New Belgian call urges freedom for Georges Ibrahim Abdallah

6 October 2017

Individuals and organizations in Belgium, including Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, were among the initial signatories to a new Belgian call for the freedom of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, Lebanese Arab struggler for Palestine, as he enters his 34th year of imprisonment in French prisons in October 2017. The initiative has a Facebook page and additional signatories are encouraged to join the call by emailing de.ly.myriam@gmail.com.

The statement comes as people in cities around the world are preparing for international days of action for freedom for Abdallah, organized from 14 to 24 October. Events will take place in Lebanon, Palestine, New York City, Brussels, Dublin and many cities throughout France, including the 21 October national demonstration at the gates of Lannemezan prison, where Abdallah is held. A demonstration for Abdallah will take place in Brussels on 20 October.

The Belgian call follows below (Dutch and French below English):

The Belgian appeal for the immediate release of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah

We proclaim our solidarity with George Ibrahim Abdallah.

At present, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah is continuing his 33rd year of arbitrary detention in the prison of Lannemezan in France. Thus, he beats the sad record of years spent behind bars until then held by the late Nelson Mandela. He is the oldest political prisoner in Europe. He has more than served his sentence, since he has been eligible for release since 1999. He has filed nine applications for his release, all of which have been denied.

The story of Georges Abdallah is related to that of the Israeli invasion and wars against Lebanon. Like many Lebanese, he joined the Palestinian resistance. During the Israeli invasion in 1978, he fought in the resistance with the PFLP and was wounded. In 1982, he faced the Israeli invasion and siege of Beirut, supported by the US. More than 20,000 Lebanese and Palestinian civilians were killed. This was followed by the massacres of Sabra and Shatila and the occupation of southern Lebanon. It is in this context that Georges joined the Lebanese Armed Revolutionary Fraction (FARL).

On 18 January 1982, Lieutenant-Colonel Ray, the US Deputy Military Attaché in France, died in Paris, killed by FARL. On 3 April, Yacov Barsimentov, an Israeli diplomat and Mossad agent, suffered the same fate. Arrested in Lyon in 1984, Georges was first sentenced in 1986 to four years in prison and a second time in 1987 to a life sentence.

The history of George’s trials is made up of exceptional jurisdictions and actions, direct pressure from the US and Israel, and interventions by French intelligence agents. Georges Abdallah has always remained faithful to his positions (and this is also what the French justice holds against him). Behind bars, he organizes solidarity strikes with Palestinian prisoners, supports the struggles against police violence in France …

Following a favorable opinion for release on parole given in November 2012 by the sentencing court, all measures were undertaken by the Public Prosecutor’s Office to block his release. The French Minister of the Interior at the time (Valls) refused to sign the necessary deportation order to Lebanon. The result is multiple referrals and appeals, and an appeal to the Court of Cassation. After 15 months, the request for release was deemed inadmissible.

We denounce the ongoing imprisonment of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah and demand his immediate release.

We reject endless sentences for political prisoners, especially as new anti-terrorism laws threaten our freedoms.

We call for political, humanitarian or cultural solidarity actions for Georges Abdallah.

We ask that the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs intervene with France to obtain his release.

We invite you to write to Georges Ibrahim Abdallah in prison:
Mr. Georges Ibrahim Abdallah
2388 / A221 CP of Lannemezan
204 rue des Saligues
F-65307 LANNEMEZAN
France

Initial signatories’ list. Add your name by emailing de.ly.myriam@gmail.com.

Organizations

Activist ChildCare
Bruxelles Panthères
Campagne Stop Répression
Comité BDS ULB
JOC Bruxelles
Mouvement Citoyen Palestine
Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine
Samidoun – Réseau de Solidarité aux prisonniers palestiniens (Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network)
Solidarity for all

Individuals

Amy Jean-Jacques, emeritus professor, VUB
Akrab Ibrahim, student
Andersen René, Fédération de Charleroi du Parti Communiste
Awad Mustapha, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
Barnet Rudi, cultural performer
Boudart Jean-Marie, former working-class priest, author
Boumazzoughe Nadia, BDS
Burnotte Joseph, CEPAG organizer
Collon Michel, writer and journalist, Investig’Action
Cuesta Barros, trade unionist
David Eric, emeritus professor of international law at ULB
De Ley Herman, emeritus-professor UGent
De Ly Myriam, activist for Palestine
De Witte Ludo, author
Delmotte Paul, professor of history and international politics, retired from IHECS (Brussels)
Delval Luc, retired journalist
Den Hond Chris, vidéo-journalist
Deruette Serge, political scientist, UMons
Ellouze Mohamed, lawyer
Flémal Jean-Marie, author and translator
Galand Pierre, personality in the social movements
Groffils Marie, retired citizen
Hulsens Eric, honorary professor of higher education, Editions Antidote
Hustache Serge, provincial deputy; president of the provincial college of Hainaut
Jamar David, sociologist
Jaroszewski Julie, artist
Kates Charlotte, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
Lalieu Grégoire, writer and journalist, Investig’Action
Lothier Marie-Christine, head of Entr’Aide et Fraternité
Malevé René-Paul, former teacher and former permanent union secretary
Martinez Andrade Luis, sociologist
Morelli Anne, professor at ULB
Mukuna Olivier, journalist and essayist
Péromet Mireille, retired teacher
Rosa-Rosso Nadine, teacher
Saïdi Nordine, decolonial activist
Saublains Raymond, photographer
Scordia Manu, designer and artist
Stengers Isabelle, teacher
Takkal Insaf, teacher
Terryn Peter, Solidarity for all
Titom, designer and artist
Van Leeuw-Koplewicz Marianne, éditions du Souffle
Van Loo Michel, theater director
Vanhove Daniel, civil observer and author
Vervaet Luk, Association des Familles et des Amis des Prisonniers (Association of Families and Friends of Prisoners)

L’appel belge pour la libération immédiate de Georges Ibrahim Abdallah

Nous proclamons notre solidarité avec Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.

A l’heure actuelle Georges Ibrahim Abdallah poursuit sa 33ème année de détention arbitraire dans la prison de Lannemezan en France. Ainsi, il bat le triste record d’années passées derrière les barreaux jusque là détenu par feu Nelson Mandela. C’est le plus ancien prisonnier politique d’ Europe. Il a plus que purgé sa peine, puisque libérable depuis 1999. Il a déposé en ce sens neuf demandes de libération qui lui ont toutes été refusées.

L’histoire de Georges Abdallah est liée à celle des guerres d’invasion israéliennes au Liban. Comme de nombreux Libanais, il rejoint la résistance palestinienne. Lors de l’invasion israélienne en 1978, il combat dans la résistance avec le FPLP et est blessé. En 1982, c’est l’invasion israélienne et le siège de Beyrouth, soutenue par les EU. Plus de 20.000 civils libanais et palestiniens sont tués. Suivent les massacres de Sabra et Chatila et l’occupation du Sud-Liban. C’est dans ce contexte que Georges rejoint les Fractions armées révolutionnaires libanaises (FARL).

Le 18 janvier 1982, le lieutenant-colonel Ray, l’attaché militaire adjoint des Etats-Unis en France, meurt à Paris, tué par les FARL. Le 3 avril, Yacov Barsimentov, diplomate israélien et agent du Mossad, subissait le même sort. Arrêté à Lyon en 1984, Georges est condamné une première fois en 1986 à quatre ans de prison et une seconde fois en 1987 à perpétuité.

L’histoire des procès de Georges est faite de juridictions d’exceptions, de pressions directes des EU et d’Israël, d’interventions d’agents des services secrets français. Georges Abdallah est toujours resté fidèle à ses opinions (et c’est cela aussi que la justice française lui reproche). Derrière les barreaux, il organise des grèves avec les prisonniers palestiniens, soutient les luttes contre les violences policières en France …

Suite à l’avis favorable donné en novembre 2012 par le tribunal d’application des peines, tout a été entrepris par le Parquet pour bloquer sa libération. Le ministre de l’Intérieur de l’époque (Valls) refuse de signer l’arrêté d’expulsion nécessaire vers le Liban. Il s’ensuit des reports et appels multiples, un pourvoi en cassation. Au bout de 15 mois, la demande de libération est jugée irrecevable.

Nous dénonçons l’acharnement à l’égard de Georges Ibrahim Abdellah et exigeons sa libération immédiate.

Nous refusons les peines sans fin pour les prisonniers politiques, d’autant plus que de nouvelles lois antiterroristes menacent nos libertés.

Nous appelons à des actions de solidarité politiques, humanitaires ou culturelles pour Georges Abdallah.

Nous demandons que le ministre belge des Affaires étrangères intervienne auprès de la France pour obtenir sa libération.

Nous invitons à écrire à Georges Ibrahim Abdallah en prison :

Monsieur Georges Ibrahim Abdallah
2388/A221 CP de Lannemezan
204 rue des Saligues
F-65307 LANNEMEZAN
France

(NL)
Belgische oproep voor de onmiddellijke vrijlating van Georges Ibrahim Abdallah

Wij betuigen onze solidariteit met Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, die dit jaar al 33 jaar in een Franse gevangenis zit. Hij verbreekt hiermee het trieste record in aantal jaren detentie, dat tot nu toe toekwam aan Nelson Mandela, en is zo de oudste politieke gevangene van Europa. De wettelijke termijn van zijn gevangenisstraf is ruim overschreden, want hij komt reeds in aanmerking voor vrijlating sinds 1999. Maar zijn negen aanvragen voor voorwaardelijke vrijlating zijn allemaal geweigerd.

De geschiedenis van Georges Abdallah is verbonden met de Israëlische invalsoorlogen in Libanon. Zoals vele Libanezen vervoegt hij het Palestijns verzet. Tijdens de Israëlische inval van 1978, strijdt hij in de rangen van de PFLP en is gewond. In 1982 is er de Israëlische agressie-oorlog tegen Libanon (gesteund door de VS) en het beleg van Beirout, gevolgd door de slachtpartijen in Sabra en Chatila en de bezetting van zuid-Libanon. In die context vervoegt Georges de FARL (Franctions armées révolutionnaires libanaises (FARL).

Op 18 januari 1982 werd luitenant-kolonel Ray, een adjunct militaire attaché van de Verenigde Staten in Frankrijk, in Parijs, gedood door de (FARL). Op 3 april, onderging Yacov Barsimentov, een Israëlisch diplomaat en agent van de Mossad, hetzelfde lot. Georges werd hiervoor aangehouden in Lyon in 1984. Hij werd een eerste maal veroordeeld in 1986 tot 4 jaar cel en een tweede maal in 1987 tot levenslang.

De geschiedenis van Georges is er een van uitzonderingsrechtbanken, van directe druk door de VS en Israël en van tussenkomsten van agenten van de Franse geheime diensten.

Georges Abdallah is altijd trouw gebleven aan zijn opvattingen (en dat is ook wat het Franse gerecht hem verwijt). Vanachter de tralies, organiseert hij hongerstakingen met de Palestijnse gevangenen, steunt hij de strijd tegen het politiegeweld in Frankrijk…

In november 2012 gaf de strafuitvoeringsrechtbank een positief advies voor zijn vrijlating, maar alles werd in het werk gesteld om die te blokkeren. De toenmalige minister van Binnenlandse zaken Valls weigerde om het noodzakelijk bevel tot uitwijzing naar Libanon te ondertekenen. Hierop draaide de juridische molen verder: verwijzingen, beroep, cassatie. Na 15 maanden werd de vraag om vrijlating onontvankelijk verklaard.

Wij klagen de meedogenloosheid aan ten aanzien van Georges en eisen zijn onmiddellijke vrijlating.

Wij weigeren de gevangenisstraffen-zonder-einde voor politieke gevangenen, te meer nu nieuwe antiterrorisme wetten onze vrijheden bedreigen.

Wij roepen op tot politieke, humanitaire of culturele acties voor Georges Abdallah.

Wij vragen om een tussenkomst van de Belgische minister van Buitenlandse zaken bij de Franse autoriteiten om zijn vrijlating te bepleiten.

Wij nodigen u uit om te schrijven naar Georges Ibrahim Abdallah :

Monsieur Georges Ibrahim Abdallah
2388/A221 CP de Lannemezan
204 rue des Saligues,
F-65307 LANNEMEZAN

Samidoun participates in UBC event on Palestine, colonialism and imprisonment

6 October 2017

Speaking on Palestinian prisoners and colonialism in Palestine, Charlotte Kates, the international coordinator of Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, joined an evening of solidarity with Palestine organized by Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

The event, “What is Palestine?” brought together university students, faculty members and community supporters for an evening of discussion about the history, present and future of the Palestinian people on Tuesday, 3 October.

The event began with an introduction noting that UBC and therefore, the event itself, were situated on stolen, unceded Musqueam indigenous land due to Canadian colonialism, highlighting the relevance of settler colonialism not only to Palestine but to ongoing struggles to resist the genocide of indigenous peoples in North America.

Kates spoke about comparative settler colonialism, noting research that has been done that indicates that in a number of ways, Canadian settler colonial policies served as a later model or inspiration for Zionist colonialism in Palestine. She also discussed the role of incarceration and imprisonment as a colonial weapon, particularly in Palestine.

Noting that the event is taking place as we mark 100 years of the Balfour Declaration and thus a century of British colonialism – and resistance – in Palestine, she discussed the Palestinian prisoners’ movement and the use of techniques like administrative detention and home demolitions from British to Zionist colonialism in an attempt to stamp out Palestinian indigenous resistance.

“Every Palestinian household in occupied Palestine is impacted by imprisonment; there is always a father, mother, cousin, uncle, aunt, brother, sister, son, daughter, niece, nephew, who has spent time in the prisons of the occupation. 40 percent of Palestinian men in the occupied West Bank have been detained by the Israeli occupation. This experience of mass imprisonment means not only that it is used as a major mechanism of colonialism, but also that prisoners’ resistance and steadfastness is a strong line of struggle throughout Palestinian history,” she said, presenting a series of statistics about Palestinian prisoners.

She discussed hunger strikes and organizing within Israeli jails, the use of administrative detention, military courts and discriminatory “security” status to imprison Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza, Jerusalem and occupied Palestine ’48, throughout all of historic Palestine. She also highlighted several specific cases, including those of French-Palestinian lawyer Salah Hamouri; Palestinian national leader and leftist parliamentarian Khalida Jarrar; and poet Dareen Tatour.

Kates discussed the work of Samidoun and invited people to get involved with SPHR and work together with Samidoun to free Palestinian prisoners and free Palestine, including joining campaigns to build the campus BDS movement or boycott complicit corporations like Hewlett-Packard, which provides IT support to the Israel Prison Service and occupation military. “Many people say that there is a lack of Palestinian leadership or claim to wonder where the next young Palestinian leaders are. There are 6,200 Palestinian leaders being locked up by the occupation, who inspire us all to struggle for freedom,” she concluded.

The event also included a presentation by Khalil Mansour, a Palestinian community activist in Vancouver, who spoke about the story of the Nakba and the Palestinian struggle to return for over 70 years through a personal perspective. Mansour emphasized the simple, true experience of displacement and dispossession experienced by Palestinian refugees, who today number seven million and continue to be denied their right to return home.

Mansour also urged attendees to become involved in the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement. He noted that the occupation of Palestine is also an investment project that benefits imperial powers and global corporations, and that boycott campaigns can create significant pressure to make complicity with occupation no longer profitable. Taking action, he said, is the next step toward achieving justice in Palestine.

The event included group discussions and a dinner hosted by SPHR, and concluded with a performance of several Arab songs by an SPHR member as well as enthusiastic dabkeh dance by event organizers and participants.

Toulouse stands in solidarity with Salah Hamouri and Palestinian prisoners

6 October 2017

Translated from Coup Pour Coup 31

Dozens of people gathered on 5 October in Toulouse, France, to demand the immediate release of Salah Hamouri, a French-Palestinian lawyer held in Israeli administrative detention.

The Coup Pour Coup 31 anti-imperialist collective – also a part of the Samidoun network -spoke at the event, as follows:

“We are once again gathered to demand the release of Salah Hamouri.

Alongside him, there are thousands of Palestinian prisoners, including several hundred in administrative detention.

Behind his case lies the active collaboration of French imperialism with Israeli apartheid, represented in particular by the detention of Arab Communist struggler for the Palestinian cause, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, who this month enters his 34th year of imprisonment in the French prisons.

Behind his case lies the repressive policy of the colonial state of Israel to advance Zionist colonization of occupied Palestine.

Yet the Palestinian people continue to resist. The Palestinian prisoners continue to struggle in the occupation prisons.

And Georges Abdallah refuses to yield to the blackmail of denial and continues to support all peoples in the struggle against imperialism and Zionism.

We have some good news to celebrate this week, like the release of Khitam Saafin, a Palestinian feminist leader, and Kifah Quzmar, a Palestinian student activist.

So do not give up, let us continue to intensify our solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners as part of our support for the entire Palestinian Resistance.

And in this sense, let us all participate on 21 October in the manfestation in Lannemezan in front of the gates of Georges Abdallah’s prison. Register for the bus that we have organized. As Ahmad Sa’adat, imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, rightly says, “If you support Palestine, you must work to free Georges Abdallah.”

Samidoun at Resistance Festival in Greece: “Resistance is the only path…for all struggling people”

6 October 2017

Mohammed Khatib, European coordinator of Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, urged Greek popular movements and left organizations to fight back against the growing threat of gas deals with the Israeli state, including the “EastMed” pipeline, to market stolen Palestinian and Greek gas at the Resistance Festival on 30 September.

The Resistance Festival, organized annually by Dromos newspaper in Athens, Greece, included several programs and events focusing on the Palestinian struggle for liberation as part of its international program. The event brings together Greek movements for justice together with delegations from Puerto Rico, Argentina, Lebanon, Palestine, Bolivia, Norway, Italy, Spain, Catalonia, the Basque Country, Scotland and elsewhere.

Carlos Latuff, the Brazilian cartoonist well-known for his many iconic images on the Palestinian liberation struggle, was a featured speaker at the festival, which ran for two days and included musical performances and films as well as political events. Held at the University of Fine Arts in Athens, the festival drew 5,500 participants. Álvaro García Linera, the Deputy President of Bolivia, was also featured at the event.

Khatib spoke on 30 September on a panel discussing events in the Arab world and the region along with Palestinian lawyer Jehad Abu Raya, Lebanese activist Nabil Hallak and Yemeni organizer Yahya Saleh, as well as the presentation of a letter to the Festival from imprisoned Palestinian leader Ahmad Sa’adat, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Saleh began the panel by speaking about the Kanaan organization for Palestine in Yemen as well as the historical, mass solidarity with Palestine among the Yemeni people. He also denounced the Saudi “coalition” attacking Yemen with the support of the U.S. and other imperialist powers, urging action to stop the bloody war on Yemen.

In his presentation, Khatib focused on the growing relationship under the SYRIZA government between Greece and Israel, especially in military and economic cooperation. “The gas deal is a tool to steal Palestinian resources and exert control over Greece and its people. It aims to tie Greek resources to a colonial power to benefit the elite and multinational corporations,” he said. He saluted the Yemeni people who continue to come out and demonstrate in massive numbers for Palestine while under bombs. “This is a lesson to us and to all Arab peoples engaged in struggles..in Yemen they know how much the Palestinian struggle is related to their struggle to defeat the Arab reactionary regimes, from Saudi Arabia to Egypt,” Khatib said.

He discussed the current situation in Palestine and the struggle of the political prisoners in Israeli jails, noting that there are over 6,200 Palestinians jailed in occupation prisons, including hundreds of child prisoners. He also touched on the recent reconciliation agreement between Fateh and Hamas, noting that what was needed for the Palestinian people was national unity, including “unity in struggle and on the ground,” and not simply “power sharing in the Palestinian Authority between the major parties that represent the right-wing of Palestinian politics for the benefit of Palestinian capitalists. What we truly need is to unite all Palestinian political organizations and institutions, social movements and parties in one front to liberate our country and people and achieve victory.”

“The Palestinian people are not divided in their national goals, but we are physically divided, isolated and besieged, in cities, camps and villages, in Palestine and in diaspora, because of apartheid, occupation and Zionism,” said Khatib.

“Palestinians in Europe, in exile and diaspora, are struggling here for our rights as refugees and for our right to return and liberate our country and our people,” he said. “The name of this festival is the Resistance Festival, and this – resistance – is the only path forward for us as a Palestinian people, for the Greek people, the Yemeni people and every social movement and people struggling for justice and equality in the world.”

Abu Raya, in turn, spoke about the Balfour Declaration and the role of British colonialism in creating the Zionist colonial occupation in Palestine. He also emphasized the role of Palestinians in occupied Palestine ’48 in the national liberation struggle and provided a close examination of the current situation and apartheid policies of the Israeli state, including racism, ghettoization, land theft and criminalization.

Khatib presented Sa’adat’s letter to the Festival, as follows:

We are writing to you today from the depths of the prison cells in occupied Palestine to salute the struggling people of Greece and to salute the organizers, comrades and participants of the Resistance Festival, a critical framework for international solidarity. We are pleased to participate in this important festival every year, as we did last year when Comrade Leila Khaled was your guest.

Needless to say, the relationship between our two peoples, the Palestinian people and the Greek people, is unshakable, historical, strong and deeply rooted. We know that it will always remain such so long as we stand together on the side of justice, liberation, democracy and equality.

Our two peoples have sacrificed so much in order to achieve these goals and guarantee peace and justice in our homelands. The working class of Greece and the working class of Palestine have been on the front lines of confrontation of imperialism, Zionism and reactionary and fascist forces. We also want to salute all those who participated in the demonstrations confronting Israeli war criminal Netanyahu and responding to our call to reject such visits with a symbol of racism, Zionism, apartheid and occupation. The demonstrations that took the streets in Athens and Thessaloniki resonated here behind prison walls in Palestine and showed clearly that the heart of the people of Greece is in one valley, and the position of your current government is in quite another.

We know that we have a common and important task today, to confront and struggle against the imposition of exploitative gas deals for the benefit of gas corporations that seek to exploit and plunder the resources of both of our people. Israel wants to steal the gas resources of the Palestinian people to serve as an instrument of domination and hegemony across the region, imposed via its “special relationship” with the United States and backed up by threatening military might. It seeks to align with European and international corporations to not only confiscate the wealth of the Palestinian people, but also to exploit the resources of the Greek people, not to fund the needs of Greece but to line the pockets of the capitalist exploiters.

Today, our people are entering 100 years of struggle against Zionism and imperialism. Since 1917, our people have been confronting colonization, settler occupation, apartheid and reactionary regimes. Throughout these years, we have accumulated a historical experience that will ensure the continuation of this struggle until our complete and inevitable victory ? the liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea. Once again, we extend our salute to every Greek worker and student, to every struggler, to every political prisoner, to youth and women organizing, to the children of Greece. We send our strongest solidarity in common struggle to achieve all of the goals of the Greek people’s movements for true justice.

We salute the leadership of the labor movement and the student organizations in popular movements confronting capitalism and imperialism in Greece, and we also express our appreciation for the warm embrace that the people of Greece have shown for refugees and displaced peoples amid the context of the harsh economic conditions created by the policies of the European Union and international financial institutions in order to devour the wealth of the Greek people. All of our peoples are standing together, as victims of imperialist aggression and attack who together seek not only survival, but freedom, resistance and liberation.

Ahmad Sa’adat
Ramon Prison

The event was attended by Greek supporters of Palestine, including the Ghassan Kanafani Front, as well as Palestinian community organizers in Athens, including members of Jafra Foundation, the Palestinian Workers Union and a group of young Palestinian refugees from Syria.

6-10 October, Vienna: George Jackson in the Sun of Palestine Festival

5 October 2017

Friday, 6 October – Tuesday, 10 October
Spektakel Wien
Hamburgerstrasse 14
1050 Vienna, Austria
More information: http://spektakel.wien/event/george-jackson-in-the-sun-of-palestine-festival/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/118383545511477/

Three-day festival on George L. Jackson – political prisoner, revolutionary, leader of the Black Panther Party (German below)

The traveling exhibition, “George Jackson in the Sun of Palestine,” curated by Greg Thomas, will be shown in Vienna, Austria, with an opening event from 6-8 October. More information and the program follow below:

Friday, 6 October

7:30 pm: Opening and introduction with Greg Thomas, curator
9:00 pm – Rhymes and beats from Beyond International with Diaz (Algiers), Asifeh (Ramallah/Vienna), Levni (Istanbul/Vienna), Kolonel Blip (Istanbul/Vienna), DJ Takonedoe (Vienna), Rezurec (Beirut/Vienna)

Saturday, 7 October

7:00 pm: “They’ll never count me among the broken men” – Film screenings on George L. Jackson and anti-prison, Black, Palestinian, anti-colonial resistance

Sunday, 8 October

5:00 pm: “Love – Poems – Weapons of Liberation” – Lecture with Greg Thomas of Tufts University. Reading with poetry and texts of Samih al-Qasim, Mahmoud Darwish, Jean Genet, George L. Jackson, Suheir Hammad, Kateb Yacine…

Tuesday, 10 October

7:00 pm: Greg Thomas in conversation with Alexis Neuberg live at Radio Afrika TV
Followed by discussion, drinks and food
Event takes place at AfriPoint, Hofmuhlgasse 2, 1060 Vienna

A Black revolutionary prisoner and member of the Black Panther Party, George L. Jackson was slain by prison guards – on August 21, 1971 – at San Quentin State Prison in California, USA. When he was murdered, the Black Panther Party loudly and proudly proclaimed “George Jackson Lives!” And so he does for new generations of artists and activists, prisoners and revolutionaries all over the planet.

On the day of his assassination, prison authorities seized Palestinian resistance poetry from George Jackson’s prison cell – along with more than 99 books from his contraband library. He and his comrades identified with Samih al-Qasim’s poem “Enemy of the Sun” most of all. The Black Panther Party expressed a radical solidarity with Palestinian resistance struggles in a variety of ways. Visually, and inspired by a poetic ‘mistake’ of radical kinship and solidarity „George Jackson in the Sun of Palestine“ highlights some of these global solidarity links between Black and Palestinian liberation movements, today as well as yesterday, both inside and outside prison.

Presented in English, Arabic, and German, the exhibit materials include paintings, woodcut prints, graphic design illustration, political poster art, multilingual book covers, handwritten prison letters, Black Panther newspaper covers, graffiti murals, photography, and video footage, not to mention a musical soundtrack.

Curated by Greg Thomas, Associate Professor for Black Studies and Literature in English. The founding editor of Proud Flesh, an e-journal, is also author of The Sexual Demon of Colonial Power: Pan-African Embodiment and Erotic Schemes of Empire (2007) as well as Hip-Hop Revolution in the Flesh (2009). Currently, he is at work on a book on the writings of George Jackson.

The traveling exhibition “George Jackson in the Sun of Palestine” premiered in October 2015 for the Abu Jihad Museum for Political Prisoner Affairs in Abu Dis on the campus of Al Quds University. It was recently hosted by the African Community Center in the Old City of Jerusalem and on display at the Khashabi Theatre in Haifa. “George Jackson in the Sun of Palestine” was also shown at the Black Panther Party 50th Anniversary Conference in summer 2016.

https://www.facebook.com/George-Jackson-in-the-Sun-of-Palestine-968792993179099/

Programm
Freitag, 6. Oktober
Vernissage
19h30 Begrüßung und Einführung von Greg Thomas, Kurator

Samstag, 7. Oktober
19h “They’ll never count me among the broken men.”
Film Screenings in Erinnerung an George L. Jackson, Anti-Prison, Black, Palestinian, Anti-Colonial Resistance

Sonntag, 8. Oktober
17h “Love – Poems – Weapons of Liberation”
Vortrag von Greg Thomas (Tufts University)
Lesung mit Texten und Gedichten von Samih Al-Qasim, Mahmood Darwish, Jean Genet, George L. Jackson, Suheir Hammad, Assata Shakur, Kateb Yacine, …

Dienstag, 10. Oktober
19h-20h Greg Thomas im Gespräch mit Alexis Neuberg live @ Radio Afrika TV
Anschließend Diskussion, Drinks & Food
!Veranstaltung findet im AfriPoint statt ( Hofmühlgasse 2, 1060 Wien)!

George L. Jackson – politischer Gefangener, Revolutionär, Mitglied der Black Panther Party – wurde am 21. August 1971 im San Quentin State Prison in Kalifornien (USA) von Gefängniswärtern ermordet. Angesichts seines Todes proklamierte die Black Panther Party stolz, frei und laut: „George Jackson Lives!“ Und bis heute leben George Jackson, seine Poesie, seine Ideen und Texte für neue Generationen von Künstler_innen, Aktivist_innen, Gefangenen und Revolutionär_innen auf der ganzen Welt weiter.

Am Tag seiner Ermordung konfiszierte die Gefängnisverwaltung in George Jacksons Zelle – neben weiteren 99 Büchern aus seiner geschmuggelten Gefängnisbibliothek – palästinensische Widerstandsgedichte. Er und seine Genoss_innen identifizierten sich vor allen anderen Gedichten mit den Worten aus Samih al-Qasim’s „Enemy of the Sun“.

Radikale Solidarität mit dem palästinensischen Widerstand hat die Black Panther Party auf vielfältige Weise und Wege zum Ausdruck gebracht. Visuell und inspiriert von einer magischen „Verwechslung“, hebt die Ausstellung „George Jackson in the Sun of Palestine“ einige dieser globalen Verknüpfungen politischer Verwandtschaft zwischen Black Liberation, Palästinensischer Befreiungsbewegung und anderen anti-kolonialen Kämpfen hervor: Gestern wie heute, inner- und außerhalb der Gefängnisse.

Dreisprachig auf Englisch, Arabisch und Deutsch präsentiert, besteht die reisende Sammlung der Ausstellung aus Gemälden, Holzschnitten, Illustrationen, Postern, mehrsprachigen Buch-Covers, handschriftlichen Gefängnisbriefen, Black Panther Newspaper Covers, Graffitis, Fotografien, Video footage und nicht zuletzt einem Soundtrack.

Kuratiert von Greg Thomas, Associate Professor für Black Studies and Literature in English, Tufts University. Greg Thomas ist Autor von The Sexual Demon of Colonial Power: Pan-African Embodiment and Erotic Schemes of Empire (2007), Hip-Hop Revolution in the Flesh (2009) und Mitbegründer des E-Journals Proud Flesh. Momentan arbeitet er an einem Buch zu den Gefängnisschriften von George Jackson.

Die Ausstellung „George Jackson in the Sun of Palestine“ hatte ihre Premiere im Oktober 2015 für das Abu Jihad Museum for Political Prisoner Affairs in Abu Dis auf dem Campus der Al Quds University. Vor kurzem war die Wanderausstellung im African Community Center in der Altstadt von Jerusalem zu Gast. Anfang des Jahres war sie im Khashabi Theatre in Haifa zu sehen. Auch auf der Black Panther Party 50th Anniversary Konferenz war „George Jackson in the Sun of Palestine“ ausgestellt.

https://www.facebook.com/George-Jackson-in-the-Sun-of-Palestine-968792993179099/

10 October, Choisy: Evening of Solidarity for Salah Hamouri

5 October 2017

Tuesday, 10 October 2017
7:30 pm
Salle le Royal
13 avenue Anatole France
94600 Choisy-le-Roi, France
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/294589421040259

Evening of solidarity with Salah Hamouri, French-Palestinian lawyer arbitrarily detained in Israel, in order to build a local support committee. Event includes:

Screening of the documentary, “The Salah Hamouri Affair,” followed by speakers:

Nadir Dendoune, director of the film

Elsa Lefort, the wife of Salah Hamouri and spokesperson for the support committee.

This is an initiative of the Association Solidarité Choisy Palestine, with the support of LDH Choisy-Orly-Thiais, PCF Choisy, FI Choisy, and the UL CGT Choisy.

Samidoun in Palestine organizes its first event at Bir Zeit University

4 October 2017

Samidoun in occupied Palestine organized its first event on Tuesday, 3 October, a special seminar on the experience of imprisonment featuring presentations by Dr. Lena Meari and Mohammed Badr, a former prisoner and student at the Faculty of Information. With a focus on the experience of imprisonment and the construction of the revolutionary self, the program was attended by a packed room of students and faculty, with a group of people outside in the hall as they were unable to fit in the packed conference room.

The event began with a presentation on the reasons for establishing the Samidoun Network in Palestine, its history and the nature of its activities and objectives in North America, Europe and elsewhere.

Dr. Lena Meari of the Faculty of Women’s Studies at Bir Zeit University, presented on her Ph.D. thesis topic, on methods of torture, psychological trauma and Palestinian prisoners and resistance. She focused on the importance of the resistance inside occupation prisons and its role in shaping revolutionary identity and steadfastness.

Former prisoner and student Mohammed Badr discussed his own experience under detention in Israeli prisons, explaining his own methods for withstanding interrogation without falling into the traps designed to elicit confessions. The event concluded with discussions, interventions and questions from the audience.

Samidoun in Palestine will be organizing future events and activities, which can be followed on its new Facebook page.

Samidoun’s events in the Arab world are growing as well; its new Arabic-language website has reports, articles, news and events in Arabic. The Samidoun Network in Lebanon will hold its first event on Saturday, 7 October in Beddawi refugee camp in the Palestinian Arab Cultural Club, in support of the campaign for freedom for Georges Abdallah. Samidoun Lebanon can also be followed on its new Facebook page.

The Bir Zeit event video follows (in Arabic):

9 October, NYC: 2nd Annual Anti-Columbus Day Tour

4 October 2017

Monday, 9 October
3:30 pm
American Museum of Natural History
200 Central Park W, NYC
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1302697323192187/

The 2nd Annual Anti-Columbus Day Tour is upon us. On October 9th at 3:30 pm we will gather in the main atrium of the the American Museum of Natural History, and through an alternative narrative tour developed in collaboration with communities and groups based throughout the city and beyond, we will collectively press for the three demands we articulated last year: Remove the white supremacist statue in front of the museum, Rename the day to Indigenous People’s Day, and Respect the Ancestors. This action will be strong and beautiful with your participation and presence.

Family friendly
Tickets provided
Bring a friend

#decolonizethisplace
#notmyhero

New York protest demands freedom for Ahmad Sa’adat, all Palestinian prisoners

4 October 2017

New York activists protested on Monday, 2 October to demand freedom for imprisoned Palestinian leader Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian prisoners. The protest, held outside the Best Buy electronics store in Manhattan’s Union Square, highlighted the case of the imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine as well as the growing international campaign to boycott Hewlett-Packard (HP) corporations over their role in providing technical infrastructure to Israeli apartheid.

The protest, organized by Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, also expressed solidarity with three longtime Black Liberation Movement prisoners in New York jails: Jalil Muntaqim, Herman Bell and Robert Seth Hayes. Bell – jailed for 43 years – was recently attacked by prison guards, beaten badly, and has been denied family visits. In addition to information about Palestinian prisoners, the case of Ahmad Sa’adat and HP complicity in Israeli colonialism, the demonstrators also distributed a leaflet about the three men’s cases.

Ahmad Sa’adat is currently serving a 30-year sentence in Israeli occupation prisons for his leadership of the PFLP. The leftist Palestinian leader was seized by occupation forces along with four of his comrades – Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh, Majdi Rimawi, Hamdi Quran and Basil al-Asmar – in 2006 when they violently attacked the Palestinian Authority’s Jericho prison. Sa’adat and his comrades had been jailed under U.S. and British guard in PA prison for four years, since 2002. He recently published a new book about his experience of isolation inside Israeli prisons; he is one of the foremost leaders of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement as well as a Palestinian national leader.

During his military trial, Sa’adat refused to participate or recognize the court. Samidoun international coordinator Charlotte Kates was part of a delegation of U.S. lawyers and activists in 2007 who participated in observing the military trial and witnessing firsthand the mockery of justice presented. At the close of the trial, Sa’adat stood to speak to the court, denouncing its role and proclaiming his commitment to Palestinian liberation:

“Based on all that I have said, and 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. Because what you call a list of accusations and ‘security infractions’ are in reality my patriotic duties, “whether they were effective or not,” and would have to be framed within the context of the general duty of resistance against occupation.

At the same time, and as the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, I would like to reaffirm my pride in belonging to the Palestinian Revolutionary Movement and to the extensions of this movement in the regional, national and international planes that form the components of the international movement against the imperialist system of globalization. This is the leading framework of the peoples of the world and their oppressed social classes that struggle for freedom, democracy, socialism, global progress, the just distribution of wealth, equality among peoples and peace – rejecting repression and the concept of imperialist freedom based on plunder, injustice and racial discrimination.”

The protest focused on Best Buy as a major retailer of HP products to the consumer market. HP corporations are involved in providing IT databases to the Israel Prison Service as well as selling the technology Israeli occupation forces use to maintain their system of apartheid checkpoints and ID cards. HP corporations are even involved in providing technical support to the Israeli navy and other military forces, thus profiting from the siege on Gaza and the daily military occupation and colonization imposed on the Palestinian people. Churches, labor unions and other organizations are joining the call to become “HP-free zones” to demand the corporation cut its ties to apartheid.

Khaled Barakat, the international spokesperson of the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat and a Palestinian leftist writer, delivered a message of solidarity to the protest. Barakat wrote:

“Ahmad Sa’adat is a representation of the reality in Palestine today: the leaders of the Palestinian people – the lawyers, the strugglers, the organizers, the parliamentarians, the freedom fighters, the students, the teachers – are targeted time and again for night raids, mass arrests, torture under interrogation and lengthy prison sentences. This is an attempt to deny the Palestinian people their leadership and thus hold back the tide of resistance for return and liberation.

We salute Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and the New York activists especially, who consistently and firmly stand behind Palestinian prisoners, linking arms in struggle to demand liberation for all Palestinian prisoners and liberation for Palestine. Your actions and dedication are seen not only here but also warm the hearts and raise the spirits of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Your tireless work through three years of weekly demonstrations illustrate your own steadfastness as true comrades on the march towards liberation.”

Samidoun will be participating in multiple upcoming events and actions in the coming week in New York City. It is one of the co-organizers of the 7 October Rally to Resist War and Racism at Home and Abroad, joining with dozens of other organizations to denounce U.S. war threats, imperial attacks and racist policies.

On Monday, 9 October, Samidoun will not be holding its own protest but will instead be supporting Indigenous and Indigenous solidarity organizing against “Columbus Day,” participating in the 2nd Annual Anti-Columbus Day Tour beginning at the American Museum of Natural History. The protest has three demands: “Remove the white supremacist statue in front of the museum, Rename the day to Indigenous People’s Day, and Respect the Ancestors.”

Samidoun in New York will be planning actions in the following weeks as part of the international Days of Action to Free Georges Abdallah from 14-24 October; announcements will be posted soon. All supporters of justice for Palestine and the Palestinian people are encouraged to join and attend these events.

Escalating arrests, detentions target Palestinian journalists

4 October 2017

An Israeli occupation military court extended the detention of two Palestinian journalists, Amir Abu Araam and Alaa al-Titi, until Tuesday, 10 October, accusing them of “incitement.” Both are correspondents for Al-Aqsa TV. The two were seized when occupation forces invaded their homes in pre-dawn raids on Monday, 2 October, ransacking their belongings and terrorizing their families.

Three days before, al-Titi and his colleague Mustafa al-Khawaja had been sentenced to a fine of 3,000 NIS ($800 USD) and a suspended sentence of eight months over a three-year period if they return to work for Al-Aqsa TV, in a case that began in 2015; the two had been imprisoned and released as the military court hearings dragged on over years. Al-Titi has been repeatedly detained on political grounds by the Israeli occupation and also the Palestinian Authority security forces.

Meawhile, fellow journalist, freelancer and Quds News Network correspondent Ragheed Tabisia, 24, from Qalqilya, had his detention extended once again by an Israeli occupation military court. Tabisia was seized by occupation forces in a pre-dawn raid on his home on 24 September; he has been held in the Jalameh interrogation center since that time.

Palestinian journalist Mohammed Awad, seized on 29 September, was ordered on 3 October to administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial. There are now approximately 30 Palestinian journalists in Israeli occupation prisons and the recent slew of arrests in the past several weeks has highlighted an escalation in attacks on Palestinian journalists. Awad had previously been jailed for 10 months in 2013 and works for Wattan TV.

The Radio and Television Federation in Palestine said that “the number of detainees in Israeli jails is increasing amid the intensification of arrest campaigns against journalists by the occupation authorities…the Israeli occupation deliberately postpones the trials of journalists under flimsy pretexts and subjects journalists to administrative detention without charge.”

On 4 October, the Committee to Support Journalists emphasized that Palestinian journalists face increased danger to their lives and freedoms, marking 53 violations to journalists’ rights in Palestine in September 2017, 48 carried out by the Israeli occupation.

During September, 11 journalists were arrested and held, detained and released or summoned to interrogation by the Israeli occupation, including Tabisia, Awad and his brother Abdel-Rahman Awad; Kayed Hassanein, Hazem Badr, Issam Rimawi and Talal Abu Rahma – all detained – and filmmaker Mohammed Bakri and journalists Ahmed Jalajel and Daoud Afaneh, all summoned to interrogtion.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network denounces the ongoing attacks on Palestinian journalists and urges broader international solidarity with imprisoned Palestinian journalists to demand their freedom and an end to the institutionalized Israeli occupation repression that seeks to silence their voices.

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