Randa Shahatit released after 19 days; Najwan Odeh to be released tomorrow

9 February 2017

Randa Shahatit, former Palestinian prisoner, was released on Tuesday, 7 February after 19 days in Israeli prison. Shahatit, of the town of Dura in the al-Khalil area, was re-arrested on 20 January 2017 by Israeli occupation forces at a checkpoint at al-Fuwwar refugee camp. She engaged in a hunger strike for 7 days after she was held in isolation in HaSharon prison, and she was told that she was being investigated for violating a prior house arrest.

Shahatit, the mother of three children, was previously imprisoned from 2009 until 2011, when she was released on 18 October 2011 in the Wafa al-Ahrar prisoner exchange. She was re-arrested again in August 2016 and held for 12 days before being released under house arrest conditions while a secret Israeli military commission decided whether to re-impose the remaining portion of her original 55-month sentence. On 3 January 2017, she was cleared of her house arrest restrictions and her prior sentence was not reimposed.

On Tuesday, the Ofer military court concluded her case, fining Shahatit 10,000 NIS ($2670 USD) for driving without a license and releasing her to her home. Upon her release, she spoke with Asra Voice radio, saying that occupation forces deliberately target former prisoners for re-arrest and harassment in an attempt to break their will.

Fellow Palestinian prisoner Najwan Odeh, 34, of El-Bireh, will be released tomorrow, 10 February, after serving 18 months in Israeli prison. She was sentenced formally on 8 February to an 18 month term as well as a fine. Odeh was an administrator with the Qatar Charity, a charitable organization functioning in Palestine that was then declared an “illegal organization” by the Israeli occupation, and was accused of membership and working for an unlawful organization. She was seized from her home on 7 September 2015 by Israeli military occupation forces and interrogated for two weeks before being transfered to HaSharon prison. She was denied family visits for over six months. The military court also imposed a massive fine upon her of 100,000 NIS ($26,700 USD) but declared it to be “suspended” – and thus only payable if she is re-arrested – after repeatedly postponing and continuing her case.

Another female prisoner, Dalal Abu Hawa of Jerusalem, was sentenced today, 9 February, to 12 months in Israeli prison and a fine of 10,000 NIS ($2670 USD), accused of sending money to the “canteen” accounts of Hamas prisoners on behalf of their friends and family members. Palestinian prisoners are forced to buy necessary goods, including food, toiletries and cleaning products, from the “canteen” stores operated inside the prisons. In order to purchase these items, they must use money on hand in their accounts. Abu Hawa is the mother of six children, including 17-year-old child prisoner Omar Abu Hawa, sentenced to 2 years in Israeli prison. Abu Hawa was seized by occupation forces on 28 August 2016 when police and intelligence agents raided the family home, ransacking their belongings.

Meanwhile, Palestinian child prisoner Lama Bakri of al-Khalil, 16, faced the Ofer military court for the tenth time on Wednesday, 8 February, imprisoned since 13 December 2015 and accused of attempting to attack Israeli occupation colonial settlers near the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba. Lama was shot by Israeli occupation forces with several bullets in her left leg, requiring surgery to remove the bullets from her body. She was swiftly transferred from the hospital to HaSharon prison before healing and has continued to suffer from severe pain and difficult health conditions. Lama’s military trial has been repeatedly continued and postponed. The next military court hearing was set for 6 March.

13 February, Douai: Screening of “3000 Nuits” by Mai Masri and discussion

8 February 2017

Monday, 13 February
6:00 pm
Cinema L’Hippodrome
Place du Barlet
Douai, France

Organized by AFPS (Association France-Palestine Solidarite) 59/62

The film screening will be followed by a discussion about Palestinian prisoners.

Nous avons l’accord de l’hippodrome pour une projection spéciale le lundi 13 février à 18 heures, suivie d’un débat, qui sera organisées par le groupe de Douai de l’AFPS. La projection et le débat sur les prisonniers sont bien confirmés.

Douai et le Douaisis, déjà largement mobilisés pour le soutien aux prisonniers palestiniens, et où une rencontre s’est déroulée, ainsi qu’à Auby, contre la détention administrative des Palestiniens, poursuivent leur solidarité militante avec un peuple victime d’une occupation coloniale.

Le dossier de presse se trouve sur l’agenda de l’AFPS Nord-Pas de Calais sur son site Accueil AFPS Nord Pas-de-Calais comme sur le site national.

15 February, NYC: Build a Wall Around Trump

7 February 2017

Wednesday, 15 February
5:30 pm
Trump Tower NYC
725 5th Avenue, New York City
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1390631224332850/

Get it out of Palestine! Keep it out of Mexico!

As Donald Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet in Washington, DC, build a wall of resistance around Trump’s “White House North,” Trump Tower.

Protest their support for racist bans of immgrants and refugees, walls on the Mexico border and throughout occupied Palestine, white supremacist and Zionist racism and violence, and illegal Israeli settlements sprawling across the occupied West Bank, as well as their threat to move the US embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

From Palestine to Mexico, bans and walls have got to go!

“I have entered prison as a cub and I will leave it as a lion:” Palestinian child prisoner writes to his family

7 February 2017

Palestinian child prisoner Mohammed Taha, 16, sent the following letter to his family from Israeli prison, where he is serving an 11-year sentence. A Palestinian refugee from Jerusalem’s Shuafat refugee camp, Mohammed is one of a number of Palestinian children – especially Palestinian Jerusalemites – serving lengthy sentences in Israeli jails.

Mohammed was accused along with Munther Abu Mayala, 15, a fellow Palestinian refugee from Shuafat. Monther and Mohammed were accused of “attempted murder” for allegedly attempting to stab an Israeli settler youth at the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem on 30 January 2016. The 17-year-old in question was allegedly “lightly wounded.” They were also convicted of “possession of a knife.”

Mohammed’s and Munther’s lengthy sentences come alongside the 12-year sentence for Ahmad Manasrah, the 13-year sentence for Nurhan Awad, and the six-year sentences for Muawiya Alqam and Manar Shweiki, among other long prison terms for Palestinian children.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network calls for the immediate release of Mohammed and all imprisoned Palestinian children. We further call for international action to compel the Israeli state to respect the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and end international military aid and assistance that funds the imprisonment and torture of Palestinian children. The imprisonment, oppression, and killing of Palestinian children by the Israeli occupation is part and parcel of the Israeli colonial project in Palestine, and the only true freedom for Palestinian children will be achieved through the freedom of the Palestinian people and Palestinian land.

Mohammed’s letter to his family follows:

{Mother} {Sister}

From Mohammed to his dearest family, Greetings

Good greetings, how are you my dearest ones? I miss you very much. How is Amir’s mother? How are you doing? Please greet on my behalf all of my aunts and my uncles, and the children of my aunts and my uncles, and everybody. Mom, how are you? I miss you a lot and I miss teasing you a lot. How is Mahdi? I miss them. And how is Abu Jana and Um Jana? Say hello to everybody and insh’allah I will soon be amongst you. Say hello to Abu Adib and Abu Amir and my grandmother and grandfather and greet everyone who greets me back, the boys in the neighborhood, the neighbors, Um Adam, Adam, my uncle Bassam and his children. I hope you all are happy. God willing, I will be with you in the near days and our happiness will be complete. Mom, I want you to count on me and please don’t be sad, OK?

I have entered prison as a cub and I will leave it as a lion. Insh’allah I will go back and shine on the neighborhood and our house, and you will be happy and I will get married and we will all be happy. The real judgement is the judgement of God, so don’t be sad that they have given me a sentence of 11 years. It is nothing. Open your eyes, close your eyes, and I will be with you. I swear it will be soon.

{Mom} {Dad}

{I do not regret a thing I did, I do not regret the prison I enter}

Growing calls to release long-time prisoner Walid Daqqa from isolation

6 February 2017

Long-time Palestinian prisoner Walid Daqqa continues to be held in solitary confinement for the fourteenth day; Daqqa, 55, from the town of Baqa al-Gharbiyeh is a pre-Oslo prisoner who has been held in Israeli jails since 25 March 1986.

He was suddenly transferred into solitary confinement on 25 January 2017, accused of unauthorized correspondence with his lawyer. He is suffering from a number of health problems. His lawyer, Ahmed Khalifa, said that he needs hospitalization and the prison clinic cannot provide proper treatment for him, emphasizing that isolation puts him at further risk of deterioration of his health. He requires treatment for an excessive red blood cell count twice weekly, which is not being provided; for him to visit a hospital requires a lengthy trip in the so-called “Bosta,” the metal prison transport van, which can take up to 48 hours with many stops and a lack of access to basic facilities.

A prominent leader in the prisoners’ movement over the years, Daqqa’s writings about the prison experience have been published and widely circulated. The play, “A Parallel Time” – the subject of an Israeli state campaign against a Palestinian theater in Haifa in 2015 – reflects Daqqa’s stories and experiences.

He and his comrades, Ibrahim and Rushdi Abu Mukh and Ibrahim Bayadseh, have been jailed for over 30 years and are sentenced to life sentences for their involvement in a Palestinian resistance operation targeting an Israeli occupation soldier. Despite multiple pledges to release pre-Oslo prisoners, the Israeli state has refused to release Daqqa and his comrades, insisting that as they are Palestinians holding Israeli citizenship, they are a separate matter from their fellow 7,000 Palestinian prisoners.

The isolation of Daqqa comes as he has been brought into the Israeli allegations against Palestinian Knesset member Basel Ghattas of the National Democratic Alliance (Balad/Tajammu’) along with Daqqa’s brother Assad, accused of bringing cell phones into Israeli prisons for Palestinian political prisoners. On the same day Walid Daqqa was isolated, his brother As’ad was brought before an Israeli district court; As’ad Daqqa is accused of providing the alleged cell phones to Ghattas. As’ad Daqqa was ordered to house imprisonment in Baqa on 1 February.

Daqqa’s wife, Sana Salameh – who he married while imprisoned in 1999 – called upon the United Nations’ Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, to “pressure the occupation to remove the captive Walid Daqqa, who is suffering from a serious health issue, from solitary confinement.” His comrades in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s Prison Branch issued a statement saying that “We hold the occupation and its prison administration fully responsible for the life and safety of Comrade Walid Daqqa and see this isolation as an attempt to sentence him to slow death.”

Events are being organized in various cities highlighting Daqqa’s isolation and demanding his release from solitary confinement. A protest in Yafa on 2 February called for his release; participants included family members as well as Knesset members Jamal Zahalka and Osama Saadi.

Nidal Abu Aker among 35 Palestinians ordered to administrative detention without charge or trial in late January

6 February 2017

On Monday, 6 February, Palestinian journalist Mohammed al-Qeeq was ordered to six months in Israeli prison without charge or trial under administrative detention. Al-Qeeq launched a hunger strike; he previously won his release from administrative detention with a 94-day hunger strike in 2016. There are over 530 Palestinians currently held without charge or trial under indefinitely-renewable administrative detention orders, out of nearly 7,000 total Palestinian prisoners.

Also on Monday, the Ofer court confirmed a four-month administrative detention order against Palestinian prisoner Maher Nazmi Jaradat, 27, from the town of Seir in al-Khalil, stating that his arrest will not be renewed. He has spent over 16 months in administrative detention. Meanwhile, the Ofer appeals court also confirmed a four-month order against Palestinian activist and writer Thamer Sabaaneh, 40, from Jenin, and stated his detention will not be renewed. He has been imprisoned since 11 October 2016 and spent over 8 years total in Israeli prisons.

Israeli occupation authorities issued 35 administrative detention orders between 18 and 31 January, Palestinian lawyer Mahmoud Halabi reported, for a total of 91 orders issued in January 2017. Of this latest group of orders, 12 were new orders and the remainder were renewals of existing orders.

*Nidal Abu Aker upon his release from Israeli prison in 2015; he was re-arrested eight months later.*

These administrative detention orders included a renewed order against Palestinian journalist, activist and former long-term hunger striker Nidal Abu Aker. Arrested on 9 August 2016, Abu Aker was ordered to an additional six months in Israeli prison. A prominent Palestinian leftist in Dheisheh refugee camp, Abu Aker has spent nine years in total in administrative detention and 13 years overall in Israeli prisons, accused of involvement and leadership in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

Also ordered to six months in administrative detention was Palestinian Legislative Council member Ahmed Mubarak, detained since 16 January. He is one of seven PLC members currently held in Israeli prison.

The orders issued in late January were:

1. Yacoub Yousri Skafi, from al-Khali, 4 months, new order
2. Yousef Abdel-Malik Saadi, from Jenin, 6 months, extension
3. Ismail Yousef Othman, from Tulkarem, 4 months, extension
4. Wael Khalil Jebali, from Tulkarem, 4 months, extension
5. Alaa Yousef Suweiti, from al-Khalil, 6 months, extension
6. Mahmoud Aziz Rimawi, from Ramallah, 5 months, extension
7. Ahmed Mustafa Bilal, from Jenin, 6 months, extension
8. Tawfiq Abdullah Qandil, from Jericho, 6 months, extension
9. Ahmed Khalil Ibrahim, from Jericho, 6 months, extension
10. Jihad Abdel-Fattah Hmeidan, from Jerusalem, 4 months, extension
11. Nidal Naim Abu Aker, from Bethlehem, 6 months, extension
12. Abdullah Fadel Qassem, from Jenin, 4 months, extension
13. Wesam Barakat Ashour, from al-Khalil, 3 months, new order
14. Shadi Mohammed Shehadeh, from Bethlehem, 4 months, extension
15. Karem Nasser Abed Rabbo, from Bethlehem, 6 months, extension
16. Mohammed Kayed Imam, from al-Khalil, 4 months, extension
17. Riad Mohammed Hroub, from al-Khalil, 4 months, extension
18. Ahmed Mustafa Zayed, from Ramallah, 3 months, new order
19. Mohammed Abdel-Basit Abu Rayya, from al-Khalil, 4 months, new order
20. Montasser Wajih Abu Ayyash, from al-Khalil, 4 months, new order
21. Malik Ibrahim Hamed, from Ramallah, 3 months, extension
22. Musab Mohammed Asfour, from al-Khalil, 4 months, extension
23. Humam Abdel-Razeq Khamaiseh, from al-Khalil, 4 months, extension
24. Abdel-Rahman Issa Abu Usba, from Tulkarem, 4 months, extension
25. Rawhi Ghassan Marmash, from Nablus, 4 months, extension
26. Muath Abdel-Jaber Abu Tarboush, from Bethlehem, 4 months, extension
27. Mohammed Kamal al-Badan, from Bethlehem, 4 months, new order
28. Abdel-Aziz Abdallah Batran, from al-Khalil, 6 months, new order
29. Dakhlallah Habes Umour, from Bethlehem, 4 months, new order
30. Imad Nael Arheimi, from Ramallah, 4 months, extension
31. Salim Hamad Jahalin, from Bethlehem, 6 months, new order
32. Yousef Shafiq Abdel-Karim, from Ramallah, 4 months, new order
33. Faisal Mahmoud Khalifa, from Tulkarem, 4 months, extension
34. Falah Taher Nada, from el-Bireh, 6 months, new order
35. Ahmed Abdel-Aziz Mubarak, from Ramallah, 6 months, new order

Palestinian aid worker’s detention extended as he pleads not guilty to “flimsy” charges

6 February 2017

Palestinian aid worker Mohammed al-Halabi pleaded not guilty to Israeli occupation allegations that he “diverted” aid funds to the Palestinian resistance in Gaza, in the Beersheba Magistrate Court on Thursday, 2 February. The court extended his detention until 23 February.

Halabi, the manager of Gaza operations for the international charity World Vision, was seized by Israeli occupation forces on 20 July 2016 as he entered the Beit Hanoun/Erez crossing, having already obtained a permit to cross. He was subject to torture and ill-treatment under lengthy interrogation and his arrest itself was kept secret for nearly a month. When announced, his arrest was met with a public relations blitz by the Israeli occupation, including a massive international propaganda campaign declaring that he had diverted $43 million in charitable funds to the Palestinian resistance and a video from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing Palestinians of not caring about their people. Despite the unrealistic figures that far exceeded the total budgets of the charity and the complete lack of evidence provided for the charges, international governments such as the Australian and German governments cut off their funding to World Vision. The charity froze its operations in Gaza and over 100 Palestinian local staff were laid off from their jobs.

In January, al-Halabi rejected a plea bargain agreement that would have seen him imprisoned for three years – a strikingly short sentence that indicates charges far below the original, sensationalized media releases. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation ran an extensive report about the weakness of the Israeli case; in retaliation, Halabi has been moved into solitary confinement, ABC reported. Halabi and his lawyers have emphasized the lack of evidence against him and have described these actions as an attempt to pressure him to accept the rejected plea deal.

The hearing was attended by 12 World Vision staff as well as a representative of the Australian government; the charity issued a statement noting that “World Vision has not seen any credible evidence supporting the charges.”

Mohammed al-Qeeq launches open hunger strike after being ordered to 6 months administrative detention

6 February 2017

Imprisoned Palestinian journalist Mohammed al-Qeeq announced on Monday evening, 6 February, that he is launching an open hunger strike to demand his release and an end to administrative detention. Earlier on Monday, he was ordered to six months in administrative detention without charge or trial.

Al-Qeeq, 34, previously won his release from administrative detention, Israeli imprisonment without charge or trial, with a 94-day hunger strike that drew widespread Palestinian and international attention and highlighted the issue of arbitrary imprisonment and the repression to which Palestinian journalists are subject. He was released in May 2016. Since his release, he has been a vocal activist on prisoners’ rights issues and an advocate for the freedom of Palestinian prisoners.

He was seized by Israeli occupation soldiers on 16 January at the Beit El checkpoint near Ramallah as he returned home from a demonstration in Bethlehem to demand the return of the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces; their bodies are currently detained by the Israeli state. Since that time, his detention was repeatedly extended as he was held under interrogation; Israeli occupation officials previously announced their intention to accuse him of “incitement” over social media, but apparently failed to produce any evidence or obtain a “confession” from al-Qeeq despite extensive interrogation. He is currently among over 530 Palestinians held without charge or trial under administrative detention. Administrative detention orders are issued on the basis of “secret evidence” and are indefinitely renewable; Palestinians have spent years at a time imprisoned under administrative detention orders.

Al-Qeeq is launching his renewed hunger strike amid an elevated state of tension in Israeli jails. Recent days have included multiple large-scale invasions of prisoners’ cells, ransacking of belongings and mass transfers of prisoners from one prison to another, as well as resistance actions by jailed prisoners in the face of these attacks. The Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council said: “Over the last few days, IPS special unit forces, called the Metzada, have carried out violent raids in the Nafha and Naqab prisons, both located beyond the Green Line. On 30 January 2017, the Metzada raided section 1 of the Nafha prison, attacking the prisoners and destroying their belongings. The attacks escalated on 1 February when an estimated 400 officers entered sections 2 and 12 of the prison, and carried out a mass search raid and attacked prisoners with tear gas. The officers transferred some of the prisoners to other sections within the prison after one prisoner allegedly attempted an attack. These attacks continued on the morning of 2 February after the IPS closed off all sections of the prison.”

Protests have taken place in multiple Palestinian cities in support of the Palestinian prisoners and the “prison intifada.” Al-Qeeq’s hunger strike is the latest development in this growing struggle inside the prisons. A protest will take place tomorrow morning at 11 am at Manara Square in central Ramallah in support of al-Qeeq and his fellow Palestinian prisoners.

Majd Oweida of “Palestinians Got Talent” ordered to 9 years in Israeli prison

6 February 2017

On Thursday, 2 February, Palestinian Majd Oweida, 23, of Gaza City was sentenced to nine years in Israeli prison; he was accused of hacking into the Israeli military’s drone network, Israeli police street cameras and air traffic information at Ben-Gurion airport.

Oweida was seized by occupation forces at the Erez/Beit Hanoun crossing in February 2016 as he attempted to travel to the West Bank; he had previously received a permit for travel. As president of the Palestinian Talents Club, he had been contracted to create the program, “Palestinians Got Talent.” He had earlier managed the band al-Takht al-Sharqi, which reached the semifinals of the 2014 edition of “Arabs Got Talent.” Oweida, an electrical engineer, reported that he had been held in solitary confinement and subjected to ill-treatment during lengthy interrogation sessions.

Oweida’s family has been actively involved in campaigning for his release and have been denied family visits repeatedly. They issued a statement upon his sentencing saying that his imprisonment “is part of a systematic and continuous policy of the occupation against our people and especially against young people, forcing them into the dungeons of the prisons with the exploitation of the crossings in order to make them a trap for our young people.”

Women prisoners update: 16-year-old Manar Shweiki sentenced to six years in Israeli prison

6 February 2017

Palestinian child prisoner Manar Shweiki, 16, was sentenced on Sunday, 5 February to six years in Israeli prisons. Detained since 22 December 2015, Manar has spent 14 months in HaSharon prison with 10 more minor girls, among 52 Palestinian women prisoners currently held.

Manar, from Jerusalem, was accused of seeking to carry out a resistance action because Israeli occupation forces found a knife in her school bag as she walked. Manar is the latest Palestinian child prisoner to be sentenced to a lengthy sentence in Israeli prisons; others include Muawiya Alqam, sentenced to six years; Ahmad Manasrah, sentenced to 12 years; and Nurhan Awad, sentenced to 13 years. She is one of over 300 Palestinian children currently imprisoned by the Israeli state.

The trial of fellow child prisoner Malak Salman, 17, was postponed on Monday, 6 February until 14 February; Malak is accused of attempting to stab Israeli occupation forces at Jerusalem’s Damascus gate.

Meanwhile, on 31 January, imprisoned Palestinian Randa Shahatit suspended her hunger strike on a temporary basis after nine days pending the outcome of her next military court hearing. Shahatit, 29, was seized by Israeli occupation forces on 20 January.

She launched her hunger strike because she is being held in the isolation section of HaSharon prison with “criminal” prisoners rather than with her fellow Palestinian prisoners. Shahatit, a former Palestinian prisoner, was released in 2011 as part of the Wafa al-Ahrar prisoner exchange when 17 months remained in her 50-month sentence. She was seized by occupation forces in August as she went to the hospital with her 3-month-old daughter and held for 12 days before being released on bail and under confinement to the area of her village while a secretive military committee determined whether to reimpose her prior sentence – as has happened to dozens of Palestinian prisoners. On 3 January, it was announced that her sentence would not be reimposed and her bail conditions were lifted; arrested only two weeks later, she is now being accused of violating her conditions of bail.

Salem military court held a hearing in the case of Palestinian student Ansam Shawahneh, 20, from Qalqilya, on Monday, 6 February; her case was continued until 21 March. Detained since 9 March 2016, she is accused of membership in the Hamas movement and attempting to stab Israeli settlers near the Kedumim illegal settlement. She is a student at An-Najah National University.

On Sunday, 5 February, Ofer military court ordered Abeer al-Tamimi, 29, of al-Khalil, to 20 months imprisonment with a fine of 6,000 NIS ($1,500 USD). She has been imprisoned since 22 December 2015 and was accused of attempting to stab Israeli occupation forces.

Shatila Abu Ayyad, 24, from Kafr Qasem, will come before a court on 14 February where she is expected to be sentenced to 16 years in Israeli prison. Abu Ayyad, who holds Israeli citizenship, has been imprisoned since 3 April 2016 and accused of attempting to stab Israelis; she is held in HaSharon prison.

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