There are currently two Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails on hunger strike. Ali Barghouthi is on hunger strike for the fourth day; he launched his strike on 28 November in protest of the delay in medical treatment at the Ashkelon prison clinic. Barghouthi has been prescribed to receive a heart test and a CT scan, but the prison clinic has been delaying for over two months. This means that he has received no diagnosis for his ongoing health problems; he is suffering from chest pain and feels tiredness and pain when walking or moving.
Barghouthi, 45, is from the village of Abboud west of Ramallah. He is serving a life sentence for resisting the Israeli occupation as part of the Fateh movement and has been jailed since April 2004.
He joins the ongoing hunger strike of Salah al-Khawaja of the village of Ni’lin in Ramallah, who has been refusing food for 19 days consecutively in protest of his administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial. He launched his hunger strike in protest of the renewal of his administrative detention order only one day before his scheduled release.
Khawaja was seized by Israeli occupation forces on 23 July 2017 and ordered to four months in administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial. These detention orders are indefinitely renewable; Palestinians have spent years at a time jailed under administrative detention orders. Khawaja is one of over 450 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial and a total of nearly 6,200 Palestinian political prisoners. Over the years, he has spent nearly 12 years in Israeli prisons through multiple arrests and detentions.
He is carrying out his hunger strike despite his own deteriorating health. He walks slowly and has lost significant weight, and he suffers from high blood pressure, diabetes and poor vision in his left eye.
Palestinian prisoner and former long-term hunger striker Ayman al-Tabeesh, 37, imprisoned without charge or trial by the Israeli occupation, has been ordered into isolation on the pretext of being a “security threat.” Al-Tabeesh, from the village of Dura near al-Khalil, has been imprisoned since 2 August 2016 with no charges and no trial on the basis of so-called “secret evidence.”
He has spent nearly 13 years in total in Israeli prisons through multiple re-arrests and has engaged in two long-term hunger strikes to demand his freedom. On Wednesday, 29 November, he was transferred from the Ofer prison to the Ohli Kedar isolation cells.
The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society emphasized that the Israeli occupation intelligence has a policy of isolation and unilaterally isolates many prisoners each year under the pretext of “secret evidence,” the same type of secret file that is used to jail al-Tabeesh. He is one of over 450 Palestinians jailed under administrative detention orders and 6,200 total Palestinian prisoners. In some cases, isolation orders are extended for years without any meaningful reason given to the detained person or their lawyer.
Join the committee to support Salah Hamouri in Bourg-en-Bresse for an event with Jean-Claude Lefort, honorary deputy and the father-in-law of Salah Hamouri, arbitrarily imprisoned French-Palestinian lawyer.
Tuesday, 5 December 7:00 pm Emory University, Rita Anne Rollins Building (RARB) 252, Candler School of Theology, Center for Ethics building Atlanta, GA Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/293377241169479/
Did you know that as of August 2017, there are more than 6,000 Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli jails?
Join is for a critical discussion with Sahar Francis, the Executive Director the Palestinian Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Addameer. Francis will be on a US speaking tour, sharing information about Palestinian prisoner’s rights. We are so excited to be welcoming her to Atlanta!
EVENT INFO:
Tuesday December 5 at 7:00pm at Emory University
RARB (Rita Anne Rollins Building) 252
Candler School of Theology, Center for Ethics building
*Cosponsored by:
Jewish Voice for Peace-Atlanta,
Emory Students for Justice in Palestine
& Joining Hands for Justice in Israel and Palestine
Public meeting with Jean-Claude Lefort, honorary deputy and father-in-law of Salah Hamouri. The young French-Palestinian lawyer is held without charge or trial in arbitrary administrative detention by the Israeli occupation since 23 August without charge or trial. Event organized by AFPS in Cornouaille with the support of PCF and other organizations.
This protest will bring people together to commemorate the 100th day in Israeli prison of French-Palestinian human rights defender and political prisoner Salah Hamouri. Hamouri has been imprisoned without charge or trial under administrative detention since 23 August 2017.
Today, France has merely “asked” for his release and expessed “dissatisfaction” with administrative detention. However, there is more that can be done to win his freedom.
This event will also salute the first 1,000 elected representatives who have mobilized to demand freedom for Salah Hamouri, a list that continues to grow. Netanyahu will be in Paris in early December, invited by French president Macron. The question of Salah Hamouri must be brought to the forefront on and before this occasion.
Samidoun activists in New York City organized a protest on Monday, 27 November to support imprisoned Palestinian hunger striker Salah al-Khawaja and all Palestinian prisoners. The protest also came as part of global actions in support of the boycott of Hewlett-Packard (HP) corporations for its involvement in profiteering from and selling technology to sustain the occupation, oppression and colonization of Palestine.
Photo: Bud Korotzer/Desertpeace
Protesters gathered outside the Best Buy electronics store in Manhattan’s Union Square on Monday evening, distributing flyers and leaflets to passers-by on the busy holiday shopping evening. The electronics store sells many HP consumer products, including laptops, tablets, printers, ink and computer accessories. HP corporations have contracts with a range of Israeli security and military agencies.
Photo: Bud Korotzer/Desertpeace
These include the Israel Prison Service – where they maintain the database software of Palestinian political prisoners – the Israeli identity card and checkpoint system, and the Israeli occupation navy that maintains the brutal and deadly siege on the Gaza Strip, where over 2 million Palestinians live in what has been described as an open-air prison. The Israeli occupation navy targets Palestinian fishers and fishing boats for destruction, arrest and even death with the help of HP technology.
There is a growing global movement to boycott HP and demand the corporation cut ties with the occupation. Churches, labor organizations, student groups and others have declared themselves HP-free zones, refusing to buy HP products until the corporation ends its profiteering from Israeli apartheid and colonization. Participants in the protest carried signs about HP’s role in propping up the Israeli assault on Palestinians and handed out leaflets with information on the HP boycott.
Photo: Bud Korotzer/Desertpeace
The protest also focused on the hunger strike of Palestinian prisoner Salah al-Khawaja, jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention. Khawaja, from the village of Nil’in, had been on hunger strike for 15 days after his administrative detention was extended one day before he was to be released.
There are currently nearly 450 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention out of nearly 6,200 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Administrative detention orders are indefinitely renewable and Palestinians have spent years at a time jailed with no charge. He is on hunger strike to demand an end to his imprisonment.
The New York protest came two days before 29 November, the 70th anniversary of the UN partition of Palestine and the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Protests took place in multiple other cities marking the day and highlighting the HP boycott, including Vancouver and Berlin.
Samidoun in New York will be participating in a number of upcoming events, including the weekly Monday protest in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners and to #StopHP, as well as the upcoming event to support Colombian political prisoner in U.S. jails, Simon Trinidad, on 5 December, and the Anarchist Black Cross annual holiday party to send cards to U.S.-held political prisoners in Brooklyn on 3 December.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network denounces in the strongest terms the denial of entry and deportation of Palestinian leftist figure, national leader and resistance icon Leila Khaled at Italy’s Leonardo da Vinci – Rome Fiumicino Airport today, Tuesday, 28 November.
This action evidences the complicity of the European Union and European states with the Israeli occupation as well as its capitulation to the racist demands of the Zionist movement and the fascist right-wing forces. This is a political action that constitutes a flagrant attack on the rights of the Palestinian people, including the right of their national leaders to travel and to be heard, and also an attack on the Palestinian community in Italy and throughout Europe in an attempt to besiege and isolate Palestinians in exile from one another.
We stand in solidarity with Leila Khaled, with the Arab-Palestinian Democratic Union (UDAP) of Italy and with the Palestinian people who continue to resist all forms of injustice, siege and oppression and struggle for return and liberation.
We reprint the statement below from UDAP, the organizers of Leila Khaled’s tour of Italy:
Today, Tuesday, 28 November 2017, Leila Khaled was stopped at Leonardo da Vinci – Rome Fiumicino Airport. The Palestinian leader was denied entry to Italy and forced to depart on the next flight to Amman.
This incident took place following repeated and extensive media attacks and intense pressure by the Zionist lobby in Italy. In the days before her arrival, many newspapers published sensationalist and defamatory articles about the tour of Leila Khaled in Italy.
The forced repatriation of comrade Leila Khaled is only a demonstration of the failure of Italian institutions and their inability to escape Zionist blackmail. It is clear how much they fear this clear, free and consistent voice. Leila Khaled had a visa to Europe that was revoked here, in Rome, at landing. Less than a month ago, she was in Spain and Belgium and held a conference in the European Parliament.
Despite the pressures, defamations and provocations, despite the deportation imposed on our comrade by the Italian authorities, the Arab-Palestinian Democratic Union (UDAP) will continue to hold its events, during which Leila Khaled will speak with us over a live video link.
The “Fifty Years of Resistance” events are still confirmed.
The Belgian Call to Free Georges Ibrahim Abdallah presented its petition bearing the signatures of 35 organizations and over 300 individuals to the French Embassy to Belgium on Wednesday, 22 November. The delegation delivered the call for the release of the Lebanese Arab Communist struggler for Palestine, who has been jailed by France for over 33 years to French ambassador Claude-France Arnould.
The signatories of the call included 35 academics, 18 lawyers, 14 trade unionists, 15 journalists and photographers, 28 cultural workrs and performers, 42 people involved with associations and 12 political organizers. The Belgian appeal for Abdallah’s freedom was launched as part of the international actions marking the beginning of his 34th year in French prison. He has been eligible for release since 1999 and his release approved several times by the French judiciary before it was quashed at the highest levels of the French state with U.S. and Israeli pressure and backing.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is one of the signatories of the Belgian call, and Mustafa Awad of Samidoun joined Myriam De Ly of Plate-Forme Charleroi-Palestine, Luk Vervaet, Nordine Saidi, Marie Groffils and Herman De Ley in calling for the delegation to deliver the petition.
The full list of signatories (French/Dutch) is below, as of 22 November:
Associations:
ABP – Association belgo-palestinienne
Activist Child Care
Antwerp for Palestine
Askatasuna, comité basque
Attac-Bruxelles (1)
BRussells Tribunal
Bruxelles Panthères
Campagne Stop Répression
Centre Culturel Arabe en Pays de Liège
Change asbl
COMAC
Comité BDS ULB
Comité de vigilance pour la démocratie en Tunisie
Comité Palestine de Floreffe
Comite Verviers Palestine
Communauté Palestinienne en Belgique et au Luxembourg / asbl
Gauche anticapitaliste
GAPP – Gents ActiePlatform Palestina
Intal
JOC – Jeunes Organisés Combattifs
LAP – Leuvense Actiegroep Palestina
Mouvement Chrétien pour la Paix (MCP)
Mouvement Citoyen Palestine
Noria ASBL
Palestina Solidariteit
Parti Communiste (Belgique)
PJPO (Paix Juste au Proche Orient) Mazerine
PJPO (Paix Juste au Proche Orient)-Ittre
Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine
Rajeen debke group
Rise Up – Réseau d’information et de sensibilisation étudiant uni avec la Palestine
Samidoun – Réseau de Solidarité aux prisonniers palestiniens
Solidarity for all
Via Velo Palestine
Vrede vzw
Academics:
Abramowicz Marco, psychothérapeute, assistant retraité et fondateur du Centre Aimer, ULB
Alaluf Matteo, sociologue, professeur honoraire de l’Université Libre de Bruxelles
Nève Marc, ancien vice-président du CPT (Comité européen pour la prévention de la torture et des peines ou traitements inhumains ou dégradants – Conseil de l’Europe)
Nicaise Ides, prof. KU Leuven
Oueld Ahmed Mohamed, employé administratif
Oulhaj Mhammed, ouvrier sans emploi
Pailhès Etienne, ingénieur retraité UCL
Parmentier Alain, enseignant
Paquet André, sidérurgiste
Paye Jean-Claude, sociologue
Pechova Theresia, arbeidster
Peeters Elisabeth, PC
Peeters Myriam, à la retraite
Peeters-Akkermans Bart, vertaler
Peres Rudy, permanent MOC Charleroi-Thuin
Péromet Mireille, enseignante retraitée
Pestieau Jean, professeur émérite UCL
Pierard Christine, citoyenne belge humaniste
Pierson-Mathy Paulette, juriste internationale et professeur émérite de l’ULB
New Yorkers gathered on Monday, 20 November to protest in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli prisons. Organized by Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, the protesters distributed flyers and information about the hunger strikes of Hamza Marwan Bouzia and Salah Khawaja as well as the growing international campaign to boycott Hewlett-Packard (HP) corporations for profiteering from the occupation, oppression, imprisonment and colonization of Palestine and the Palestinian people.
Photo: Bud Korotzer/Desertpeace
The protesters gathered outside the Best Buy electronics store in Manhattan’s Union Square. Protesters distributed leaflets about HP corporations’ role in developing and maintaining the infrastructure of Israeli apartheid, including its checkpoint and ID card system, prison administration and even the siege on Gaza through HP’s technical services to the Israeli navy. They urged shoppers to boycott HP consumer products like laptops, tablets, printers, ink and accessories so long as the corporation continues its contracts with Israeli occupation, including the occupation military and prison system.
Photo: Bud Korotzer/Desertpeace
The demonstrators also distributed information about two Palestinian political prisoners, Hamza Bouzia and Salah Khawaja, held without charge or trial under “administrative detention” and on hunger strike to demand their freedom. There are approximately 450 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial out of a total of 6,200 Palestinian political prisoners; administrative detention orders, first introduced to Palestine by the British colonial mandate, are indefinitely renewable and Palestinians have spent years at a time jailed under these orders.
Photo: Bud Korotzer/Desertpeace
Participants in the demonstration reported great conversations and a high level of interest from passers-by as they successfully distributed hundreds of leaflets. Visitors who stopped by the protest included an organizer with the Palestine Solidarity Committee in Austin, Texas, a highly active student and community organization at the University of Texas.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network will be organizing another demonstration on Monday, 27 November, which will also highlight solidarity with the hunger strikers and all Palestinian prisoners as well as the boycott of HP products. Protesters will gather at 5 PM outside the Best Buy at 52 E. 14th St in Manhattan by Union Square; all supporters of justice for Palestine are welcome and encouraged to attend.
Photo: Bud Korotzer/Desertpeace
Samidoun activists in New York will be attending some of the many events taking place in the city marking 29 November, the 70th anniversary of the UN partition plan imposed on the Palestinian people and the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people. New York events include a conversation between Columbia and CUNY activists on divestment campaigns, a Palestinian cultural event at NYU, , and a panel discussion with Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi on the partition plan and its continuing meaning for Palestinian anti-colonial struggle.
There are currently two Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails on hunger strike. Ali Barghouthi is on hunger strike for the fourth day; he launched his strike on 28 November in protest of the delay in medical treatment at the Ashkelon prison clinic. Barghouthi has been prescribed to receive a heart test and a CT scan, but the prison clinic has been delaying for over two months. This means that he has received no diagnosis for his ongoing health problems; he is suffering from chest pain and feels tiredness and pain when walking or moving.
Did you know that as of August 2017, there are more than 6,000 Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli jails?
This protest will bring people together to commemorate the 100th day in Israeli prison of French-Palestinian human rights defender and political prisoner Salah Hamouri. Hamouri has been imprisoned without charge or trial under administrative detention since 23 August 2017.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network denounces in the strongest terms the denial of entry and deportation of Palestinian leftist figure, national leader and resistance icon Leila Khaled at Italy’s Leonardo da Vinci – Rome Fiumicino Airport today, Tuesday, 28 November.
