Ahmad Sa’adat transferred to Ohli Kedar prison

14 May 2017

*Poster depicting Ahmad Sa’adat, imprisoned PFLP leader*

UPDATE AND CORRECTION: 14 May – Due to the restrictions on communication imposed by the Israeli prison administration, Ahmad Sa’adat’s transfer was widely reported in Palestinian and Arab media on the morning of Sunday, 14 May. However, he was in fact transferred to isolation in Ohli Kedar prison on Thursday, 11 May and should in fact receive his scheduled legal visit today. The report below has been updated to reflect the corrected information. We will update with any additional information and the results of his legal visit as soon as they are available.

Imprisoned Palestinian leader Ahmad Sa’adat, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, has been on hunger strike since 4 May, when he joined the strike with a number of leaders from across Palestinian political lines. Since he launched his strike he has been transferred on multiple occasions and has been consistently been denied all family and legal visits by the Israel Prison Service. This morning, Sunday, 14 May, it was reported that Sa’adat had been transferred once again, from isolation in Ashkelon prison to isolation in Ohli Kedar prison.

The transfer comes prior to a legal visit scheduled with a lawyer from Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association at 3:00 pm. The visit was scheduled only after the filing of a petition by Addameer after the repeated denial of legal visits to Sa’adat and fellow imprisoned leaders. The transfer is part of a policy of abusive and physically taxing transfers imposed on Palestinian prisoners in an attempt to break their hunger strike.

Strike leaders, including Sa’adat, Fateh leader Marwan Barghouthi, Hamas leader Abbas Sayyed and fellow PFLP leader Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh, have been repeatedly and consistently denied legal visits since the beginning of the hunger strike, despite court orders to permit the visits. Nearly 1500 Palestinian prisoners launched the strike on 17 April, Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, for a series of demands including an end to the denial of family visits, proper medical care and treatment, and an end to solitary confinement and administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial.

Prisoners have faced harsh repression, including frequent transfers; some striking prisoners have been transferred up to seven times. These transfers are physically taxing as well and take hours at a time; they are also clearly intended to demoralize the prisoners and disorient the strike organization. This comes in addition to confiscation of personal belongings, isolation and solitary confinement, confiscation of the salt necessary to sustain health and life, and frequent repressive raids on strikers’ sections, which have included assaults, beatings and the use of tear gas by Israeli repressive forces.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges widespread international organizing and action – and 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.

15 May, London, Ont: Rally and Writing Letters in Solidarity with Palestinian Prisoners

14 May 2017

Monday, 15 May
5:30 pm
Victoria Park, Richmond and Central
London, ON, Canada
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/324029738015603/

Monday May 15 is Nakba (Catastrophe) Day, marked by supporters of human rights to commemorate the creation of the state which put three quarters of a million Palestinians into exile as refugees, and continues to deprive millions of their basic human rights.

Currently in Palestine, Israel is holding thousands of political prisoners captive for their resistance towards the Israeli colonial occupation. Today, many of them they are halfway through completing their fourth week of hunger strike, protesting the unfair and cruel treatment they have been receiving within Israeli jails. The hunger striking prisoners’ demands include: family visits, proper medical care, an end to Israel’s practice of detaining Palestinians without charge or trial in so-called administrative detention and stopping the use of solitary confinement.

In solidarity with these political prisoners, we are holding a rally, demonstrating and standing with these prisoners, who have been living off of salt and water for the past month.
Followed by:

Monday, 15 May
7:00 pm
The Bus Stop
870 Dundas Street
London, Ontario, Canada
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/126079831282840/

Writing Across Walls is organizing a workshop and get-together to write letters to Palestinian prisoners. Some of the first prisoners who participants will write to include imprisoned students, like Kifah Quzmar and Istabraq Yahya.

15 May, Toulouse: Rally for Dignity and Freedom

14 May 2017

Monday, 15 May
6:00 pm
Square Charles-de-Gaulle
Metro Capitole
Toulouse, France
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1334102036655165/

Rally for Freedom and Dignity
1500 Palestinian prisoners are on an open hunger strike.

Imprisonment is a structural component of the colonial system of Israeli apartheid. Accompanied by torture, it is a ferocious weapon of repression to create terror and obtain submission. Since 1967, more than 850,000 Palestinians have been imprisoned, including 10,200 women, 7,500 children, 70 parliamentarians. 208 have died in detention, due to torture or medical negligence. In April 17, according to Addameer, there are 6300 prisoners including 61 women, 300 children and 13 parliamentarians. Freedom for Marwan Barghouthi, Ahmad Sa’adat, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah and all Palestinian prisoners! Support the Palestinian resistance!

Endorsers: AFPS 31, Association des Palestiniens en France, ATTAC 31, Campagne BDS France-Toulouse, CGT Educ’Action 31, Collectif Coup pour Coup 31, Couserans Palestine, EELV 31, Egalité Toulouse Mirail, MJCF 31, Comité 31 du Mouvement de la Paix, NPA 31, PCF 31, OCML-VP, Sud Education 31, Sud PTT 31, Sud Santé Sociaux 31, Union des Etudiant-e-s de Toulouse…

15 May, Johannesburg: Palestinian Political Prisoner Solidarity Rally

14 May 2017

Monday, 15 May
6:00 pm
Women’s Jail Atrium
Constitution Hill – Braamfontein
Johannesburg, South Africa
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/738323446348193/

Featuring:
Nomaindia Mfeketo, Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation

Ebrahim Ebrahim MP, former Robben Island Prisoner

Natalia Molebatsi, South African Spoken Word Artist

Public event to end the 24 hour fast in solidarity with#PalestinianPoliticalPrisoners who have been on a hunger strike for over 25 days in protest against Israeli human rights violations.

Everyone is invited to participate in the 24 hour solidarity fast (starting 14 May 6pm and ending 15th May 2017 at 6pm) and to attend this public event.

#DignityStrikeSA

15 May, Cape Town: Picket in Support of Palestinian Prisoners on Hunger Strike

14 May 2017

Monday, 15 May
12 pm to 2 pm
5 Wale Street
Cape Town, South Africa
More information: http://www.vocfm.co.za/ct-pickets-planned-highlight-palestinian-hunger-strike/

Part of the South African Campaign to free Palestinian political prisoners. Organized by the Al-Quds Foundation.

15 May, Sydney: Solidarity with Palestinian Hunger Strikers + Nakba Rally

14 May 2017

Several events are taking place in Sydney, Australia, to support Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike on Monday, 15 May.

Start your support for the strike by joining the Sydney #SaltWaterChallenge:

Monday, 15 May
1:15 pm
Harbour Master Steps
First Fleet Park next to Circular Quay Station
Sydney, Australia

Participants will video and photograph drinking salt water to support the prisoners.

Then, join the contingent to support the hunger strikers at the Sydney Nakba rally:

Monday, 15 May
6:30 pm
Sydney Town Hall
Sydney, Australia
Contingent Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1275850352511538/

Stand in support of all the heroic Palestinians participating in the mass hunger strike from inside the zionist prison walls (now numbering more than 1,700+ people) and in support of their families, comrades, and communities fighting for them on the outside.

Recognize and reaffirm their #RightToResist mass incarceration, political imprisonment and settler colonial occupation by any means necessary.

The Palestinian “Nakba” (“catastrophe” in Arabic) refers to the mass expulsion of Palestinian Arabs from British Mandate Palestine during Israel’s creation (1947-49).

The Nakba was not an unintended result of war. It was a deliberate and systematic act necessary for the creation of a Jewish majority state in historic Palestine, which was overwhelmingly Arab prior to 1948.

Many dispossessed Palestinians continue to hold and treasure the keys to their lost homes, and the key has become a symbol of Palestinian right to return home. United Nations Resolution 194, passed immediately following the Nakba, declares the right of all refugees displaced and dispossessed by the Zionist militias to return to their homes.

Nakba Rally Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/415303885512398/

May 15th 1948 marks the day that over 750,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes and made refugees.

In 1948, the establishment of the Israeli state in Palestine through violent ethnic cleansing not only forced Palestinians from their homes, but also led to massacres of indigenous populations and the destruction of villages.

After 69 years this bloodshed has not been forgotten, nor the right of Palestinians to return to their homeland.

Join us to commemorate 69 years since the Nakba (catastrophe) and to protest against the ongoing occupation of Palestine, on Monday May 15th, 6:30PM Town Hall.

Monday events in Australia also include a national day of action, organized by Australia Palestine Advocacy Network. For more information: https://www.facebook.com/events/661017800775813/

14 May, Lurgan: Vigil in Support of Palestinian Hunger Strikers

14 May 2017

Sunday, 14 May
6:00 pm
Kilwilkie Murals, Kilwilkie Est
Lurgan, Ireland
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/749355631905651/

Saoradh Ard Mhacha activists are holding a vigil in Lurgan this Sunday 14th May in solidarity with the Palestinian Hunger Strikers.

Join us to show solidarity with those who hunger for Freedom and Dignity.

#freedom #dignity

14 May, Donegal: Nakba Vigil 2017 and Emergency Vigil for Hunger Strikers

14 May 2017

Sunday, 14 May
1:00 pm
Station Road Roundabout
Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/274632019663361/

Nakba Day 1948, meaning “Day of the Catastrophe” the day Palestine was invaded by Zionist forces, over 700,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes and land, hundreds of Palestinian towns and villages destroyed and the state of Israel created on that land.
These refugees and their descendants number between 5 and 6million today all of which have no right of return to their home country.

69 years later and the Palestinian people are still suffering horrific abuse at the hands of their oppressor, no civil rights, no basic human rights. The Palestinian people are a normal people with normal aspirations, what they aspire is to live on their land with freedom and dignity as all people deserve.

The ethnic cleansing of Palestine is still happening today, we call upon Tesco to respect human rights and cease trading with Israel until Israel abides by international law in regards to illegal settlement and its’s daily violations of Palestinian human rights. Trading with Israel is funding apartheid and occupation.

Donegal Awareness For Palestine are organizing an hour long peaceful vigil in rememberance of Nakba Day and the continuous suffering of Palestinian people. There are at present 1600 Palestinian preisoners on hunger strike in Israeli prisons asking for their basic human rights as prisoners, family visits, phone calls, adequate medical care and the end administrative detention.

Tesco continue to profit from the murder and oppression of innocent civilians, we aim to raise public awareness of the Israeli origin of Tesco products.

Boycott, is a practical, non-violent,peaceful way we can all help!
Hope to see you there.

Palestinian writer and intellectual Ahmed Qatamesh seized by Israeli occupation forces

13 May 2017

Palestinian writer and intellectual Dr. Ahmed Qatamesh, 63, was seized from his home in El-Bireh by Israeli occupation forces, who invaded and ransacked his home before dawn on Sunday, 14 May.

Qatamesh was last released from Israeli prison nearly 4 years ago after being held in administrative detention without charge or trial for 2 and one-half years. He has previously spent many years inside Israeli prison, and his memoir about prison, I Will Not Wear Your Tarbush, is a well-known contribution to Palestinian prison literature. Haneen Qatamesh, Ahmed’s daughter, wrote about the experience of his last arrest in 2011 for his family.

*Photo: Raid on Ahmed Qatamesh’s home. Via Quds News*

He had been detained for six years, between 1993 and 1998, under administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial – at that time the longest-serving prisoner held under administrative detention.

He was one of 14 Palestinians seized overnight in violent raids by Israeli occupation forces.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network demands the immediate release of Ahmed Qatamesh and all Palestinian prisoners. We will follow up on this case as soon as information becomes available.

28 days of hunger strike: Sa’adat to receive legal visit as strike grows amid repression

13 May 2017

Graphic by Marz Saffore, via Decolonize This Place

On Sunday, 14 May, Palestinian prisoners entered into their 28th day of hunger strike in Israeli prisons. 1500 Palestinian prisoners launched the strike on 17 April, Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, for a series of basic demands, including: end to the denials 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.

On Friday, 12 May, 11 prisoners in Gilboa prison joined the open hunger strike. In addition, despite some earlier reports, Issa Qaraqe of the Prisoners’ Affairs Commission stated that no negotiations have yet taken place between the prisoners and Israeli officials; instead, Israeli officials have demanded that Palestinian prisoners first end their strike.

*The Martyr of Dignity, via Decolonize This Place*

Also, on Friday, 12 May, Israeli occupation forces shot and killed “the martyr of dignity,” Saba Obeid, 22, as he participated in a protest march in support of the prisoners in the village of Nabi Saleh, northwest of Ramallah.

Palestinian prisoners have faced harsh repression since the launch of the strike. Strikers have been routinely denied family and legal visits, had their personal belongings confiscated – including the salt that they take with water to preserve their life and health – pressured to break the strike in exchange for medical care, routinely abusively transferred from prison to prison and thrown in isolation. Some prisoners have been transferred – in a physically grueling, lengthy process in a vehicle called the “bosta” – seven times since the beginning of the strike.

One of the hunger striking Palestinian leaders who has been routinely denied legal visits is Ahmad Sa’adat, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association has reportedly obtained a visit with Sa’adat to take place today, Sunday, 14 May, at 3:00 pm, only after petitioning the courts after repeated denials of visits with Sa’adat since he joined the strike on 4 May.

Palestinian lawyers who obtained visits with their hunger-striking clients after legal actions have reported the use of tear gas and police dogs in raids and frequent inspections inside hunger strikers’ cells, as well as the presence of insects and filthy conditions in the cells the strikers were transferred to. Dozens of prisoners were transferred to so-called “field hospitals” after a deterioration in their health condition; many prisoners have reported difficulty or inability to stand, severe pain and even vomiting blood.

Throughout Palestine, marches, demonstrations, protests and solidarity hunger strikes continued in support of the prisoners. On Friday, in addition to the killing of Saba Obeid, dozens of Palestinians were wounded by Israeli occupation forces firing tear gas and rubber-coated metal bullets on demonstrators. On Friday evening, 12 May, another ten organizers from Beit Sahour near Bethlehem launched an open hunger strike in support of the prisoners.

The Palestinian National Committee to Support the Strike issued a statement and call for action following the killing of Obeid, “saluting the heroic spirit of the martyr Saba Obeid, a martyr of the battle of empty stomachs of our brave prisoners in Israeli jails.” The Committee urged action to call for a special session of the United Nations General Assembly to highlight and take action to save the prisoners at a time when they are threatened with severe health deterioration and even death. The statement urged protests each day of the week, including rallies and marches on Monday, 15 May, for the right of return of Palestinian refugees and freedom for the prisoners, in commemoration of the 69th anniversary of the Nakba.

The statement also urged protests at International Committee of the Red Cross buildings on Tuesday, 16 May; mass marches on Wednesday, 17 May and ongoing marches, actions and confrontations with Israeli occupation forces on 18 and 19 May. It also spoke to the supporters of Palestine around the world, urging intensified boycott actions:

“We highly appreciate the many throughout the world who see the suffering of the Palestinian people under occupation. We call on the free and conscientious people of the world to expand the boycott of Israel and campaign to impose sanctions, as well as intensifying local Palestinian campaigns to clean up our homes and stores of the products of the occupation.”

Events and actions took place around the world to support the striking prisoners on 13 May. In Berlin, two large protests commemorated the 69th anniversary of the Nakba and expressed support for Palestinian prisoners. In New York City, the Nakba Day March for Resistance and Return braved the rain one day after Samidoun in New York organized a protest for Palestinian prisoners. In Toronto, a wide coalition of activists took to the street days after the Canadian Labour Congress issued a resolution in support of the prisoners’ hunger strike. In London, two protests also took the streets to remember the Nakba and highlight the struggle of Palestinian prisoners.

*Photo via New York City Students for Justice in Palestine*

Events also took place in Los Angeles, Tucson, Anaheim, Dearborn, Clifton, Ottawa, London, Bristol, Glasgow, Milan, Genova, Mersin, Wuppertal, Neuweid, Vaxjo, Gothenburg, Malmo, Cagliari, Dublin, Nice, Montpellier, Frankfurt, Rome, Auckland and Madrid. On Sunday, 14 May, protests and actions in support of the prisoners are scheduled in Vancouver, Malmo, Manchester, Donegal and Lurgan, while Monday will mark a day of national action in South Africa, where a growing list of prominent officials will join a one-day strike. Activists in Australia are also organizing a day of action.

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

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