incarcerated in an Israeli Prison for opposing colonial occupation on her land. As Bassem Tamimi said, “Ahed is a representation of a new generation of our people, of young freedom fighters.” This film will take an intimate look at their everyday lives and their importance as the new generation of Palestinian non-violent resistance. In 2017, Radiance of Résistance won Best documentary at the Respect for Human Rights Film Festival.

Join us in the struggle for Ahed’s Freedom! Free all Palestinian prisoners!
All funds/proceeds go to: Organizations fighting for the freedom of Palestinian Prisoners

Produced by: AMZ Productions – Rise Up International
Music by: Colten Williams & Third Seven
Edited by: Jesse Locke
Directed by: Jesse Roberts

http://www.radianceofresistance.com/

**************************
This event takes place on the traditional, unceded, occupied territories of the səlil̓wətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. In acknowledging this, we must be in solidarity with the struggles of the peoples of the territory in which we occupy.

Events

Follow us on Instagram @samidounnetwork