5 January, NYC: Rally to Free Ahed Tamimi and All Prisoners of Israel

1 January 2018

Friday, 5 January
5:30 pm
Grand Central Station
NYC
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1683011105090755/

Emergency Rally to #FreeAhedTamimi and all Prisoners of Israel

WHEN: 5:30-7pm Friday Jan. 5, 2018
WHERE: Grand Central Station, New York City

On December 19, Israel arrested 16-year-old girl Ahed Tamimi. They have levied 12 charges against her, including rock throwing, incitement and assault of a soldier. All of Ahed’s actions were legitimate resistance to Israel’s ongoing military occupation. She is facing years in an Israeli prison.

We say the Israeli army, not the women and girls of Palestine, who are the criminals. We call for immediate freedom for Ahed Tamimi and all Palestinian prisoners of Israel.

Organized by: Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, CODEPINK: Women for Peace, NYC Students for Justice in Palestine, NY4Palestine, Al-Awda NY, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, NY4Palestine, International Action Center, Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, Labor for Palestine, Committee to Stop FBI Repression NYC, American Muslims for Palestine NY and NJ and the ANSWER Coalition.

30 December, Brussels: Jerusalem is a red line!

29 December 2017

Saturday, 30 December
2:00 pm
Place de l’Albertine
Brussels
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1933870946638199/

Rally to support the Palestinian people and Jerusalem, the capital of Palestine against the statement of Donald Trump on the U.S. designating it the capital of Israel.

Jerusalem will always be the capital of Palestine – Total and unconditional support to the Palestinian resistance – Commemorate 9 years of the assault on Gaza, “Operation Cast Lead” – Freedom for all Palestinian prisoners

Organized by Convergent

30 December, Berlin: Rally for Jerusalem, Capital of Palestine

29 December 2017

Saturday, 30 December
4:00 pm
Rathaus Neukolln, Karl-Marx-Str 83
Berlin

The Palestinian National Action Committee in Berlin calls on all freedom-loving people to join our protest demonstration against the American recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and for the Palestinian people.

29 December, Berlin: Women for Jerusalem – Women for Palestine

29 December 2017

Friday, 29 December
5:00 pm
Brandenburger Tor, Pariser Platz
Berlin
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1182354948567364/

Protest for Palestine and against the US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, organized by Palestinian women and Palestinian and Arab organizations.

Urgent: Khalida Jarrar’s imprisonment without charge or trial extended for six more months

27 December 2017

The Israeli occupation military issued an order extending the arbitrary administrative detention of Palestinian parliamentarian and national leader Khalida Jarrar for an additional six months on Wednesday, 27 December 2017, four days before her detention was to expire. Jarrar was seized by occupation soldiers who invaded her home in El-Bireh on 2 July 2017. A well-known Palestinian leader, Jarrar is a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, head of its Prisoners’ Committee and Vice-Chair of the Board of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association.

Jarrar is one of 11 Palestinian parliamentarians imprisoned by the Israeli occupation, most of them jailed – like her – without charge or trial under administrative detention. She is one of three Palestinian women currently held in administrative detention, along with Khadija Ruba’i and journalist Bushra al-Tawil. There are a total of over 450 Palestinians imprisoned without charge or trial under administrative detention and over 6,100 total Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails.

Administrative detention is an artifact of the British colonial mandate over Palestine that allows the Israeli military to arbitrarily imprison Palestinians with no charge and no trial. It is frequently used to target community leaders like Jarrar, and its widespread and systematic use stands in violation of the Geneva Conventions and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Protests and statements from around the world, including from political parties and the South African government, have urged Jarrar’s immediate release. She has been subject to repeated and ongoing attacks by the Israeli occupation, including the attempt to forcibly displace her to Jericho from her Ramallah home in 2014, followed by her arrest and imprisonment in 2015. She was also ordered to six months in administrative detention then; however, following an international outcry, the administrative detention order against her was cancelled and she was instead ordered to the no less unjust Israeli military courts, sentenced on political charges and jailed until June 2016.

This latest renewal of Jarrar’s administrative detention comes hand in hand with the detention of over 500 Palestinians since the imperial Trump declaration by U.S. President Donald Trump purporting to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. The mass arrests, including the targeting of youth activist Ahed Tamimi and former long-term hunger striker Khader Adnan, are an attempt to suppress the Palestinian people’s resistance to injustice and emerging uprising. This is part and parcel of an Israeli strategy that aims to deny the Palestinian people their active, principled leadership at a critical time of mobilization.

**

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges international mobilization and action to demand the immediate release of Khalida Jarrar, prominent Palestinian parliamentarian, leftist and feminist leader committed to the freedom and liberation of her people. This is a clear attempt to continue the systematic suppression of Palestinian popular movements through arrests and attempted intimidation by an armed occupation force with the clear backing of U.S. imperial power.

We urge all friends of Palestine and the Palestinian people to join us in reactivating the Khalida Jarrar Solidarity Campaign. The detention of Khalida Jarrar represents an attack on the leaders, the political activity and the popular organizing of the Palestinian people. It must be met with intensified solidarity to demand the freedom of Khalida Jarrar and all of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners behind bars in Israeli occupation prisons.

Take Action to support Khalida Jarrar:

1. Contact your Member of Parliament, Representative, or Member of European Parliament. The attack on Khalida is an attack on Palestinian parliamentary legitimacy and political expression and a violation of parliamentary immunity. Parliamentarians have a responsibility to pressure Israel to cancel this order.

2. Use the Campaign Resources to inform your community, parliamentarians and others about Khalida’s case.

3. Protest at the Israeli consulate or embassy for Khalida Jarrar or join one of the many protests for Jerusalem and distribute this post and other news about Khalida and the Palestinian prisoners. Go to a public square or find your nearest Israeli embassy here: https://embassy.goabroad.com/embassies-of/israel

4. Write to Khalida and show your support. While Zionist jailers frequently censor Palestinian prisoners’ mail, these letters can help bolster morale and even send a message to the jailers and censors themselves. Write to Khalida Jarrar at: HaSharon prison
Ben Yehuda, P.O. Box 7
40 330 Israel

5. Boycott, Divest and Sanction. Hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law. Don’t buy Israeli goods, and campaign to end investments in corporations that profit from the occupation like HP and G4S. Learn more at bdsmovement.net.

Gas in Palestine: An Introduction

25 December 2017

The following is an English translation of the introductory piece on a new Dutch-language blog exploring the relationship between the colonization of Palestine, natural gas and the Palestinian revolution. The original article was published in Dutch on 24 December 2017: https://palestijnserevolutie.wordpress.com/2017/12/24/gas-in-palestina-een-introductie/

Follow the blog online at https://palestijnserevolutie.wordpress.com/ and the Facebook page for updated information and new analysis.

Title: Gas in Palestine – an introduction The Netherlands
25-12-2017

By: Palestina, Gas en de Palestijnse Revolutie. https://palestijnserevolutie.wordpress.com/

Fifteen gas fields have been found on the coast of Palestine since 1999. With a value of at least two hundred thirty billion dollar, this gas will play an important role in the region. The key question for us is how the gas will influence the Palestinian people and their struggle for liberation. This article is a short introduction to this topic.

Who, what, how much?

The first gas field off the coast of Palestine was found in 1999 and the first flow of gas was realized five years later. Up until today fifteen gas fields have been found that belong to Palestine, six of which are being exploited by ‘Israel’.[1] The total amount of gas is between forty and fifty TCF (trillion cubic feet) and has a minimal value of $230bn.

‘Israeli’ state and exploitation

As a settler-colony and apartheid state ‘Israel’ has complete control of the gas fields. 40% of the gas will be exported and the remaining 60% will be used for domestic consumption.[2] The sole current export is to Jordan with a total value of fifteen billion dollars. Cyprus, Greece, Italy and the EU also have a joint agreement for the construction of a pipeline to facilitate ‘Israeli’ gas exports to Europe. In regards to domestic consumption the gas makes ‘Israel’ energy independent for the coming decades. ‘Israel’s’ economic position and economic independence are clearly strengthened by the exploitation of the gas fields.

The PA and political parties

The gas has far reaching political consequences. Gas deals with foreign states on the one hand further normalize ‘Israel’ and strengthen its economy. On the other hand gas platforms, pipelines and complicit companies are new targets for the Palestinian resistance and the international solidarity movement. It is only a matter of time before the global BDS movement becomes a significant force against the ‘Israeli’ exploitation of the gas. In this sense, the political meaning of the gas is two-sided or contradictory: on the one hand it strengthens the occupation economy; on the other hand it offers more ways of resistance.

But not all Palestinians have a problem with the Zionist gas exploitation. The Palestinian Authority is as always positive about ‘Israel’ and ‘their’ gas. While the PA canceled a $1.2 billion gas deal with ‘Israel’ in March 2015[3], they offer no resistance to ‘Israeli’ control over the gas. This holds for the gas in Gaza, the Dutch institute SOMO wrote that ‘Israel’ is currently stealing the gas there.[4]

Hamas, who govern Gaza, and the PFLP have been confronting ‘Israel’ about the gas. Mohammed al Zoari, aka ‘the engineer’, was killed in Tunisia in December 2016. He was working on an underwater drone for Hamas to attack gas- and oil platforms.[5] The PFLP rejects all non-Palestinian exploitation of the gas and also agitates against regimes that make gas deals with the Zionist entity.[6][7][8][9]

The Palestinian struggle for liberation in the Netherlands

Noble Energy (United States), Delek Group and Avner (both ‘Israel’) are the most active companies currently involved with the Palestinian gas. Additionally is, Royal Dutch Shell (British-Dutch), mainly working on the gas fields on the coast of Gaza. While the PA is in talks with Shell about exploitation of these fields, this is likely never to be a reality. Multiple high-placed ‘Israeli’ scientists and politicians have spoken negatively about a fast exploitation of the Gaza fields. Shell also wants to buy ‘Israeli’ gas to sell in Egypt.[10]

It may be clear that the Dutch movement can play an important role because of the Shell involvement. Add to this that work is being put into constructing a pipeline from Palestine to Europe.[11] With a government that probably wants less dependence on Russian gas[12], Palestinian gas can be flowing through the Netherlands in a decade.

The BDS-movement, especially in the Middle East, is already working on stopping the gas theft. It is our task in the Netherlands to follow this example and stand shoulder to shoulder with activists in Jordan,[13], Turkey[14] and Palestine. We have to struggle in order to guarantee that the resistance will be stronger than the ‘Israeli’ gas profits.

[END]

All of the text may be used by others for any purpose as long as the original source is mentioned (Palestina, Gas en de Palestijnse Revolutie. https://palestijnserevolutie.wordpress.com/ )

[1] Al-Haq. 2015. ‘Annexing Energy’ report. http://www.alhaq.org/publications/Annexing.Energy.pdf

[2] Jordan BDS. 2014. ‘$8.4billion to Israel’s treasury from Jordanian citizens’. http://jordanbds.net/?page_id=581

[3] Winer, Stuart. 11 maart 2015. ‘Palestinians cancel natural gas deal with Israel’ https://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinians-cancel-natural-gas-deal-with-israel/

[4] SOMO. 2017. ‘Beneath troubled waters’ report. https://www.somo.nl/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Beneath-troubled-waters.pdf

[5] Burton, Fred. 31 December 2016. ‘Mossad’s Fingerprints on a Murder in Tunisia’. https://worldview.stratfor.com/article/mossads-fingerprints-murder-tunisia

[6] 25 februari 2015. PFLP denounces “treacherous” gas deal (between PA and ‘Israel’) and demands immediate cancellation. http://pflp.ps/english/2015/02/25/pflp-denounces-treacherous-gas-deal-and-demands-immediate-cancellation/

[7] 18 mei 2016. PFLP denounces joint US/Israeli/Greek military exercises, calls for action from Greek popular movement. http://pflp.ps/english/2016/05/18/pflp-denounces-joint-usisraeligreek-military-exercises-calls-for-action-from-greek-popular-movement/

[8] 1 juli 2016. PFLP warns of dangerous Turkish-Israeli agreement built on looting the natural gas of the Palestinian people. http://pflp.ps/english/2016/07/01/pflp-warns-of-dangerous-turkish-israeli-agreement-built-on-looting-the-natural-gas-of-the-palestinian-people/

[9] 25 oktober 2016. Jordan protests continue against national gas deal with Zionist state. http://pflp.ps/english/2016/10/25/jordan-protests-continue-against-national-gas-deal-with-zionist-state/

[10] 21 augustus 2017. Shell ‘to buy Israeli gas’ for Egypt market. https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/news/2017/8/21/shell-to-buy-israeli-gas-for-egypt-market

[11] https://www.reuters.com/article/energy-mediterranean-natgas/greece-italy-israel-and-cyprus-back-natgas-pipeline-to-europe-idUSL8N1O537F

[12] https://www.fluxenergie.nl/europa-wordt-steeds-afhankelijker-russisch-gas/

[13] 12 november 2016. (Jordanian) Protesters detained briefly over protest against gas deal with Israel. http://www.jordantimes.com/news/local/protesters-detained-briefly-over-protest-against-gas-deal-israel

[14] 28 maart 2017. BDS Turkey: Turkish-Israeli energy cooperation is unacceptable! http://bdsturkiye.org/bds-haberler/bds-turkey-turkish-israeli-energy-cooperation-is-unacceptable/

29 December, Brussels: Rally of Solidarity with Palestine: No to the detention of Palestinian children

25 December 2017

Friday, 29 December
5:00 pm
US Embassy in Brussels
Boulevard du Regent 27, Brussels
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/2088585218031523/

Join the Palestinian Community in Belgium to protest against the detention of Palestinian children, to express our rejection of the Trump declaration on Jerusalem, and in support of the Palestinian people.

27 December, Berlin: Candlelight demonstration for Palestine

25 December 2017

Wednesday, 27 December
8:00 pm
Wittenbergplatz – UPDATED LOCATION
Berlin

Join the Palestinian National Action Committee in Berlin for an evening demonstration with candles against the U.S. declaration that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel and in support of the Palestinian people.

Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat statement on the ninth anniversary of his sentencing: Take action for Palestine

25 December 2017

The following statement was republished from the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat:

On the ninth anniversary of the sentencing of Palestinian leader and lifelong struggler Ahmad Sa’adat in Zionist military courts, the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’dat emphasizes the critical importance of building the popular, political and media campaign to free Palestinian prisoners, central to the Palestinian struggle for liberation.

Ahmad Sa’adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was sentenced to 30 years in occupation prison by a Zionist military court – one day before the launch of “Operation Cast Lead,” the infamous, brutal Zionist aggression on the Palestinian civilian population of the Gaza Strip.

On this anniversary, the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat emphasizes the following:

1) We salute the leader Ahmad Sa’adat, who stood on this day before the Zionist court to reject its judgement and affirm its illegitimacy, while reaffirming the legitimacy of the Palestinian people’s struggle for liberation.

2) This occasion also revealed the magnitude of the disaster inflicted upon the Palestinian people by the right-wing Palestinian leadership, as demonstrated by the complicity of its officials and security agencies – primarily the intelligence and preventive security service – in the kidnapping of Sa’adat and his comrades. This act led to the violent invasion of Jericho and the arrest of Sa’adat and his comrades by the occupation forces. This crime has been intensified and repeated until it has become a symbol of the actions of the Authority and its security organs.

3) This crime against a Palestinian leader will not be forgiven or forgotten. Those who are responsible, the occupation and its servants in the security agencies, must be held accountable by the Palestinian people and their national liberation movement.

4) We emphsize the call of Ahmad Sa’adat to all forces, organizations and solidarity movements to build the campaign for freedom of the child prisoners, the cubs and the flowers in the prisons of the occupation. Their freedom and the freedom of the sick prisoners are a national priority for the Palestinian people.

5) In the current situation following the declaration of imperialist U.S. president Donald Trump regarding the city of Jerusalem, the continued mass mobilization inside Palestine, in the diaspora, and its support on the broadest Arab and international level is necessary and must be strengthened and expanded, toward a comprehensive uprising, eliminating the Oslo accords and all of its commitments and launching a new phase in which the energies and potentials of the Palestinian people are invested in confronting occupation and its schemes.

Freedom for Ahmad Sa’adat, his comrades, and all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons!

Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat

December 25, 2017

Take action:

1. The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat urges all to participate widely in the campaigns to Free Ahed Tamimi and the over 300 child prisoners held in Israeli jails. There are protests, social media campaigns, legislative calls to action – and now is the time to mobilize for all of the brave flowers and cubs imprisoned by the Zionist occupation. Indeed, since the Trump declaration, there have been over 170 children arrested by occupation forces.

2. The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat urges the broadest mobilization for Jerusalem and Palestine – and their imprisoned leaders, the Palestinian political prisoners. Hundreds of thousands have already taken to the streets around the world; the pressure must continue in order to build support for the growing uprising and mobilize pressure on governments to end their complicity, silence and support for the occupier.

3. The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat urges, on this ninth anniversary of the sentencing of Sa’adat, the escalation of all campaigns for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel on the cultural, economic, military, academic and diplomatic levels. Sa’adat spoke to the military court upon his sentencing: “In defense of the justice of our cause and in defense of the legitimate struggle of our people against the occupation, I refuse to recognize the legitimacy of your court or to legitimize your occupation or to stand before either of these.” The comprehensive boycott of Israel can and must back up this principled position at an international level.

Military court extends detention of Ahed, Nour and Nariman Tamimi for four days

25 December 2017

The Israeli occupation Ofer military court extended the detention of Ahed, Nour and Nariman Tamimi for four days on 25 December 2017; they will be back before the military court on 29 December, reported the Free the Tamimi Women page on Facebook. The military prosecutors had originally asked for the three women’s detention to be extended for 10 days.

This came after a night of attacks on the village of Nabi Saleh, where the three Tamimi women are, with their families, leaders of the indigenous land defense against Israeli colonization. The illegal settlement of Halamish has confiscated Nabi Saleh’s land as well as its spring. In the nighttime raids, Bassem Tamimi reported that two Palestinian youth, Moatasem and Izz Tamimi, were seized by Israeli occupation forces.

Bilal Tamimi also reported that Nour’s family home was again attacked by occupation forces in the night raid and that soldiers beat Nour’s father, Naji, with rifle butts in his head and chest. “In the end, this systematic terrorism targeting the Tamimi family in Nabi Saleh increases our strength and perseverance to continue our struggle – which we have done with our blood and with our prisoners and the groans of our wounded – until victory and liberation,” said Bilal.

TAKE ACTION!

Join the Twitterstorm! Every day, a Twitterstorm is being organized with a new hashtag released at the moment the campaign begins to raise awareness and urge action to free Ahed, Nour and Nariman Tamimi. You can join in and follow the campaign at the Free the Tamimi Women facebook page and @YASHebron on Twitter. The twitterstorms are currently scheduled for 10 AM Pacific, 1 PM Eastern, 6 PM UK, 7 PM in Europe, 8 PM in Palestine – updates and hashtags are posted regularly on Facebook and Twitter.
For supporters in the US: Call your member of the House of Representatives to support H.R. 4391, the Promoting Human Rights by Ending Israeli Military Detention of Palestinian Children Act. Tell them specifically about Ahed’s arrest, and urge them to act for her release. Tell them to pressure Israel to free Ahed and other detained Palestinian kids. Call the House switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and ask to speak to your Representative’s office. CODEPINK has an action to highlight this case specifically.
Call your nearest Israeli embassy and let them know that you know about the detention of Ahed Tamimi in Nabi Saleh and other Palestinian child prisoners. Demand Ahed, her mother Nariman, and the other detained children be immediately released. Contact infomation here: https://embassy.goabroad.com/embassies-of/israel
Sign the petition. Over 150,000 people have already signed on to demand freedom for Ahed: https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/free_ahed/?feiNukb
Organize a protest for Ahed or join one of the many protests for Jerusalem and distribute this post and other news about Ahed and the Palestinian prisoners. Get others involved in the struggle for Palestinian freedom! Build the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel and complicit corporations like HP and G4S.
Write to Ahed, Nour and Nariman. While Zionist jailers frequently censor Palestinian prisoners’ mail, these letters can help bolster morale and even send a message to the jailers and censors themselves. Write to Ahed Tamimi, Nour Tamimi or Nariman Tamimi (choose one and address your letter to one only) at: HaSharon prison
Ben Yehuda, P.O. Box 7
40 330 Israel

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