Monday, September 30, 2024
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Palestinian prisoners announce struggle steps to defend Ahmad Sa’adat, Walid Daqqah

Palestinian prisoner Ahmad Sa’adat, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was ordered returned to isolation for an additional week by the Zionist prison administration, in retaliation for writing a political article. This came after Sa’adat, along with fellow leaders Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh and Walid Hanatsheh, were to be released from isolation after escalating protests among the prisoners.

Not only was Sa’adat, a prominent national leader who has been imprisoned by Israel since 2006 — and prior to an Israeli attack on Jericho, by the Palestinian Authority since 2002 — isolated an additional week for expressing himself politically, he was banned from family visits for a month. Denial of family visits is a common tactic used by the Israeli prison administration in a form of collective punishment against the prisoners and their families.

In response not only to this attack but to the de facto assassination of Khader Adnan and the ongoing denial of release and proper medical treatment to Walid Daqqah, prisoners of the PFLP have announced their readiness to proceed to a hunger strike to demand Sa’adat is released from isolation and Daqqah is released to freedom and to receive proper medical care for his rare cancer, myelofibrosis. They issued a statement:

The Martyr Khader Adnan Brigade

The prisoners of the Popular Front are beginning their first steps to confront the targeting of the leader Abu Ghassan (Ahmad Sa’adat) and the leaders of the Popular Front, and to support the leader Walid Daqqah and the sick prisoners.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine announces that the ranks of the prisoners of the Front will advance the Brigade of Martyr Khader Adnan. 54 prisoners of the Popular Front will go on strike in the first batch, in response to the Prison Administration’s policy towards the leadership and cadres of the Front, and in rejection of the policy of medical neglect, in solidarity with the imprisoned intellectual Walid Daqqah, and the prisoners and the patients of Ramleh prison clinic…

The Zionist attack on the prisoners is escalating daily, and has reached the level of insolent indifference to our blood, starting with the hundreds of martyrs among the prisoners who were executed by a Zionist decision of the entire colonial structure, the most recent of which is the disregard for the blood of the martyr Khader Adnan. This is what the occupation, the Prison Administration and its officers are aiming for through their intransigence in the decision to reject the release of the sick prisoner, the leader and thinker Walid Daqqah, and the continuous attempts to harm the life of the leader Ahmad Sa’adat, by isolating him or practicing abuse and isolation against the leaders of the Popular Front, against the sick prisoners, and playing for time in the context of the policy of slow execution carried out against the prisoners.

Therefore, we in the PFLP organization in the occupation prisons, announce that the Brigade of the Martyr Khader Adnan is embarking on the battle that bears his name in loyalty and honour to him in order to fight the battle of loyalty and support for the leader Ahmad Sa’adat and the leadership of the prisoners’ movement, and confirms that it has taken a decision to escalate in all prisons within the framework of confronting the jailer’s retaliatory measures against the leader Ahmad Sa’adat and the imprisoned leadership of the Popular Front.

We call on all our people and all living consciences to stand by our side, in this battle of ours, everywhere.

We also call on our strugglers to protect our blood, which will inevitably be precious for the sake of dignity, freedom and the human rights attacked by the Zionist jailer.

Glory to the martyrs, freedom to the prisoners, and victory to our people!
25 May 2023

Hearing delayed, returned to Ramleh prison: Occupation targets Walid Daqqah’s life and health

On Thursday, 25 May, the Israeli occupation prison system once again removed Palestinian prisoner, intellectual and freedom fighter, Walid Daqqah, suffering from the rare cancer myelofibrosis and a number of severe health complications, from Assaf Harofeh civilian hospital to the infamous Ramleh prison clinic, putting his life and health at even more severe risk. The extreme disregard and systematic medical neglect shown to Walid Daqqah indicates an attempt at his assassination by the occupation regime, which continues to deny him access to proper medical treatment. 

This comes one day after an Israeli court ordered a one-week delay, on 24 May, of a planned hearing on Daqqah’s lawyer’s and family’s appeal for his immediate release. Rather than hearing information and taking action, the court ordered a one-week delay — reminiscent of the constant delays ordered by Zionist courts in the case of Palestinian hunger striker Khader Adnan, who lost his life after 86 days on hunger strike. Khader Adnan’s martyrdom came one day after yet another week-long delay ordered by an occupation court.

Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners went on a one-day hunger strike on 15 May for his release, while his fellow severely ill prisoners in the Ramleh prison clinic have been organizing to demand his release as well. The Palestinian prisoners’ movement is escalating its steps of struggle to resist attacks on the prisoners, particularly the continued medical abuse of Walid Daqqah.

Daqqah’s family and official campaign once again emphasized their clear demand for his immediate release, noting that it is impossible for him to receive proper treatment within the occupation prison system. This call is borne out by his forced return once again to the Ramleh prison clinic, described by the prisoners held there as a “slaughterhouse,” despite his severe health deterioration and the constant risk to his life.

Daqqah’s 37-year sentence in occupation prison expired in March 2023, but an additional two-year sentence was imposed upon him, allegedly for being involved in bringing mobile phones into the occupation prisons. While he struggles for his life, the infamous Zionist minister Itamar Ben Gvir, known for his fascist pronouncements and ideology, declared that Daqqah’s “life must end in prison,” a clear threat of assassination against Daqqah; Ben Gvir directs the prison system in which he is held captive.

The targeting of Walid Daqqah follows the martyrdom of Khader Adnan on 2 May as well as the December 2022 death of Nasser Abu Hmaid, another Palestinian prisoner and freedom fighter repeatedly denied release as he battled cancer inside the occupation prisons.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network joins the family of Walid Daqqah, the campaign for his freedom and the entire Palestinian people in demanding his immediate release, the only way in which he can receive proper treatment without restrictions. The Israeli prison administration and the Zionist regime hold full responsibility for his life as they continue to deny him an appropriate environment to treat his rare cancer.

Daqqah was diagnosed with myelofibrosis in December 2022, following a leukemia diagnosis 10 years before. Daqqah, 62, has been imprisoned since 25 March 1986. Sentenced to 37 years in occupation prisons, he should have been released in March of this year (2023), except for an additional two-year punitive sentence added on to his prison sentence, allegedly related to accessing mobile phones inside occupation prisons. Walid needs intensive health treatment for the lungs, kidneys and blood, and he also needs a very sensitive bone marrow transplant procedure (noting that more than one donor is available). This requires a therapeutic environment that is not available at a minimum level, in light of the conditions of his captivity and the strict guarding practiced by the prison administration.

The Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council noted, about his medical condition:

The only curative treatment for Walid is a bone marrow transplant—one of the most difficult and dangerous medical procedures currently known. Gatt also recommended that Walid be put in a clean place where exposure to infections can be minimized, neither of which is possible inside the miserable conditions offered by Israeli prisons.

In mid-February 2023, Walid suffered from a severe cardiovascular stroke that led to a physical injury on his chest. Not only did the IPS in Askalan prison refuse to transfer him to a hospital for emergency treatment, the in-house prison clinic, despite diagnosing a blood clot as the cause of the stroke, refused to provide him with a necessary blood transfusion. Consequently, Walid lost a lot of blood through a minor tongue wound in the days that followed. Further, his medical records indicated that he lost over 10 kilos (22 pounds) in one and a half months. Only after his hematologist visited Askalan for a routine appointment, nearly two weeks after the stroke, was Walid finally transferred to Barzilai Medical Center. Similarly, as Walid developed symptoms of severe pneumonia over the past couple of weeks, the IPS once again ignored his health and evaded hospital admission until his lawyers and doctors intervened. Walid is currently being held in a private room at Barzilai, suffering from pneumonia, kidney failure, and a life-threatening drop in blood cell count.

Daqqah obtained a master’s degree in political science and wrote several books while behind bars, in the realm of political theory as well as fiction, including children’s fiction. On multiple occasions, he has faced harsh repression, including solitary confinement, especially targeted toward his expressive work. For example, Daqqah was thrown into solitary confinement when he published a new children’s book, “The Secret of Oil”; a launch event for the book in the town of Majd al-Kurum was shut down by far-right Israeli minister Aryeh Deri. In the preface to the book, Daqqah wrote, “I write until I am freed from prison, with the hope of freeing the prison from me.” This followed the defunding of a Haifa Palestinian theater that exhibited a play based on his work “Parallel Time.” His family’s official campaign page asserts:

“In spite of all the injustices and discriminations inflicted upon Daqqah throughout the 37 years of his incarceration, he has managed remarkable achievements that have made him in to the political, intellectual and cultural icon that he is. He has been a leader among the Palestinian Prisoners’ Movement and is a prominent figure in the Palestinian, Arab and international cultural scene, in particular in the field of prison studies. Even his intellectual life has been deemed dangerous as prisoner authorities subjected Daqqah to extra punishment due to his political, social and intellectual activism, in particular solitary confinement.

Daqqah is a prolific author. Among his works: Testimonies of Resistance: The Battle of Jenin Camp 2002 (2004); Consciousness Molded or the Re-identification of Torture (2010); The Story of the Forgotten in Parallel Time (2011); The Oil’s Secret Tale (2018); The Sword’s Secret Tale (2021); The Spirit’s Secret Tale/ The Martyrs Return to Ramallah (2022). In addition, Daqqah published several translations, and tens of articles both in Arabic and Hebrew, most prominently: “Parallel Tine” (2005); “Milad: I Write to a Childe Yet to Be Born” (2011); “Liberate Yourself by Yourself” (2020), and “Control through Time” (2021). Daqqah also has several unpublished manuscripts, paintings, poetry, lyrics, and autobiographical and theatrical writings.

Under these harsh circumstances, Daqqah married the activist, journalist and translator Sana’ Salamah on 10 August, 1999 in Askalan Prison. The occupation state denied them conjugal visits and their right to be parents, in spite of all the appeals. Undeterred, on 3 March 2020 their daughter Milad was born in Nazareth from liberated semen for artificial insemination.”

Take action to save the life of Walid Daqqah and defeat the Zionist policy of assassination through medical neglect. We urge Palestinian communities around the world and supporters of Palestine to include the campaign to free Walid Daqqah in your events and activities for Palestine and to organize actions and events demanding his immediate liberation and that of all Palestinian prisoners. Use these signs below in your actions and campaigns, and send us your photos on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter or via email at samidoun@samidoun.net.

Use the hashtags:

Download below, in English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Portuguese and Italian — or Download all PDFs (A3) or (11×17).

 

Paris area mobilizations commemorate 75 years of Nakba and ongoing resistance

For over a week, many organizations held events and actions, bringing together thousands of people in Paris, France, and its suburbs. These events were part of the collective commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Nakba, a process of colonization and ethnic cleansing in Palestine still underway today, which the Palestinian people tirelessly resist.

On Saturday, 13 May, CAPJPO-EuroPalestine organized a mass march and demonstration, proceeding from Châtelet to République in Paris. This dynamic and enthusiastic action brought together several thousand people in support of the Palestinian people and their resistance, the majority of whom were young people. This action was supported by many organizations, including Samidoun Paris Banlieue and other pro-Palestinian and internationalist organizations. Throughout the route of the march, the colors of Palestine and its resistance were proudly brandished, highlighting the vitality of the struggle of the Palestinian people and the failure and illegitimacy of Zionist colonization. Several speeches took place at the end of the demonstration. The first was by a young activist from EuroPalestine who recalled the current nature of the Nakba, the absence of international sanctions on the Zionist entity and emphasized the unity of the Palestinian resistance during the “Revenge of the Free,” the latest battle in which the resistance responded from Gaza against the Israeli offensive that killed 33 Palestinians in Gaza.

Alongside other organizations, Samidoun Paris Banlieue delivered a speech:

Today we commemorate 75 years of the Nakba, a process of ethnic cleansing and settler colonization which still continues today, and which the Palestinian people are courageously confronting.

As we speak, the Zionist occupation has launched a new military offensive against the Gaza Strip which has been under blockade for more than 15 years. Faced with this, the Palestinian people responded in a unified and collective manner to the aggression by using their legitimate right to resistance! Only a few days after the death of Khader Adnan, who was martyred while leading a hunger strike to demand his release, the occupying forces bombed Gaza. Supposedly making targeted attacks against resistance leaders but in reality murdering at least 25 people, including 5 children, and nearly 80 injured.

The resistance to this new offensive demonstrates that despite 75 years of Nakba, the Palestinian people will continue to fight until their return and the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea. We wish here to pay tribute to the martyrs who have fallen in recent days.

We, Samidoun, know that the Palestinian prisoners are the spearhead of the resistance. These 4,900 men, women and children represent the Palestinian people as a whole.

Like Walid Daqqah, an emblematic prisoner, long a struggler of the PFLP, and a renowned intellectual who wrote several books during his detention. Walid Daqqah spent more than 37 years in colonial prisons. Today he is seriously ill and the victim of a policy of medical negligence. Today, there is an urgent need to develop the campaign for his release!

Finally, we would like to emphasize that here too, in France, a Palestinian resistance fighter, an Arab communist has been imprisoned since 1984: Georges Abdallah. Today, supporting Georges Abdallah is not just supporting a man who is forthright, dignified and faithful to his political commitments despite 39 years in prison. To support Georges Abdallah is to support the Palestinian people and the legitimacy of their resistance!

Finally, we wish to affirm that the occupation is not an invincible force. It survives thanks to the support of Western imperialist powers, including France. Today, we must mobilize everywhere against this cooperation, like our comrades from Samidoun in Germany and Palestine Action in England who are facing scandalous repression. Tomorrow, the demonstration for the Nakba is banned in Berlin and this is an outrage!

Faced with this, we have no other alternative than to pursue, develop and intensify our solidarity!

The Vietnamese people defeated US imperialism, the Algerian people defeated French colonialism and tomorrow Palestine will defeat imperialism and Zionism!

On Sunday, May 14, we gathered in Montreuil at the Marbrerie for an event organized by the AFPS under the slogan “Justice for Palestine.” Supported by several organizations such as the LDH, the CGT, Solidaires, the UJFP, the JC, CEDETIM, the Platform of French NGOs for Palestine and Orient XXI, this event brought together several hundred people and gave the floor to several Palestinian activists and personalities. In the first part of the evening, we listened to the testimonies and speeches of Dana Farraj (lawyer and researcher at Birzeit University), Salah Hamouri (French-Palestinian lawyer and former political prisoner expelled from Jerusalem in December 2022), Qassam Muaddi (journalist, photo reporter and writer) and Rania Muhareb (doctoral student at the University of Galway, originally from Jerusalem).

The evening ended on a high note with concerts by Samah Mustafa, a Palestinian singer who combines classical music and electronic music, and Tamer Nafar, co-founder of the group DAM. The same organizations gathered the next day in Place de la République for a commemoration.

On Friday, 19 May, at La Caboteuse in Montreuil, AIM and Young Struggle organized a solidarity event with the Kurdish people. This evening was part of the “Punks for Rojava” campaign, which aims to show the solidarity of the alternative scene with the ongoing struggles in Kurdistan. Alongside several other organizations such as Action Antifasciste 77, Samidoun Paris Banlieue was present in particular to highlight the campaigns for the release of Georges Abdallah and Walid Daqqah.

As always, the evening was a resounding success. We warmly thank AIM and Young Struggle for their welcome and their invitation.

On Saturday, 20 May, Samidoun Paris Banlieue held its monthly stand at the open-air market in Aubervilliers. This stand mainly centered around two fundamental themes: the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Nakba and solidarity with the prisoners of the Palestinian resistance including Walid Daqqah and Georges Abdallah.

For more than two hours, we distributed leaflets explaining the situation of Europe’s longest-held political prisoner, the Lebanese communist and Palestinian resistance fighter Georges Abdallah. Once again, we confirmed that his name is well known and meaningful for the diasporas of the Maghreb, the Arab region as a whole, and sincere internationalist activists. This popular support shows us that we must do everything possible to secure his release after 39 years of judicial harassment.

We also drew attention to the situation of Walid Daqqah, emblematic prisoner of the PFLP and internationally recognized writer who has been detained for more than 37 years in the Zionist colonial prisons. Seriously ill, he suffers from bone marrow cancer and pneumonia triggered by the policy of deliberate medical negligence of the Zionist authorities. At the time of writing, he was suddenly returned to the infamous Ramleh prison clinic after initially being transferred to Assaf Harofeh Civil Hospital following a deterioration in his state of health. He suffers from complications related to the removal of a part of his right lung, after which he developed an infection and continues to suffer from an inability to breathe. Despite his catastrophic state of health, Walid Daqqah has been repeatedly taken out of civilian hospitals and returned to Ramleh prison clinic.

Walid Daqqah needs serious and proper treatment for his lungs, kidneys and blood, as well as a bone marrow transplant. This requires a clean therapeutic environment, where exposure to infection is minimal. This is not the case in colonial prisons. We invite all organizations and supporters of the Palestinian people to join this international campaign launched from Palestine by his family and loved ones to demand his immediate release!

Finally, we discussed the 75 years of colonization, ethnic cleansing and oppression that the Palestinian people are constantly resisting with local residents attending the market. They expressed to us their unfailing, sincere and unconditional support for the Palestinian people and their resistance, and all morning took turns to discuss with us, take advantage of the stickers and flyers available and participate in our fundraising donations for the Al Awda hospital in Gaza.

This stand was organized a few days after a new poster campaign in the streets of Aubervilliers in order to continue the mobilization and awareness campaigns for Palestinian prisoners.

We would like to warmly thank the organizations that organize these solidarity actions for the Palestinian people and their resistance, especially AIM, Young Struggle , Antifascist Action 77 and EuroPalestine. A big thank you to the inhabitants of Aubervilliers for their support, to the demonstrators who marched and responded to EuroPalestine’s call and to all the people we met throughout this eventful week.

Do not forget to follow us on our social networks to participate in our activities and find all of our actions and mobilizations (Instagram , Facebook , Twitter) or contact us by email at parisbanlieue@samidoun.net

Long live the struggle of the Palestinian people!
Glory to the resistance, to its martyrs and its prisoners!
From the river to the sea: Palestine will win!

Belgian activists confront sportswashing of Israeli apartheid in cycling

Several members and sympathizers of the Plate-Forme Charleroi-Palestine mobilized on 18 May at the  “Circuit de Wallonie” cycling race in Belgium against the participation of a propaganda team for Israeli apartheid and colonialism. Carrying large banners and Palestinian flags, these supporters of justice in Palestine expressed their rejection of Israel’s sportswashing of its war crimes in Palestine.

Activists gathered in two places along the route to challenge the presence of the so-called “Israel Premier Tech” team, self-described as an “Ambassador of Israel.” In the towns of Gozée and Jamioulx, the activists received a warm and supportive reception from the people of the area. Local residents allowed the activists to post Palestinian flags on their homes or to join in supporting the demonstration.

This is not the first time that the Plate-Forme, a member organization of the Samidoun Network, has organized such actions. Activists for justice in Palestine were also present in March, along the Course pour la Paix d’Ypres, at the Ghent-Wevelgem race, and at  the Tour de France in Cerfontaine and the Tour de Wallonie in Courcelles in July. 2022. In Belgium, an action also took place this year during the Liège-Bastogne-Liège race.

In many other countries, activists are also mobilizing against the Israel Premier Tech team’s participation in cycling races. In France, many collectives and committees mobilize each year against the participation of this team in the Tour de France. In addition, similar initiatives have also taken place in the Netherlands, Italy, Denmark, Switzerland and Canada.

Source: Plate-Forme Charleroi-Palestine

Georges Abdallah sends a message to French resistance gathering on Glières plateau

From 19 to 21 May, thousands of people converged on the Glières plateau in Haute-Savoie France, a historic site of the French resistance to Nazi occupation, for the Resistance Forum organized by the Resistant Citizens of Yesterday and Today association. The 2023 gathering, which marked the 17th such occasion, highlighted solidarity with Palestine at the heart of resistance today. This year’s event included the participation of French-Palestinian lawyer Salah Hamouri and many supporters of Georges Abdallah, the Lebanese communist struggler for Palestine imprisoned in France since 1984, in particular through a stand organized by the Collective for the Liberation of Georges Abdallah 74.

On Sunday, 21 May, on the Glières plateau, during a rally bringing together hundreds of participants, a member of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra read out a message by Georges Abdallah written especially for this occasion, once again emphasizing that Georges Abdallah remains a deeply committed activist in support of current mobilizations for social liberation despite nearly 39 years of detention in French prisons.

Please note: Since this event took place, the event, the Collectif and Georges Abdallah have been under attack by an array of Zionist and right-wing French politicians, who do exactly what Georges describes in his message below: attempting to detach the historical legacy of the Resistance from today’s resistance movements struggling for liberation, in Palestine and beyond.

The message follows below:

Dear comrades, dear friends,

Sharing with you the enthusiasm inherent in your gathering on this Glières plateau is more than invigorating, especially when you have been behind these abominable walls for several decades.

The official representatives of the imperialist bourgeoisie of this country ritually come to strut before this or that necropolis of the Resistance. A whole ceremonial with great pomp intended above all else, not to pay homage to the maquisards (rural guerrillas, French and Belgian Resistance fighters), but rather to bury them in a distant past, in order to ward them off, all the values ​​of solidarity, fraternity, justice and freedom that were embodied these guerrillas. These guerrillas, these resistants, who saved the honor of this country in the darkest hours, when the bourgeoisie in its vast majority sank into Pétainism (collaboration with the Nazi occupation) and the crimes which are intimately linked to it, are far from being relics or fantasies of a bygone past.

In the diversity of their commitment, in the diversity of their origins, these women and these men in the various maquis (groups of rural French resistance fighters) of the country and in the various structures of the Resistance in the cities, are of a quite other than secondary importance on the global scale of the world capitalist system. These women and men were able to discover in the practice of the fight against the Nazi occupation forces and their Petainist auxiliaries, that it is together and it is only together that they will win.

The convergence of struggles, in spite of so many obstacles, ended up imposing itself in one way or another. It manifested itself in the most relevant way in the program of the National Council of Resistance, thus expressing globally the values ​​of solidarity, justice and freedom that underpinned the resistant, the maquisard, in his existential militant journey, and in this, it is more topical than ever here and elsewhere in the world where the barbarism of capitalism has never been so widespread since the middle of the last century.

In this time of the multidimensional crisis of mobilization and great struggles, of imperialist and inter-imperialist wars, devastation and other environmental catastrophes in sight, the protagonists of anti-capitalist action in this country are more than ever called upon to strengthen ever more the dynamic of international solidarity in the formation of a historical social bloc as a real political subject with a view to putting an end to the moribund capitalist system in its phase of advanced putrefaction.

Dear comrades, dear friends, when you see that the Zionist military and its hordes of settlers under the orders of the supremacists in power carry out the worst atrocities every day all over Palestine. Every day, young and old are martyred… The expropriation of land and the demolition of houses are continuou and widespread. In fact, this policy never stopped; sometimes it slows down and sometimes it speeds up. It will only stop with the dissolution of this entity, which in reality is an organic extension of Western imperialism, and whose process of fascism has recently accelerated more than ever.

Comrades and friends, from behind the abominable walls, Ahmed Sa’adat and the thousands of comrades imprisoned in Zionist jails send you their revolutionary greetings and draw your attention to what is happening in Palestine with the coming to power of the supremacist fascists.

That said, comrades, the popular Palestinian masses, involved today in this popular intifada of a particular type, can rely and must be able to rely on your mobilization and your solidarity.

You honor your country by demonstrating in the streets your attachment to the application of international law and the condemnation of all forms of colonization.

You do your country honor by standing alongside the masses of the people who are victims of crimes against humanity, apartheid and persecution.

You honor your country by taking part in the fight against all forms of ethnic cleansing and for standing alongside the Palestinian families in East Jerusalem who are threatened these days with being driven from their homes to be replaced by supremacist settlers.

You honor your country for not forgetting the criminal blockade of Gaza which has been going on since 2007.

The conditions of detention in Zionist jails are getting worse day by day. And as you know, comrades, to confront it, international solidarity proves to be an indispensable weapon.

Solidarity, all solidarity with the resistance fighters in Zionist jails and solitary confinement cells in Morocco, Turkey, Greece, the Philippines and elsewhere around the world!

May a thousand solidarity initiatives flourish in favor of our comrade Walid Daqqah!

Solidarity, all solidarity with the proletarians mobilized in this country! Honor to the martyrs and to the popular masses in struggle!

Down with imperialism and its Zionist and Arab reactionary watchdogs!

Capitalism is nothing but barbarism, honor to all those who oppose it in the diversity of their expressions!

Together, comrades, and only together will we win!

To all of you, comrades and friends, my warmest communist greetings.

Your comrade Georges Abdallah

 

Geneva bends to Zionist pressure campaign, censors exhibition of Swiss revolutionary artist Mark Rudin

From 25 to 27 May an exhibition of Palestinian resistance posters by the late Swiss activist and artist Marc Rudin was to be held in Geneva, Switzerland, organized by Secours Rouge Geneva in collaboration with Samidoun Geneva. This exhibition was an opportunity to pay tribute to our comrade, who died on April 7, and his artistic and political work. At the exhibition’s opening, a discussion was planned around the theme “How to support the Palestinian resistance” with our comrade Mohammed Khatib, Europe coordinator of Samidoun. On Saturday 27 May, we had planned to screen the film “Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s Fight,” produced by the Collectif Vacarmes Films. This exhibition has now been banned by the City of Geneva.

Less than 48 hours before the opening of the exhibition, we were contacted by the person responsible for the exhibition venue – the Almacén, who told us that the City of Geneva, owner of the building, had prohibited the holding of our exhibition. The City of Geneva claimed a lack of information concerning our project, information which was, in reality, all public. Shortly after, for the first time since the announcement of the ban on our exhibition and at our request, we were finally contacted directly by the personal representative of Alfonso Gomez, Administrative Advisor in charge of the Departments of Finance, Environment and Housing (DFEL) for the City of Geneva, and a member of the Green Party. During this call, the representative of the City explained to us that he has “a priori no problem” with our exhibition, that the City “normally never” gives its approval regarding the events held at the Almacén, that “until now [he] didn’t know what was going on there”. However, he said, our exhibition would address a “sensitive” theme and would pay tribute to a “controversial” personality. It is clear that such censorship is exceptional.

What motivated such a decision, as exceptional as it is political, are the “pressures” that the City received from organizations such as the European Jewish Association and an Israeli NGO which contacted the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA).

On the phone, we are told that the cancellation of our exhibition is the result of foreign Zionist organizations, under whose yoke the City of Geneva is placed. This is nothing surprising coming from the bourgeois parliamentary left, which always reveals the extent of its contradictions and even its hypocrisy.

The City also accused us of taking the Almacén “hostage”, considering that the Palestinian struggle “goes beyond” the association that runs the place, and added that we should have asked for “the agreement of someone in authority higher than a simple person who is a local volunteer.” We think and know that the people responsible for the Almacén are quite capable of grasping the stakes of such an exhibition, with all due respect to the City. Our project has always been clear, our line declared, and we have always been transparent with our interlocutors. Moreover, there is no information concerning the procedure that should supposedly have been taken to request the City’s agreement. In short, it is the Administrative Council which decided, under pressure from Zionist organizations, to force the hand of the Almacén to ban our exhibition, that is to say without even officially recording and stating its own decision. It is indeed the City of Geneva, acting as an accomplice of the Israeli political blackmail, that takes the leaders of the Almacén hostage, and threatens them to withdraw their authority over the venue itself.

Finally, we highlight the appalling censorship of artistic and revolutionary works. The posters of Marc Rudin, to whom we wanted to pay tribute through this exhibition, have indeed already been exhibited in Geneva in 1993 and, more recently, in 2015 during the Palestine “Filmer C’est Exister” festival, an exhibition which Marc Rudin attended in person. The City of Geneva today censors a Swiss artist, his freedom of expression and his revolutionary work. It is our duty to defend this work. We defend his work as we defend all forms of Palestinian resistance. We will not yield to the blackmail of Israel, nor to that of its pawns in Geneva, and we will not be silent.

All this clearly shows that the Western bourgeoisie defend, above all, the imperialist interests that Israel represents.

When the expression of our solidarity goes beyond that of a condescending humanism and when it speaks of resistance in all its forms, even Greater Geneva International feels threatened, even the Administrative Council of the City of Geneva, despite being composed of so many of “left” representatives, bends the knee.

More than ever, let us strengthen our support for all forms of resistance of the Palestinian people, past, present and future!

From boycott to armed struggle, their right to resistance is inalienable. In its anti-imperialist and anti-colonial nature, the struggle of our comrades against Israel is also our struggle!

Marc lives in our struggles!

From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!

Secours Rouge Geneva

Samidoun Geneva

30 May, Basel & 31 May, Zurich: The Right Wing and Repression in Europe

Israel is currently experiencing a massive shift to the right and violence against the Palestinian population continues to escalate. At the same time, pro-Palestinian activism in Europe, especially in the German-speaking world, is increasingly criminalized and anti-Zionist Jewish voices are marginalized. Moshe Zuckermann, Dror Dayan, Tarek and a comrade from Samidoun Geneva will talk about these developments.

With: Dror Dayan, Tarek (FOR-Palestine), Samidoun Geneva und Moshe Zuckerman (Online)

Basel:
Tuesday, 30 May
7pm
Gewerkschaftshaus
Rebgasse 1

Zürich:
Wednesday, 31 May
7:30 pm
Volkshaus
Stauffacherstrasse 60 

 

Walid Daqqah transferred to Assaf Harofeh hospital after health deterioration

Murals in Paris call to free Walid Daqqah and Georges Abdallah

The family of Walid Daqqah, the imprisoned Palestinian intellectual and freedom fighter suffering from a rare form of cancer (myelofibrosis) and subjected to years of Israeli medical neglect inside occupation prisons, announced on Monday, 22 May that he had been transferred once again from the Ramle prison clinic to Assaf Harofeh civilian hospital.

The family also highlighted the importance in following updates from the official campaign page and avoiding the spread of unconfirmed reports.

He was transferred due to the deterioration of his health due to complications from the surgery performed on him to remove a portion of his right lung after he developed pneumonia during his cancer treatment. He is suffering from a severe inability to breathe and infection. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network joins the family of Walid Daqqah, the campaign for his freedom and the entire Palestinian people in demanding his immediate release, the only way in which he can receive proper treatment without restrictions. The Israeli prison administration and the Zionist regime hold full responsibility for his life as they continue to deny him an appropriate environment to treat his rare cancer.

Vancouver marchers call for freedom for Walid Daqqah and Palestine

One week ago, on Monday, 15 May, Palestinian prisoners went on a one-day hunger strike to demand freedom for Walid Daqqah, as well as an end to the isolation and interrogation of imprisoned leaders Ahmad Sa’adat, Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh and Walid Hanatsheh.

Despite the severe condition of Daqqah’s health, he has been repeatedly removed from civilian hospitals and returned to the infamous Ramle prison clinic, referred to as the “slaughterhouse” by Palestinian prisoners.

Daqqah was diagnosed with myelofibrosis in December 2022, following a leukemia diagnosis 10 years before. Daqqah, 62, has been imprisoned since 25 March 1986. Sentenced to 37 years in occupation prisons, he should have been released in March of this year (2023), except for an additional two-year punitive sentence added on to his prison sentence, allegedly related to accessing mobile phones inside occupation prisons. Walid needs intensive health treatment for the lungs, kidneys and blood, and he also needs a very sensitive bone marrow transplant procedure (noting that more than one donor is available). This requires a therapeutic environment that is not available at a minimum level, in light of the conditions of his captivity and the strict guarding practiced by the prison administration.

The Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council noted, about his medical condition:

The only curative treatment for Walid is a bone marrow transplant—one of the most difficult and dangerous medical procedures currently known. Gatt also recommended that Walid be put in a clean place where exposure to infections can be minimized, neither of which is possible inside the miserable conditions offered by Israeli prisons.

In mid-February 2023, Walid suffered from a severe cardiovascular stroke that led to a physical injury on his chest. Not only did the IPS in Askalan prison refuse to transfer him to a hospital for emergency treatment, the in-house prison clinic, despite diagnosing a blood clot as the cause of the stroke, refused to provide him with a necessary blood transfusion. Consequently, Walid lost a lot of blood through a minor tongue wound in the days that followed. Further, his medical records indicated that he lost over 10 kilos (22 pounds) in one and a half months. Only after his hematologist visited Askalan for a routine appointment, nearly two weeks after the stroke, was Walid finally transferred to Barzilai Medical Center. Similarly, as Walid developed symptoms of severe pneumonia over the past couple of weeks, the IPS once again ignored his health and evaded hospital admission until his lawyers and doctors intervened. Walid is currently being held in a private room at Barzilai, suffering from pneumonia, kidney failure, and a life-threatening drop in blood cell count.

Protesting for Walid Daqqah in Toulouse, France, on #Nakba75

Daqqah obtained a master’s degree in political science and wrote several books while behind bars, in the realm of political theory as well as fiction, including children’s fiction. On multiple occasions, he has faced harsh repression, including solitary confinement, especially targeted toward his expressive work. For example, Daqqah was thrown into solitary confinement when he published a new children’s book, “The Secret of Oil”; a launch event for the book in the town of Majd al-Kurum was shut down by far-right Israeli minister Aryeh Deri. In the preface to the book, Daqqah wrote, “I write until I am freed from prison, with the hope of freeing the prison from me.” This followed the defunding of a Haifa Palestinian theater that exhibited a play based on his work “Parallel Time.” His family’s official campaign page asserts:

“In spite of all the injustices and discriminations inflicted upon Daqqah throughout the 37 years of his incarceration, he has managed remarkable achievements that have made him in to the political, intellectual and cultural icon that he is. He has been a leader among the Palestinian Prisoners’ Movement and is a prominent figure in the Palestinian, Arab and international cultural scene, in particular in the field of prison studies. Even his intellectual life has been deemed dangerous as prisoner authorities subjected Daqqah to extra punishment due to his political, social and intellectual activism, in particular solitary confinement.

Daqqah is a prolific author. Among his works: Testimonies of Resistance: The Battle of Jenin Camp 2002 (2004); Consciousness Molded or the Re-identification of Torture (2010); The Story of the Forgotten in Parallel Time (2011); The Oil’s Secret Tale (2018); The Sword’s Secret Tale (2021); The Spirit’s Secret Tale/ The Martyrs Return to Ramallah (2022). In addition, Daqqah published several translations, and tens of articles both in Arabic and Hebrew, most prominently: “Parallel Tine” (2005); “Milad: I Write to a Childe Yet to Be Born” (2011); “Liberate Yourself by Yourself” (2020), and “Control through Time” (2021). Daqqah also has several unpublished manuscripts, paintings, poetry, lyrics, and autobiographical and theatrical writings.

Under these harsh circumstances, Daqqah married the activist, journalist and translator Sana’ Salamah on 10 August, 1999 in Askalan Prison. The occupation state denied them conjugal visits and their right to be parents, in spite of all the appeals. Undeterred, on 3 March 2020 their daughter Milad was born in Nazareth from liberated semen for artificial insemination.”

Postering for Walid Daqqah in Paris

We urge Palestinian communities around the world and supporters of Palestine to include the campaign to free Walid Daqqah in your events and activities for Palestine and to organize actions and events demanding his immediate liberation and that of all Palestinian prisoners. Use these signs below in your actions and campaigns, and send us your photos on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter or via email at samidoun@samidoun.net.

Use the hashtags:

Download below, in English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Portuguese and Italian — or Download all PDFs (A3) or (11×17).

 

Solidarity with Palestine and Georges Abdallah at the Les Dissidentes festival in Switzerland

From 18 to 21 May, in La Sarraz, Switzerland, Contre-Attaque & Autonomie organized the Les Dissidentes festival , bringing together hundreds of people for numerous activities to promote radical and intersectional ecology. The Collectif Palestine Vaincra, a member organization of the Samidoun Network, participated in several events during the festival.

The Collectif was invited to speak as part of the “Internationalist Perspectives” roundtable, together with multiple organizations and collectives. Addressing over 100 people gathered for the event, the Collectif speaker addressed the commitment to the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea as an integral part of anti-imperialist struggle. The speaker underlined that supporting the Palestinian cause is not only support for the Palestinian people in their legitimate fight for justice, dignity and liberation, but it is also support for ourselves, in our struggle against our countries’ imperialism.

It is in the name of the defense of imperialist interests in this region, first British, then Western in general and American in particular, that the Palestinian people have been the target of brutal colonization for more than 100 years now. To understand this is to understand that the Palestinian people face three enemies: imperialism, Zionism and the reactionary Arab regimes. In this way, the Palestinian cause has a Palestinian, Arab and international dimension through which we each have responsibilities, not in humanitarian support, but in mutual aid in the common struggle, an anti-imperialist struggle. In this sense, the liberation of Palestine is an important lever for the Arab revolution and the struggle against the Western imperialist powers. It is for these reasons that the defense of the Palestinian cause is a central Arab and international cause.

Secondly, the Collectif spoke about the process that led to its in March 2019. The Collectif Palestine Vaincra is the result of the convergence of Palestinian, Arab and internationalist activists around the international Samidoun network and the work of a dozen years as part of the mobilization for the release of Georges Abdallah, the Lebanese communist struggler imprisoned in France for 39 years. It is the fruit of this militancy and these meetings which enabled the Collectif to develop an approach which broke with the dominant currents of the Palestine solidarity movement.

Screening of “Fedayin” at the Les Dissidentes festival

In the evening, the Collectif Palestine Vaincra and Secours Rouge Geneva co-hosted a discussion following the screening of Fedayin, the fight of Georges Abdallah. Bringing together more than fifty people in a packed room, this discussion highlighted the importance of developing the international campaign of solidarity with the man who has become the longest-held political prisoner in Europe. In particular, the Collectif underlined that supporting his release is not only supporting a man who has remained faithful to his revolutionary principles despite nearly 39 years in prison, but is also supporting the Palestinian people and the legitimacy of their resistance. In conclusion, Secours Rouge reviewed the various activities currently carried out in Switzerland within the framework of support for the 75 years of Palestinian resistance since the Nakba, in particular the exhibition and the debate planned for 25 to 27 May in Geneva.

Thank you to Contre-Attaque & Autonomie for organizing this festival which has made it possible to continue and promote the work of solidarity with the Palestinian resistance in Switzerland carried out by many organizations and collectives, from the Collectif Sud Global to Samidoun Suisse and Secours Rouge Geneva and RJZ / Aufbau .

Joint action by Samidoun and Secours Rouge in Geneva

Source: Collectif Palestine Vaincra

31 May, Ottawa: Stop CANSEC – Shut Elbit Down!

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network joins ILPS Canada and many other organizations to say: Canada, stop profiting off the arms trade! In 2022 the Canadian military spending reached over $36 billion which is set to increase by $8 billion over the next 5 years.

Canada’s involvement in the war industry and arms trades culminates every year in Ottawa with the Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries (CANSEC), North America’s largest weapons and “defence industry” convention. There are representatives from weapons manufacturers, military technology companies, and government agencies from over 55 countries and with hundreds of exhibitors, all of whom profit from imperialist war and bloodshed.

Exhibitors at CANSEC include the Israeli government itself, the infamous Elbit Systems, targeted by Palestine Action in the UK, Palantir, Teledyne and more.

Despite what the government may claim, Canada’s involvement in the war industry is not for defense but rather to protect and maintain its imperial interests overseas while generating profits for the ruling class. The effects of Canadian arm sales and interventions in imperialist wars on ordinary people abroad are catastrophic. From its involvement in the war in Ukraine to the selling of weapons to reactionary regimes in places like Israel, the Philippines, and India, the Canadian state is no friend to the working people of the world. At home, the Canadian working class are made to suffer under rising inflation and a soaring cost of living as the government neglects the needs of the people in favour of profit.

Join us on May 31st at the EY Centre to shut down the biggest arm dealer convention in North America!

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Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
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