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Demonstrators at Gent-Wevelgem cycling race: Stop normalization, boycott Israel!

On Sunday, 26 March, the Gent-Wevelgem cycling race took place in Belgium. This cycling race is a semi-classic of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI Worldtour).

Members of the Plate-Forme Charleroi-Palestine and the Käthe Kollwitz Collective, as well as Palestinian and Irish friends, were present to denounce the participation in the race of the Israel Premier Tech propaganda team. (*)

The Plate-Forme and fellow demonstrators declared: We cannot allow Israeli propaganda to have carte blanche in popular sporting events in our communities! They gathered in the villages and countryside surrounding Ypres, in Mesen and later in Voormzele. (The Plate-Forme Charleroi-Palestine is an affiliate organization of the Samidoun Network.)

As a finale, demonstrators unfurled their flags and banners at the women’s race in Voormzele where the Israeli propaganda team was also present. A Cuban cyclist participated in this race, and the presence of the Cuban flag was there to show support.

Israel Premier Tech is the representative of Israel in professional cycling and should be treated as such.

The Israel Premier Tech cycling team was formed in 2014, when Israeli businessman Ron Baron and former professional cyclist Ran Margaliot started the Israel Cycling Academy.

Sylvan Adams, a Canadian-born billionaire and amateur cyclist, soon became co-owner of the team, which Canadian industrial manufacturing company Premier Tech joined as title sponsor in early 2022.

The team and its training projects aim to recruit renowned riders and gain access to the most prestigious cycling events. Israel Premier Tech’s results in the Tour de France in 2022 show that these efforts are starting to bear fruit and that the team may remain visible in the upper echelons of professional cycling in the years to come. However, the team showed poor results later in 2022 in Montreal, where Adams and his team were met with protest.

Despite its name, Israel Premier Tech does not represent the Israeli state in an official capacity. Sylvan Adams insists that this team is “not a state project,” stressing that sport and politics “should never mix”. Nevertheless, the businessman also presents himself as the “self-proclaimed ambassador of the State of Israel” and takes an aggressive approach to fighting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, viewing sports as a mechanism to combat the boycott.

Along with Israel Premier Tech, Sylvan Adams was the main driving force behind organizing the launch of the 2018 Giro d’Italia in Israel, an event he described as “the antidote to BDS.”

And his work to normalize Israel through sport extends beyond the world of cycling: having helped bring Lionel Messi and the Argentina national football team to Israel in 2019 for a game against Uruguay, as well as the organization of the last two editions of the Champions Trophy in Tel Aviv, a match between the reigning Ligue 1 champion and the winner of the Coupe de France. He also is involved in organizing the Middle East Ironman championship, scheduled for the end of the year in occupied Tiberias. 

Members of the Israel Premier Tech team have attempted to distance themselves from the actions of the Israeli government, saying they just want to “ride their bikes.”

The fact that most of the riders on the team are not of Israeli nationality helps them in this respect. Of the 31 riders entered in the World Tour, only four are Israeli and only one appeared in the list of eight cyclists entered by the team in the Tour de France 2022.

Nonetheless, the modus operandi of this cycling project fundamentally involves promoting Israeli soft power goals. According to Sylvan Adams, riders understand that they are “ambassadors of their team’s home country.” Some traveled to Israel to participate in photo ops and reach millions, and even rode in the occupied West Bank and Golan Heights.

Moreover, despite the image it intends to project, Israel-Premier Tech often seems to be treated as an official Israeli organization.

At the start of the latest Tour de France, the squad benefited from the security arrangements  provided for Israeli delegations, while the Israeli media presented any sporting success as a “first for the Jewish state”. The team’s activities were also congratulated by the Israeli Minister of Tourism. 

Israel-Premier Tech is thus part of the normalization train as an unofficial ambassador of the Israeli regime. (based on the article “Cycling, new terrain for Israel’s normalization efforts?” , published on this site on September 12, 2022.

*****

(*) The action was also supported by Palestina Solidariteit, Vrede vzw, WSM, Intal, Ilps Belgium, ICS vzw and Peace Village Mesen

Source: Plate-Forme Charleroi-Palestine

Palestine and Georges Abdallah at the heart of demonstrations against Macron’s anti-worker “reforms” in Toulouse

On Thursday, 23 March, cities throughout France, including Toulouse, were home to a ninth day of demonstrations and strikes against the Macron government’s anti-worker “pension reform.” These brought together nearly 150,000 people in Toulouse and 3.5 million people throughout France. In this historic mobilization which gathered a large crowd determined to confront the arrogance of Emmanuel Macron and his anti-social program, the Collectif Palestine Vaincra once again organized a stand alongside the route to emphasize the unity of struggles between standing for social justice and supporting the Palestinian people.

Displaying several banners denouncing the twinning of Toulouse and Tel Aviv, calling for the boycott of Israel and demanding the release of Georges Abdallah, the Lebanese Communist struggler for Palestine imprisoned in France for the past 38 years, the Collectif’s members distributed thousands of leaflets. They affirmed that “fighting the government and employers here also means denouncing the unconditional support of the French government for Israeli apartheid and its close and privileged diplomatic, political and economic relations.” The leaflet also highlighted the declaration of several Palestinian trade unions affirming their solidarity with the mobilization in France. (The Collectif Palestine Vaincra is a member organization of the Samidoun Network.)

The stand drew a great deal of attention and interest from participants in the mass mobilization, and many people stopped at the Collectif’s stand to chat, collect free stickers and flyers or to obtain more information on its campaigns. For example, many people took “Boycott TEVA” stickers to put on their health cards to inform pharmacists of their refusal to finance a company that supports the economy of the Israeli occupation.

Dozens of protesters took solidarity photos to demonstrate their commitment to  the international campaign to boycott Israel and complicit international companies (such as PUMA, HP and Carrefour).

As they passed in front of the Collectif’s stand, many contingents in the mass march expressed their support by chanting “Algeria has won, Palestine will win,”  “Solidarity with the Palestinian people” or “Palestine will live, Palestine will win”. These growing expressions of solidarity demonstrate that the Palestinian people can rely on the international solidarity of peoples in their struggle against colonialism, occupation and apartheid for the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea.

Throughout the demonstration, the Collectif denounced the scandalous cooperation between France and Israel and called for the development of solidarity with the Palestinian resistance confronting intense repression today. They urged all to participate in the rally on Thursday March 30 at 6:30 p.m. at the Capitole metro station in support of the Palestinian people and to denounce the twinning of Toulouse with Tel Aviv, a call now supported by over 30 local organizations.

 

Samidoun Vancouver hosts Liberation Iftar, celebrates victory of Palestinian prisoners

On Saturday, 25 March, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network in Vancouver organized a Liberation Iftar/Dinner to commemorate Palestinian Land Day, celebrate the victory of Palestinian prisoners over the jailer, and raise funds to support the upcoming Liberation Conference for Palestine in Ottawa. The event included an abundant iftar meal, political speeches, and cultural performances, all in a warm atmosphere of international solidarity and collective struggle.

The event was opened by Dave Diewert of Samidoun Vancouver, who delivered a strong message of solidarity and joint struggle between Palestinian liberation and the Indigenous struggle for sovereignty and self-determination throughout Turtle Island. He urged the importance of strengthening these relations of struggle and building a broad popular movement that supports the Palestinian people and their resistance confronting Zionism, imperialism and reaction. Emphasizing that the struggle is for return and the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea, he noted that it is important to be clear and critical in order to uphold a meaningful vision of justice and liberation for Palestine.

This was followed by a speech by Hanan Dudin, addressing student and youth organizing for Palestine, especially the work of students at the University of British Columbia in winning a boycott and divestment resolution targeting companies profiting from Israeli occupation as well as other corporate rights violators. She discussed the growth in this movement in the recent period and the victories obtained by the student movement over Zionist organizations attempting to block its progress, and emphasized the importance of student work in building an effective movement to support Palestinian liberation.

She also discussed the work of the Masar Badil, the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement, especially its establishment in 2021 and the March of Return and Liberation in Brussels in 2022, urging participation in the Masar’s upcoming Liberation Conference in Ottawa.

Charlotte Kates, international coordinator of the Samidoun network, spoke about the achievement of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement just days ago, emphasizing that the Palestinian prisoners are actively participating in the resistance. She noted that the prisoners recognized the opportunity for new achievements amid the internal contradictions in the Zionist state and defeated the notorious fascist Itamar Ben Gvir and the prison administration with their serious unity, commitment and determination.

She also called on participants to join the struggle in every way possible, including by building boycott campaigns that support the Palestinian people’s return and the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea, in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance and uprising in occupied Palestine. In particular, she urged all to join the Canada Palestine Association on 1 April in the demonstration to boycott Israeli wines at the BC Liquor Store, which sells Zionist products from both the occupied West Bank of Palestine and the occupied Golan Heights of Syria.

Khaled Barakat, Palestinian writer and co-founder of the Masar Badil,  the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement, spoke about the Palestinian political scene today, noting that “The Palestinian people are inspired by the experiences and struggles of peoples internationally, including the Indigenous liberation struggle, the Black Liberation struggle, and liberation movements around the world.” He noted that today, the Palestinian liberation struggle presents a living example of the ability to continue to escalate a revolution and pursue a liberation struggle in the face of colonialism and occupation throughout Palestine, backed up by imperialist powers.

He condemned the Canadian government’s complicity and active participation in the crimes of the occupation, including its ongoing silence on the recruitment for the Israeli occupation military taking place in Canada as well as the tours of Zionist military officers to Canadian campuses. He called for action to confront such visits and escalating the boycott campaign in all universities and academic institutions.

The event concluded with a musical performance by Callum of Samidoun Vancouver, who performed several revolutionary songs, including one in honor of Ghassan Kanafani, the Palestinian leader, writer, struggler and martyr. The songs were met with warm and enthusiastic applause by all present.

The evening was a successful event on multiple levels, with attendees joining in a warm spirit of camaraderie, joint struggle and collective solidarity. To get involved and learn more about Samidoun Vancouver, email vancouver@samidoun.net or visit us on Twitter or Instagram.

 

Brussels: Confront police killings, state repression, and racist violence with internationalist solidarity!

Photo: Abdullah Awad

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network — Brussels expresses our outrage at the latest police killing in Belgium, the killing of Imad, 42, a father of two in Seneffe. This follows the still unexplained death of Sourour in the cells of the Brussels police in January and comes only days after the shooting of an as-yet unidentified Black man in a psychiatric hospital by the Belgian police.

As Palestinians and supporters of Palestine, we express our solidarity with all communities struggling against police violence, brutality and killing. Just as imperialism, including Belgian imperialism, has long been a partner of Zionism in Palestine, we view state racism and police repression here as also a function of the imperial state and its militarization against our communities. We demand justice, accountability and an end to racist and colonial police terror.

Here in Belgium, our communities — fleeing Zionist colonialism, forced from our homes and lands by invasion and imperialist attack — continue to face state repression, criminalization and police violence. Black, Arab and Muslim communities in Belgium are particularly subjected to a high level of police violence and state racism. This is inseparable from Belgian imperialism and colonialism, historically and in the present day.

Today, we honour Imad, Sourour and all victims of police violence as martyrs in the struggle for justice. We are dedicated to struggling together here for justice, accountability and liberation for all of our communities, oppressed peoples and the working class as a whole. The struggle to confront police violence, state racism, criminalization and repression is part and parcel of our struggle for the liberation of Palestine.

Photo: Abdullah Awad

Munther Khalaf Mufleh: Prisoners’ movement victory is an implementation of unity and true partnership

The following article, by Palestinian prisoner leader Munther Khalaf Mufleh, is republished from the original Arabic, from the Handala Center. 

After the escalation of Zionist attacks against the achievements gained by the prisoners’ movement over the years, and the attempts of the fascist Ben Gvir to seize our rights by enacting laws and policies such as the laws for the execution of prisoners, revocation of nationality, and deportation of prisoners and former prisoners, as well as the attacks on the achievements of daily life of the prisoners’ movement, such as cutting access to water, setting brief times for bathing and the imposition of dozens of punitive measures, such as repeated transfer and isolation, led the prisoners’ movement to take action. These policies express the hateful, racist nature of Zionism, revealing its true face and its mechanisms that always aim to target all that is Palestinian. The prisoners’ movement implemented a series of escalating tactical measures, and prepared and threatened to launch an open, collective hunger strike on the first day of Ramadan.

With these steps, the prisoners’ movement aimed to teach the enemy a new lesson, and began to implement this by announcing the names of Palestinian national leaders who would begin the open hunger strike, led by the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the leader Ahmad Sa’adat, and leaders of all factions, headed by Mohammed Al-Tus, Abu Shadi; Hassan Salameh; and a long convoy of heroes of the prisoners’ movement.

For the first time since 1993, the equation of direct dialogue was imposed with the presence of the full Higher Emergency Committee, representing all Palestinian factions, under the slogan of “national unity and true partnership.” Through its first message to the masses, it signed a charter of honor to consolidate this concept of partnership and unity, especially as it was the first emergence of the name of the emergency committee. This aims to promote unity, not only at the level of the prisoners’ movement, but at the level of our Palestinian people everywhere they are.

During its marathon discussions with the Zionist prisons authority, the Emergency Committee formed a strong and solid model in which the demands of the prisoners’ movement were presented with boldness and revolutionary fervor, defying all obstacles with the firm commitment that rights are not begged for, but rather taken.

This was implemented in practice during these sessions, and the outcomes were as follows:

  1. Decisions about the living conditions are taken by the full Zionist cabinet and not by a sole decision of the criminal Ben Gvir and his office.
  2. The removal of two prisoners from solitary confinement, who have been involved in resistance.
  3. Return of the water supply to normal without limitations on time.
  4. Returning kitchen access to prisoners in Ofer Prison.
  5. Opening public facilities (“canteen” or prison store, laundry, barber, etc) in the Negev prison on Friday.
  6. Allowing communication on the public telephone from the Ramle prison clinic five times a week.
  7. Closing the files of a number of administrative detainees [and ensuring their detention is not renewed], especially elderly detainees.
  8. Opening a special section for detained prisoners after their arrest.
  9. In addition to a number of demands that require follow-up from the emergency leadership to be implemented within the sections, and they will need periodic follow-up from the section representatives.

All of these achievements would not have been realized if it had not been for the will of our Palestinian people and their valiant resistance that was present with us and always pushes us to greater action, but this achievement is a step on the road of a thousand miles to our goal of freedom and liberation. It can be built upon to escalate the pressure on the occupation, to extract further achievements and to stop the policies of harassment and oppression by the prison authority, in order to achieve the dream of liberation.

Munther Khalaf Mufleh is a Palestinian political prisoner, a member of the Central Committee of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He is director of the Handala Center for the Prisoners’ Movement Affairs and the spokesperson for the PFLP prison branch. He is a Palestinian writer and journalist, and was issued a membership by the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate while imprisoned in recognition of his work.

Palestinian prisoners declare victory over the jailer in advance of planned hunger strike

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes the Palestinian people and the prisoners’ movement as the prisoners declare their victory in the “Volcano of Freedom or Martyrdom.” In the late night hours of Wednesday, 22 March, the leadership of the prisoners’ movement announced that the Zionist prison service had backed down from all of the sanctions imposed upon the prisoners in a new agreement, suspending the hunger strike that had been scheduled to begin with 2,000 prisoners on 23 March with the beginning of the month of Ramadan.

We extend our highest salutes and greetings of solidarity to the prisoners’ movement, who continue to resist and defend the land and people of Palestine from behind prison walls, and whose battle of wills continues to produce new achievements. The prisoners’ unity and commitment to struggle, including the commitment of the leadership of the prisoners’ movement, the imprisoned leaders of the Palestinian people, once again demonstrated its strength.

We further affirm that we will remain vigilant — alongside the Palestinian prisoners, the resistance and the people as a whole — for all attempts by the occupier to breach these agreements, and our commitment to continue to struggle until the liberation of all Palestinian prisoners and until return and the liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.

Samidoun salutes the Palestinian people in Palestine and the Palestinian people everywhere in exile and diaspora mobilizing and organizing in response to the prisoners’ call for their liberation in the cities and the countries of the world, the Arab people confronting normalization and upholding the prisoners’ call, and all of the forces of solidarity with the Palestinian people ready to act for the prisoners’ freedom and victory.

We further salute Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan, who is continuing his hunger strike for freedom, now on the 47th day, struggling alongside each of the 4,750 prisoners in the occupation jails for justice and liberation.

We republish the statement below, issued by the Higher Emergency Committee of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Movement:

Announcing the victory of the prisoners in the battle of “Volcano of Freedom or Martyrdom”

To our great people, salutes of pride and victory.

We take advantage of this opportunity to congratulate our people on the beginning of the blessed month of Ramadan, and we pray to God to bring it back when the prisoners and detainees have been liberated.

With this entry into the month of victories, your imprisoned children wrote a new page in the book of glory and honor, as the Zionist enemy was forced to stop its measures against us that it sought to impose upon us. Thanks to God first, and then thanks to the unity of the prisoners and the support of their people for them, the prisoners’ movement was able to record a new victory on the pages of glory and steadfastness.

On this occasion, we send the following messages:

The first message: To our prisoners, our troops who always show their complete readiness and solid unity. You have all our appreciation and pride for this unparalleled readiness and fedayee bravery.

The second message: To our resisting people who supported us throughout our past movement; you have a message of thanks and gratitude, to a people who know the meaning of loyalty, practicing it as a behavior and adopting it as a method.

The third message: To our brutal enemy, you must realize and understand well that the prisoners are not alone, and they are not easy prey for every invader on our land.

Finally: We extend our thanks and appreciation to all those who support us among the free people of the world, the supporters of our just cause.

Mercy for the martyrs, healing for the wounded, freedom and victory for the prisoners.

The Higher National Emergency Committee for the Palestinian Prisoners’ Movement

Thursday 1 Ramadan 1444
23 March 2023

 

On Arab Mother’s Day: Palestinian mothers demand the return of their children; a message from women prisoners

“The woman is a mother and fighter on the path to liberation”

On 21 March, Palestinians and Arabs celebrate Mother’s Day, honoring the many contributions of mothers to the lives of their children and to society as a whole. In Palestine and in exile and diaspora, however, mothers face particular challenges and forms of oppression by the Zionist regime, from imprisonment to the destruction of their homes, the confiscation of their land and the detention of their martyred children’s bodies. Nonetheless, Palestinian mothers remain on the front lines of struggle for the liberation of themselves, their children and all of Palestine, from the river to the sea.

On Mother’s Day, the mothers of the martyrs gathered in Ramallah to demand the liberation of their children’s bodies detained by the occupation. This manifestation came days after the launch of the International Campaign to Liberate the Remains of Palestinian Martyrs, endorsed by over 180 organizations, including events and actions in multiple cities as well as five webinars highlighting the testimonies and experiences of the families of the martyrs.

The mothers of the martyrs read a statement, in which they declared, “The Palestinian mother is the mother wishing for a dignified burial for her martyred son. She digs with her hands an open grave that she visits every day, sharing with him her longing, as she is denied even the knowledge of the fate of her son, whether he is a martyr or a owounded, kidnapped prisoner. We have suddenly become the mothers of martyrs, without preparation. We wage a fierce battle to bury our children, standing in the squares, shouting, chanting, writing statements and writing texts…This is a rightful cry that we make to the occupation that will not hear, to the world that deals in double standards, and to the Palestinian political leadership, factions, organizations, movements and unions.”

Of the 29 Palestinian women prisoners held in the Israeli occupation prisons, five are mothers. On this Mother’s Day, they are deprived, as every year, of the embrace of their children and loved ones. Of course, this Mother’s Day also comes only days before over 2,000 prisoners will launch a collective hunger strike, the Battle of Freedom or Martyrdom. The imprisoned mothers are:

  • Israa Jaabis, mother of the child Muatassem, is serving an 11-year prison sentence. She is severely wounded and suffers from burns all over her body and continues to require intensive surgeries which are denied by the occupation as part of its systematic policy of medical neglect and abuse.
  • Fadwa Hamadeh, sentenced to 11 years in occupation prisons, is the mother of five children: Hamada, 12, Sadeen, 11, Mohammed, 9, Adam, 8 and Maryam, 6.
  • Amani al-Hashim, sentenced to 10 years in occupation prisons, is the mother of two children. She was shot by occupation forces at the Qalandiya checkpoint in 2016 and has been detained ever since.
  • Etaf Jaradat, is the mother of two sons who are also imprisoned by the occupation, Omar and Ghaith. From the town of Silat al-Harthiyeh, her home was demolished after her sons were seized on charges of participating in the Palestinian armed resistance in 2022.
  • Yasmine Shaaban, the mother of four children, receives Mother’s Day this year with additional pain, due to the death of her father only days earlier as he awaits her freedom. Detained since March 2022, she was previously arrested for five years continuously and was seized once again only months after her release.

In many cases, imprisoned mothers are denied family visits, just as mothers outside prison are denied visits with their imprisoned children, as a mechanism of collective punishment. Many of these visits must take place through glass, without the opportunity to touch or embrace their loved ones.

All of the women prisoners issued a message to the mothers of the Palestinian people on Mother’s Day, written by Yasmine Shaaban (below):

Here is another year and another March, passing in our homeland and bringing with it more cries of our mothers and pains of our bodies. It is no coincidence that March is the time of Mother’s Day, Women’s Day, Land Day and the spring season, bringing day and night to equal length, and our pain a symbol of life in a homeland that weaves the threads of dawn into shields to protect our chests from a relentless and arrogant enemy.

To our mothers, who illuminated the light of our lives with their patience, to those who give us strength from the beating of their hearts, to those who ignited a revolution in us, to those who taught us how to live like olive trees planted in a barren land, to extend roots into the depths of the earth, to seek the freedom of our homeland that represents all homelands.

On this day each year, the world celebrates Mother’s Day for each person to express their feelings for their mother. As for our beloved homeland, we express on this day to our mothers in our own way, as on each occasion, and from our small cells, we draw and chart our path with the blood of the martyrs, the pains of the prisoners and the endless suffering of our people.

To our mothers, to our children, we miss you like the earth longs for droplets of rain, we miss you like the expressions of a lover whose wings overflow with love, passion, appreciation and reverence.

To all of Palestine, to those who challenge the prison walls and confront the jailer, who make their suffering a bright beacon to guide them, every year, our greetings to the mothers of the world, and to the mothers of Palestine, and this year, as every year, we are approaching our liberation.

Randa Musa, wife of Khader Adnan, urges popular action to free her husband and all Palestinian prisoners

As the Battle of Freedom or Martyrdom approaches, with seven leaders of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement having launched a hunger strike in advance of the 2,000 prisoners scheduled to begin their strike Thursday, 23 March, Sheikh Khader Adnan is on his 46th day of hunger strike.

In a press statement by Randa Musa, Adnan’s wife, she emphasized that her husband is suffering from serious deterioration in his health. He requires a wheelchair to move and is experiencing pain throughout his body. Musa said that her husband had received a legal visit on Monday and that he was under constant pressure to end his strike; she also said that he had not yet received any visits from the International Committee of the Red Cross despite being on hunger strike for over a month and a half.

Her message also addressed the families of the prisoners who will enter the mass hunger strike tomorrow. She urged the families of the prisoners to raise their voices, especially the wives and mothers of the prisoners, and not to rely solely on what the institutions working on prisoners’ issues are doing.

Khader Adnan, currently detained at the Ramle prison clinic, launched his strike as soon as he was seized by Israeli occupation forces on 5 February 2023.

Khader Adnan has been detained 12 times by occupation forces and spent 8 years in Israeli jails, mostly in administrative detention — imprisonment without charge or trial — or accused of membership in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement. In order to avoid another confrontation with Adnan over administrative detention, the Israeli occupation has brought “charges” against him in the military courts — this time, for membership in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement and for “incitement” for his public speeches and political activity. In short, he is being charged for public Palestinian political expression while he conducts a hunger strike, putting his body and life on the line for freedom.

He has launched five previous hunger strikes, including four to reject administrative detention, and participated in collective hunger strikes. His first hunger strike was in 2004, when he went on strike for 25 days to protest his isolation. Eight years later, in 2012, his 66-day hunger strike captured the attention of people in Palestine and around the world, as he challenged his administrative detention with no charge or trial and won his freedom. Adnan’s hunger strike helped to kick off a wave of individual and collective hunger strikes, particularly those challenging administrative detention. There are currently approximately 900 Palestinians jailed in administrative detention out of 4,750 total Palestinian prisoners.

In 2015, he again went on strike against his detention for 56 days and again in 2018 for 58 days. In 2021, he was once again arrested and ordered to administrative detention, and he went on hunger strike for 25 days. In each of these occasions, he was able to obtain his freedom and confront the jailer, breaking the chains of arbitrary administrative detention.

Below is a message from Randa Musa, the wife of Khader Adnan:

A call for the release of the prisoner Khader Adnan and all Palestinian prisoners in the occupation jails

My husband, the Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan Musa, 44 years old, from Arraba, Jenin, is facing very difficult health and detention conditions during his hunger strike, in rejection of his arrest. The Israeli occupation forces stormed our home after midnight on Sunday, 5 February 2023, after exploding its door. They arrested my husband and terrorized our nine children (the eldest is 14 years old and the youngest is one and a half years). Immediately, my husband declared that he would enter an open-ended hunger strike to protest his arrest, after which the soldiers beat him and destroyed our belongings in our home before taking him to an unknown destination.

We later learned that he was interrogated and placed under detention in solitary confinement in the cells of Al-Jalameh interrogation center. The occupation authorities issued an indictment against my husband, Khader Adnan, based on the “confessions of others.” He was transferred to the occupation’s Salem military court to consider his case, which has been proposed six times so far. In flagrant violation of the most basic rights and reflecting the occupation authorities’ persistence in procrastination and delay, his lawyer has not yet been informed of the expected date of his next hearing yet.

My husband, Khader Adnan, aces a continuous deterioration of his health..in addition to facing great pressure and restrictions, including frequent transfers for interrogation, and frequent searches of his cell, which is empty of anything. In addition to my husband Khader’s hunger strike, he refuses to undergo any type of medical examination or take supplements, noting that he suffered from health problems before his health and needs medical care.

My husband Khader Adnan has gone on hunger strike five times before, four times in refusal of administrative detention, and has participated in collective hunger strikes. The first hunger strike in the occupation prisons was in 2004, when he went on strike for 25 days to protest his isolation. In 2012, his hunger strike for 66 days captured the attention of people in Palestine and around the world, as he defied his administrative detention without charge or trial and gained his freedom. In 2015, he went on strike again for 56 days in detention, and again in 2018 for 58 days. In 2021, he was arrested again, ordered to administrative detention, and went on a hunger strike for 25 days. On every occasion, he was able to obtain his freedom, confront the jailer, and break the chains of arbitrary administrative detention. Today, he is hit by a military court case, as several charges were brought against him based on the confession of others.

There are currently more than 900 administrative detainees in the occupation prisons, out of over 4,750 Palestinian political prisoners. This means that nearly one-fifth of all Palestinian prisoners are imprisoned without charge or trial, absence the slightest semblance of justice, although the occupation military courts are also an arbitrary mechanism. These military courts convict 99% of the Palestinians brought before them on the basis of arbitrary military orders. The occupation prison administration imposes systematic collective punishment against the Palestinian prisoners, including isolation, medical neglect, denial of family visits and education, and attempts to withdraw all of the achievements gained through the previous collective strikes of the prisoners’ movement.

My message to the people of the world and to the United Nations is to take action and pressure the occupation to require it to respect human rights, to stop the inhumane treatment of Palestinian detainees and to save the life of my husband Khader Adnan from the slow death he is experiencing, to release him before it is too late, and to work for the freedom of all prisoners in the occupation jails.

I thank everyone who has supported my husband since the first moment of his hunger strike, and I affirm that my husband Khader Adnan represents the message of a nation and wages this struggle on behalf of his people. He does not like hunger or death, but he refuses a life of humiliation and he fights for freedom and dignity.

Randa Jihad Musa, wife of the hunger-striking prisoner Khader Adnan Musa

 

New York City demonstration demands liberation of the remains of Palestinian martyrs

On Friday, 17 March, demonstrators gathered in New York City outside the United Nations to demand the liberation of the remains of Palestinian martyrs and express solidarity with the Palestinian people and their struggle for liberation from the river to the sea. The demonstration, organized by Within Our Lifetime – United for Palestine and Samidoun NY/NJ together with American Muslims for Palestine – NJ, CUNY4Palestine, CUNY Law SJP and Palestinian Youth Movement, also showed outrage at the massacres targeting Palestinians in Jenin, Nablus, Huwwara, and elsewhere throughout occupied Palestine.

In addition to all of the organizing groups, the demonstration was also joined by the Orthodox Jews of Neturei Karta, who delivered a strong anti-Zionist message.

Hassan of Samidoun NY/NJ spoke about the campaign to liberate the martyrs’ bodies, quoting the mothers and fathers of the martyrs whose bodies remain confiscated by the occupation and noting that the Israeli regime seeks to deny Palestinians even the right to mourn. He called for action to show support to the Palestinian people and their resistance.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp6EPYcOAGm/

Demonstrators marched through the streets of New York, chanting, “Free our martyrs! Free them all! Zionism must fall!” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”

Samidoun NY/NJ will host its next event on Saturday, 25 March together with Within Our Lifetime, the Palestinian Youth Movement and Cinemovil NYC, where they will screen “Fedayin: Georges Abdallah’s Fight.” To learn more or get involved, visit Samidoun NY/NJ on Instagram or Twitter.

Gothenburg demonstrates for Palestine against the massacres

On Saturday, 18 March, over 200 people marched through the streets of Gothenburg, Sweden, in solidarity with the Palestinian people against massacres and attacks by the Zionist forces. The demonstration, organized by the coalition of Palestine organizations in the city, also came as part of the International Campaign to Liberate the Remains of Palestinian Martyrs.

Demonstrators expressed their outrage at the massacres carried out by the occupying power, either via formal military attacks or paramilitary settler-led pogroms on Palestinians. The demonstration filled Gothenburg’s streets with slogans such as “All of Gothenburg – Will boycott Israel!” and “From the river – To the sea – Hear the call for freedom!” Below is a speech given by Samidoun Gothenburg:

https://twitter.com/SamidounPP/status/1637154711722954752

Long live the struggle for a free, united and democratic Palestine, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea! Long live the struggle for the right of return of all Palestinian refugees! Long live the struggle for the freedom of all Palestinian prisoners from Israeli and international prisons! Long live the Palestinian resistance by all necessary means against imperialism, colonialism and fascism, against occupation, apartheid and settler colonialism! Honor and glory to the martyrs of the Palestinian resistance!

The Palestinian prisoners are on the front line against the occupying forces, risking their lives in the struggle for their liberation and that of the whole of Palestine. Since mid-February, the Palestinian prisoners have been conducting an intense campaign against the occupying forces with one goal: Freedom at all costs. On March 22, the first day of Ramadan, they will launch an unlimited mass hunger strike, with one goal: Freedom, through victory and release or through martyrdom.

Not content with detaining living Palestinians, the Palestinian prisoners’ movement has launched an international campaign for the freedom of the imprisoned martyrs. Freedom from morgues and from number cemeteries, where the occupying power has tried to deprive the Palestinian martyrs of their identity and their families of a chance to honor and mourn them.

Today, March 18, is also the International Day for All Political Prisoners. International prisoners like the Lebanese communist Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, imprisoned in France since 1984 for his participation in the struggle for the liberation of Palestine. International prisoners such as the Turkish and Kurdish anti-imperialists and anti-fascists held by Germany under the infamous paragraphs 129 a and b. These laws carry echoes of the darkest days of German imperialism and should be uncomfortably familiar to us in Sweden, especially Palestinian friends and internationalists.

Palestinian writer and revolutionary Ghassan Kanafani, who was murdered along with his 8-year-old niece Lamis by the occupying forces with a car bomb, said: “The Palestinian question is not only a question for Palestinians, but for every revolutionary, wherever he is, as a question belonging to the exploited and oppressed masses of our time.”

This is not only true for reasons such as Israel’s largest arms manufacturer, Elbit System, testing weapons and surveillance systems on the people of Palestine before selling them on to strengthen the deadly hunt for migrants along Fortress Europe’s borders or to monitor citizens and influence political processes worldwide. While we stand with heart and mind, with words and deeds with the Palestinian struggle against the occupying power, we in the solidarity movement primarily meet opponents other than the occupying power itself, namely the friends of the occupying power here in Sweden. From across the political spectrum, we meet those who ignore oppression to promote Swedish business, those who confuse with empty promises of negotiations for a fake peace, and even those who see Israel as a political and social model.

Here in Sweden, the same forces that normalize and relativize the occupation of Palestine want to militarize social vulnerability and poverty on the one hand, and criminalize all forms of popular movements and freedom struggles on the other. Therein lies at least part of Ghassan Kanafani’s lesson to us: Not only should we stand with Palestine in the broadest sense, we must carry Palestine with us into all struggles for political, economic and social liberation. And when social power becomes more and more authoritarian, and international solidarity and the struggle against imperialism, colonialism and fascism are labeled as terrorism, then we must stand up and say: Then we are the terrorists of peace, freedom and equality!

Boycott Israel for the liberation, return and revolution of the whole of Palestine, from the river to the sea!

Several other speeches were given, including by Allt åt alla Göteborg who drew attention to the international campaign about the Palestinian martyrs deprived of their freedom whose remains are kept in the occupation’s morgues and so-called “numbers cemeteries”:

When settlers burned down parts of the village of Huwara in occupied Palestine earlier in March, it was part of a pogrom against the Palestinian people. The settlers were supported by the Israeli army. In recent weeks the Zionists have killed, killed and killed again in an attempt to ethnically cleanse Palestine.

Sometimes people try to defend Israel’s actions by saying that Israel only responds to Palestinian attacks. But to say this is to turn a blind eye to what the conflict is really about. It is not a conflict between equal parties.

It is a conflict where one side, Israel, has the means to subject the other side, the Palestinians, to more than seventy years of occupation and apartheid. It is a conflict where all the right is on the side of the Palestinians, yet the world turns a blind eye to Israel’s constant abuses.

 Israel murders and occupies without any real legal or political consequences from the outside world. They murder the children and the elderly. They prevent Palestinians from cultivating their land and fishing in the sea. And when the young and the brave demand the right to freedom, they are murdered. Anyone who resists, the Zionists try to murder quickly, and those who do not are murdered slowly in the great prison that Palestine has become.

Israel is a state built on the ruins of burned Palestinian villages.

Israel even tries to continue the oppression of Palestinians after they have been murdered. The occupiers have seized many of the bodies of the murdered after the massacres of the last few weeks.

Hundreds of Palestinians are buried in numbered cemeteries – unmarked graves where Israel hides the victims of its occupation policy. Yet another way to oppress a people, and a violation of all the Geneva Conventions.

 The enemies of Palestine are always talking about peace and negotiations. But how can you talk about peace with an enemy that continues to murder and oppress no matter what you do?

No, to hell with negotiations and gifts to the occupiers. Anyone living under occupation has the right to resist. Until the day Palestine, all of Palestine from the river to the sea, is free, we can only applaud those who resist the Zionist occupation by all means.

Long live Palestine – crush Zionism.

Learn more and get involved with Samidoun Göteborg — and throughout Sweden — by visiting the Samidoun Sweden website and the Samidoun Göteborg instagram!

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Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
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