Sheikh Raed Salah ordered detained until end of trial

6 September 2017

The Israeli Magistrate’s Court in Haifa ordered Sheikh Raed Salah, prominent activist on Al-Aqsa Mosque and leader of the Islamic Movement, imprisoned until the end of proceedings in his case on Wednesday, 6 September. Salah is charged with “incitement” for his public speeches about Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Inside the courtroom, Salah denounced his conditions of detention, saying that he was being held in an extremely small room that he described as a “toilet.”

Sheikh Salah is one of the most prominent leaders of the Palestinian movement in occupied Palestine ’48; he is now being charged for public speeches given about Al-Aqsa Mosque and at the funerals of three young men from Umm al-Fahm who carried out an armed operation targeting occupation forces.

He has been imprisoned since 17 August and has been subject to a systematic official campaign of incitement, note his lawyers, including a threat by minister Yisroel Katz to deport him.

Despite the highly public and political nature of the case, the judge banned filming in the court in Salah’s case, stating that “the case does not concern the public.” Salah has been arrested on multiple occasions and was released in January 2017 after being imprisoned for nine months on charges relating to a sermon he delivered in Jerusalem in 2007; he spent most of his imprisonment held in solitary confinement and was threatened with extended sentencing before release. Israeli occupation officials have also been involved in attempts, including in the United Kingdom, to deny Salah an international platform for advocacy. He has been subjected to repeated travel bans by the Israeli state. He has also been repeatedly barred from entering Jerusalem itself.

His detention has been repeatedly extended since he was seized by Israeli forces on 15 August who invaded his home in Umm al-Fahm. “The judicial grounds for this case are trivial. In reality, this trial is only about Sheikh Raed’s defense of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the slogan, Al-Aqsa is in danger,” said his lawyer Khaled Zabarqa.

Salah is the leader of the Islamic Movement in Palestine ’48; in 2015, the Israeli state banned the Islamic Movement in an action condemned by Palestinian organizations across the political spectrum as an attack on all Palestinians in ’48 Palestine, who hold Israeli citizenship.

Letter from Ahmad Sa’adat to Georges Abdallah: “You remain a symbol and a model for us”

6 September 2017

Ahmad Sa’adat, imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Palestinian national leader, issued the following public letter to Lebanese Communist struggler for Palestine, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, imprisoned in French jails for 34 years.

The letter comes shortly after a photo of Georges Abdallah in Lannemezan prison was released by Coup Pour Coup 31 and the campaign to free Georges Abdallah, wearing a T-shirt in solidarity with Sa’adat and demanding his freedom. It also comes as organizers are gearing up for the large national demonstration on 21 October outside the Lannemezan prison to demand Abdallah’s release.

The following video was released by the Campaign to Free Georges Abdallah to urge participation in the demonstration:

The text of Sa’adat’s letter follows:

Public Letter from Ahmad Sa’adat to Georges Ibrahim Abdallah

Dear comrade,

I send my warm greetings to you, with the most beautiful words and sincere declarations of pride, respect and appreciation, in my name and in the name of my comrades in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine prison organization. These sincere words reflect our unity of thought and common suffering in the face of the tools of oppression and our common struggle for a better world in which the people regain their stolen humanity.

Dear comrade,

I feel pain when you feel pain, and you are always a source of great pride and respect. From your principled steadfastness through decades in prison, we build our determination, our will and our intellectual conviction; from your head held high, always accelerating our steps to become nearer to the sun of truth and liberation, with you, by you, and with all of the forces of freedom in the world. Together, our strength is multiplied dozens of times, renewed in our hope and confidence in the inevitability of victory, the victory of daybreak over the night, the truth over lies and hypocrisy. You are a living witness to the falsity of the claims about the “free world,” “democracy,” “separation of powers” and “independence of the judiciary” of which the ruling class brags in media forums and lecture halls. We are chained by the common injustices manufactured in the United States of America, which are the same ones used in Palestine, and I do not doubt that there are many examples in all of the strongholds of imperialism.

You and those who unite with you in support and solidarity, the true comrades in France, Lebanon, Palestine and all over the world, are the natural extension of those who once carried hammers, stormed the Bastille and broke into the prison walls…the extension of those who turned the cells of the Zionist occupation into revolutionary schools from which successive generations learn the meaning of will, determination and commitment…the extension of all of the forces and movements for liberation in the world who resist for true democracy and a world free of exploitation, tyranny and subjugation, where the values of social justice, liberation and dignity prevail.

Until we meet one day in the world of freedom, you remain a symbol and a model for us to follow.

Your comrade
Ahmad Sa’adat “Abu Ghassan”
Ramon Prison
5 September 2017

New York City protest demands freedom for Palestinian child prisoner Hassan Abu Rish, boycott of HP

5 September 2017

Protesters gathered in New York City on Monday, 4 September to protest the imprisonment of Palestinian teen Hassan Abu Rish and his fellow Palestinian child prisoners held in Israeli jails. The protest, organized by Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, took place outside the Union Square Best Buy electronics store, which sells Hewlett-Packard products. HP is subject to a global boycott campaign for its profiteering from Israeli occupation, oppression and apartheid through contracting with the Israeli prison system, military forces and system of checkpoints and ID cards.

The protest focused on Hassan Abu Rish, 16, a Palestinian teen organizer with the Nabed (Pulse) youth forum in his Jerusalem-area village of Ezzariyeh. Nabed is a group for Palestinian youth looking towards social change, justice and liberation from occupation, apartheid and colonization. There are over 300 Palestinian children under 18 imprisoned in Israeli jails. Hassan himself was very interested in organizing to raise awareness about the imprisonment of Palestinian youth; his brother has been jailed three times by Israeli occupation forces.

In the past 20 months, 22 Palestinian teens have been imprisoned without charge or trial under administrative detention orders, including Nour Issa, 16. Administrative detention orders are indefinitely renewable and Palestinians have been jailed for years at a time with no charge and no trial under the pretext of a “secret file.” There are over 450 total Palestinians held without charge or trial under administrative detention and nearly 6,200 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails.

Activists from a number of organizations joined Samidoun in the protest, including a group from Students and Youth for a New America (SYNA), expressing solidarity with Palestinian youth imprisoned in Israeli jails.

Protesters distributed information about the situation of Palestinian prisoners as well as the involvement of HP in Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights, from the naval siege of Gaza to the imprisonment of thousands of political prisoners.

While the HP corporation has divided into several entities, they share resources and a common identity, and a growing number of churches, labor unions and other organizations are vowing to be “HP-free zones” until the corporation ends its involvement in and profiteering from Israeli apartheid and colonization.

Journalist Caleb Maupin also attended the protest and interviewed Joe Catron and John Fletcher of Samidoun about the ongoing protests and solidarity actions to support Palestinian prisoners’ struggle for freedom.

Samidoun will gather again next week in New York on Monday, 11 September at 4:30 pm, outside the Best Buy in Union Square. All supporters of justice for Palestine are invited to attend and join in the protest to free imprisoned French-Palestinian human rights defender Salah Hamouri.

Hamouri, a French-Palestinian dual citizen, field researcher for Addameer and recently graduated lawyer who just passed the Palestinian bar exam on 20 August, has just been ordered to three months in prison – the remain period of his earlier sentence before his release in 2011 in the Wafa al-Ahrar prisoner exchange. Meanwhile, the Israeli prosecution is arguing instead for the imposition of a six-month administrative detention order, for imprisonment without charge or trial. People across France are organizing in solidarity with Salah, and Samidoun in New York will join them on 11 September.

Salah Hamouri’s former sentence reimposed, ordered to three months imprisonment

5 September 2017

*Protest to free Salah Hamouri, Paris, 4 September*

French-Palestinian human rights defender Salah Hamouri‘s six-month administrative detention order was replaced by the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, 5 September. Unfortunately, rather than being released, Hamouri was instead sentenced to three months’ imprisonment – the remainder of his former sentence when he was released in the 2011 Wafa al-Ahrar prisoner exchange. (He was scheduled for release on 13 March 2012 and was released early on 18 December 2011.)

While in this specific case, the total amount of his sentence is half of the administrative detention order, it also highlights yet another unjust and unaccountable mechanism for sentencing former Palestinian prisoners – the arbitrary reimposition of former prison sentences on dubious grounds or no grounds at all, in many cases by a secret military committee. For example, Nael Barghouthi – and dozens of others – have seen former life sentences or other large sentences reimposed by a secret military committee.

Mahmoud Hassan of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Hamouri’s lawyer, noted that “this decision will not prevent Hamouri from being placed under administrative detention again even after he serves the rest of his previous sentence.” Administrative detetnion orders are indefinitely renewable.

Hassan also said that the Israeli prosecution and intelligence agency were opposed to the decision and had said they were filing an appeal – because they are seeking the longer administrative detention period without charge or trial for Hamouri. Addameer, where Hamouri is a field researcher, noted that they see this decision as a form of response to the international pressure calling for Hamouri’s release as an attempt to “legitimize” the sentence. In fact, it represents a continuing form of groundless, arbitrary detention of a human rights defender with no charge and no trial.

**

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network reiterates its urgent demand for the immediate release of Salah Hamouri and all Palestinian prisoners and call for the French state to defend the rights of their citizen and take action for Salah Hamouri’s freedom. It is no less critical now; it must be made clear that it is unacceptable to imprison Hamouri – or any other Palestinian – without charge or trial. This is clearly an attempt on the part of the Israeli state to target an effective, local and international human rights defender working for Palestinian freedom.

The French state must take real action to demand freedom for Salah Hamouri, the Palestinian human rights defender. From the jails and the courts of the occupation to the cities and campuses of the world, he is a consistent and clear voice against oppression and for liberation. Free Salah Hamouri! Libérez Salah Hamouri!

TAKE ACTION

1. SIGN this petition to French president Emanuel Macron and European officials. Demand that they act now to free Hamouri: https://www.change.org/p/emmanuel-macron-demand-the-immediate-release-of-human-rights-defender-salah-hamouri

2. SIGN this French-language petition to the French government to demand they act for Hamouri’s freedom: http://liberezsalahhamouri.wesign.it/fr

3. LIKE AND SHARE the Facebook page for Salah Hamouri, which will be regularly updated with news and actions to demand Salah’s freedom: https://www.facebook.com/freesalahhamouri/

4. ORGANIZE protests and actions to demand Salah’s release and that of his fellow Palestinian prisoners. Events are scheduled in Toulouse, Avignon, New York, Paris, Villerupt, Longwy, Saint-Etienne and more.

Israeli occupation forces continue to hold body of slain Palestinian prisoner Raed Salhi

4 September 2017

*Photo via Raid al-Salhi’s Facebook page*

Israeli occupation officials continue to refuse to hand over the body of Palestinian prisoner Raed Salhi, who died yesterday of his injuries at the hands of Israeli occupation forces. They shot Salhi, 21, at point-blank range nearly a month ago as they invaded Dheisheh refugee camp in a pre-dawn violent “arrest” raid.

Salhi, an active member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was left bleeding for over an hour and a half after being shot by occupation forces, causing him to lose a great deal of blood. He was shot with five bullets in the abdomen; the unarmed youth was apparently targeted for murder, even as the Israeli occupation forces claimed that he was “fleeing.”

He has remained in Israeli custody since that time in Hadassah Hospital, where he has been held under heavy armed guard and denied family visits even as he remained unconscious, in a coma and dependent on a ventilator for respiration.

During that time, his detention was extended on multiple occasions by the Ofer military court along with that of Abdel-Aziz Arafa, another young man from Dheisheh refugee camp shot simultaneously by occupation forces. Arafa was shot in the leg and foot, and was brought to the Ofer military court on 29 August on a hospital bed.

Upon the news of his death, large crowds took to the streets of Dheisheh camp, marching to honor Salhi and support his family. A large mourning tent was set up outside the family home by fellow youth activists. Despite expectations that his body would be turned over on Sunday, Salhi’s body remained imprisoned by Israeli occupation forces. Salhi’s body was transfered to Rishon Lezion hospital from Hadassah, Ma’an News reported.

Karim Ajwa, a Palestinian lawyer with the Prisoners’ Affairs Commission, filed a preliminary petition on Monday, 4 September, demanding that the Israeli state immediately turn over the body of the martyr Raed Salhi. Palestinian social media accounts in Dheisheh camp said that the legal case would be taken up quickly to demand Salhi’s body be turned over without conditions. The Israeli state has held hostage a number of Palestinians’ bodies slain by occupation forces or imposed conditions on their funerals in attempt to quiet Palestinian outrage and mourning.

Fellow Palestinian prisoner Qusay Abu Srour, also of Dheisheh camp, was released on 4 September and immediately headed to the mourning tent outside Salhi’s home to pay his respects to Salhi’s family and comrades and salute the martyr and his sacrifices.

**

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network mourns the loss of Raed Salhi, Palestinian refugee and beloved member of his community, under armed guard, denied his family even as he lay dying, shot by the bullets of the Israeli occupation. The outrageous murder of Raed Salhi stands once again as a call to all people of conscience in the world to escalate their campaigns to support the Palestinian people in their struggle for justice, return and liberation, including through the international isolation of Israel and building campaigns for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS).

Palestinian Authority security forces arrest human rights activist Amro, journalist Qawasmeh in latest repressive attack

4 September 2017

Palestinian human rights defender Issa Amro, of the Youth Against Settlements campaign in al-Khalil, has reportedly been arrested by the Palestinian Authority’s “Preventive Security Service” following critical comments about the PA’s seizure of journalist Ayman al-Qawasmeh of Manbar al-Hurriya radio. Amro, along with lawyer Farid al-Atrash, is currently facing a list of charges in Israeli military court in relation to popular demonstrations in al-Khalil against settlements and occupation. l

The 18 charges against Amro include “insulting a soldier” and “assault,” and have been widely condemned by a range of organizations, including Amnesty International and Jewish Voice for Peace. Even 32 members of the US Congress signed a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson against the charges against Amro. Israeli military courts have a 99.74 percent conviction rate against Palestinians; while Amro’s last court hearing took place on 9 July, it will convene again on his case on 22 October.

Amro’s brother Ahmad said that PA preventive security had detained him since the early morning hours of Monday 4 September. This is apparently in retaliation for his comments on Facebook about the detention of Ayman Qawasmeh by PA forces only days after Israeli occupation forces stormed the radio station’s office, destroying and confiscating equipment under the pretext of “efforts against incitement,” reported Ma’an News.

Qawasmeh had openly criticized PA officials including PA President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, calling for their resignation in the wake of ongoing Israeli attacks on Palestinians under occupation, given that the PA cannot protect Palestinian institutions from Israeli occupation assault.

Amro denounced the imprisonment of Qawasmeh, saying that some in the PA are afraid of journalists and activists who demand reform and transparency, reported Quds News. Qawasmeh has announced a hunger strike in protest of his detention, reportedly authorized by Abbas himself.

The cases of Qawasmeh and Amro are only the latest cases in a series of repressive arrests carried out by PA forces under the new “Electronic Crimes Law.” The “Electronic Crimes Law” has been widely condemned by political parties and organizations throughout occupied Palestine. The PA law, which attempts to criminalize Palestinian political expression on Facebook and in the media, comes alongside systematic Israeli attacks on Palestinian expression, including the persecution of hundreds of Palestinians for their posts on social media and the jailing of teens, journalists and elders in Israeli occupation prisons.

Amnesty International has joined the denunciation of the law created by decree of PA president Mahmoud Abbas, due to its use against journalists and writers. Zaher al-Shammali and Nassar Jaradat were subject to detention for Facebook posts critical of PA officials, and Palestinian-American activist Mashal Alkouk was detained for several days last week, also in the context of the law, as was youth activist Ahmed Abdel-Aziz. A number of journalists have been interrogated and detained for publishing critical material about the PA as well.

The “Electronic Crimes Law” goes so far as to threaten sentences of hard labor against people convicted of committing “offenses” with the “purpose of disturbing public order…or harming national unity.” Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association has published a lengthy analysis of the dangers posed by the law.

Fadwa Barghouthi reportedly banned from visiting her husband until 2019

4 September 2017

Palestinian lawyer Fadwa Barghouthi, the wife of prominent imprisoned Palestinian leader and Fateh central committee member Marwan Barghouthi, said on Monday, 4 September that she had been banned from visiting her husband until 2019 in retaliation for her involvement in supporting the prisoners’ hunger strike in April-May 2017.

Barghouthi said that she had been denied a visit to see her husband four months ago, turned back at an Israeli occupation checkpoint. Donia al-Watan reported that Barghouthi said she received a one-time visit permit from the International Committee of the Red Cross one week ago, and that she went in a group visit with other families. She remained at the prison from 9 am until 4 pm, only to be told that she was prohibited from seeing her husband.

She was told that she was banned from visiting all prisons and would not be allowed to see her husband until 2019, according to news reports. Barghouthi said that she was told specifically that this was a response to her support for the prisoners’ hunger strike.

Fadwa Barghouthi is the spokesperson for the International Campaign to Free Marwan Barghouthi and was a prominent advocate for the prisoners during the hunger strike for access to family visits and other key aspects of life inside the prisons. Thousands of prisoners participated in the strike and many have reported serious retaliation in the following months.

8 September, Saint-Etienne: Freedom for Salah Hamouri

4 September 2017

Friday, 8 September
6 pm
Place du peuple
Saint-Etienne, France
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/128061167837537/

Rally to free our comrade, French-Palestinian human rights defender Salah Hamouri, newly re-imprisoned by Israel without charge or trial

Organized by Collectif Stéphanois de soutien au peuple Palestinien, Jeunes communistes Loire, AFPS and BDS 42.

9 September, Longwy: Distribution of literature to free Salah Hamouri

4 September 2017

Saturday, 9 September
10 am
Marché de Longwy
Longwy, France

The administrative detention confirmation hearing for Palestinian-French human rights defender Salah Hamouri, recent law graduate, field researcher at Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association and re-arrested Palestinian political prisoner, has been delayed until 5 September, and French activists are organizing to demand that the French government put pressure on Israel to release Hamouri.

Hamouri, 32, was ordered on Tuesday, 29 August to six months imprisonment without charge or trial under administrative detention, only six days after he was seized in a pre-dawn raid on his home in Jerusalem. The order for his imprisonment without charge or trial came directly from ultra-right racist Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, only hours after he had been ordered released by the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court.

The French state must take real action to demand freedom for Salah Hamouri, the Palestinian human rights defender. From the jails and the courts of the occupation to the cities and campuses of the world, he is a consistent and clear voice against oppression and for liberation. Free Salah Hamouri! Libérez Salah Hamouri!

8 September, Villerupt: Rally – Free Salah Hamouri!

4 September 2017

Friday, 8 September
6:00 pm
Hotel de ville
Villerupt, France

The administrative detention confirmation hearing for Palestinian-French human rights defender Salah Hamouri, recent law graduate, field researcher at Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association and re-arrested Palestinian political prisoner, has been delayed until 5 September, and French activists are organizing to demand that the French government put pressure on Israel to release Hamouri.

Hamouri, 32, was ordered on Tuesday, 29 August to six months imprisonment without charge or trial under administrative detention, only six days after he was seized in a pre-dawn raid on his home in Jerusalem. The order for his imprisonment without charge or trial came directly from ultra-right racist Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, only hours after he had been ordered released by the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court.

The French state must take real action to demand freedom for Salah Hamouri, the Palestinian human rights defender. From the jails and the courts of the occupation to the cities and campuses of the world, he is a consistent and clear voice against oppression and for liberation. Free Salah Hamouri! Libérez Salah Hamouri!

Public Letter from Ahmad Sa’adat to Georges Ibrahim Abdallah

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