11 May, Cambridge: Emergency Standout for Palestinian Prisoners on Hunger Strike

9 May 2017

Thursday, 11 May
5:00 pm
Harvard Square
Cambridge
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1518810508193745/

Join the Palestinian Community in Boston to stand in solidarity with political prisoners. #DignityStrike
More than 1,500 Palestinian political prisoners have been on hunger strike since April 17 (25 days on Thursday) for better conditions inside Israeli jails. Their demands include: access to education, proper medical care, regular visitation rights, respectful treatment of families by prison administrators, and an end to the practice of solitary confinement. Finally, they are also striking to protest one of the most obviously unjust Israeli policies—administrative detention, or imprisoning people indefinitely without charge. Israel holds 6,300 Palestinian political prisoners—300 of whom are children.

We also wish to call out the ways in which mass incarceration harms communities of color in the United States. According to the NAACP, one in six African-American men has been incarcerated. According to the Palestinian human rights group Addameer, approximately one in five Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territories has been jailed since Israeli occupation began in 1967. All prison is political.
More info on the Palestinian prisoners at Addameerhttp://www.addameer.org/

11 May, Chicago: Day-long hunger strike and encampment in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners

9 May 2017

Thursday, 11 May
10 am to 7 pm
Press conference: 4 pm
8527 S. Harlem Ave (Parking Lot)
Burbank, IL
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/290585068052077/

Day-long hunger strike and encampment in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners Thursday, May 11th, in Burbank, IL

WHAT: Join us in a day-long hunger strike and encampment in solidarity with the over 1,500 Palestinian political prisoners currently on an open-ended hunger strike in Israeli prisons.

WHEN: Thursday, May 11th, 2017, from 10 AM to 7 PM. Press conference at 4 PM.

WHERE: Parking lot in front of 8527 S. Harlem Ave., in Burbank, Illinois.

WHO: Chicago-based family members of Palestinian political prisoners and hunger strikers, U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), Palestinian American Community Center, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)-DePaul University, and other community activists and institutions.

ALL THIS WEEK:
Call Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson at 202.647.9572

Amnesty International USA Headquarters 212.807.8400

International Red Cross 202.587.4600

Senator Richard Durbin 312.353.4952

and ask them to pressure Israel to agree to the Palestinian hunger strikers’ basic humanitarian demands!

#PalestinianPoliticalPrisoners #PalHunger #DignityStrike #StopAD

According to Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, as of April 2017, there are 6,300 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons. More than 1,500 of them are on their 3rd week of an open-ended hunger strike. We join Palestinian organizations and solidarity groups around the world, and continue to heed the call of the Strike of Freedom and Dignity until the prisoners’ demands are met.

Deplorable conditions within Israeli prisons have caused considerable health concerns for all prisoners, especially those on the hunger strike. The practice of isolation (solitary confinement), for example, holds prisoners alone or with an additional person for 23 hours a day, allowing only one hour for solitarily walking around while shackled. Family members wishing to visit those detained in Israeli prisons face overwhelming restrictions on their movement, which make even semi-regular visits nearly impossible. While completely isolating the prisoners, the Israeli Prison Service also commits deliberate medical negligence and deprivation of basic educational access for children as well as adults. And the situation grows graver, as the Israelis plan to enact harsher repression and unlawful treatment practices, including confiscation of salt used by strikers for survival. There are also reports that Israel may begin force feeding them as well.

Now in Day 21 of the strike, as the strikers begin to experience loss of balance, muscle, and fatigue problems, people around the world continue to rise up in solidarity to respond to the calls of the prisoners. Student groups, community members, political figures, and other sectors of society are organizing around the cause for dignity, while some have actively joined the strike, including Archbishop Atallah Hanna.

10-12 May, Brussels: #BrusselsStudentsHungerStrike for Palestinian Prisoners

9 May 2017

Wednesday, 10 May
12 pm to 2 pm
Auditoires centraux – Universite Catholique du Louvain – Alma
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1884252261790210/

and

Thursday, 11 May
all day
Universite Libre de Bruxelles – Building F
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1572063402806954/

1600 Palestinian political prisoners have been on hunger strike in Israeli apartheid regime prisons since 17 April. In launching this hunger strike, they are, above all, protesting their inhumane conditions of detention.

11 May will mark the 25th day of strike. We, students of UCL and ULB, are launching 24 hour hunger strikes in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners.

Please join us and share on social media with the hashtags #DignityHungerStrike and #BrusselsStudentsHungerStrike

10 May, Barcelona: Demonstration of Solidarity with the Palestinian Prisoners

9 May 2017

Wednesday, 10 May
7 pm
Placa Sant Jaume
Barcelona, Catalonia

Solidarity gathering to support Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike. Organized by a large number of Catalonia-Palestine solidarity associations.

Paris hunger strike stands in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners

9 May 2017

Activists in Paris organized by CAPJPO-EuroPalestine have launched a hunger strike on Tuesday, 9 May in Paris in support of Palestinian prisoners on their 23rd day without food in Israeli prisons. They have gathered at La Fontaine des Innocents to express their solidarity in the coming days. Over 1500 Palestinian prisoners launched their hunger strike on 17 April 2017, Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, for basic human rights. Their demands include an end to the denial of family visits, the right to access higher education, proper health care and medical treatment and an end to administrative detention – imprisonment without charge or trial – and solitary confinement.

The strike includes prisoners and leaders from across the Palestinian political spectrum. Leaders like Marwan Barghouthi, Kamil Abu Hanish and Karim Younes launched the strike; last week, 50 prominent leaders including Ahmad Sa’adat, Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh, Abbas Sayyed, Zaid Bseiso, Nael Barghouthi and Hasan Salameh joined the strike. They have vowed to continue until their demands are met, despite intensified Israeli repression, including hunger strikers being repeatedly transferred, their belongings confiscated and their rooms subject to constant invasions from repressive forces. Prisoners have also been repeatedly denied legal and family visits.

The hunger strike in Paris joins similar efforts in Italy, England, Scotland, Belgium, Morocco, Canada and elsewhere in support of the prisoners; individual support strikes have also been announced by prominent figures such as Archbishop Atallah Hanna, Palestinian resistance figure Leila Khaled and Catholic patriarch Gregory III Laham. In France, Georges Abdallah, the Lebanese Communist prisoner and struggler for Palestine imprisoned for 33 years in French prisons, engaged in a three-day hunger strike in support of the prisoners.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes the Paris hunger strikers and all of the solidarity strikers around the world engaged in global actions of support for Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike. These actions must grow and build in order to develop a strong international popular pressure to fulfill the hunger strikers’ demands. We urge the organizing of more activities and events like these on campuses and in communities around the world.

The first statement of the Paris hunger strikers follows:

We have been on hunger strike since Monday midnight, expressing our support for the Palestinian political prisoners who have been fasting for three weeks in Israeli jails and whose state of health is worrying.

At the moment, three women and three men among us have started this hunger strike so as to bring to light the scandalous prison conditions endured by the Palestinians at the hands of the Occupier, and the basic character of their demands, as it is a matter of enforcing the fundamental rights recognised by every international convention:

abolition of the so-called administrative detention, i.e. without charge or trial and for an indefinite period
abolition of torture and of the inhuman treatment they undergo
abolition of child detention
family visits twice a month, instead of one at present
appropriate healthcare when they are ill
right to study when in prison

We thus join English, Scottish and Italian campaigners who launched this hunger strike action in Europe and we hope that our show of solidarity will inspire many others in the rest of the country.

This is an emergency, not just because the Palestinian prisoners’ health is worsening and there are already many seriously wounded Palestinians, as the Occupation Army shoots all those who show solidarity with the prisoners, but also because Israel threatens to use the same methods as in Guantanamo and to force feed the hunger strikers.

We are at La Fontaine des Innocents, near Le Forum des Halles in Paris (Métro-RER, Châtelet-les-Halles).

Do come and see us to participate in this hunger strike or encourage us.

Best wishes,
CAPJPO-EuroPalestine.
http://www.europalestine.com

10 May, Cape Town: Free Palestinian Prisoners on Hunger Strike

9 May 2017

Wednesday, 10 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. It will be followed with a second protest on Monday, 15 May at 12 pm at the same location. Organized by the Al-Quds Foundation.

10 May, Karachi: Hunger Strike Camp for #DignityStrike

9 May 2017

Wednesday, 10 May
4:00 pm
Karachi Press Club
Karachi, Pakistan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/449670588703029/

On May 10, in cohesion with the subjugated 1600 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli Jails, Palestine Foundation – Pakistan will erect a Hunger Strike Camp at Press Club Karachi protesting their mistreatment.

10 May, Toulouse: Rally for Dignity and Freedom

9 May 2017

Wednesday, 10 May
5:00 pm
Square Charles de Gaulle
Toulouse, France
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1405946579467407/

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!

9 May, Santiago de Compostela: Action to Support the Palestinian Prisoners on Hunger Strike

9 May 2017

Tuesday, 9 May
7:00 pm
Galician Parliament
Santiago de Compostela, Galicia
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1880385678896048/

BDS Galiza and fellow organizers for Palestine are organizing an action to support imprisoned Palestinians on hunger strike since 17 April.

The action will ake place in front of the Parliament at 7 pm. This coincides with the approval of an institutional statement in support of Palestine. The action will end with the delivery of a statement to the Foreign Office calling upon it to intervene in support of the prisoners. We urge you to join in the action and spread the word.

We also urge you to join in the symbolic #SaltWaterChallenge, drinking a glass of water with salt like the striking prisoners, in solidarity with the hunger strike.

This 17 April, over 1500 Palestinian prisoners launched a hunger strike to demand their basic rights, and as a form of resistance to the inhumane system of colonial occupation of the Israeli military that aims to destroy the will of the prisoners and the nation to which they belong.

Long live the Palestinian prisoners! Free Palestine!

http://www.bds-galiza.org/2017/05/08/accion-pro-presas-palestinas/

9 May, Bern: Protest in solidarity with Palestinian Prisoners in Israeli Jails

9 May 2017

Tuesday, 9 May
6:00 pm
Bern Bahnhofplatz
Bern, Switzerland

Join the protest to demand freedom for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and support over 1500 prisoners on hunger strike for the 23rd day. Organized by Alternative Left Bern, Justice and Peace in Palestine (GFP), Green Alliance Bern, Party of Labor Bern / Biel, Socialist re-Organisation Party – SYKP Turkey.

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