Organizers in Athens, Greece have organized a series of actions in support of Palestinian political prisoners. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network in Athens has participated in protests, marches and contingents to express solidarity from Greece to all Palestinian prisoners, and to the 1500 prisoners who launched the Strike for Freedom and Dignity on 17 April 2017, Palestinian Prisoners’ Day.

On Thursday, 11 May, protesters in support of Palestine gathered outside a Pizza Hut in central Athens, protesting the corporation’s Israeli division’s advertisement that mocked Palestinian hunger strikers, in an action organized by the Ghassan Kanafani Front for Resistance and Solidarity.

The Pizza Hut advertisement was met with immediate and worldwide revulsion and calls for boycott of the corporation as Palestinians and Arabs led calls to boycott Pizza Hut globally. The World Federation of Trade Unions also denounced the Pizza Hut advertisement and emphasized global workers’ solidarity with the hunger striking prisoners. Pizza Hut International later apologized for the advertisement and fired the Israeli advertising agency responsible for the social media post.

The Athens protesters denounced the corporation’s cynical and cruel use of the prisoners’ pain to market their pizza. 1500 Palestinian prisoners, of a total of 6300 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails, are on hunger strike for basic human rights; their demands include an end to the denial of family visits, access to proper health care and medical treatment, the right to pursue distance higher education and an end to solitary confinement and administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8Vb_oQOMkU&feature=youtu.be

This was far from the first protest organized in Athens to support the prisoners on hunger strike. On 4 May, activists in Athens who had organized several previous actions under the banner of the Assembly to Support Palestinian Political Prisoners’ Hunger Strike gathered outside the Athens Cinematheque to protest the screening of a film sponsored by the Israeli Embassy in Greece – and the presence of the Israeli ambassador at the film’s opening – and call for the cultural boycott of Israel.

On 2 May, the same Assembly to Support Palestinian Political Prisoners’ Hunger Strike, drawing together many longtime Palestine activists from a range of organizations in Athens, gathered outside the Israeli embassy in Athens in support of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike.

Over 100 people participated in the rally, including the Palestinian community in Greece and a number of solidarity organizations. A large number of newer Palestinian refugees in Athens joined the protest to express their solidarity with Palestinian prisoners and their struggle for dignity and freedom. Activists were greeted with a large, repressive police presence and massive police buses that seemed designed to block maximum visibility of the protesters.

“The Palestinian prisoners are not only conducting a hunger strike for their own rights inside Israeli jails. They are struggling for these basic rights from the moment they enter the jails and in their daily life. What they are doing today is a strategic and tactical step for their role in the Palestinian national movement for the liberation of Palestine,” said Mohammed Khatib, the European coordinator of Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, speaking in Athens.

“The prisoners are leading the Palestinian people to be in the streets and the Palestinian youth to organize and mobilize themselves. They are bringing the Palestinian refugees in Nahr el-Bared camp and Hittin camp in Jordan to the forefront of struggle and urging the solidarity movement to intensify their campaigns and build the boycott of Israel. The Palestinian prisoners are leading us and our struggle together under one united banner. This is their role and their message. Freedom for them and for Palestine!” said Khatib.

The 2 May demonstration followed a vibrant May First demonstration in which tens of thousands took the streets in Athens and several contingents showed strong solidarity with Palestine, with a special focus on Palestinian political prisoners. A large banner, reading “Victory to the Palestinian hunger strikers, Victory to the Palestinian resistance” was carried throughout the May First march.

Samidoun activists distributed a statement by Ahmad Sa’adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, issued to the international left on 1 May. “Greetings to you from inside the prisons and cells of Zionism, and salutes to all those who celebrate today, who march and participate in this day, in the lighting of the flame of this immortal, human, day, the first of May, the day of workers, the people, and the struggling classes. This is the day in which we together renew our primary commitment to defend the rights and interests of the impoverished and struggling classes with a fundamental interest in progress and change, the classes that were and still are the front line of the revolution, standing against the savage forces of capitalism, occupation, colonialism and racism…One of our common tasks is to defend the rights of refugees everywhere and to defend migrants and the impoverished classes, especially those living in the midst of imperialist countries,” said Sa’adat.

Another event is scheduled for this evening, Monday, 15 May in Athens, marking the 69th anniversary of the Nakba and supporting the struggle of the Palestinian prisoners. A motorcycle procession in solidarity with the Palestinian people will depart the Panathenaic Stadium in solidarity with the Palestinian people’s struggle for the liberation of Palestine and the right of return for Palestinian refugees. It will depart at 5:30 pm from the front of the stadium and will demand the immediate implementation of the demands of the hunger strikers and the freedom of Palestinian prisoners.

As Palestinians and their supporters around the world mark the 69th anniversary of the Nakba, the catastrophe of the occupation of Palestine and the forced displacement of over 750,000 Palestinian refugees from their homes, lands and villages by Zionist forces, Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails enter their 29th day of hunger strike on 15 May 2017.

Palestinian prisoners have a long history of hunger strikes in Israeli prisons, stretching back to 1968. This strike, the Strike of Freedom and Dignity, was launched on 17 April 2017, Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, by approximately 1,500 out of the total 6,300 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. They are demanding basic human rights, including an end to the denial of family visits, proper health care and medical treatment, the right to pursue distance higher education and an end to solitary confinement and administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial.

35 more Palestinian political prisoners joined the strike on Sunday, 14 May, reported Asra Voice. The health condition of the strikers continues to deteriorate; a number of prisoners have lost 20 kg (42 pounds) in weight, while standing and walking is difficult or impossible for many. A number of prisoners in Nafha prison have fainted; two hunger strikers in the prison, Mohammed al-Ghoul and Yahya Ibrahim, received a legal visit on Sunday, in which they highlighted the deteriorating health of their fellow prisoners, most of whom are taken to a so-called “field clinic” that do not provide proper medical treatment. Issa Qaraqe of the Prisoners’ Affairs Commission demanded that all of the striking prisoners be transferred to civilian hospitals in the face of the escalating health risks, Ma’an News reported.

Some prisoners in Ohli Kedar prison have been denied access to salt for many days and are therefore consuming only water, as revealed by imprisoned Palestinian leader Ahmad Sa’adat. Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike have faced harsh repression, including the confiscation of personal belongings – sometimes including the salt necessary to preserve life and health, frequent repressive raids, arbitrary and abusive transfers, isolation and denial of legal and family visits.

Marwan Barghouthi, a prominent Palestinian political leader, a member of the Fateh Central Committee, and leader of the strike, received his first legal visit of the strike on Sunday. Since the strike began on 17 April, Barghouthi had been consistently denied legal visits despite court orders that the striking prisoners must be able to receive visits from their lawyers following legal challenges from Palestinian lawyers.  Fellow prominent Palestinian leader Ahmad Sa’adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, also received his first legal visit since joining the strike on 4 May on Sunday, 14 May.

Palestinian lawyer Khader Shqairat visited Barghouthi in Jalameh (Kishon) prison, where he is held in isolation. Barghouthi sent a letter to his fellow hunger strikers, the Palestinian people and supporters of freedom around the world, calling for civil disobedience to support the prisoners, reported Ma’an.

Shqairat reported that Barghouthi said that repressive units invade his cell for “inspection” four times daily and that this is done in a particularly humiliating manner. He is strip searched by force while handcuffed and shackled at his feet. Barghouthi was held in a basement in the prison’s isolation section for four days until he stopped drinking water in order to be moved. He is also subjected to forms of noise harassment and abuse and must try to plug his ears with handkerchiefs. He also noted that Barghouthi’s cell is infested with insects and only one blanket available. All of his personal clothing and books have been confiscated. He has lost 12 kilograms (25 pounds) in weight since the beginning of the strike.

Barghouthi’s letter, issued from solitary confinement, emphasized the commitment of the prisoners to continue their struggle despite their difficult conditions, urging escalated action. Excerpts follow:

“I greet with great pride, admiration and reverence the Palestinian people, who have come out everywhere to support the prisoners, in Jerusalem, in the West Bank and Gaza, in 1948 Palestine, in the camps, the diaspora and countries of asylum, in the Palestinian exile communities around the world. I also greet with admiration, appreciation and pride the Arab peoples and their parties, trade unions and youth, and salute the popular solidarity in the Arab world. I also salute all of our friends of freedom in the world who express their solidarity with us in the battle for freedom and dignity in Palestine.

“In particular, I would like to salute the refugees of our Palestinian people, as we mark the 69th anniversary of the ethnic cleansing of the Nakba and renew our consistent position to uphold the sacred right of return of Palestinian refugees to their homes and lands from which they were forced in an attempt to eradicate and erase them as a people.

“I call on the movement to commemorate the Nakba and the popular movement in solidarity with the prisoners to develop their situation into a comprehensive national and civil disobedience that coincides with the half-century anniversary of the colonization of the Arab lands occupied in 1967.

“I would also like to pay tribute to the heroic prisoners on hunger strike, the knights of the intifadas and heroes of the resistance who hold onto burning embers in this epic of steadfastness and patience. ‘Victory is the patience of an hour.’ They are the ones who are writing a new, shining and honorable page in the history of the battles of the prisoners’ movement and the struggle of the Palestinian people for freedom and dignity. They are planting hope in future generations with their flesh and blood. I pledge that we will continue to fight for the freedom and dignity of Palestine until we achieve our goals. Nothing will break the will of the prisoners of freedom or that of our great people. I salute the freedom and dignity of Saba Obeid, who joined the ranks of the martyrs of Palestine, the purest heroes of us all, and I strongly condemn the ugly attacks on prisoners on hunger strike for just and human demands. They are abused, hundreds subject to transfers for 18 hours a day, barred from legal visits and held in solitary confinement cells with their tired and exhausted bodies. But I assure our people that all the cheap attempts at extortion, the cruel and bitter actions and the brutal conditions in which we live will only increase our determination….

“I call on the Palestinian people, as we are still in the stage of national liberation and liberation from occupation and colonialism, to launch the largest popular movement of comprehensive civil and national disobedience on the road of national liberation, on the 50th anniversary of Israeli colonization and with the approaching 70th anniversary of the struggle. This battle for freedom and dignity is an integral part of the struggle against occupation and to overthrow the oppressive apartheid regime in Palestine.”

Barghouthi also urged Palestinian national unity and warned against the resumption of negotiations while Israel refuses to recognize basic Palestinian rights.

Ahmad Sa’adat met with lawyer Farah Bayadsi of Addameer on Sunday, 14 May. The imprisoned PFLP General Secretary said that “the will of the strikers derives from the will of the Palestinian people, which has not been defeated and will not be defeated, and victory is inevitable.”

Sa’adat reported harsh conditions and denial of any meaningful medical treatment, noting that he and dozens of other strikers are isolated and consuming water only after their salt was confiscated by the Israeli prison administration.

Sa’adat also noted that the striking prisoners had refused to meet with delegates from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), who came for a visit with them, because the ICRC delegates refused to enter the prisoners’ sections and rooms to see for themselves the conditions of the striking prisoners’ detention. The striking prisoners rejected this position from the ICRC and demanded the ICRC be accountable to its responsibilities and those of its representatives in the protection of prisoners and their rights.

The prisoners are firmly adhering to their collective demands and their strike until victory, despite attempts by the prison administration to break the prisoners’ morale and the popular support for their struggle, Sa’adat said in the visit. Despite their fatigue and weight loss, Sa’adat emphasized that the hunger strikers’ morale remains high and their commitment firm in continuing the strike. .

The National Committee to Support the Prisoners’ Strike called for a commercial strike throughout the West Bank today, Monday, 15 May, from 11 am to 2 pm. The statement urged that Nakba commemoration activities become confrontations with the occupation in all locations and urged all merchants to commit to the campaign to boycott Israeli products.

International events are also continuing to support the prisoners’ strike, with many events jointly held to commemorate al-Nakba, demand Palestinian refugees’ right to return, and support the demands of the hunger strikers. On Sunday, 14 May, supporters of Palestine gathered in Vancouver, Malmo, Manchester, Donegal, Lurgan, Madrid and elsewhere in solidarity with the hunger strikers. The large national one-day hunger strike in South Africa, including government officials like Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, former political prisoners of the apartheid regime and veteran anti-apartheid struggles, launched at 6 pm on Sunday.

On Monday, 15 May, events and actions will take place in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Glasgow, Durham, Los Angeles, London, Istanbul, Sydney, Antwerp, Madrid, Athens, Montreal, Sao Paolo, Donosti, Toulouse and elsewhere. Samidoun has a list of global actions for Palestine and the hunger strikers available.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and BDS Turkey organized a demonstration in Istanbul’s Galatasaray Square on Saturday, 6 May, with the support of the Solidarity with Prisoners Initiative (TDI), the Human Rights Association (İHD) and the Turkish Human Rights Foundation (TİHV), in support of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli prisons.

1500 Palestinian prisoners launched the hunger strike on 17 April for a series of demands for basic human rights, including an end to the denial of family visits, proper medical treatment and health care, the right to pursue distance higher education and an end to solitary confinement and administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial. Since that time, they have consumed only salt and water and face harsh repression from the Israeli prison administration, including denial of family visits and legal visits, frequent abusive transfers, frequent repressive raids on their cells, isolation and confiscation of personal belongings, including the salt necessary to sustain their health. Leaders of the strike, like Marwan Barghouthi, Kamil Abu Hanish, Karim Younes, Ahmad Sa’adat and Abbas Sayyed, have been particularly targeted for isolation.

TİHV: We will raise our voice for Palestinian captives

As human rights defenders, the Turkish Human Rights Foundation (TİHV) understands the plight of the Palestinian people, said the association’s Istanbul representative, Ümit Efe, at the protest, adding that the TİHV condemned the occupying regime’s policies of oppression:

We are closely watching the inhuman treatment of Palestinians in Israeli jails. The occupying regime is continuing its policies of destruction and denial toward the Palestinians with such measures. Just as in Ireland, Italy and Turkey, Palestinian prisoners are embarking upon hunger strikes with salt and water as they have no other tools at their disposal but their bodies. We say that we will raise our voice for them and that we will strengthen our solidarity in an effort to end the policies of destruction and occupation. Let us all remind the doctors that will forcibly intervene in the situation about the great damage that the prisoners on hunger strike are facing and that no intervention can be made without the consent of the patient. When intervention is forced upon those resisting, they develop Wernicke-Korsakoff Syndrome. We will raise the voice of Palestinian prisoners.

İHD: Those that resist will say the last word

The destiny of the people in the Middle East is not oppression, even though some see it as fitting, Human Rights Association (İHD) Istanbul Branch member Mine Nazari said. “Those that resist will absolutely have the last word. Today, I salute all prisoners who have offered up their bodies to hunger in Palestine. I want to note once more that we stand next to them. With respect,” she said.

TDİ: We salute the resistance of the Palestinians

Solidarity with Prisoners Initiative (TDİ) Spokesperson Gülsev Kaya began her speech with salutations to prisoners on hunger strike.

“The month of May is the month of resistance,” said Kaya. “The region is different, but fascism’s attacks are the same. But the resistance of prisoners against these attacks is the same. As the Solidarity with Prisoners Initiative, we salute the resistance of Palestinians in Palestine.”

A press statement in Turkish and Arabic on behalf of BDS Turkey and Samidoun was delivered following the speeches.

“The forces of occupation are attacking Palestinian captives”

Mutlu Örs, who delivered the Turkish version of the statement, reminded participants that 1,500 Palestinian prisoners had begun an indefinite hunger strike dubbed the “Freedom and Dignity Strike” on 17 April, the Day of Solidarity with Palestinian Prisoners.

Prisoners from nearly every Palestinian political group in the prisons of the occupying Israeli state, particularly the Hadarim, Gilboa and Nafha prisons, are participating in the strike, said Örs.

“While serious problems are becoming evident in the health of some captives, the forces of the occupation are resorting to a variety of methods to break the will of the hunger strikers, including physical attacks. While the personal effects and clothes of some prisoners have been confiscated, salt, which is required to continue the hunger strike, is not being provided to prisoners in some prisons,” Örs said.

Friends of the Palestinian people everywhere

Despite all these pressures and attacks, the hunger strike is growing, Örs said, noting that arrested PFLP General Secretary Ahmad Sa’adat had also joined the action.

“George Ibrahim Abdallah, a Lebanese revolutionary for Palestine who has been held for close to 30 years in France and whose release has been blocked by the United States, lent support with a three-day hunger strike. From Tunisia to Chile, France to Ireland, Australia and New Zealand to Canada and the USA, many friends of the Palestinian people are sending support to Palestinian prisoners in Zionism’s prisons with protests and activities,” Örs said.

“Freedom to all Palestinian prisoners”

“Together with supporting groups, we, as BDS Turkey and the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network (Samidoun), salute the Freedom and Dignity Strike from Istanbul,” said Örs.

“We repeat that [Palestinian prisoners] are not alone in their struggle and that the true path of showing solidarity with them passes through boycotting all Israeli institutions and severing all ties with the Zionist regime. We especially call for a boycott of the G4S and HP brands which offer ‘services’ to Israeli prisons and are thus partners in their crimes,” Örs said.

Following the press statement, protesters consumed salt and water in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike. BDS Turkey is holding its next mobilization for the Palestinian people on Monday, 15 May to commemorate the Nakba; the protest will take place at 7 pm at Levent Metro in Istanbul.

Report from bdsturkiye.org

The Canadian Labour Congress, the national labor federation representing 3 million workers across Canada passed an Emergency Resolution at its 2017 convention in Toronto on 10 May in support of Palestinian prisoners’ #DignityStrike. The text of the resolution follows:

Emergency Resolution

CLC Supports Palestinian Prisoners’ Dignity Strike

The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) will:

a) Call on the Canadian Government to pressure Israel to stop violating international law by illegally detaining Palestinians and depriving them of their basic human, civil and political rights;
and

b) Work with global union federations, affiliates and civil society organizations in Canada on campaigns in support of Palestinian prisoners.

BECAUSE More than 1600 Palestinian prisoners have been on a hunger strike since April 17, 2017; and

BECAUSE Key demands of the hunger strike include: end to the denial of family visits, the right to appropriate health care, the right to education in prison and an end to solitary confinement and “administrative detention”; and

BECAUSE The CLC supports the right of the Palestinian people to national self-determination and an end to the illegal Israeli occupation as the basis for a just peace in the region.

This important resolution follows on strong, growing international labor movement and trade union support for Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinian struggle for justice, self-determination and liberation.

On 12 May, the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO), which represents nearly one million workers in Norway, endorsed a full international economic, cultural and academic boycott of Israel as a necessary means to support fundamental Palestinian rights.

The Congress of LO unanimously supported some form of boycott of Israel, as 193 delegates voted for a full boycott and 117 voted for a limited boycott of Israeli settlements. The strong majority of the LO congress embraced a full boycott of Israel, emphasizing the importance of meaningful international action in the face of impunity and apartheid.  The LO vote escalated the existing position of the labor confederation in support of the boycott of settlement products.

This important action came as 1500 Palestinian prisoners have been engaged in a hunger strike since 17 April for their basic human rights, including an end to the denial of family visits, proper medical treatment and health care, the right to pursue distance higher education, and an end to solitary confinement and administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial.

A number of trade unions and workers’ organizations have been vocal in their support for the Palestinian prisoners. 26 European trade unions and labor organizations endorsed a collective statement in support of the hunger strike:

“We believe that as trade unionists and conscious citizens of this world, we have duty and power to take a stand. We stand in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in their demand for fair treatment and justice. We commit to working within our respective unions not to renew contracts with corporations like HP and G4S profiting from the imprisonment of Palestinians. In addition we call on the EU and European member states to end their complicity and hold Israel accountable for its gross violations of human rights,” emphasized the unions, including labor organizations in Belgium, France, Ireland, Norway, the UK, Galicia, Basque Country, Valencia, Scotland, Ireland, Poland, the Netherlands, Catalonia, and Luxembourg.

Meanwhile, the National Union of Teachers in the UK has joined several other international labor unions in being an HP-free zone.  Kevin Courtney, general secretary with the National Union of Teachers, said in the Electronic Intifada that “the NUT does not buy or use HP products or services as a gesture of solidarity with the Palestinian people.” HP provides services and technologies to the Israeli military as well as the Israel Prison Service, and the boycott of HP is a priority for BDS campaigns in support of Palestinian prisoners.

These statements followed declarations by the World Federation of Trade Unions, representing 92 million workers in 162 countries, and the International Trade Union Confederation, representing 181 million workers in 163 countries, in support of the Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike.

The WFTU statement “expresses its firm internationalist solidarity with the more than 6700 Palestinians, including 389 children and 56 women, currently imprisoned by the Israeli occupation forces.

We strongly denounce the imprisonment of the Palestinian people by Israel, the inhumane detention conditions and the acts of abuse like the violent beatings against our Palestinian brothers and sisters and we demand the immediate release of all Palestinian prisoners and the end of Israel’s arrest campaigns, aggressiveness and occupation of the Palestinian territories.”

The WFTU also issued a statement condemning the Pizza Hut Israeli advertisement – later pulled – mocking Palestinian hunger strikers, emphasizing again that “The World Federation of Trade Unions and the international class oriented trade union movement stand on the side of the heroic Palestinian people and prisoners, express their solidarity and support to their fair struggle.”

ITUC also expressed its solidarity with “Palestinian prisoners who have declared an indefinite hunger strike to protest against violations of human rights inside Israeli Prisons. We also support the ‘general strike for freedom and dignity’ held in solidarity with hunger striking prisoners and call for wider international solidarity…

We add our voice to the demands of the hunger striking Palestinian detainees calling for the lifting of restrictions on family visits, improved overall detention conditions and access to medical care, including easing restrictions on access to education materials and food, as well as the installation of telephones to communicate with their relatives. We also recall that under international humanitarian law, detainees from occupied territories must be detained in the occupied territory, not in the territory of the occupying power, as enshrined in the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

In South Africa, among the endorsers of the South African Campaign for Palestinian Political Prisoners is the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) as well as the South African Municipal Workers Union.  Sidubo Dlamini, the President of COSATU, is joining in the broad one-day hunger strike in South Africa in support of Palestinian prisoners, alongside government officials, anti-apartheid struggle veterans and former political prisoners.

This support comes amid a growing campaign in the international labor movement in support of Palestinian rights, including an end to occupation and apartheid, full equality for all and Palestinian refugees’ right to return to the homes and lands from which they were expelled. Unions endorsing BDS include COSATU, CUT in Brazil, CSN in Quebec, the Canadian Union of Postal Workers, the Irish Confederation of Trade Unions and the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers (UE) in the United States. Unions in Scotland, Canada, the UK, Sweden, Belgium, the Basque Country, Uruguay and many other countries have also taken a stand in support of Palestinian rights and the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions. Workers’ struggles and popular movements like the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) in Brazil have been strong supporters of the Palestinian struggle – including that of the Palestinian prisoners – for many years.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes all of the labor unions taking a stand with the Palestinian people and the Palestinian prisoners. We echo the call of Palestinian trade unions:

“We also take this opportunity to call on trade unions yet to join the BDS movement to: implement boycotts of Israeli and international companies that are complicit with violations of Palestinian rights, divest trade union funds from companies and institutions complicit in Israel’s occupation, settler colonialism and apartheid, and apply pressure on governments to cut military and trade relations with Israel. We reiterate our call for a boycott of Histadrut, Israel’s general trade union, for its complicity with Israel’s violations of international law and its refusal to take a clear stand in support of comprehensive human rights for Palestinians.” 

We urge all labor organizations and workers’ movements to express their solidarity and support for the Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike, for the Palestinian people’s struggle for liberation and for the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. The majority of Palestinian prisoners are Palestinians of the popular classes: workers, from the villages, the refugee camps and the cities. The international workers’ movement is engaged in a battle confronting capitalist exploitation, oppression and austerity around the world. The Palestinian prisoners in their battle for dignity and freedom are on the front lines not only of the struggle for Palestinian freedom, but for social justice and human liberation in the world today.

“The will of the strikers derives from the will of the Palestinian people, which has not been defeated and will not be defeated. and victory is inevitable,” said Ahmad Sa’adat, imprisoned Palestinian leader, in his legal visit today at Ohli Kedar prison with Farah Bayadsi, a lawyer with Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association.  This is Sa’adat’s first legal visit since joining the hunger strike; prior requests were repeatedly denied until Addameer submitted a High Court petition on 10 May 2017.

Sa’adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was transferred on Thursday, 11 May into isolation in Ohli Kedar prison from isolation in Ashkelon prison. He was thrown into isolation along with other prominent Palestinian leaders who joined the collective hunger strike on 4 May, including Abbas Sayyed, Hassan Salameh, Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh, Nael Barghouthi, Bassam Khandakja, Mohammed Ramadan and Rami Halabi; this group of 38 leaders was again transferred into isolation in Ohli Kedar. The use of frequent and abusive transfers, as well as isolation and solitary confinement, is a tactic being used by the Israeli prison administration in order to pressure the strikers into breaking their strike.

The hunger strike was launched on 17 April, Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, by 1500 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails. The prisoners have a range of demands, mostly highlighting basic needs and human rights, including an end to the denial of family visits, the right to proper health care and medical treatment, the right to pursue distance higher education and an end to solitary confinement and administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial.

Addameer reported that Sa’adat was brought to the visit in handcuffs and showing signs of severe fatigue and weight loss of about 10 kilograms (21 pounds). His face was pale, he was gaunt in appearance and he spoke and walked very slowly. During the isolation and transfers of the striking prisoners, their personal clothing was confiscated and a prison uniform imposed upon them. Sa’adat stated that he and his fellow strikers are currently consuming only water as the Israel Prison Service confiscated the salt of the transferred strikers as well as that of 20 other prisoners who have been on strike since 17 April. Even more, they are drinking from the tap rather than the usually provided drinking water, which has been denied to the strikers since they began their hunger strike.

He emphasized that the medical examinations provided in the prison are insufficient to verify the health of the prisoners, as striking prisoners’ blood pressure and weight are the only aspect of the strikers’ health examined. Furthermore, he noted that the conditions of life in section 4, where the strikers are held, are very difficult. In each room, 10 prisoners are held, deprived of hygiene supplies and personal needs and denied fans despite intense heat. They are only allowed to leave the rooms to the prison yard for one hour each day. Independent doctors have been denied access to the hunger striking prisoners.

Sa’adat said that the Israeli prison administration is carrying out punitive policies in an attempt to break the strike and exhaust the will of the prisoners. In particular, he noted that striking prisoners are taken, shackled, to the recreation yard and held in the sun, standing, twice daily during repressive inspection raids despite their physical weakness and exhaustion. He also noted the same conditions that have been experienced by hunger strikers throughout the Israeli prison system, including prohibition of access to the “canteen” (prison store), a total ban on family visits and a fine of 200 NIS ($60 USD) imposed on each hunger striker. Sa’adat noted that this comes in an attempt to undermine the strike and the prisoners’ will.

In this context, he noted that Israeli prison officials attempted to show him the video displayed in Israeli media that claims to depict Marwan Barghouthi. He “refused to watch the video as it is a product of the corrupt occupation and one of its desperate tricks that seeks to break the morale and steadfastness of the prisoners, and break the popular, mass solidarity with the prisoners’ movement and its struggles,” said Sa’adat. “We must beware of such games and rumors from various quarters and in various forms, especially from the prison authority and the circles of the government that are trying to imply that Marwan Barghouthi has ended his strike. These attempts will not be successful in deceiving our people,” Sa’adat said.

Sa’adat also noted that the striking prisoners had refused to meet with delegates from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), who came for a visit with them, because the ICRC delegates refused to enter the prisoners’ sections and rooms to see for themselves the conditions of the striking prisoners’ detention. The striking prisoners rejected this position from the ICRC and demanded the ICRC be accountable to its responsibilities and those of its representatives in the protection of prisoners and their rights.

The prisoners are firmly adhering to their collective demands and their strike until victory, Sa’adat emphasized, despite attempts by the prison administration to break the prisoners’ morale and the popular support for their struggle. Despite their fatigue and weight loss, Sa’adat emphasized that the hunger strikers’ morale remains high and their commitment firm to continue the strike.

Samidoun urges the organizing of events and actions to support the prisoners, rallying at Israeli embassies, federal buildings and public squares. These actions around the world will help to underline the global support for Palestinian political prisoners in their struggle for freedom, and the struggle of the Palestinian people for liberation. As noted in Ahmad Sa’adat’s statements in his legal visit today, the actions of Palestinians and their supporters around the world are important in both putting pressure on the Israeli occupation and in helping to support the prisoners’ morale and steadfastness despite intense physical suffering and harsh repression. We urge the escalation of the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel and complicit corporations like HP and G4S – to support the prisoners in achieving the demands of their hunger strike, their freedom, and the freedom of the land and people of Palestine.

You can download flyers and posters for your events to support the prisoners among our resources.