29 November, Berlin: Protest against Hewlett-Packard’s dealings with apartheid

26 November 2017

Wednesday, 29 November
4:00 pm
Saturn Berlin Alexanderplatz
Berlin, Germany
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/140495176713824/

Organized by BDS Berlin

BDS Berlin is calling for a protest against Hewlett Packard’s profiting from Israeli occupation, in solidarity with the Palestinian people on Wednesday, 29 November, the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. This US corporation plays a key role in providing technologies that Israel uses to oppress the Palestinian people. This protest is part of the international Stop HP campaign, raising awareness of HP’s role in oppressing the Palestinian people.

BDS Berlin ruft für Mittwoch, den 29.11.2017 von 16:00 – 18:00 Uhr, dem Internationalen Tag der Solidarität mit dem palästinensischen Volk zu einer weiteren Protestaktion gegen die Geschäfte mit Hewlett Packard auf. Vor der Filiale der Elektrohandelskette SATURN auf dem Alexanderplatz in Berlin wird zum Boykott der Produkte von Hewlett Packard (HP) aufgerufen. Das US-amerikanische Unternehmen spielt eine Schlüsselrolle bei der Bereitstellung von Technologien, die Israel gegen die palästinensische Bevölkerung einsetzt. Dieser Protest ist Teil der internationalen Stop HP Kampagne, die an diesem Tag weltweit mit Aktionen auf die Rolle von HP bei der Unterdrückung der palästinensischen Bevölkerung aufmerksam machen wird.

BDS Berlin – http://bdsberlin.org/
events/palestinianday/index.shtml
International Stop HP Campaign – https://bdsmovement.net/boycott-hp
Stop HP Internationale Kampagne gegen Hewlett Packard – http://stophp.de/

27 November, Boston: Prisons as Social Control

26 November 2017

Monday, 27 November
7:00 pm
The Democracy Center
45 Mount Auburn St
Cambridge, MA, USA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/2051734688382667/

Addameer Prisoner Support & Human Rights Association‘s US tour, Building Solidarity Against Militarization” comes to Boston in partnership with grassroots prison abolition organizer in MA!

Where: The Democracy Center, 45 Mt Auburn St (accessibility information below)
When: Monday, 11/27, 7 pm

This combination panel and workshop will explore the function of prisons as social control from the US to Palestine, focusing on specific case studies and offering ways to support local campaigns. More TBA!

Who:
Sahar Francis has been the director of Addameer (Arabic for conscience), a prisoner support and human rights advocacy organization, since 2005, and has been a human rights legal advocate since 1994. She specializes in issues of Palestinian political prisoners, including ill treatment and torture, administrative detention, prison conditions, and prisoners’ rights. She has extensive litigation experience in the Israeli military court system as well as in Israeli civil courts.

Kazi Toure, former political prisoner and organizer with Deeper Than Water

Derrick Washington, current prisoner at MCI Norfolk and organizer with Emancipation Initiative (audio)

Accessibility information:
The Democracy Center is partially wheelchair accessible, no accessible bathroom on site. The Mandela, Parks, and Chavez rooms are accessible, but the Library is not. Wheelchair users are welcome to use the accessible restroom at Daedalus while we plan our improvements for bathroom accessibility. To reach that bathroom, exit the ramp and turn left on Bow St, at the next building (Daedalus) use their accessible entrance and their restroom will be on the right. More information at: democracycenter.org/accessibility. Contact info@democracycenter.org or 617 492 8855 as needed

Please help us keep the space low-scent for those with chemical sensitivities – don’t wear or use strong lotions or perfumes before or during the event.

If you need childcare or interpretation, let us know! Si necesitas traduccion, llamanos

27 November, Brussels: Law Train – European License for Israeli Torture

26 November 2017

Monday, 27 November
5:30 pm
European Parliament, P1C051
Brussels, Belgium
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1986920404879217/

The EU finances the training of European police with Israeli police. Learn more about why this program – “LAW TRAIN” – is a European license for Israeli Torture.

Speakers:

Michael Waelbroeck – Lawyer, author of report on LAW-TRAIN
Hector Grad – Professor of Social Anthropology at UAM (Madrid), International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network
Ana Sanchez Mera – BDS Spain
Miguel Urban Crespo – Member of European Parliament for PODEMOS, Secretary for Europe
Rafael Mayoral – Parliamentarian for PODEMOS and Secretary for Civil Society

Translation in French and Spanish
For more information or acredditation:
alejandro.merlooteo@europarl.europa.eu

International call: Move the « Big Start » of the Giro d’Italia from Israel

26 November 2017

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is one of the signatories of the following statement issued by over 100 organizations urging that the Giro d’Italia bike race cancel its “Big Start” in occupied Palestinian East Jerusalem:

Spanish/ Dutch/ Italian/ French

PDF

We, the undersigned civil society groups committed to universal human rights, sustainable development, freedom of movement, and ethical tourism are alarmed to see world class cycling event Giro d’Italia aiding Israel in its violations of international law and Palestinians’ human rights.

Holding the “Big Start” of the 2018 race in Israel will not only cover up Israel’s military occupation and racist policies against Palestinians, it will also exacerbate Israel’s sense of impunity and encourage it to continue denying the Palestinian people their UN-stipulated rights.

Starting the race in Jerusalem will help cement Israel’s unlawful claim of sovereignty over the city. Since it occupied and illegally annexed East Jerusalem over 50 years ago, Israel has worked tirelessly to expand and consolidate its illegal Jewish-only settlements in and around the city.

According to a United Nations Special Rapporteur, the Jerusalem municipality itself, as a matter of policy, is actively carrying out gradual “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians through home demolitions, forced expulsions and revocation of residency rights. Israel’s actions in Jerusalem have been repeatedly condemned as illegal by the UN.

On its web site and official social media channels, Giro d’Italia deceptively portrays occupied East Jerusalem as part of Israel and as its unified capital. No country in the world recognizes any part of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.

The race stage planned for southern Israel, through the Naqab (Negev) desert, will pass by dozens of Palestinian Bedouin villages Israel refuses to recognize. Israel denies the indigenous Palestinians of these villages, who are Israeli citizens, the most basic of services, including electricity, water, clinics, schools and roads. Many of these villages have been subjected to repeated demolitions by Israel, with one of them, Al-Araqib, demolished over 100 times. In addition, Israel is arbitrarily revoking the citizenship of thousands of Palestinian Bedouins, leaving them stateless, in clear violation of international law.

Giro d’Italia is also working with at least one company active in illegal Israeli settlements. The Israeli production company for the event counts among its clients the Golan Heights Winery, which operates from the occupied Syrian Golan Heights in violation of international law.

The UN Human Rights Council has already warned some 150 Israeli and international companies of the legal consequences of their unlawful involvement in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem. All Israeli settlements built on occupied Palestinian — and Syrian — land constitute a war crime, according to international law.

We are further concerned at news of Giro d’Italia plans to “celebrate” 70 years since the establishment of the State of Israel at a time when Palestinians will be commemorating the 70^thanniversary of the Nakba (“catastrophe”), when approximately 800,000 indigenous Palestinians were forcibly removed from their homeland, signaling the beginning of Israel’s dispossession of Palestinians as a people and its ongoing denial of their human rights that continues today.

Such injustice and oppression run counter to the values and spirit of sports.

We therefore call on RCS MediaGroup, organizers of the Giro d’Italia, to move the start of the race to another country to ensure no involvement in Israeli violations of international law and Palestinian human rights.

We remind RCS MediaGroup, race sponsors and participating teams of the legal consequences and reputational damage stemming from collaborating with Israeli institutions and companies involved in violations of human rights and international law.

We call on cycling teams planning to participate in next year’s race to join us in urging RCS MediaGroup to move the race to another country, and, in the event RCS fails to do so, to consider withdrawing from the race to avoid abetting violations of human rights and international law.

Finally, we strongly urge the governments of participating teams to take a public position against Israeli claims of sovereignty over Jerusalem, including East Jerusalem, as its capital and encourage teams, institutions and companies to refrain from providing recognition or assistance to Israeli violations of international law.

Signed:

Noam Chomsky – linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist and historian

Sergio Cofferati – Member of the European Parliament,

John Dugard – jurist and former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestinian rights,

Richard Falk – professor emeritus of international law and former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestinian rights

Eleonora Forenza – Member of the European Parliament,

Luisa Morgantini – former vice president of the European Parliament,

Moni Ovadia – actor, writer playwright

Curzio Maltese – Member of the European Parliament

ECCP (European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine), Europe

Palestine Solidarity Styria, Austria

BDS Austria, Austria

Frauen in Schwarz, Austria

Personenkomitee Gaza Muss Leben, Austria
Antiimperialistische Koordination, Austria

Agir pour la Paix, Belgium

Association belgo-palestinienne, Belgium

Appel Pour une Ecole Démocratique, Belgium

BACBI (Belgian Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel), Belgium

Comité BDS-ULB, Belgium

FORUM NORD SUD, Belgium

Links Ecologisch Forum, Belgium

M3M – Médecine pour le Tiers Monde, Belgium

MOC Mouvement Ouvrier Chrétien, Belgium

Palestina Solidariteit vzw, Belgium

Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine, Belgium

Plateforme Watermael-Boitsfort Palestine, Belgium

Union des Progressistes Juifs de Belgium (UPJB), Belgium

Wilde Pedal, Belgium

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, Canada

Acción Colectiva de Objetores y Objetoras de Conciencia, Colombia

BDS Colombia, Colombia

Colectiva Antimilitarista La Tulpa, Colombia

Grupo Libertario Vía Libre, Colombia

Association of Academics for the Respect of International Law in Palestine (AURDIP), France

AFPS – Association France Palestine Solidarité, France

Association pour le tourisme Equitable et Solidaire (ATES), France

BDS France, France

BDS France 66, France

FSGT 93, France

Parti Communiste Français, France

TDS VOYAGE, France

Union Juive Française Pour La Paix, France

Union Syndicale Solidaires, France

BDS Berlin, Germany

Réseau syndical international de solidarité et de luttes (www.laboursolidarity.org), International

Action from Ireland (Afri), Ireland

Gaza Action Ireland, Ireland

Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Ireland

Peace and Neutrality Alliance, Ireland

100 Idee Per La Pace – Siena, Italy

APS Libera Accademia di Roma, Italy

ASD Università Popolare dello Sport, Italy

Ass. Pace per Gerusalemme – Il Trentino e la Palestina onlus, Italy

Associazione Cultura è Libertà una campagna per la Palestina, Italy

Associazione di Amicizia Italo Palestinese Onlus – Firenze, Italy

Associazione per la Pace di Pordenone, Italy

Associazione Ya basta! Êdî bese!, Italy

AssoPacePalestina, Italy

BDS Italy, Italy

BDS Rome, Italy

BDS Sardegna, Italy

Biciclettaro di Malaerba & Natrium, Italy

Centro di Salute Internazionale – Associazione di Promozione Sociale, Italy

CENTRO STUDI SERENO REGIS di Torino, Italy

Comitato BDS Campania, Italy

Comitato pistoiese per la Palestina, Italy

Comunità cristiana di base di San Paolo – Roma, Italy

Commercio Equo e Solidale Coop. Soc. onlus, Italy

Coordinamento Campagna BDS Bologna, Italy

Coordinamento Lombardo per Palestina, Italy

FIOM – CGIL, Italy

Fronte Palestina, Italy

Gazzella Onlus, Italy

La tenda di Amal Onlus, Italy

Libera – Emilia Romagna, Italy

Lorusso Editore, Italy

Lunaria, Italy

Nova jerusalem, Italy

Palestina Rossa, Italy

Partito della Rifondazione Comunista – Piemonte, Italy

Partito della Rifondazione Comunista – Sinistra Europea, Italy

Pax Christi Italy, Italy

Radio vostok, Italy

Rete Radié Resch – Udine group, Italy

Rete Romana di Solidarietà con il Popolo Palestinese, Italy

Rete-ECO (Jews Against the Occupation), Italy

Salaam Ragazzi dell’Olivo Comitato di Trieste, Italy

Salaam Ragazzi dell’Olivo-Milano-Onlus, Italy

Servizio Civile Internazionale, Italy

U.S. Citizens Against War – Florence, Italy

Un ponte per…, Italy

USB – Unione sindacale di base, Italy

Comité pour une Paix Juste au Proche-Orient, Luxembourg

Breed Platform Palestina, Netherlands

Diensten en Onderzoek Centrum Palestina (docP), Netherlands

Internationale Socialisten, Netherlands

Kairos – Sabeel Netherlands Foundation, Netherlands

Palestijnse Gemeenschap PGNL, Netherlands

Palestijse huis, Netherlands

Palestina Komitee Rotterdam (PKR), Netherlands

Palestina Werkgroep Enschede, Netherlands

Stichting Palestina, Netherlands

The Rights Forum, Netherlands

Vrouwen in het Zwart Haarlem, Netherlands

Vrouwen inhet Zwart [Women in Black], Netherlands

Craigavon Council of Trade Unions, Northern Ireland

AKULBI Academic and Cultural Boycott of the State of Israel (Norway), Norway

Fellesutvalget for Palestina, Norway

Friends of Sabeel Norway, Norway

The Association of Norwegian NGOs for Palestine, Norway

ICAHD, Palestine/Israel

Edinburgh Action for Palestine, Scotland

Scottish Friends of Palestine, Scotland

Scottish Palestinian Forum, Scotland

Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Scotland

Iniciatíva za spravodlivý mier na Blízkom východe, Slovakia

Gibanje za pravice Palestincev, Slovenia

Society for Human Rights and Supportive Action, Slovenia

BDS South Africa, South Africa

National Coalition for Palestine (NC4P), South Africa

Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos de Andalucía (APDHA), Spain

RESCOP (Red Solidaria Contra la Ocupación de Palestina) and its members: – Spain

Al’Madafa
Anticapitalistas
Asociación Al-Quds de Solidaridad con los Pueblos del Mundo Árabe (Málaga)
Asociación de Amistad Palestina-Granada «Turab»
Asociación Andaluza por la Solidaridad y la Paz – ASPA
Asociación Hispano Palestina Jerusalén (Madrid)
Asociación Palestina Biladi
Asociación Pau Ara y Sempre
Asociación Pro-Derechos Humanos de Andalucía
Asociación ProPalestina del Campo de Gibraltar
Asociación Unadikum
BDS Alacant
BDS Catalunya
BDS Granada
BDS Madrid
BDS País Valencià
Castelló per Palestina
Centro de Estudios Rurales y de Agricultura Internacional (CERAI)
Coalició Prou Complicitat amb Israel
Comité de Solidaridad con la Causa Árabe (Madrid, Asturias)
Comité de Solidaridad con los Pueblos – Interpueblos (Cantabria)
Comunidad Palestina en Canarias
Comunitat Palestina de Catalunya
Comunitat Palestina de València
Coordinadora de apoyo a Palestina (La Rioja)
Ecologistas en Acción (Confederal)
Fundación IEPALA
Fundación Mundubat
Grupo de Cooperación Sevilla Palestina
Hilombé Solidaridad
Izquierda Anticapitalista Revolucionaria (IZAR)
Komite Internazionalistak (Euskal Herria)
MEWANDO (Euskadi)
Movimiento de Jóvenes Palestinos
Mujeres en Zona de Conflicto – M.Z.C.
Mujeres por la Paz – Acción Solidaria con Palestina (Canarias)
Pallasos en Rebeldía

Paz Ahora
Paz con Dignidad
Plataforma de Solidaridad con Palestina (Sevilla)
Plataforma Palestina Ibiza
Plataforma Solidaria con Palestina de Valladolid
Palestina Toma la Calle
Red Judía Antisionista Internacional (IJAN)
Sodepau
Sodepaz
Sodepaz Balamil
Taula per Palestina (Illes Balears)
Unión de Juventudes Comunistas de España (UJCE)

CIG (Confederación Intersindical Galega), Galicia

BDS Zürich, Switzerland

Le Collectif urgence Palestine-Vaud soutient et signe cet appel., Switzerland

Cambridge Palestine Solidarity Campaign, United Kingdom

Chester Friends of Palestine, United Kingdom

Friends of Sabeel UK, United Kingdom

Hackney Green Party, United Kingdom

Jews for Justice for Palestinians, United Kingdom

Kairos Britain, United Kingdom

Palestine Solidarity Campaign, United Kingdom

The Big Ride, United Kingdom

Bay Area Women in Black, United States

Corvallis Palestine Solidarity, United States

Jewish Voice for Peace, United States

Lutherans for Justice in the Holy Land, United States

Tennessee Campaign for Palestinian Rights, United States

US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, United States

Bir Zeit student leader Osama Mafarjeh seized by Israeli occupation forces

26 November 2017

Israeli occupation forces seized Palestinian student leader Osama Mafarjeh, in addition to six more Palestinians taken by occupation forces from their homes in pre-dawn raids. Mafarjeh, 24, is the president of the Islamic Bloc at Bir Zeit University and has been imprisoned before by the Israeli occupation as well as Palestinian Authority security forces.

He was taken away by occupation forces after his vehicle was stopped by an occupation military checkpoint imposed at Beit Ur al-Fuqua southwest of Ramallah.

Palestinian students are frequently subject to arrest and imprisonment on the basis of their student activities; most student blocs are labeled as prohibited organizations by the occupation due to their political affiliations. Over 60 Bir Zeit University students are imprisoned in Israeli jails; just last week a number of students at an-Najah University in Nablus were seized by occupation forces. The Islamic Bloc, which Mafarjeh represents, won the largest share of seats on Bir Zeit’s student council during the annual spring elections.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network expresses our strongest solidarity with all the Palestinian student prisoners in Israeli jails who continue to face arrest, imprisonment and persecution for their involvement in student organizing and urges the immediate release of Osama Mafarjeh and all imprisoned Palestinian students.

Palestinian prisoner Hamza Bouzia suspends hunger strike; Khawaja continues strike against detention

26 November 2017

Palestinian prisoner Hamza Marwan Bouzia, 27, of Kifl Hares near Salfit, suspended his hunger strike on Sunday, 26 November after 35 days, said his mother to Asra Voice. She noted that Bouzia had reached an agreement with the prison administration and that he will be charged in military court rather than held without charge or trial under administrative detention.

She noted that he has lost 25 kilograms (50 lbs) of weight since he launched the strike and is suffering from severe fatigue and exhaustion. Bouzia has previously spent seven years in Israeli prisons on charges of struggling to end the occupation and membership in a prohibited organization, a designation that includes most major Palestinian political parties.

Meanwhile, Salah Khawaja of Nil’in is continuing his hunger strike on the 14th day against his administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial, which was renewed one day before his scheduled release. Administrative detention orders are indefinitely renewable and Palestinians can spend years at a time jailed under these orders.

Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Commission lawyer Ashraf al-Khatib said on Sunday that former hunger striker Bilal Diab, 32, from Kafr Ra’i near Jenin, is currently recovering from his own 23-day hunger strike and his health is gradually being restored, while he is still suffering from abdominal pains and other aches. Diab suspended his strike after an agreement that his imprisonment without charge or trial will not be renewed and he will be released on 12 January 2018.

Two Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails for freedom

23 November 2017

Two Palestinian prisoners are continuing their hunger strikes against administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial.

Hamza Marwan Bouzia, 27, from Kifl Hares in Salfit, has been on strike since 22 October in protest of his imprisonment without charge or trial under administrative detention. He has previously spent over seven years in Israeli prisons. The next hearing in his case is scheduled for 3 December.

Salah Khawaja from the village of Ni’lin, is also on hunger strike for the past 12 days to protest the renewal of his administrative detention only one day before he was to be released.

Introduced by the British colonial mandate to Palestine and then continued by Zionist colonialism, administrative detention orders are used to imprison Palestinians without charge or trial for one to six months at a time. These orders are based on so-called “secret evidence” denied to both Palestinians and their lawyers and are indefinitely renewable. Many Palestinians have spent years at a time imprisoned without charge or trial under administrative detention; there are currently over 450 administrative detainees in Israeli prisons out of a total of 6,200 Palestinian political prisoners.

Former fellow hunger striker Bilal Diab, who ended his 23-day hunger strike in protest of administrative detention with an agreement for his release in January 2018, has begun to physically recover from his strike, said his brother Bassam. A lawyer from Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association visited Diab in Hadarim prison on 22 November and said that Bilal had regained 6 kilos of weight loss in the hunger strike. Bassam emphasized that his brother is still receiving treatment for the physical effects of his strike. Previously, Diab carried out an 88-day hunger strike against administrative detention when he was previously imprisoned without charge or trial in 2012.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges support and action to free these four Palestinians whose lives and bodies are on the line for freedom and against injustice. By taking action, you can show the Israeli occupation and international governments that these Palestinians are not alone and have worldwide support and solidarity with their urgent demands.

Download the flyer for distribution:

Palestinian women and girls: Ihsan Dababseh released, Ansam Shawahneh sentenced to 5 years

23 November 2017

Palestinian prisoner Ihsan Dababseh was released from Israeli occupation prison on Thursday, 23 November, leaving five Palestinian women jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention and approximately 59 total Palestinian women prisoners in Israeli jails. Dababseh, 32, from the town of Nuba in al-Khalil, was jailed for nine months without charge or trial since being seized by occupation forces on 27 February 2017.

She has been arrested and imprisoned on multiple occasions by Israeli occupation forces, including in 2007 and 2014; she was last released in July 2016 after being accused of membership in the Islamic Jihad movement. The five Palestinian women who remain imprisoned without charge or trial are Palestinian leader and parliamentarian Khalida Jarrar, Jerusalemite seamstress Sabah Faraoun, journalist Bushra al-Tawil, Afnan Abu Haniyeh and Khadija Ruba’i.

On Monday, 20 November, the Salem military court issued a sentence against Palestinian prisoner and university student Ansam Shawahneh, from the village of Amatin near Qalqilya. Shawahneh was sentenced to five years in prison and a two-year suspended sentence after 28 military court hearings since she was seized by occupation forces on 9 March 2016 and accused of attempting to stab Israeli colonial settlers near the illegal settlement of Kedumim. She was also accused of incitement and membership in a hostile organization based on her participation in student politics.

*Photo of family of Nisreen Hasan Abu Kamil*

On Wednesday, 22 November, an Israeli occupation court continued a hearing on the case of Nisreen Hasan Abu Kamil, 40, from the Gaza Strip, until 27 December. A Palestinian citizen of Israel from Haifa in occupied Palestine ’48, she was seized on 18 October 2015 as she crossed the Beit Hanoun/Erez crossing from Gaza, where she is married with seven children. She has been accused of providing information to the Palestinian resistance from her visits to family and for medical treatment in Palestine ’48.

Meanwhile, also on 22 November, Israeli occupation forces released Manal Abu Ali from the village of Yatta near al-Khalil after six months in Israeli prisons. She was seized on 11 June 2017 as she entered the Ibrahimi Mosque in al-Khalil and accused of possession of a knife. She was held in Damon prison for six months before her release. Upon her release, she emphasized the poor conditions in which women in Damon are held, saying that wounded women are not provided with medical care or proper treatment and that the situation is intensified as winter approaches with a lack of warmer clothing and blankets.

On 23 November, an Israeli military court issued a ruling in the case of Siham Batat, the mother of Haitham Batat, serving a life sentence in Israeli prisons. Batat, 55, from Dahariya south of al-Khalil, was previously jailed for two months in 2015; after her release she was continually summoned back to the prison for ongoing hearings. She was sentenced to a 10 month suspended sentence and a massive fine of 100,000 NIS ($26,000 USD).

There are approximately 58 Palestinian women jailed as political prisoners by the Israeli occupation, including 10 minor girls under 18. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network expresses our support and solidarity with the women prisoners and demands their immediate release.

Three Sanabel Radio journalists sentenced by Israeli occupation military court

23 November 2017

Three of the journalists of Sanabel radio station in al-Khalil were sentenced by the Israeli occupation’s Ofer military court on 23 November. Montasser Nassar, 28, and Nidal Amer, 24, were each sentenced to 22 months in prison, while Mohammed Omran, 27, was sentenced to 16 months in Israeli occupation prison.

The three were seized along with Ahmed Samih Darwish, 24, and Hamed Khaled Namoura, 25, from the headquarters of Radio Sanabel in al-Khalil in a violent raid on the station on 31 August 2016. The station’s equipment was confiscated and it was closed by military order for three months. All five of the journalists from Sanabel are from the town of Dura in al-Khalil.

The five journalists were accused of “incitement” for broadcasting songs, interviews and programs about the Palestinian uprising, resistance, Palestinians killed by the Israeli occupation and supporting Palestinians revolting against occupation. Omran was also the correspondent of Asra Voice radio within Sanabel, focusing on the struggles of Palestinian prisoners.

Darwish and Namoura continue to face a military court. The five are among dozens of Palestinian journalists held in Israeli prison for their activities in reporting on and amplifying the voices of Palestinians in resistance to occupation.

Former Palestinian prisoner Omar Nazzal publishing new book

23 November 2017

Palestinian journalist and former prisoner Omar Nazzal has written a new book, “Between Sarajevo and Etzion,” published by Dar Fafasat under the auspices of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Commission. The book includes images and stories from Nazzal’s time in administrative detention in 2016; he was imprisoned for 10 months through hunger strikes and protests within the prison after being seized by Israeli occupation forces as he traveled to attend the European Federation of Journalists’ conference in Sarajevo.

The arrest of Nazzal, a member of the General Secretariat of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and President of the Association of Democratic Journalists, sparked international protest, yet his imprisonment without charge or trial was renewed on multiple occasions. He was previously jailed in 1978 and 1988 and held in administrative detention without charge or trial; in 1986, Nazzal was held under house arrest for six months.

Issa Qaraqe, head of the Prisoners Affairs Commission, said that the book exemplifies the prisoners’ resistance to all attempts to destroy their will, spirit and national identity. A launch for the book will take place in Ramallah on Sunday, 26 November.

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