Israeli occupation issues 24 more orders to imprison Palestinians without charge

3 November 2017

Israeli occupation authorities issued 24 more administrative detention orders against Palestinian prisoners from 25 to 31 October, reported Palestinian lawyer Mahmoud al-Halabi on 2 November. Administrative detention orders imprison Palestinian prisoners without charge or trial on the basis of “secret evidence.”

These administrative detention orders were issued for three to six months; the orders are indefinitely renewable and Palestinians have been imprisoned for years at a time without charge or trial under administrative detention.

There are currently over 450 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial out of a total of over 6,200 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons.

The orders were as follows:

1. Tawfiq Ahmad Shalabi, Jenin, 4 months, extension
2. Sherif Khaled Hussein Khaddour, Ramallah, 4 months, new order
3. Khaled Mohammed al-Fasfous, al-Khalil, 6 months, extension
4. Lutfi Taher Malaysheh, Jenin, 6 months, new order
5. Murad Mohammed al-Gharib, Jenin, 6 months, new order
6. Moatassem Mahmoud Jibril, al-Khalil, 3 months, extension
7. Mohammed Hassan al-Darabiyah, al-Khalil, 6 months, extension
8. Fares Ahmed Zamara, Ramallah, 3 months, extension
9. Mehdi Najah Sharkawi, Jenin, 6 months, new order
10. Ibrahim Mohammed Dahbour, Jenin, 4 months, extension
11. Alaa Salem Houshia, Jenin, 6 months, new order
12. Ahmed Kamal Izzat al-Jabari, Jenin, 6 months, new order
13. Raafat Mohsen Asfour, Ramallah, 3 months, extension
14. Suhaib Adnan Moussa, Jenin, 6 months, new order
15. Musab Hussein Rabie, Ramallah, 6 months, new order
16. Rabie Abdel-Majid Hazna, Ramallah, 4 months, extension
17. Fathi Mohammed Hammad, Ramallah, 6 months, new order
18. Ayatallah Mohammed al-Tamari, Bethlehem, 6 months, new order
19. Kamal Suleiman Hamed, Ramallah, 4 months, new order
20. Alaa Ali Hamed, Ramallah, 6 months, new order
21. Issam Rashed Ashqar, Nablus, 3 months, extension
22. Abdel-Rahman Hussein Gleis, Ramallah, 6 months, new order
23. Yousef Bader Khalil, al-Khalil, 4 months, new order
24. Ashraf Riad Radi, Ramallah, 6 months, new order

8 November, San Francisco: Support Academic Freedom and Professor Rabab Abdulhadi

3 November 2017

Wednesday, 8 November
1:00 pm
Philip Burton Federal Building
San Francisco
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/165219754060669/

DEFEND ACADEMIC FREEDOM!
DROP THE LAWSUIT!
STOP ISLAMOPHOBIA! DEFEAT HATE!

In June 2017, the pro-Israel group The Lawfare Project filed a lawsuit against San Francisco State University (SFSU) and Professor Rabab Abdulhadi falsely charging them with anti-semitism. On August 21, Dr. Abdulhadi filed a motion to dismiss this frivolous and specious lawsuit whose aim is to suppress and punish campus debate, scholarship and activism for Palestinian freedom. Dr. Abdulhadi maintains, “This will fail, because, as an educator, I have the right to seek truth and justice, and to study Palestine.”

On November 8, 2017, the Northern District of California Court will hear Dr. Abdulhadi’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

RALLY AT 1 PM AND ATTEND THE COURT HEARING AT 2 PM

To help plan the rally and for more information contact: defendrabab@gmail.com

7 November, London: Zionism is Racism – protest the #Balfour100 Concert

3 November 2017

Tuesday, 7 November
6:00 pm
Royal Albert Hall
Kensington Gore, London
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1546213502122672/

On November 2nd 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour signed the Balfour Declaration, addressed to the Zionist Federation of Britain, expressing the British government’s support for ‘the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people’. This marked the beginning of a colonising project which would see over 750,000 Palestinians expelled from their homes when the state of Israel was established, the occupation of the Palestinian territories, and the suppression of Palestinian rights under an apartheid Zionist regime in alliance with British imperialism.

100 years on, the devastating effects of this alliance on the Palestinian people are still being seen today. Palestine remains occupied by the Israeli state which treats Palestinians as second-class citizens; demolition of Palestinian homes to make room for illegal settlements are commonplace; millions of refugees who were displaced from their land are still denied their right to return; and thousands of Palestinian political prisoners are locked up in Israeli jails, often indefinitely, without charge, and without access to basic rights and dignity. Britain provides unconditional political and military support to the Israeli state; in return, British companies like G4S and Barclay’s profit from the oppression of the Palestinian people through lucrative security and military dealings with the Israeli state, which also provides an important foothold for imperialist warmongering in the Middle East.

Despite the multiple, well documented atrocities unleashed upon the Palestinian people in the name of Zionism, there are those whose interests lie in the continuation of occupation and imperialist devastation of Palestine. Balfour 100, a self-described ‘Christian Zionist organisation’ are organising a concert in the Royal Albert Hall, the venue in which Lord Balfour celebrated with the Zionist leaders of his day Britain’s acquistion of the Mandate for Palestine.

Join us in voicing our support for the Palestinian resistance against Zionism and their call for a cultural boycott of Israeli and Zionist events, in conjunction with the wider campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS). Protest the Balfour 100 concert!

This is part of a series of events we are holding to mark 100 years of the Balfour declaration. We are also organising a meeting and discussion on the historical and ongoing implications of the Balfour declaration.

That event here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1562151570512952/

IMPERIALIST HANDS OFF THE MIDDLE EAST!
ZIONISM IS RACISM!
BOYCOTT ISRAEL!
VICTORY TO THE PALESTINIAN RESISTANCE!

4 November, London: National March and Rally – Justice Now: Make it Right for Palestine

3 November 2017

Saturday, 4 November
12:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Grosvenor Square, London
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1405957406126184/

NATIONAL MARCH AND RALLY, SATURDAY 4 NOVEMBER
Assemble 12noon Grosvenor Square W1K 6LF London.

For the past 100 years Palestinian rights have been disregarded. As we approach the centenary of the Balfour Declaration – on the 2nd November – which built the path for their dispossession, we are demanding justice and equal rights for Palestinians now.

Full details: www.palestinecampaign.org

Coaches from around the country – Book your seat now!www.palestinecampaign.org/events/coaches-national-march-rally-london-sat-4-november/

Speakers at the rally will include:

Dr Mustafa Barghouti / Ken Loach / Andy Slaughter MP / Mick Whelan General Secretary ASLEF / Gail Cartmail TUC / Lowkey / John Pilger / Senator Paul Gavan Sinn Fein / Leanne Mohamad / Hugh Lanning PSC / Asad Rehman War on Want / Reem Kelani / Philipa Harvey NEU-NUT Section / Glyn Secker JFJFP / Daoud Abdalah MAB / Ajmal Masrour Imam & broadcaster / Prof Manuel Hassassian / Tariq Ali / Salma Yacoub / Lindsey German STW / Ismael Patel FOA / Walter Wolfgang CND / Dave Randall / Jenny Tonge / Hawiyya Dance Company / John Nicolson SNP / Leah Levane JVL / Rajab Shamlakh APCUK.

Organised by Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Palestinian Forum in Britain (PFB), Friends of Al Aqsa (FOA), Stop the War Coalition (STW), Muslim Association of Britain (MAB).

Supported by Unite the Union, UNISON, National Education Union- NUT Section, GMB, ASLEF, RMT, FBU, UCU, PCS, CWU, Europal Forum, CND, Pax Christi, APCUK, Kairos UK, Friends of Sabeel UK, ICAHD UK, Olive, Amos Trust, APCUK, Muslim Voice.

Contact us for more information: info@palestinecampaign.org

5 November, NYC: Balfour Declaration Centenary Study

3 November 2017

Sunday, 5 November
4:00 pm
Solidarity Center NYC
147 W. 24th St
NYC
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/321968001545256/

Samidoun will be holding a study on the origins of the Balfour Declaration and the impact it has had on the Palestinian people over the course of a century.

3 November, NYC: No Trump Day – International Solidarity Relay Rally

3 November 2017

Friday, 3 November
6:00 pm
32nd Street and Broadway
NYC
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/494598277589524/

No Trump Day Action – International Solidarity Rally & Sign the Peace Treaty Now!

“They will be met with fire, fury and frankly power the likes of which this world has never seen before,” “tthey won’t be around much longer,” “I spoke with President Moon of South Korea last night. Asked him how Rocket Man is doing,” “military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded,” etc.

Actually, Trump has escalated military tensions in Korean peninsula to which this world has not seen before. Coined with his visit to Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines from Nov. 3 – Nov. 14, people in these countries are mobilizing big mass rallies, especially South Koreans are calling November 4 as “No Trump Day” in order to show the world their will for peace and reunification.

Accordingly, we oppose the Trump administration’s escalation of tension with North Korea, call for signing of the peace treaty, fully support citizens in these countries mobilizing to protest Trump’s visit to their countries and preparing for mass demonstrations around “No Trump Day”, and stand in solidarity with all people – Koreans, citizens of the United States, and others throughout the world – unconditionally committed to preventing a second Korean War.

In New York, endorsers list is still in formation:
Nodutdol for Korean Community Development,
Peace & Justice Committee-TLTC,
International Action Center,
BAYAN
United Nat’l Antiwar Coalition,
Students for Justice in Palestine – NYC,
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoners Solidarity Network,
U.S. Peace Council
Veterans For Peace – Chapter 34 NYC & Chapter 21 NJ,
VFP – Iran Working Group
Raging Grannies
Catholic Workers
National Lawyers Guild

+++++
In the U.S., the dates of “No Trump Day” actions are as follows:
<뉴욕 (New York)>
1) When: 2017년 11월 3일 (금) 오후 6시
Friday, November 3rd @ 6 p.m.
2) Where: 맨하탄 코리아타운 (Koreatown, Broadway & 32nd St.)

<워싱턴디씨 (Washington DC)>
1) When: 2017년 11월 4일(토) 오후 2시
Saturday, November 4th @ 2 p.m.
2) Where: 백악관 앞 (Pennsylvania Ave NW in front of the White House)

<로스앤젤레스 (Los Angeles)>
1) When: 2017년 11월 4일(토) 오후 4시
Saturday, November 4th @ 4 p.m.
2) Where: 윌셔/ 웨스턴 지하철역(Wilshire + Western Ave.)

<시카고 (Chicago)>1) When: 2017년 11월 3일(금) 저녁 7시
(실내집회) Friday, November 3rd @ 7 p.m. 2) Where: 장충동
연회장(9078 W Golf Rd. Niles, IL 60714)

Additional locations where the above statement will be delivered:

<샌프란시스코/오클렌드 (San Francisco/Oakland)>1) When: 2017년 11월
3일(금) 오후 7시 Friday, November 3rd @ 7 p.m.2) Where:
East Side Arts Alliance (2277 International Blvd, Oakland,
California 94606)Screening “Blue Butterfly Effect” documentary on
THAAD 사드반대 다큐상영에서 성명서 낭독

3 November, London: Emergency protest: Netanyahu not welcome! Smash Balfour!

2 November 2017

Friday, 3 November
8:30 – 10:30 am
Chatham House
London, UK
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1918291391767535/

Join Youth Against Balfour, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and Victory to the Intifada for a demonstration to confront Israeli war criminal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and make it clear that he is not welcome!

For 100 years, Britain has been responsible for the dispossession, displacement, uprooting and racist coloniation imposed upon the Palestinian people. On the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, UK leaders are celebrating with war criminals while Palestinians struggle for freedom, return and even survival. The UK holds the political, moral and legal responsibility for the ongoing war crimes against the Palestinian people. Join us to denounce Netanyahu’s ongoing war crimes and Theresa May’s support. Freedom for Palestine! Netanyahu not Welcome!

تدعوكم شبكة صامدون وبالتعاون مع ” شباب ضد وعد بلفور ” في لندن الى وقفة احتجاجية غاضبة ضد زيارة مجرم الحرب رئيس وزراء الكيان الصهيوني بنجامين نتنيناهو الى لندن وللمطالبة باسقاط وعد بلفور وتحمل بريطانيا مسؤوليتها السياسية والقانونية والاخلاقية عن تشريد واقتلاع شعبنا من وطنه

Samidoun: Denounce latest Israeli attack on Gaza, take to the streets to join Balfour protests

1 November 2017

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network condemns in the strongest terms the Israeli attack on Palestinians in Gaza on Monday, 30 October, that killed seven and wounded 14 more. We join the Palestinian people in mourning the lives that were taken and urge all supporters of Palestine around the world to join in the collective, popular response to these ongoing crimes by escalating actions and campaigns to support the liberation of Palestine and the Palestinian people.

We mourn the loss of: Arafat Abu Mirshid, Hasan Abu Hassanein, Omar Nassar al-Faleet, Ahmad Khalil Abu Armana, Husam Abdullah Samiri, Misbah Fayeq Shbeir, Mohammad Marwan al-Aqha, Badr Abo Msabeh, Mohammed Al-Bhaisi, Mohammed Mousa – their lives taken by siege and colonization in the struggle for the liberation of their people.

The attack targeted Palestinians involved in the resistance and the defense of their land from ongoing attacks and colonization. The targeting of the resistance is nothing new; it is the same policy that underlines assassination raids and the arrest and imprisonment of thousands of Palestinians, as well as “anti-terror” rhetoric that serves to criminalize Palestinian resistance to colonialism, occupation, apartheid, racism and war crimes.

This is only the latest attack on Gaza in a long procession of crimes: from the massive assaults of 2009, 2012 and 2014 to the past 10 years of siege, not to mention the prior 50 years of direct occupation of Gaza and 70 years of massacres, colonization, and ongoing resistance. 70 percent of the population of Gaza are Palestinian refugees denied their right to return for the past 70 years. And today, Palestinians in Gaza are not only fenced in on land and on sea by occupation forces on all sides, subject to constant overflight and threat of deadly bombs by drones, helicopters and jets, but also living a daily experience of human crisis – undrinkable water, no electricity, denied the ability to travel for work, school or even medical care.

Only days before, Tawfiq Abu Naim, a Gaza security official and a former Palestinian prisoner and resistance struggler, was himself subjected to an assassination attempt. The Israeli occupation state has repeatedly demonstrated its constant appetite for provocation, war and destruction directed against Palestinians in Gaza in an attempt to suppress Palestinian resistance, further devastate Palestinian resilience and shore up support for the extreme-right, racist government.

We cannot be silent or complacent about this latest crime. The United States, Canada, UK and European Union powers remain complicit in every attack on Palestinian lives and rights so long as they continue to provide Israel with economic, military and diplomatic support and attempt to further normalization of the Israeli occupation state with the most reactionary of Arab regimes under the guise of a “deal of the century.” This attack comes on the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, the infamous colonial “promise” of Palestine to the Zionist Federation by the British government in 1917, an infamous anniversary being celebrated by the British government in joint colonial pomp by Theresa May alongside Benjamin Netanyahu as well as imperialist states around the world.

At the same time, this 100th anniversary is being met by protests, actions and events around the world organized by Palestinians, Palestine solidarity organizers and people of conscience who reject colonialism, apartheid and racism and stand with the Palestinian people and their right to resist and throw off colonization and achieve their freedom and liberation after 100 years of subjugation. We urge all supporters of Palestine to take to the streets and join the protests around the world against this shameful anniversary, one that highlights the depth of imperialist complicity in the ongoing war crimes against the Palestinian people.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network will be participating in protests against this anniversary around the world in the coming days, for the strugglers fallen in Gaza, for all of the lives taken through 100 years of struggle, and for all the millions of Palestinians inside Palestine and around the world, and the thousands within Israeli jails whose steadfastness and commitment is a daily inspiration to continue the struggle for justice. We must respond to these ongoing crimes with a popular response that makes it clear that they will not pass unnoticed and accepted, from escalating the boycott of Israel and complicit corporations to creating a popular siege on the Israeli occupation to lift the siege on the Palestinian people, from Gaza, to all of Palestine and to every Palestinian refugee struggling to return home in liberation and freedom.

Palestinian prisoner ordered to administrative detention instead of release after 9-month sentence

30 October 2017

One Palestinian prisoner, Fathi Hammad of al-Amari refugee camp near Ramallah, was due to be released at the end of his 9-month sentence in Israeli prison on Saturday, 28 October, but was instead ordered to 6 months in administrative detention – imprisonment without charge or trial.

Rather than being released to his friends and family, Hammad was subject to arbitrary detention on the basis of so-called “secret evidence” by military order. Palestinian prisoner organizations urged active protest against Hammad’s detention, noting that there is a constant danger of the Israeli occupation detaining prisoners indefinitely by ordering them to administrative detention after the end of their sentence.

The issue was highlighted internationally in 2016, when Bilal Kayed carried out a 71-day hunger strike to win his freedom after being ordered to six months in administrative detention rather than being released after 14 and one-half years in Israeli occupation prisons.

Administrative detention orders are issued for one to six months at a time but are indefinitely renewable, and Palestinians have spent years at a time jailed in administrative detention. There are currently over 450 Palestinians held in administrative detention out of a total of over 6,200 Palestinian political prisoners. Four Palestinian prisoners are currently on hunger strike; three are administrative detainees demanding their release.

Four Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike for freedom

30 October 2017

Several Palestinian prisoners are continuing their hunger strikes for freedom as of Monday, 30 October. Hassan Shokeh, 29, of Bethlehem, has been on hunger strike for 20 days against his imprisonment without charge or trial under Israeli administrative detention.

Shokeh was detained by occupation forces on 29 September, less than a month after he was released from his prior imprisonment on 31 August. He has spent several years in Israeli prison under administrative detention and on charges of membership in Islamic Jihad.

Bilal Diab, 32, from Kafr Ra’i near Jenin, has been on hunger strike for 14 days against his own administrative detention without charge or trial. Jailed since 14 July, Diab has been repeatedly seized by the Israeli occupation. He conducted a 78-day hunger strike alongside fellow detainee Thaer Halahleh in 2012 to win his freedom. His strike was sparked after his appeal for his freedom was denied on 17 October; the next hearing in his case is scheduled on 30 November.

In addition, reports were released in the past day that a third prisoner has also been on hunger strike for 14 days, Hamza Marwan Bouzia, 27, of Kifl Hares near Salfit. A former prisoner who served over seven years in Israeli prisons, he has also been subject to re-arrest by occupation forces and ordered to administrative detention without charge or trial.

Also joining the hunger strike is Mosab Said, 28, from Bir Zeit, on hunger strike demanding his return to Megiddo prison after he was transferred; he launched a hunger strike five days ago, after Israeli occupation authorities violated an agreement to transfer him. He has been detained since 12 March and is a journalist and media activist as well as a former prisoner.

Palestinian lawyer Karim Ajwa warned about the deterioration of Diab’s health after a visit with the striking prisoner, held in isolation in Ashkelon prison. Diab is suffering from abdominal pain, joint pain and pain in his ear and head; he is refusing medical examinations by his jailers. He also told his lawyer that he was transferred on Sunday from one cell to another with worse conditions: a wet, torn mattress with one blanket, a constant fan on the door that blows despite the cold, and filthy conditions. He also noted that there are daily “inspections” in which guards repeatedly invade the cell in order to put more pressure on his strike. Ajwa confirmed that Diab is dedicated to continuing his hunger strike to win his freedom.

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