Protests in New York City and across the United States demand end to security coordination and support Palestinian prisoners

21 April 2017

Protesters in New York City gathered on Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, 17 April, for a protest against Palestinian Authority security coordination with Israel and freedom for Palestinian prisoners. The protest, part of the “End Security Coordination” campaign of young Palestinians, was organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement outside the Palestinian mission to the United Nations.

Participants in the action represented a number of organizations and projects, including Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, Existence is Resistance, NYC Students for Justice in Palestine and Decolonize This Place. Speakers urged an end to security coordination and freedom for all Palestinian political prisoners.

The protest also honored the 40th day after the assassination of Palestinian youth leader Basil al-Araj, who only months before had been imprisoned by the Palestinian Authority with his comrades. Their arrest was trumpeted at the time by PA President Mahmoud Abbas as showing the value of PA security coordination with Israel.

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Palestinian youth and community activists also held a simultaneous event in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn in the heart of the Palestinian community, where they created a cardboard tree and collected “leaves” of messages for Palestine to honor al-Araj.

The action in New York joined other protests commemorating al-Araj and Palestinian Prisoners’ Day with a demand to end security coordination in Malmo, London, Berlin, Stockholm, Amman, Boston, Los Angeles, San Diego and Washington, DC.

In Washington, protesters with the Palestinian Youth Movement and other organizations gathered outside the Palestinian Mission to the United States, demanding an end to security coordination and posting signs on the building with their messages to the Palestinian Authority.

In Boston, activists posted signs near the Park Street MBTA station highlighting the life of al-Araj, the imprisonment of Palestinians and the Palestinian hunger strike in Israeli jails. Participants also expressed solidarity with the Black liberation struggle in the United States, noting the role of mass incarceration in the suppression of the Black community.

San Diego youth activists hosted a discussion of Palestinian political prisoners and the role of security coordination in continuing colonial occupation in Palestine, while in Los Angeles, activists held a protest for Palestinian Prisoners’ Day outside the Israeli Consulate, demanding freedom for Palestinian prisoners.

Later in the evening in Los Angeles, Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA hosted Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi and Henry “Hank” Jones for a discussion about Black and Palestinian struggles for liberation on Palestinian Prisoners’ Day. The discussion was moderated by Dr. Robin D. G. Kelley. Both Abdulhadi and Jones were members of the U.S. Prison, Labor and Academic Delegation to Palestine in March 2016, which released a strong solidarity statement on 17 April 2016 in commemoration of Palestinian Prisoners’ Day.

Additional events are taking place throughout the United States as part of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Week of Action and in support of Palestinian political prisoners on hunger strike. On Friday, 21 April, Samidoun will protest in New York City outside the Best Buy in Union Square at 5:30 pm. The protest will support the Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike, urge the immediate implementation of their demands, and call for the boycott of HP products until the corporation ends its involvement in profiteering from the Israeli imprisonment, colonization and occupation of Palestinians. All supporters of justice for Palestine are invited to attend to show support for the prisoners’ struggle.

Solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike on the streets of Brussels

21 April 2017

Protesters gathered in Brussels, Belgium on 19 April to mark Palestinian Prisoners’ Day and express support for the struggle of approximately 1,500 Palestinian political prisoners engaged in a hunger strike in Israeli jails to achieve a series of demands for basic human rights.

The protest, organized by the Palestinian Community of Belgium and Luxembourg, gathered at Schuman Rond-Point across from the headquarters of the European Commission; crowds filled the roundabout as participants carried a massive Palestinian flag. A number of organizations joined the call for the protest, including the European Alliance in Defence of Palestinian Detainees, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, Plate-forme Charleroi Palestine, the Arab Cultural Center of Liege, the Association Belgo-Palestinienne in Liege, and the Comite pour Vigilance pour Democracie en Tunisie.

Demonstrators carried Palestinian flags and large posters and signs of various Palestinian political prisoners, including imprisoned PFLP General Secretary Ahmad Sa’adat and Fateh leader Marwan Barghouthi. Speakers urged the intensification of boycott campaigns while chants called for freedom for Palestinian political prisoners and for the land and people of Palestine.

Participants also carried flags and banners demanding freedom for Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, the Lebanese Communist struggler for Palestine held in French prisons for 32 years.

Raj’een Palestinian Dabkeh Troupe performed at the protest, waving Palestinian flags as they performed traditional Palestinian folk dance in support of the Palestinian political prisoners.

Belgium’s KULeuven and the Judicial Police are partners in the EU-funded LAW-TRAIN project, along with the Spanish government and the Israeli national police. A growing campaign in Belgium is highlighting the project’s complicity in torturous interrogations and human rights violations by the Israeli police against Palestinian detainees, and demanding Belgium pull out of the LAW-TRAIN project and reject any future such initiatives.

From Toulouse to Paris to Marseille, protests and actions in France support Palestinian prisoners

21 April 2017

Supporters of Palestinian prisoners gathered on Monday, 17 April in Toulouse, France in a demonstration organized by Coup Pour Coup 31, the anti-imperialist collective. Dozens of people gathered to mark Palestinian Prisoners’ Day and support the hunger strike of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Participants carried signs and distributed materials about Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, including imprisoned PFLP General Secretary Ahmad Sa’adat and student prisoner Kifah Quzmar. Organizers also highlighted the case of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, the Lebanese Communist struggler for Palestine imprisoned for 32 years in French prisons. The information table collected numerous postcards of support and solidarity to send to Abdallah in Lannemezan prison; these letters of solidarity help to strengthen the morale of prisoners resisting behind bars.

In addition to the case of Abdallah, participants carried signs urging freedom for Bagui Traoré, the brother of Adama Traoré, slain by French police violence. Since that time, Bagui, the only non-police witness to his brother’s death, has been pursued repeatedly for imprisonment and prosecution. These signs were also carried in a protest in Gaza demanding freedom for Palestinian prisoners and expressing solidarity with prisoners of injustice and oppression in French prisons.

On a large sheet of plastic stretched across the square, a graffiti artist created a mural saluting the Palestinian prisoners and demanding their freedom.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMs-aLqgixA

The gathering in Toulouse was part of a number of actions across France marking Palestinian Prisoners’ Day and expressing solidarity with approximately 1,500 Palestinian prisoners launching a hunger strike for basic human rights.

In Paris, on Saturday, 15 April, BDS activists in Paris set up a pop-up action outside FNAC, a large French electronics chain, highlighting the complicity of Hewlett-Packard (HP) in the imprisonment, occupation and colonization of Palestinians and the growing international campaign for boycott of the corporation.

Demonstrators set up mock prison fences outside the store, holding signs, banners and distributing materials about the situation of Palestinian prisoners and the role of HP in profiteering from occupation and oppression.

The attention-getting visual action highlighted the struggle of Palestinian prisoners and their experiences of arrest and torture under interrogation and the role of international corporations like HP in supporting and enabling those abuses. Participants distributed large numbers of leaflets highlighting HP complicity.

Later on the same day, a group of organizations, including GUPS Paris, UJFP and the AFPS gathered near Metro Jourdain for a symbolic street renaming, to “Place des Prisonniers Politiques Palestiniens.”

*Photo: Jeunes Communistes Paris Nord-Est*

Speakers expressed their support for Palestinian prisoners while the square was hung with posters and photographs of imprisoned Palestinians.

On Sunday, 16 April, a number of organizations gathered at the Place de la Republique for a rally in the busy square marking Palestinian Prisoners’ Day. Participants spoke, chanted and displayed Palestinian flags and materials regarding the over 6,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Participants in the demonstration urged the boycott of Israel and the growth of the BDS campaign to internationally isolate Israel, emphasizing the need to confront Israeli occupation and apartheid to struggle for the prisoners’ freedom. Participating organizations included CAPJPO-EuroPalestine and Maison de la Palestine.

EuroPalestine is organizing a program of activities and political pressure to support the prisoners on hunger strike, including organizing to support Defence for Children International-Palestine, which works with Palestinian child prisoners on the ground in Palestine.

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On 17 April, Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, an evening event in Paris highlighted the struggle of Palestinian prisoners and the case of Georges Abdallah. The event was organized as part of a week of action with political prisoners around the world.

The evening began with the launch of an exhibition, “In Between,” in support of the Palestinian political prisoners. Art displayed in the exhibition included the work of Palestinian youth from Dheisheh refugee camp as well as French painter Sania.

The exhibition launch was followed by an evening discussion at the CICP focused on the struggle of Palestinian political prisoners. The event included screenings of short films created by Palestinian youth in Dheisheh camp, as well as speeched by two former Palestinian prisoners, Youssef Habache of CDP-Palestine and Naji Owda, director of the Laylac center in Dheisheh. In addition, the Unified Campaign for the Liberation of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah presented a message from Abdallah in prison in support of Palestinian prisoners.

Also on Palestinian Prisoners’ Day in Marseille, France, organizers with BDS France Marseille, Palestine 13 and UJFP gathered at the Vieux Port in solidarity with over 1,500 Palestinian political prisoners on hunger strike in a morning demonstration.

Participants distributed materials and information about the Palestinian prisoners as well as the campaign to boycott HP for its involvement in profiteering from the imprisonment and oppression of Palestinians. The flyers also contained short passages in English, Spanish and Italian on the announcement of the mass hunger strike.

Additional protests also gathered elsewhere in France to support Palestinian prisoners. In Genevilliers, Rennes and Lyon, France, protesters gathered on 15 April to express their solidarity with the thousands of imprisoned Palestinians behind Israeli bars. Several cities, including Nanterre, hosted screenings of Mai Masri’s film, “3000 Nights,” a feature film about the experience of Palestinian women prisoners. The Communist Students in France collected letters in solidarity with imprisoned Palestinian student Kifah Quzmar and other imprisoned Palestinians, especially after their scheduled event at the university in Nanterre was forbidden by the administration.

London protests denounce security coordination, stand for justice for Palestinian prisoners

21 April 2017

Protesters gathered in London on Palestinian Prisoners Day, 17 April, in a protest that was organized as part of the “End Security Coordination” day of action in response to a call by Palestinian youth. The day of action, which marked both Prisoners’ Day and the 40th day anniversary of the assassination of Palestinian youth leader Basil al-Araj, included gatherings and protests in Malmo, Stockholm, New York, Washington, DC, Boston Los Angeles, San Diego, Berlin, Vienna and London.

The protest gathered outside the Palestinian Mission to the UK, where participants spoke, chanted and hung signs on the mission emphasizing their demand that the Palestinian Authority end its policy of “security coordination” with the Israeli occupation. In the case of Al-Araj, he and five of his comrades were imprisoned without charge by the Palestinian Authority for over five months after PA President Mahmoud Abbas trumpeted their arrest as a victory for PA/Israel security coordination. Following the assassination of al-Araj by Israeli occupation forces on 6 March, popular anger spilled into Palestinian streets in rejection of security coordination and the policies of the Palestinian Authority. This was intensified further when protesters against security coordination and a continued PA trial of al-Araj and his comrades, four of whom are imprisoned by the Israeli occupation, were attacked by PA security forces.

In London, Palestinian journalist and rally participant Lara Khalidi said that “a great number of Palestinian strugglers would not have been imprisoned if it wasn’t for the PA’s warm ties with the occupation’s security – the ongoing security coordination between the PA and the Zionist occupation.”

In relation to the location of the protest and other demonstrations against security coordination, Khalidi said that “these embassies do not represent us, nor do they speak in our name. Those who coordinate with the occupier are collaborators and must be held accountable; it is that black or white; you either stand with the resistance or with the collaborator.”

The speakers addressed Basil al-Araj’s life of struggle, PA security coordination and the Palestinian prisoners launching a hunger strike in Israeli prisons. “Such protests are gaining momentum here is Britain, as more and more Palestinian youths are speaking out against the PA elite and challenging the Oslo agreement and its leadership,” said Khalidi.

Later on the same day, another protest gathered in London across the street from the Israeli embassy in support of the hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Protesters, including the former hunger-striker Mahmoud Sarsak, carried signs and chanted while engaging in a street-theater performance with mock shackles.

Participants expressed their support for the hunger strikers and called for the implementation of their demands and the freedom of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. This group is planning a second rally in London on Saturday, 22 April at 3 pm at the Israeli embassy in support of the hunger strikers.

Both protests on 17 April followed a protest on Friday, 15 April organized by Inminds, in which protesters gathered on the Southbank of the River Thames to highlight the struggle of Palestinian prisoners and support the forthcoming hunger strike.

“We are here to show our solidarity and support their collective hunger strike, they are demanding basic human rights which Israel as a signatory to the Geneva Conventions should already be providing. We demand international pressure be put on Israel to adhere to the Geneva Conventions and sanctioned when it fails. The demands of the hunger strikers must be met,” said Inminds chair Abbas Ali in the group’s report.

Participants in the protest distributed over 1000 leaflets urging the boycott of Hewlett-Packard (HP), because of the corporation’s profiting from Israeli apartheid, occupation, colonization and imprisonment. Among other involvement in Israeli apartheid, including checkpoint technology and the apartheid wall, HP also has a contract for database services with the Israeli prison system.

Ali noted that the rally also highlighted Basil al-Araj, marking the 40th day after his assassination. “Basil was an intellectual freedom fighter with an unwavering commitment to the liberation of his people. We celebrate his life and learn from it. And we condemn his murder and condemn the PA’s part in it, and their security co-ordination agreement with the occupation,” said Ali. Participants in the event also expressed their solidarity with New York activists who were attacked by police while participating in an anti-war demonstration.

*Photo: Camden Abu Dis Friendship Association*

In addition, another group supporting Palestine in London, the Camden Abu Dis Friendship Association, rallied at St. Martins in the Fields Trafalgar Square on 20 April, distributing material, including testimonies from students in Palestine about their experiences, and highlighting the imprisonment of Palestinian children. The protest urged support for the hunger strikers and their demands.

More hunger strike leaders thrown into isolation; legal visits continue to be denied

20 April 2017

Israeli prison authorities continued their repressive campaign against Palestinian prisoners engaged in a collective open hunger strike. On Thursday, 20 April, the prisoners’ fourth day of the strike which began on 17 April, Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, several hunger strike leaders were transferred from prison to prison and thrown into isolation, while one ill hunger striking prisoner was moved to Barzilai Hospital.

Kamil Abu Hanish and Nader Sadaqa, both leaders of the hunger-striking prisoners among the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, were abruptly transferred from Gilboa prison to isolation in Jalameh prison and Ella prison, respectively. Muhannad Ibrahim, a prisoner leader in the Islamic Jihad movement, was transferred from Hadarim prison to Ella’s isolation cells. They join several strike leaders, including Fateh leader Marwan Barghouthi, longest continually-held Palestinian prisoner Karim Younis, and a number of other strike leaders including Anas Jaradat and Mahmoud Abu Srour, all of whom have been thrown in solitary confinement and denied legal visits.

35 prisoners were reportedly moved from Ramon prison to other prisons, while 73 were transferred from Gilboa prison. These transfers can take days under the “bosta” system, one subject of the hunger strikers’ demands. Palestinian lawyer Karim Ajwa said that multiple prisoners from Ashkelon were transferred to Ayalon prison, while nine prisoners from Hadarim, Nafha and Gilboa prisons were transferred to Ashkelon.

Palestinian prisoner Said Musallam, 42, from Salfit, was transferred to Barzilai Hospital on 19 April. With six other ill prisoners in Ashkelon prison, he announced that he was joining the hunger strike on 18 April. However, he was transferred the next day to the hospital; Musallam suffered a heart attack nearly a year ago in the Negev desert prison and underwent heart procedures at Soroka Hospital. Musallam has served 16 years of his 18-year sentence in Israeli prison.

In the Negev desert prison and the Ofer prison, repressive units stormed the rooms of hunger striking prisoners under the pretexts of “inspection” on 20 April. In the Negev prison, prisoners were pulled from their rooms and blindfolded as their belongings were ransacked.

Meanwhile, despite the statements of Israeli officials that hunger strikers would be able to receive legal visits – which had been denied since Monday – the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society and Prisoners Affairs Commission continued to report denials of legal visits for hunger-striking prisoners. While lawyers were able to visit three strikers in Ofer prison (Louay Eid, Fadi Abu Atiya and Mohammed Hassan), lawyers were denied access to hunger strikers in Ashkelon, Nafha and Eshel prisons. A visit was approved for prisoners held in Gilboa prison; however, it was scheduled only for next week.

Outside Ofer prison, three participants in a march in support of the prisoners were injured by Israeli occupation forces launching tear gas canisters and sound bombs; one marcher was seized by Israeli occupation forces. The march, organized by the National and Islamic Forces, included chants in support of the hunger strikers.

In Palestine ’48, the Higher Arab Follow-Up Committee announced plans for a symbolic one-day hunger strike on Friday, 21 April in the town of Arraba, the home of freed prisoner Lena Jarbouni, released on Sunday after 15 years in Israeli prison. The hunger strikers will gather in a solidarity tent set up all day in the village as part of a celebration and welcoming for Jarbouni. The Committee announced plans for ongoing and additional actions in support of the prisoners and their hunger strike.

Meanwhile, illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank of Palestine affiliated with the so-called “National Union” extremist organization set up a barbeque across from Ofer prison, west of Ramallah, grilling meats in an attempt to taunt the hundreds of Palestinian prisoners hunger striking for freedom and dignity inside the prison.

#DropTheCharges: Solidarity with Taher Herzallah and Kareem El-Hosseiny

20 April 2017

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network stands in solidarity with Taher Herzallah and Kareem El-Hosseiny, two Palestine activists who work for American Muslims for Palestine. Both were arrested and now face fines and jail time for speaking out during the opening statement of David Friedman, the now-confirmed U.S. Ambassador to Israel. See video below:

Herzallah and El-Hosseiny were arrested along with four white, Jewish activists who also participated in the protest against Friedman for his disregard of Palestinian rights; however, three of those four activists had their charges dismissed and the other’s case was moved to traffic court, leaving, in a striking example of selective prosecution, only the two Arab protesters on trial and facing serious charges for the protest.

We urge all supporters of Palestine to participate in the actions below in support of Herzallah and El-Hosseiny, including attending the protest in Washington, DC and participating in the Twitter campaign. The following alert was issued by American Muslims for Palestine:

AMP staffers Taher Herzallah and Kareem El-Hosseiny are due in DC Superior Court at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow for a status hearing on the criminal charges of unlawful disruption of Congress. Their attorney Ann Wilcox of the National Lawyers Guild will ask the court to dismiss the charges, on the grounds they amount to selective prosecution that’s based solely on the men’s racial, religious, and ethnic identities.

Capitol Hill police arrested Herzallah and El-Hosseiny and four white, Jewish activists from Code Pink and IfNotNow in February during the Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing for David Friedman, who has since been approved as U.S. ambassador to Israel.

Herzallah and El-Hosseiny — the only two Arabs and Muslims in the group — are also the only two facing criminal charges filed against them by the U.S. Attorney’s office. Three of the white Jewish protesters were allowed to pay a small fine the same day. One had his case transferred to traffic court.

Herzallah and El-Hosseiny face six months in jail and a $500 fine.

Several organizations, including Code Pink and IfNotNow, have rallied around the AMP staffers.

We need you! Here’s how you can help!

WASHINGTON DC
If you live in the DMV area, please attend the rally tomorrow, from 8-9 a.m. in front of the DC Superior Courthouse, 500 Indiana Ave. NW. We need to show that we reject biased prosecutions!

TWITTER/FACEBOOK
If you are not able to attend the rally, please support today and tomorrow by keeping this issue alive on social media. Use the hashtags #DroptheCharges and #SelectiveProsecution. You can get memes, sample Tweets, media Twitter handles and more background information on our special project page!

DONATE
Please help AMP defray the costs associated with defending our colleagues by making a generous donation today!

24 April, NYC: The Road to Freedom – A Panel Discussion with Omar Barghouti

20 April 2017

Monday, 24 April
8:00 pm
Location TBA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/185758698609213/

The Road to Freedom: The BDS Movement for Palestinian Rights and the Struggle Against Apartheid

Join CUAD as we have the honor of receiving BDS co-founder and defender of human rights, justice, and freedom Omar Barghouti for a panel on what it means to build a movement against apartheid in the 21st century. Omar Barghouti will be joined by Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace Rebecca Vilkomerson and History Professor Premilla Nadasen for a conversation on the past, present, and future of the BDS movement, its significance in this political moment and relationship to other social movements, and the mounting political persecution of all who are fighting for justice, from Palestine to the United States and beyond.

Omar Barghouti and other BDS movement activists working to secure Palestinian rights have long been bullied and threatened by the Israeli government. Omar has personally faced an Israeli travel ban and the threat of “targeted civil elimination” – a euphemism for civil assassination – for his role in the growing BDS movement. He has long warned about the Israeli government’s “tarnishing unit” established to silence BDS supporters using McCarthyist tactics. In light of the recent UN report characterizing Israel as an apartheid state engaged in crimes against humanity, it is of utmost importance to come learn more about the BDS movement for Palestinian rights and help build it. The discussion will give an update on the situation in Palestine today, and reflect on the growing movements for justice in Palestine, in Black and indigenous communities in the United States, and the principled solidarity between these and other struggles rejecting all forms of colonialism and racism.

This event comes at a crucial moment of growth and expansion in all social movements, as well as in the BDS struggle for Palestinian rights on our campus. Come hear from activists and scholars at the forefront of struggle on the important intersections in our movements, and on how to we can face state repression and achieve justice and decolonization.

This event is free and open to the public.

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To learn more about our campaign for Columbia to divest from companies that profit from Israeli occupation, settler colonialism, and apartheid, visit our website: apartheiddivest.org. Sign our petition today: bit.ly/CUADpet.

This event would not be possible without the support of our amazing co-sponsors: Women’s, Gender and Sexuality studies department, Anthropology department, Columbia Queer Alliance, Divest Barnard for a Just Transition, Student-Worker Solidarity, Mobilized African Diaspora, CU Turath, No Red Tape, Barnard Columbia Socialists, South Asian Feminisms Alliance, African Students’ Association, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

24 April, Athens: Palestinian Prisoners’ Struggle for Freedom and Liberation

20 April 2017

Monday, 24 April
7 pm
Athens University of Economics and Business
Athens, Greece
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/205442036623165/

2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the Balfour declaration and British colonization of Palestine. It marks the 70th anniversary of the Nakba, and the 50th anniversary of the occupation of the remaining parts of Palestine – the West Bank and Gaza Strip – and the Syrian Golan Heights. Today, there are 7 million Palestinian refugees denied their right to return home and millions more Palestinians living under occupation, apartheid, racism and settler colonialism, including 7,000 Palestinian political prisoners – struggling for liberation and justice.

Palestinian political prisoners are on the front lines of the Palestinian people’s struggle for national liberation, confronting racism and oppression each day inside Israeli jails as they struggle not only for their liberation from behind iron bars and barbed wire, but for the freedom of their land and people, Palestine, from the river to the sea.

Join us for a discussion of the struggle of Palestinian political prisoners, the Palestinian national liberation movement today and international complicity in the ongoing repression of the Palestinian people, from billions of dollars in US aid to Israel, to France’s jailing of Lebanese struggler for Palestine Georges Ibrahim Abdallah. Meanwhile, the Palestinian people – side by side with oppressed peoples around the world – continue to resist. They struggle against not only the Israeli state and its backing by major imperialist powers, but also the “security coordination” of the Palestinian Authority that continues to jail and suppress Palestinian resistance.

At the core of the Palestinian struggle is the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and lands. Palestinians, like peoples around the world, have been forced to migrate and seek refuge around the world due to aggression, occupation, colonization, brutality and war. Today, Palestinian, Syrian and other people in migration continue to face further brutalization, criminalization and racism as they seek refuge from the ravages of imperialism, colonization and war. The struggle against racism is part and parcel of the struggle for liberation.

This event is part of the Palestinian and international commemoration of the 40th day after the assassination of Palestinian youth leader and struggler, Basil al-Araj, shot down in a torrent of Israeli bullets as he resisted until his last breath. We will honor Basil’s memory and his commitment to Palestinian freedom and revolution with our demands for liberation and return, for a liberated Palestine and the victory of 100 years of struggle.

With speakers:

Khaled Barakat
Palestinian leftist writer and the international coordinator of the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat

Charlotte Kates
International coordinator, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

Tarek Kishawi
Palestinian youth organizer in Greece

Giannis Rachiotis
Greek lawyer and left organizer

Το 2017 σηματοδοτεί την 100η επέτειο από την Διακήρυξη Balfour και την Βρετανική αποίκιση της Παλαιστίνης. Σηματοδοτεί την 70η επέτειο από την Νάκμπα και την 50η επέτειο από την κατάληψη των εναπομείναντα μερών της Παλαιστίνης -της Δυτικής Όχθης και της Λωρίδας της Γάζας – και τα Συριακά υψώματα του Γκολάν. Σήμερα υπάρχουν 7 εκατομμύρια Παλαιστίνιοι πρόσφυγες στους οποίους στερείται το δικαίωμα επιστροφής στην πατρίδα τους και εκατομμύρια ακόμη Παλαιστίνιοι που ζουν σε καθεστώς κατοχής, απαρτχάιντ, ρατσισμού και εποικισμού, συμπεριλαμβανομένου και 7.000 Παλαιστινίων πολιτικών κρατουμένων – που μάχονται για ελευθερία και δικαιοσύνη.

Οι Παλαιστίνιοι πολιτικοί κρατούμενοι βρίσκονται στην πρώτη γραμμή του αγώνα του Παλαιστινιακού λαού για εθνική απελευθέρωση, αντιμετώπισης του ρατσισμού και της καταπίεσης κάθε μέρα μέσα στις Ισραηλινές φυλακές καθώς μάχονται όχι μόνο για την δική τους απελευθέρωση από τα σίδερα της φυλακής και τα αγκαθωτά συρματοπλέγματα, αλλά και για την ελευθερία της γης και του λαού της, Παλαιστίνης, από τον ποταμό έως την θάλασσα.
Συμμετέχετε μαζί μας στην συζήτηση για τον αγώνα των Παλαιστινίων πολιτικών κρατουμένων, του Παλαιστινιακού εθνικού απελευθερωτικού κινήματος σήμερα και διεθνή εφησυχασμό στην συνεχιζόμενη καταπίεση του Παλαιστινιακού λαού, με τα εκατομμύρια δολαρίων της αμερικάνικης βοήθεια στο Ισραήλ μέχρι και την φυλάκιση από την Γαλλία του Τζορτζ Ιμπραχήμ Αμπντάλα, Λιβανέζου αγωνιστή για την Παλαιστίνη. Εντωμεταξύ ο Παλαιστινιακός λαός – δίπλα, δίπλα με τους καταπιεσμένους λαούς όλου του κόσμου- συνεχίζει να αντιστέκεται. Παλεύουν ενάντια όχι μόνο στο Ισραηλινό κράτος και μεγάλες ιμπεριαλιστικές δυνάμεις που το υποστηρίζουν αλλά επίσης ενάντια στο “συντονισμό ασφαλείας” της Παλαιστινιακής Αρχής που συνεχίζει να φυλακίζει και να καταπιέζει την Παλαιστινιακή αντίσταση.

Στον πυρήνα του Παλαιστινιακού αγώνα είναι τα δικαιώματα των Παλαιστινίων προσφύγων για επιστροφή στις οικείες τους και τα εδάφη τους. Οι Παλαιστίνιοι όπως άλλοι λαοί, έχουν υποχρεωθεί σε μετανάστευση και αναζήτηση ασύλου σε όλο τον κόσμο εξαιτίας της επιθετικότητας, της κατάληψης, αποίκησης, βιαιότητας και του πολέμου. Σήμερα, οι Παλαιστίνιοι, οι Σύριο και άλλοι λαοί που βρίσκονται σε μετανάστευση συνεχίζουν αν αντιμετωπίζουν περαιτέρω βιαιότητα, εγκληματικότητα και ρατσισμό καθώς αναζητούν άσυλο από την καταστροφικότατα του ιμπεριαλισμού, τον αποικισμό και τον πόλεμο. Ο αγώνας ενάντια στον ρατσισμό είναι αναπόσπαστο μέρος του αγώνα για την απελευθέρωση.

Το συμβάν αυτό είναι μέρος του Παλαιστινιακού και διεθνούς μνημόσυνου για την 40η ημέρα από την δολοφονία του ηγέτη της νεολαίας και αγωνιστή, Μπασίλ αλ Αράζ, που πυροβολήθηκε από ένα χείμαρρο Ισραηλινών πυρών, ενώ εκείνος αντιστεκόταν έως την τελευταία του πνοή. Όλοι μαζί θα τιμήσουμε την μνήμη του Μπάσιλ και την δέσμευση του στην Παλαιστινιακή ελευθερία και επανάσταση, με τις διεκδικήσεις μας για απελευθέρωση και επιστροφή μας, σε μία απελευθερωμένη Παλαιστίνη και την νίκη του εκατονταετούς αγώνα μας.

Ομιλητές:

Χάλαντ Μπαράκατ
Παλαιστίνιος, αριστερός συγγραφέας και διεθνής συντονιστής της καμπάνιας “Free Ahmad Sa’adat

Σαρλότ Κειτς
Διεθνής συντονίστρια, ” Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

Ταρέκ Κισάουι
Οργάνωση Παλαιστινιακής νεολαίας Ελλάδας

Γιάννης Ραχιώτης
δικηγόρος

22 April, Toronto: Criminalizing Resistance – A Panel Discussion on Joint Struggle

20 April 2017

Saturday, 22 April
1:30 pm
OISE STU
Room 4-414
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/178140356027878/

Speakers:
Sami al-Kilani, Palestinian former prisoner in Israel, writer and poet

Faith Nolan, longtime organizer with women prisoners and well-known musician

Dawit Domoz, former prisoner in both Eritrea and Israel

Tori Cress, Idle No More organizer

Stuart Schussler, an organizer with No One is Illegal

Sam Nithiananthan, longtime activist and organizer in the Tamil community

Lydia Colihue, an organizer with the Women’s Coordinating Committee for a Free Walmapu

In honour of Palestinian Prisoners Day, Actions4Palestine will host a panel discussion, Criminalizing Resistance: Joint Struggles of Land Defenders, Human Rights Activists and all who struggle for liberation. This is an opportunity for organizations and activists to share their perspectives on this subject, to develop and deepen existing networks of solidarity and to work towards joint struggle. Although this event is being held in recognition of Palestinian Prisoners Day, we are looking to honour and open a space to share and discuss the connected struggles of political prisoners in diverse contexts.

As of January 2017, there are 6500 Palestinians in Israeli jails. Over 300 prisoners are children. At least 530 are being held in Administrative Detention — without charge or trial. Palestinians are not the only people where mass incarceration is used as a tool of repression. In Canada over one quarter of the prison population is comprised of Indigenous peoples and another 10% are Black Canadians. In the U.S., of the 2.3 million people incarcerated over 1 million are Black. The rate of incarceration of Native Americans is 38% higher than the general population. In Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese government continues to target the Tamil community, imprisoning and torturing political dissidents. From Burma to the Philippines to Saudi Arabia to Germany to France to Peru to Australia, imprisonment has been used by the state to stifle dissent and punish resistance.

We invite you to come and share your stories, knowledge, and to talk about how incarceration has been used against your community, particularly imprisonment without charges. We hope that this can build on the work that has been done in the past and to help strengthen ties and build across movements.

*This event is wheelchair accessible*

Organized by Actions4Palestine, Christian Peacemaker Teams-Ontario, and Beit Zatoun

If you would like to endorse our event, please contact us at Actions4Palestine@gmail.com or let us know on our page.

ENDORSEMENTS:
Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA), Toronto
Faculty for Palestine (F4P), Toronto
International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network-Canada
Stop the Jewish National Fund-Canada
Women in Solidarity with Palestine

22 April, Waterford: Palestinian Political Prisoner Solidarity Protest

20 April 2017

Saturday, 22 April
2 pm
John Roberts Square
Waterford, Ireland
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/149770245547978/

Solidarity protest against administrative detention and supporting all Palestinian political prisoners.
Meeting at John Roberts square Waterford city at 2pm
Their are approximately 7,000 Palestinian political prisoners behind Israeli bars today: women, men, children and elders. Nearly 600 of them are held in administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial, while others face military courts with a conviction rate of over 99%. Hundreds of Palestinian children, as young as 12 years old, are held in Israeli prisons. Palestinian political leaders, including PFLP General Secretary Ahmad Sa’adat, Fateh leader Marwan Barghouthi, and Samira Halaiqa and 11 more members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, are held behind bars.

This year, thousands of Palestinian political prisoners have announced that they will launch a hunger strike beginning on 17 April to achieve a list of demands, including an end to the prohibitions and cuts to family visits, proper medical care and an end to medical neglect and an end to isolation and administrative detention. This strike comes five years after the collective Karameh strike of 2012, and is once again a critically important struggle for justice. On Palestinian Prisoners Day, this week of action is an important time to support the Palestinian prisoners’ movement and leadership in struggle.

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