Khalida Jarrar, Palestinian national leader, leftist parliamentarian, feminist and advocate for Palestinian political prisoners, was issued a six-month administrative detention order on Wednesday, 12 July 2017. The order was signed by the Israeli occupation military commander over the West Bank, and it is scheduled to be confirmed at a hearing at the Ofer military court on 17 July 2017, reported Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association.
Jarrar was seized by Israeli occupation forces who invaded her home in a pre-dawn raid on Sunday, 2 July, along with multiple other Palestinians subjected to early-morning raids including Khitam Saafin, president of the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees. Jarrar is a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, head of its Prisoners Committee and Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of Addameer.
The order came after Israeli military prosecutors did not have enough evidence even to make out a military court indictment on Monday 10 July; Jarrar’s detention was extended for 48 hours to give the military time to issue this order for administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial on the basis of so-called “secret evidence.”
It comes three days after Saafin was also ordered to three months in administrative detention without charge or trial. Administrative detention orders are issued for one to six months at a time, but they are indefinitely renewable; Palestinians have been jailed for years under administrative detention.
Jarrar is one of 11 Palestinian parliamentarians imprisoned by the Israeli occupation; nine of them, including Jarrar, are under administrative detention orders. There are nearly 500 Palestinians imprisoned without charge or trial among around 6,200 total Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails. Israel’s widespread and systematic use of administrative detention violates the Geneva Conventions and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
Khalida Jarrar has been subject to repeated attacks by Israeli occupation forces, including the attempt to forcibly displace her to Jericho from her Ramallah home in 2014, followed by her arrest and imprisonment in 2015. She was also ordered to six months in administrative detention then; however, following an international outcry, the administrative detention order against her was cancelled and she was instead ordered to the no less unjust Israeli military courts, sentenced on political charges and jailed until June 2016.
There is a growing international campaign demanding the release of Khalida Jarrar, Khitam Saafin and their fellow Palestinian prisoners. Political parties, organizations and movements from around the world are joining the call for their release and protests are being organized in a number of international cities.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network condemns the administrative detention of Khalida Jarrar in the strongest possible terms. The attack on Khalida Jarrar and Khitam Saafin is an attempt to suppress, silence and intimidate Palestinian progressive women leaders who stand up for Palestinians’ full rights and their social and national liberation, especially at a time when those rights are under intense attack . Now, more than ever, it is critical to build the campaign in support of Khalida Jarrar and Khitam Saafin and demand their freedom. Two years ago, international pressure saw Khalida Jarrar’s administrative detention cancelled. This time, we must struggle to cancel their administrative detention orders and see them immediately released from Israeli occupation prisons.
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Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges international mobilization and action to demand the immediate release of Khalida Jarrar and Khitam Saafin, prominent Palestinian progressive and feminist leaders and strugglers committed to the freedom and liberation of their people. The arrests of Jarrar and Saafin clearly come as an attempt by the Israeli occupation to attack Palestinian popular movements and suppress them through fear, arrests and intimidation carried out by a massively armed occupation force.
We urge all friends of Palestine and the Palestinian people to join us in reactivating the Khalida Jarrar Solidarity Campaign as well as the campaign in solidarity with Khitam Saafin. These arrests represent an attack on the leaders, the political activity and the popular organizing of the Palestinian people. They must be met with intensified solidarity to demand the freedom of Khalida Jarrar, Khitam Saafin and all of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners behind bars in Israeli occupation prisons.
Take Action to support Khalida Jarrar and Khitam Saafin:
1. Sign the petition! Sign and share this petition, demanding freedom for Khalida Jarrar and Khitam Saafin immediately.
2. Contact your Member of Parliament, Representative, or Member of European Parliament. The attack on Khalida is an attack on Palestinian parliamentary legitimacy and political expression. The arrest of Khitam is an assault on the Palestinian women’s movement. Parliamentarians have a responsibility to pressure Israel to cancel this order.
3. Use the Campaign Resources to inform your community, parliamentarians and others about Khalida and Khitam’s case.
4. Protest at the Israeli consulate or embassy for Khalida Jarrar and Khitam Saafin. Bring posters and flyers about Khalida and Khitam’s case and hold a protest, or join a protest with this important information. Hold a community event or discussion, or include Khalida and Khitam’s case in your next event about Palestine and social justice.
5. Boycott, Divest and Sanction. Hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law. Don’t buy Israeli goods, and campaign to end investments in corporations that profit from the occupation. Learn more at bdsmovement.net.
Palestinian national leader, leftist parliamentarian and feminist 
Palestine in Sardinia – 2nd edition
We stand against the visit to France of Benjamin Netanyahu, prime minister of the Israeli colonial government. He is unworthy of the invitation made to him by Emmanuel Macron to commemorate the Vel d’Hiv Roundup.
Administrative detention orders are issued in one- to six-month periods and are indefinitely renewable. Issued on the basis of “secret evidence,” these orders can be renewed over and over again. Many Palestinians have spent years behind bars without charge or trial under administrative detention orders. Currently, there are approximately 500 Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails under administrative detention out of a total of 6,200 Palestinian political prisoners.
