As Palestinian prisoners entered their 16th day of hunger strike, the most severely ill Palestinian prisoners – those held in the Ramle prison clinic, the subject of demands for its replacement – confirmed their participation in the Strike of Freedom and Dignity with a process of escalating protest.

Launched on 17 April, Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, by 1500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, the strike has a series of demands, including an end to the denial of family visits, appropriate medical care and treatment, the right to access higher education and an end to solitary confinement and administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial. Prisoners engaged in the strike have been subjected to a series of repressive measures, including confiscation of personal belongings, frequent repressive night raids, denial of family visits, frequent transfers and denial of legal visits. In particular, the banning of striking prisoners, except for a few held in Ofer and Ashkelon, from legal visits has inhibited external communication with the prisoners about their health and conditions.

The announced program of the prisoners in the Ramla clinic included returning all three meals on 17 April, 24 April, 26 April and 29 April. Moving forward, they are returning all three meals on 1, 3, 6, 8, 10, 13, 15, 17, and 20 May. In the latter two weeks, the sick prisoners will also reject medication to support the broader hunger strike.  Prisoners in the Ramle prison clinic are dealing with a number of severe medical conditions, including cancer, heart disease, diabetes, severe injuries and wounds and severe physical disabilities, frequently caused by wounds by Israeli occupation soldiers prior to or at the time of arrest.

Meanwhile, the prisoners of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine announced that they would soon be announcing escalating steps regarding the strike and the struggle inside Israeli prisons, saying that the leadership of the prison organization is conducting extensive internal consultations to announce new steps of action and escalation behind bars for freedom and dignity.

Tomorrow, 3 May, the Israeli Supreme Court will consider a petition from Adalah and the Prisoners’ Affairs Commission demanding that strikers be permitted legal visits; members of the Knesset from Palestinian Arab parties in ’48 Palestine and representatives of human rights organizations are expected to attend the 11:30 am hearing.  This comes after lawyers’ demands for an immediate visit with longest-consecutively-held Palestinian prisoner Karim Younes, jailed for nearly 35 years, were rejected by the Haifa District Court.

Throughout Palestine, support for the strikers continued in streets and squares of cities, villages and refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, Jerusalem and occupied Palestine ’48. An increasing number of former prisoners joined solidarity strikes in support of the ongoing strike inside prison; in Qalqilya, eight former prisoners are on hunger strike in the prisoner support tent. Palestinian Jerusalemite youth organizer Sumoud Abu Khdeir was reported to be released on Monday evening after she was seized by Israeli occupation forces as she participated in a youth mural event to support the prisoners near Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate. She was ordered to stay away from the area for two weeks and to pay a financial bail of 1000 NIS ($277 USD).

A number of Bir Zeit University students, themselves former prisoners, continued their hunger strike in support of the prisoners. Over 60 students at the university – amid hundreds of imprisoned Palestinian students in total – are held in Israeli jails. Lina Khattab, Jihad Manasra, Yousef Barghouthi, Abed Barbar, Yasser Abu Rmaileh, Osama Sbeih, Mahmoud Muna and Mohammed Badr launched their strike on 30 April to support the prisoners and raise the profile of the strike among students.

Solidarity hunger strikes also continued in the Arab region and internationally. On 2 May, a group of San Diego organizations are organizing a solidarity fast in the Southern California city to support the striking prisoners. Meanwhile, Tunisian students from Gabès have launched a hunger strike in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners, reported Asra Voice. Former Lebanese prime minister Salim al-Hoss also announced a one-day hunger strike to support Palestinian prisoners.

The students in Tunisia joined students at the University of Manchester, who are on their 5th day of a support strike for the Palestinian prisoners. At the University of Edinburgh, the Communist Society launched a hunger strike on 30 April to support the Palestinian prisoners. “We are merely a few days into what has proved already to be a grueling endeavor- both physically and mentally. Yet for the Palestinian prisoners two weeks into their hunger strike, one can only begin to imagine the torment, yet bravery they are experiencing. Faced with enslavement under the toxicity of Zionism, hundreds of Comrades, from all factions of Palestinian resistance have lit a fuse for the rest of the world when darkness threatens to engulf us. It is a fuse that we believe must be seized upon, and utilised to spark a greater flame,” wrote the Edinburgh strikers.

These actions came as mass marches for 1 May, International Workers’ Day, took to the streets of cities around the world with active participation by Palestinian communities and Palestine solidarity organizations, emphasizing the importance of supporting the Palestinian prisoners’ strike at this critical time. In major global cities, including New York, Dublin, Chicago, Los Angeles, Berlin, Athens, London, Cologne, Wuppertal, Malmo, Paris, Lille, Lyon, Montpellier, Liege, Copenhagen, Lausanne, Oakland and elsewhere, the call of the Palestinian hunger strikers and the Palestinian people resonated on 1 May.

Further protests will take place, in addition to the San Diego event, in Helsinki, Finland and in Athens, Greece, where a large mobilization is planned at 6 pm organized by a wide range of Palestine solidarity and support groups throughout Greece. The mobilization follows a strong presence by many political parties and trade unions in the Athens May First demonstration with strong attention to the Palestinian struggle.

As the world marks the first of May, International Workers’ Day, Palestinian prisoners on Israeli jails are engaged in their 15th day of hunger strike, entering their third week without food. 1500 Palestinian prisoners launched the strike on 17 April, Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, to demand a series of basic rights: an end to the denial of family visits, appropriate medical care and treatment, the right to continue education, and an end to solitary confinement and administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial.

The prisoners have been met with harsh repression, including the denial of legal and family visits, isolation of strike leaders, confiscation of clothing, blankets and other personal items and frequent raids by repressive units, often late at night. Large numbers of hunger strikers have been transferred repeatedly from prison to prison. With only a few strikers in Ofer and Ashkelon prisons so far allowed legal visits, tracking developments in the strikers’ health and daily conditions is highly difficult for Palestinian organizations.

The campaign of prison transfers continues; Asra Voice reported the transfer of 45 prisoners from Ohli Kedar prison to Gilboa, Megiddo and Ofer prisons, while 10 prisoners were reportedly taken from Gilboa to the Negev desert prison and then returned to Gilboa only hours later.  The transfers, which are particularly physically exhausting to hunger strikers consuming only salt and water for 15 days, continued on Monday. Bilal Ajamieh and Haithem Hamdan were tranferred from Ashkelon to Eshel prison, while strike leaders Nasser Abu Hmeid, Anas Jaradat and Mohammed al-Khalidi were transferred from Ayalon Ramle prison to Nitzan prison. meanwhile, Mohammed Abbas was transferred from Nitzan to Gilboa prison, and Musallam Thabet and Ahmad Waridat taken from Nitzan to an unknown location.

Abdel-Fattah Dawla, the head of the media committee for the strike, said that attempts on the part of the Israel Prison Service to create back-channel negotiations that exclude strike leaders like Marwan Barghouthi, named the exclusive spokesperson for the Fateh prisoners who launched the call for the hunger strike, have failed. Dawla said in Ma’an News that the prisoners have consensus on their leadership and will not accept the creation of an alternative leadership to negotiate on their demands. Dawla also said that Karim Younes, another strike leader and the longest consecutively-held Palestinian prisoner, stated that he would not deal with the Israeli occupation authorities as a negotiator in the context of the exclusion of Barghouthi.

Following on Younes’ hearing yesterday in the Haifa district court, lawyers Yamen Zeidan and Suleiman Shaheen said that no clear response was given to their petition for a legal visit with Younes, who is a Palestinian citizen of Israel who has served over 34 years in Israeli prisons. The petition was partially accepted and partially rejected, and the prison administration was given until Thursday to respond in writing regarding a visit with Younes. According to Ma’an News, the lawyers emphasized that this means only further delay and attempts to isolate Younes and his fellow strikers.

Palestinian prisoner Mohammed Dalaysheh, from Jalazoun refugee camp near Ramallah, on his 15th day of hunger strike, lost his mother on Sunday, 30 April. Sentenced to 24 years in Israeli prison, he has completed 12 years of his sentence. As a Palestinian prisoner and a hunger striker, he is denied visits with his family or even a telephone call to his loved ones at his time of loss. Held in isolation in Saba prison and denied legal and family visits, Dalaysheh reportedly may not be informed of his mother’s passing; he lost his father three years ago, also imprisoned and denied the comfort of his family.

Mass Palestinian support for the strikers continued, as did repression of support actions and arrests of organizers by the Israeli occupation. Sumoud Abu Khdeir, an active Palestinian youth organizer in Jerusalem, was seized by Israeli occupation forces on 1 May in Jerusalem after a group of young Palestinian men and women gathered at Jerusalem’s Damascus Gate, creating a cloth mural of support for the Palestinian prisoners and writing the names of the Palestinian prisoners with messages of solidarity for their hunger strike. The mural in support of the prisoners was also confiscated by Israeli occupation forces in Jerusalem.  The young Palestinians were forced from the area by occupation forces.

In Sebastia, northwest of Nablus, Israeli occupation forces fired a heavy barrage of tear gas on protesters supporting the prisoners’ strike on Sunday night, 30 April; the fusillade of tear gas caused the support tent for the prisoners to catch on fire and blaze.  A number of Palestinians suffered tear gas inhalation, but none were wounded by the fire.

Many events are taking place throughout occupied Palestine in support of the hunger strikers, including events in Ramallah and el-Bireh, Nablus, Gaza City, Qalqilya, Bethlehem, Nazareth and Arara; events for International Workers’ Day are highlighting imprisoned Palestinian workers and their struggle for freedom.

International events in support of the prisoners continued, with wide participation in protests, festivals and demonstrations for International Workers’ Day. From within Israeli prisons, statements from Palestinian prisoners were issued directed to the international movements for justice and liberation, urging support for Palestine on International Workers’ Day.

Ahmad Sa’adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, issued a statement 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.

Kamil Abu Hanish, a leader of the hunger strike representing PFLP prisoners, also released a statement for the First of May: “Today, we call upon you, the fighters for freedom and justice in the world, the workers’ movements, the strugglers for socialism, the movements of revolution, to escalate your support for our struggle, for the Palestinian people and for the Palestinian prisoners….We urge you to intensify and build the movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions against the occupation state and the corporations like Hewlett-Packard and G4S that profit from its imprisonment, apartheid and colonialism. The workers’ movements, the movements of the popular classes, the movements of the oppressed, can and must take part in this battle around the world, as part and parcel of the struggle against racism, imperialism and capitalism,” wrote Abu Hanish.

On Sunday, 30 April, actions and events continued in support of the Palestinian prisoners, with gatherings in Padua, Milan, Malmo, Melbourne, Beirut, Washington, DC and elsewhere. On 1 May, international May First events will include advocacy for Palestine and Palestine contingents in cities around the world, including in Athens, Liege, Brussels, Copenhagen, Charleroi, Malmo, New York, Lille, Arras, Paris, Lyon, Metz, Montpellier, Lausanne, Albertville, Beziers, Saint-Etienne, Berlin, Cologne, London, Los Angeles, Oakland, North Bergen and more. In Athens, multiple contingents, organizations, trade unions and political parties carried banners and signs saluting the Palestinian prisoners and their struggle for justice and dignity.

The World Federation of Trade Unions issued a strong statement of support for Palestinian prisoners, which was joined also by the International Trade Union Confederation. Palestinian trade unionists issued a call for increased boycott activism on May Day, including boycott of the Histadrut, the Israeli official labor body: “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.”

In Lebanon, Palestinian and Lebanese organizations are continuing activities to support the strikers; Palestinian refugees in Shatila camp organized support tents and the posting of banners and posters in support of the prisoners; in Mar Elias refugee camp, a candlelight event saluted the prisoners’ strike. In Beirut, Saida, Kharoub and elsewhere in Lebanon, protests and gatherings called for support for the prisoners; Samah Idriss of the Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel in Lebanon urged materializing solidarity with the prisoners through intensifying the boycott campaign.

The Parliamentary Association of the Mediterranean also declared support for the prisoners, reported Ma’an News. António Pedro Roque da Visitação Oliveira, the president of PAM and a member of the Parliament of Portugal, stated that the association would take action on the issue of striking prisoners and would be meeting urgently with the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People on the issue.

As hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners entered their 14th day of hunger strike, completing their second week of strike, the longest consecutively-held Palestinian prisoner and a leader of the strike, Karim Younes, vowed to continue the strike “until victory or death.”

Younes, a Palestinian prisoner from ‘Ara in occupied Palestine ’48 who has spent over 35 years in Israeli prison, had a hearing in the Haifa District Court on Sunday, 30 May to consider the petition of his lawyers, Yamen Zeidan and Tamim Younes, to visit him during the strike. Like the vast majority of hunger strikers, Younes has been denied legal and family visits since the beginning of the strike on 17 April. During his appearance in the court, Younes was visibly fatigued and he has lost 10 kg (20 pounds) of weight since the beginning of his strike.

A hearing will be held on 3 May by the Israeli Supreme Court regarding a filing by Adalah and the Prisoners Affairs’ Commission on the general denial of legal visits to Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike. On Sunday, the Prisoners Affairs Commission and Palestinian Prisoners Society announced that they are implementing a full boycott of Israeli occupation military courts based on the continued denial of legal visits. Hundreds of international lawyers expressed their solidarity in a statement originated by the National Lawyers Guild in the U.S.

With other strike leaders, Younes has been repeatedly transferred from prison to prison, first from Hadarim prison to isolation in Jalameh prison and now to Gilboa prison. 1500 Palestinian prisoners launched their hunger strike, the Strike of Freedom and Dignity, on 17 April. They are demanding basic human rights, inclduing an end to the denial of family visits, appropriate medical care, the right to education and an end to solitary confinement and administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial.

The strikers have been met with harsh repression inside the prisons. Aside from a few visits for prisoners in Ashkelon and Ofer prisons, nearly all of the 1500 strikers have been denied legal visits; all have been denied family visits. Their personal belongings and clothing have been confiscated; many prisoners have even reported that the salt that they consume with water to sustain their health and lives has been confiscated by Israeli prison administration.

Striking prisoners have been repeatedly transferred from prison to prison; many have been moved to isolation sections. Strike leaders, like Younes, Fateh leader Marwan Barghouthi and Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine prison branch leader Kamil Abu Hanish have been thrown into solitary confinement. Prisoners have been subjected to repeated late-night and pre-dawn raids by repressive units. On Sunday, Nasser Oweis, held in isolation in Ayalon Ramle prison, was assaulted by repressive forces.

Meanwhile, the media committee of the strike reported potential overtures for negotiations by the Israeli prison administration since Saturday; however, they noted as well that the prison administration is so far insisting upon the exclusion of Marwan Barghouthi, the imprisoned Fateh leader designated as spokesperson by Fateh prisoners when announcing the strike.

Palestinian and international actions continued in support of the prisoners. On Sunday, 30 April, international events took place in Melbourne, Malmo, Padua, and Milan, while many international cities will see Palestinian contingents and a strong presence in support of the Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinian liberation movement in general on 1 May, International Workers’ Day. Among other cities, events in Athens, Liege, Copenhagen, Brussels, New York, Lille, Arras, Lyon, Paris, Metz, Berlin, Montpellier, Cologne, London, Los Angeles and New Jersey will include calls for the liberation of Palestinian political prisoners and the Palestinian people.

As protests continued to grow, more activists engaged in solidarity hunger strikes with the prisoners. At the University of Manchester in the UK, five students are continuing a solidarity hunger strike to support the Palestinian prisoners.

In Palestine, they are joined by a number of prisoners’ family members, as well as eight activists in Nablus, who have launched a solidarity strike in the prisoners’ support tents. At Bir Zeit University, five students, all former prisoners themselves, have launched a five-day hunger strike to support the prisoners: Yasser Abu Remaileh, Lina Khattab, Abed Barbar, Yousef Barghouthi and Jihad Manasra.

As demonstrators take the streets in numerous Palestinian, Arab and international cities, towns, campuses and refugee camps in support of Palestinian prisoners, the city of Berlin, Germany has been a high point in the international mobilizations supporting the Freedom and Dignity hunger strike of imprisoned Palestinians. The streets and squares of Berlin have been filled with repeated protest actions in support of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails, organized by Palestinian and Palestine solidarity groups in the city.

Berlin, home to one of the largest Palestinian communities in Europe, has been an active site of mobilization in support of the hunger strike that was launched on 17 April, Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, by 1500 Palestinian prisoners. Labeled the Strike for Freedom and Dignity, the hunger strike demands an end to the denial of family visits, appropriate medical care for Palestinian prisoners and an end to solitary confinement and imprisonment without charge or trial. Solidarity network Palästina-Solidarität has provided consistent German-language news and information about developments in the hunger strike,  while Palestinian community groups including the Democratic Palestine Committees, Palestinian National Action Committee, Palestinian Association in Germany and others have organized multiple protests.

On Saturday, 29 April, demonstrators gathered in Potsdamer Platz first for an information table and then for a demonstration to support the prisoners, at least the sixth demonstration for Palestinian prisoners since the beginning of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Week of Action on 15 April. Protesters distributed information, held signs, banners and Palestinian flags and displayed large props to dramatize the situation of Palestinian prisoners, including a large “cage” and representations of Handala, the timeless cartoon character representing a Palestinian refugee boy created by Naji al-Ali.

The protest on Saturday followed a human chain that stretched from Wittenbergplatz to Joachimstaler Strasse on Friday evening, 28 April. Dozens of participants stretched through the busy shopping streets, holding candles in vigil of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strikes while displaying Palestinian flags and images of the prisoners and distributing flyers and information about the prisoners’ struggle.

Earlier in the week, on Wednesday, 26 April, many Palestinian and Palestine solidarity activists gathered by the iconic Brandenburger Tor in central Berlin to stand in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike. Palestinian music played while banners and Palestinian flags waved in support of the Palestinian prisoners’ struggle, with a wide participation by many organizations in the city.

The Wednesday protest followed an action on Saturday, 22 April, also in Potsdamer Platz, where participants carried signs and banners highlighting the Palestinian prisoners’ struggle and key issues like administrative detention – imprisonment without charge or trial – and solitary confinement. Demonstrators held posters of a number of prominent Palestinian prisoners, including PFLP General Secretary Ahmad Sa’adat and Fateh leader Marwan Barghouthi, highlighting their struggles for freedom.

These four actions came following two protests, at Neukolln Rathaus and Hermannplatz, on 15 and 17 April. Marking Palestinian Prisoners’ Day and the Week of Action for Palestinian Prisoners, the Democratic Palstine Committees gathered on 15 April at the Neukolln Rathaus to support Palestinian prisoners, facing down an attempt by pro-apartheid pro-Zionist organizations to shut down the protest. On 17 April, Palestinian youth led a demonstration at Hermannplatz as part of the End Security Coordination Campaign demanding freedom for Palestinian prisoners and an end to PA security coordination with Israel.

All of the demonstrations have been well-attended with over 70 participants in each case, often including families and children. The demonstrations in Berlin have come alongside numerous actions in international cities, including protests in other German cities such as Stuttgart, Koblenz, Bremen, Cologne and Bonn. The next mobilization for Palestinian prisoners in Berlin will take place on 1 May, May Day, when Palestinian and Palestine solidarity activists will participate in the Internationalist Block in the Revolutionary May Day demonstration at 4 pm at Lausitzer Platz in Berlin’s Kreuzberg neighborhood. On 6 May, the Palestinian National Action Committee in Berlin is organizing a day-long hunger strike action in Alexanderplatz in solidarity with the prisoners.

Demonstrators in Brussels, Belgium gathered outside city’s central train station on Friday, 28 April to stand in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners on open hunger strike for dignity and freedom. Participants carried Palestinian flags – including several massive flags – as well as signs and banners urging justice and freedom for the prisoners.

1500 Palestinian prisoners launched their strike in Israeli jails on 17 April, Palestinian Prisoners’ Day. The hunger strikers have a series of demands, including an end to the denial of family visits, increased communication with loved ones, appropriate medical care and treatment and the end of solitary confinement and administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial. Protesters at the event also highlighted the case of Lebanese struggler for Palestine Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, imprisoned in France for nearly 33 years, who recently conducted a three-day hunger strike to support Palestinian prisoners.

Following up on the Brussels protest held on 19 April to support the Palestinian prisoners and their hunger strike, protesters from a number of organizations including the Palestinian Community of Belgium and Luxembourg, Association Belgo-Palestinienne, Palestina Solidariteit, Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and others came together to call for the immediate implementation of the hunger strikers’ demands. Hamdan al-Damiri and Tahsin Zaki of the Palestinian community opened and emceed the event with calls for justice for Palestinian prisoners.

Speakers at the protest included Nadia El Yousfi, Belgian senator from the Parti Socialiste (PS), who was one of seven Belgian parliamentarians to nominate Marwan Barghouthi, an imprisoned Palestinian political leader and a leader of this hunger strike, for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2016. Alexis DeSwaef, president of the League for Human Rights in Belgium and a prominent lawyer and human rights advocate, also spoke at the event, on the human rights situation and just demands of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike. DeSwaef was one of the participants in a Belgian human rights delegation to Palestine that reviewed and denounced Belgian participation in LAW-TRAIN, an EU-funded collaborative training program with the Israeli police on interrogation techniques.

Dirk DeBlock, a councillor with the Workers Party of Belgium in Molenbeek and several community activists from Molenbeek also spoke at the protest. Molenbeek, one of the 19 communes that makes up the city and region of Brussels, celebrated a major victory for Palestinian human rights on Wednesday, 26 April when the commune adopted a legally-binding policy prohibiting contracting with businesses and corporations involved with human rights violations, including the Israeli occupation of Palestine, the first Belgian city or town to adopt such a binding initiative.

The adoption of the procurement policy followed a resolution passed on 25 June 2015 that directed the creation of such a policy, which was found to be legally consistent and binding by the municipality at the April meeting. The campaign for Molenbeek’s contracting to be free of apartheid profiteers was launched by DeBlock when G4S was found to be contracted for cash security and transport by the municipality, despite the global campaign against the corporation for its involvement in human rights abuses in Palestine. This included G4S’ involvement with the Israeli Prison Service as well as its role in checkpoints and other structures of Israeli apartheid.

The adoption of the policy was celebrated by a large group of Palestinian community members, Palestine solidarity activists and other social justice and human rights advocates who were part of the Molenbeek Free of Apartheid campaign.

The event included a moving and powerful performance by Raj’een Palestinian Dabkeh Troupe, who performed a modern dabkeh piece illustrating the struggle of Palestinian prisoners as well as a classic dabkeh performance. The strong dancing and Palestinian music drew the attention of many passers-by in the central area of the city. The dabkeh troupe, organized by Palestinian youth in Belgium, performs at cultural and community events across Europe.

Charlotte Kates of Samidoun spoke at the event, emphasizing the international nature of the campaign to support Palestinian prisoners and that Israeli attempts to isolate and silence the prisoners have failed. This is reflected on a daily basis as the streets of Palestine, the Arab world and international cities have protests, demonstrations and actions to support the hunger strikers and their struggle. She noted the hunger strikers’ basic demands for human rights and justice, and called for the freedom of all Palestinian prisoners, the imprisoned leadership of the Palestinian struggle against racism, colonialism, apartheid and occupation. She also demanded an end to Belgian and European complicity with Israeli violations of Palestinian rights, calling for an end to LAW-TRAIN and the EU-Israel Association Agreement.

Participants also collectively participated in the #SaltWaterChallenge, drinking cups of salt and water as many people have done in viral social media videos, publicizing the hunger strikers’ reliance on salt and water to maintain their lives and health. A Palestinian Belgian student spoke about the struggles of Palestinian youth prisoners and the importance of standing beside the prisoners in their struggle for justice and liberation.

The event included significant representation from the Palestinian and Arab communities as well as activists from a number of political parties, including the Workers’ Party of Belgium and the Green Party, trade unions and other social and community organizations. Dozens of Belgian organizations are also issuing a letter to the Belgian government to call for a changed policy on Palestine and defense of the rights of Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails. On Saturday, 6 May, another rally will come together in Brussels at the Place de la Monnaie at 4 pm in support of the Palestinian prisoners and their hunger strike.