Tunisian labor federation honors Palestinian prisoners Sa’adat, Barghouthi

26 January 2017

The 23rd conference of the Tunisian General Labour Union – the major labor organization in Tunisia and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate – expressed its solidarity with imprisoned Palestinian leaders Ahmad Sa’adat and Marwan Barghouthi on Sunday, 23 January.

Sa’adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, recently inspired an international week of action demanding his freedom and that of fellow Palestinian prisoners.

Fadwa Barghouthi, the wife of imprisoned prominent Fateh leader Marwan Barghouthi, addressed the conference, praising the Tunisian people’s commitment to the Palestinian cause.

Sa’adat and Barghouthi are two of the most prominent Palestinian political leaders serving lengthy sentences in Israeli jails; Sa’adat is serving a 30-year sentence while Barghouthi is serving multiple life sentences in Israeli prison. Both were presented with the Shield of the Union in a ceremony at the massive labor conference.

The conference is electing new leadership for the labor union and focusing on the need to confront neoliberalism and social inequality. Speakers also focused on the need to defend Tunisian workers migrating abroad to organize and protect their rights.

Palestinian popular resistance activists subjected to arrests, raids, persecution

26 January 2017

Palestinian popular resistance activists and human rights defenders continue to come under attack by Israeli occupation forces. In a pre-dawn raid on Thursday, 26 January, Israeli occupation forces raided the home of Abdullah Abu Rahma, the coordinator of the Popular Committee Against the Wall in Jenin.

In an interview with Wattan TV, Abu Rahma said that 40 soldiers surrounded the village and raided the home, ransacking the house and confiscating the computers and mobile phones of the family. Abu Rahma himself had been released only one day prior; he was held for two days after he was seized by Israeli forces while attending the Ofer military court hearing of six other popular resistance activists. His home was last raided in September 2016, when once again mobile phones and computers were confiscated.

The six Popular Struggle Coordination Committee (PSCC) activists were seized by Israeli occupation forces as they erected a protest tent in the name of Bab al-Shams outside the Ma’ale Adumim illegal settlement, protesting Israeli threats to annex it to Jerusalem and defending Palestinian indigenous land. Four – Jamil Barghouthi, Ahmed Odeh, Khaled Quteishat and Lema Nazeeh – were ordered released on Sunday, 22 January under the conditions of paying a 30,000 NIS bail (over $7,000 USD) and three days of house arrest. Mohammed Khatib and Akram Khatib were released on bail on 24 January after two more days of interrogation, following the hearing at which Abu Rahma was arrested.

One of those arrested, Lema Nazeeh, is the deputy chair of the Popular Struggle Coordination Committee and has been arrested five times in three years for participating in public protests against settlements, land confiscation and the imprisonment of Palestinians. Mohammed Khatib is also a board member of PSCC.

23 January, Brussels: BDS – Fighting Back Against Targeting and Criminalization

22 January 2017

Monday, 23 January
4:00 pm – 7:00 pm
European Parliament
Room PHS 5A033
Brussels, Belgium
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1628509307164244/

NOTE: If you are willing to participate, please send an email with your full name, address, ID number and date of birth to jonsebastian.rodriguezforrest@ep.europa.eu

Welcome to an open meeting about democratic opposition, the Palestinian BDS movement and it’s future.

In December 2016 the UN Security Council adopted a resolution condemning the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements in Palestinian territories. The resolution acknowledges that no justice and no peace can be achieved as long as Israel continues its violent occupation. Furthermore, Israel systematically tries to silence opponent voices both within the country, for example by the debated NGO law that targets pro-Palestinian NGOs. And globally by, for example, targeting the BDS movement.

BDS is a movement recognised by the UN as a means of resistance, and it has been used as a tool to defend human rights in different situations. The most known BDS movement is probably still the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa. Given the current situation of criminalization of BDS in several Member States and the attempts to strip people and institutions of the EU from this right, we would like to invite you to a meeting taking place in the European Parliament on 23rd January 16.00-19.00 at PHS 5A033 to consider these issues.

At this point, how can we make sure to safeguard and strengthen the democratic spaces of opposition?

How can we strengthen the BDS movement? What can we learn from former successes and failures?

If you are willing to participate, please send an email with your full name, address, ID number and date of birth to jonsebastian.rodriguezforrest@ep.europa.eu
Room: PHS 5A033
Programme:
16.00 Opening MEP Neoklis Sylikiotis

16.10 Short individual presentations of people attending

16.30 Presentation Charlotte Kates, coordinator of Samidoun – Palestinian Prisoner Support Network 10 min

16.40 Presentation by Anna Wester, Palestinagrupperna Sweden 10 min

16.50 Skype call with Omar Barghoutti, a co-founder of BDS movement, followed by a Q&A 25 min

Short break

17.20 Roundtable/open discussion: future of BDS in light of increased criminalization
Moderator: MEP Malin Björk

18.45 Outcome and closing remarks MEP Marina Albiol

Former prisoner Randa Shahatit re-arrested; 11 women at Damon prison in harsh conditions

20 January 2017

Palestinian former prisoner Randa Shahatit was re-arrested on Friday night, 20 January, at an Israeli military occupation checkpoint at the entrance to al-Fuwwar refugee camp south of al-Khalil.

Shahtit’s husband, Yousef Abu Sabha, said that occupation soldiers stopped their vehicle at the entrance of the camp at a suddenly-erected flying checkpoint before seizing his wife and taking her away in a military vehicle. She later was able to call her husband to tell him she is being taken to the detention and interrogation center in Kiryat Arba settlement.

Shahatit has been arrested on multiple occasions. On 1 June 2009 she was arrested by Israeli occupation forces and sentenced to 50 months in prison. She was liberated from Israeli prison in the Wafa al-Ahrar prisoner exchange agreement in October 2011. Since her release from prison, Shahatit, 30, married and had three children, Hamza, Ibrahim and Abrar. Her youngest child is 9 months old, and her older children are 2 and 3 years of age.

On 4 August 2016, she was again seized by occupation forces as she passed through a checkpoint and taken to HaSharon prison, accused of “violating the terms of her release.” She was released 12 days later on bail conditions while the secret Israeli military committee that can re-impose sentencing on former prisoners considered her case; she was forbidden to leave her home town or participate in any events. She was also ordered to report weekly to the police at Kiryat Arba.

On 3 January 2017, Palestinian lawyer Ahmed Safia of the Palestinian Prisoners Society reported that the Ofer military court had decided not to reimpose her sentence, however, that for the next five years, Shahatit must not “breach her release conditions.” Over 50 Palestinian prisoners released in the Wafa al-Ahrar exchange have had their original sentences reimposed by the military committee on the basis of secret evidence. The longest-held Palestinian prisoner, Nael Barghouthi, currently remains imprisoned while this committee is considering reimposing his life sentence in an appeal by the military prosecution.

This evening, only two weeks after that apparent court victory, Shahatit was again arrested and taken from her young children.

Of a total of approximately 60 Palestinian women imprisoned in Israeli jails, 11 are held in Damon prison. The majority of Palestinian women are held in HaSharon prison, and those held in Damon have repeatedly complained of poor conditions and lengthy “bosta” trips that can take up to three days to travel to and from the military court due to repeated stops and searches, despite close physical proximity.

Palestinian lawyer Hanan al-Khatib of the Prisoners Affairs Commission stated that the 11 women are housed in one section of two rooms and that they continue to experience poor conditions and harassment from jailers.

The women held in Damon are: Ataya Abu Aisha, Haifa Abu Sbeih, Salam Abu Sharar, Shifaa Abdo al-Shelouda, Diana Khuwayled, Hilweh Alayan Hamamreh, Nisrin Hassan Abu Kamil, Amani Al-Hashem, Najwan Odeh, Sabah Faraoun and Hanadi Rashid.

Haifa Abu Sbeih, the representative of the prisoners in Damon, is an elementary school principal and a board member of the Democracy Center in Ramallah. Abu Sbeih noted that the prison administration had agreed to improve conditions but that none of the agreements had been implemented.

Palestinian human rights defender, BDS leader Salah Khawaja continues to be imprisoned on Israeli “secret file”

20 January 2017

Palestinian human rights defender Salah Khawaja is currently being held in prison on the basis of a so-called “secret file” and threatened with administrative detention, reported the Stop the Wall Campaign. Khawaja, 46, is a member of the Secretariat of the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) National Committee and a leader of the Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign. He was seized from his Ramallah home on 26 October 2016 in a pre-dawn armed military raid by Israeli occupation forces and subject to heavy, torturous interrogation, ill-treatment, beatings and denial of access to a lawyer.

Several brief military court hearings were held in Khawaja’s case, in which he was accused of contact with an “agent of an enemy state.” This allegation is frequently leveled against Palestinians who travel to other Arab countries and meet Arab and Palestinian civil activists or media figures outside occupied Palestine. “Enemy states” include Lebanon, Syria and Algeria; thus, similar charges are frequently used against Palestinians who participate in public political events and conferences in Beirut and elsewhere in Lebanon based simply on their presence in public places or press interviews.

In Khawaja’s case, it appears that this charge was even weaker than usual; he was accused of meeting someone of unspecified identity in Jordan. After the charges against Khawaja appeared to be falling apart in a hearing on 28 December, the Israeli military prosecution submitted a “secret file” to supplement the charge sheet and pursue an order of administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial on the basis of secret evidence. This secret evidence is denied to both the detainee and their lawyers, making it nearly impossible to disprove or mount a defense.

At the 28 December hearing, the military court judge adjourned the case until a time to be set later. In the three-week period since 28 December, no new hearing has been set in Khawaja’s case and this prominent Palestinian human rights defender remains imprisoned on the basis of a so-called “secret file.”

Stop the Wall notes that dubious and frequently-used charges like those in Khawaja’s case have multiple effects on Palestinians imprisoned by the Israeli occupation. “Firstly, they allow Israel to frame and keep human rights defenders in prison. Secondly, they are part of Israeli propaganda efforts to depict its policies of occupation, apartheid and colonisation as a ‘self-defense’ against a Palestinian ‘threat’, ‘terrorism’ and violence. Finally, they aim to create suspicion and mistrust within Palestinian communities as members of the same community are forced to sign confessions.”

Take Action:

1. Participate in the Front Line Defenders action, urging the Israeli state to immediately release Khawaja and end its persecution of Palestinian human rights defenders. Join in here: https://www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/action/take-action-salah-khawaja

2. Demand your country’s officials speak up and end the silence and complicity in the detention of Salah Khawaja and other Palestinian human rights defenders, and over 7,000 Palestinian political prisoners. Call your foreign affairs officials – and members of parliament – and urge action on this case.

Call during your country’s regular office hours:

Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop: + 61 2 6277 7500
Canadian Foreign Minister Stephane Dion: +1-613-996-5789
European Union Commissioner Federica Mogherini: +32 (0) 2 29 53516
New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully: +64 4 439 8000
United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson: +44 20 7008 1500
United States President Donald Trump: 1-202-456-1111

Tell your government:

Salah Khawaja, a Palestinian human rights defender, has been arbitrarily detained since 26 October and his continued confinement is being justified through “secret evidence”. Salah is one of the primary Palestinian voices against the illegal settlements and wall destroying Palestinian land.
Your government must demand Salah’s immediate release and an end to the persecution of Palestinian human rights defenders by the Israeli state.
The government must do more than express concern, but should also take serious measures to end these violations. Representatives of your government should attend Salah’s hearings and suspend agreements with Israeli institutions involved in the ongoing imprisonment and oppression of Palestinians.

Mohammed al-Qeeq’s detention extended for four days; former hunger striker Ayed Heraimi released

20 January 2017

The detention of Mohammed al-Qeeq, Palestinian journalist and former long-term hunger striker, was extended by an Israeli occupation military court on Thursday, 19 January for four more days until Monday, 23 January. Allegedly, he is being accused of “incitement,” a broad charge used to prosecute Palestinians for giving public speeches or even writing on social media about the occupation.

Al-Qeeq, 34, engaged in a 94-day hunger strike in early 2016, winning his release from administrative detention without charge or trial in May 2016. On Sunday, 15 January, he was seized by Israeli occupation forces at the Beit El checkpoint north of Ramallah while returning from a demonstration in Bethlehem demanding the return of the bodies of Palestinian martyrs killed by Israeli forces whose bodies remain detained by the Israeli state.

Meanwhile, released yesterday was Ayed Heraimi, 24, who went on hunger strike against his administrative detention without charge or trial for 45 days in July and August 2016, ending his strike with an agreement for his release. Heraimi was imprisoned on 22 December 2013 on charges of membership in a prohibited organization, the Islamic Jihad movement. When he was released in 2015, he was re-arrested only shortly thereafter was imprisoned without charge or trial for one year and one month under administrative detention.

Administrative detention orders imprison 22 more Palestinians without charge or trial

20 January 2017

The Israeli occupation military issued 22 administrative detention orders to imprison Palestinians without charge or trial between 11 and 18 January, 2017. Palestinian lawyer Mahmoud Halabi noted that the Ofer military court had issued five new administrative detention orders and 17 renewal orders against Palestinians already jailed without charge or trial.

There are over 700 Palestinians imprisoned without charge or trial under Israeli administrative detention. These orders are issued for one to six months at a time, but are indefinitely renewable; some Palestinians have spent years at a time in administrative detention. These orders follow 34 more administrative detention orders issued between 1 and 11 January.

Among those issued renewal orders was Ghassan Zawahreh, former long-term hunger striker who won his release in the 2015 “Battle of Breaking the Chains,” and whose brother, Moataz Zawahreh, was killed by Israeli forces as he joined a protest outside Dheisheh refugee camp. He was ordered to six more months imprisonment without charge or trial.

The imprisonment of Khairullah Hafez Sharaideh, from Nablus, who uses a wheelchair and was transferred to interrogation in an ambulance, was also ordered extended without charge or trial for four more months. Bajis Khalil Nakhleh, 50, from Jalazon refugee camp in Ramallah, is a former prisoner who spent over 18 years in Israeli prison and was deported from Palestine in the Marj al-Zouhour mass deportation of Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders, also saw his administrative detention renewed for another four months of imprisonment without charge.

The list of those issued administrative detention orders follows:

1. Ahmed Mohammed Warada, from Nablus, 4 months, extension
2. Mohammed Abdel-Fattah Hazin, from al-Khalil, 4 months, extension
3. Ahmed Abdallah Abu Sariyah, from Jenin, 4 months, extension
4. Nabil Kamel Jabbara, from al-Khalil, 6 months, extension
5. Basem Mohammed Musallem, from al-Khalil, 6 months, extension
6. Ghassan Ibrahim Zawahreh, from Bethlehem, 6 months, extension
7. Khairullah Hafez Sharaideh, from Nablus, 4 months, extension
8. Mamdouh Saud Kharajah, Bethlehem, 4 months, extension
9. Aseed Mohammed Mualla, from Nablus, 6 months, new order
10. Wael Younis Bader, from Jerusalem, 4 months, extension
11. Ahmed Mohammed Zourba, from Nablus, 6 months, extension
12. Ibrahim Mohammed Faqih, from Ramallah, 4 months, new order
13. Mohammed Nazmi Safi, from Ramallah, 4 months, extension
14. Murad Mohammed Mahameed, from Bethlehem, 4 months, extension
15. Mohammed Ahmed Antar, from Jerusalem, 6 months, new order
16. Mohammed Hamdi Shabana, from al-Khalil, 4 months, extension
17. Bajis Khalil Nakhleh, from Ramallah, 4 months, extension
18. Raafat Hussein Shalash, from al-Khalil, 6 months, extension
19. Rami Amin Sharida, from Tubas, 3 months, new order
20. Ahmad Nuh Hareish, from Ramallah, 3 months, new order
21. Mahmoud Hassan Wardian, from Bethlehem, 6 months, extension
22. Omar Abdel-Fattah Hanbali, from Nablus, 4 months, extension

#DefendFordhamSJP banned by university administration

19 January 2017

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network joins with organizations across the United States and internationally in support of Fordham Students for Justice in Palestine, denied a charter as a student organization by the university and accused of being “divisive.” We encourage all organizations and individuals to sign on to the statement below in solidarity with these students. Sign on at the Google Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfJrCCgNw-kWfG4RfY461GIfzyPS6o87lOE9Q4qplCgZLumRw/viewform

Jewish Voice for Peace has also created a form to send letters to the university against the denial of student rights, especially for faculty members at other universities. To sign on: https://t.co/5xEMyz1B3g

Solidarity With Fordham SJP!

We, the the undersigned organizations, professors, students, and other concerned individuals, extend our unequivocal support to the Fordham University students facing administrative repression of their efforts to organize and advocate for Palestinian rights. In spite of the United Student Government’s vote to approve club status for Students in Justice in Palestine, the Dean of Students at Fordham Lincoln Center, Keith Eldredge, issued a last minute veto of its charter. Dean Eldredge cites concern for the divisive nature of such advocacy and encourages students to explore alternative means of engaging the issue, mirroring language commonly used to stifle any challenge to the status quo. Just as troubling is the invocation of a baseless and damaging stereotype that characterizes pro-Palestine activists as malicious and antagonistic. At a time of increased state repression and threats to civil liberties, educational institutions have a duty to protect the free speech of their students, especially those with politically unpopular positions and marginalized identities. We affirm the courage of our allies and condemn Fordham’s cowardly capitulations to the forces that aim to systematically disparage and derail the movement for justice in Palestine.

Statement from Palestine Legal here: http://palestinelegal.org/news/2017/1/17/fordhamFree Palestine! Free Speech!

In Solidarity,
NYC Students for Justice in Palestine

Endorsing Organizations:
Academics for Palestine
Adalah-NY: The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel
Al-Awda, The Palestine Right To Return Coalition
Al-Nakba Awareness Project
American Muslims for Palestine
American Muslims for Palestine – Chicago Chapter
Arab Studies Club of Hunter College
Arab Students Organization – Northwestern University
ARCH (Alliance to Restore Cultural Heritage in the Holy City of Jerusalem)
Barnard/Columbia Socialists
Chicago Veterans For Peace Chapter #26
The City University of New York (CUNY) Adjunct Project
Committee for Open Discussion of Zionism (CODZ)
CUNY 4 Palestine
DePaul Socialists
Gaza Action Ireland
General Union of Palestine Students, San Francisco State University
Georgetown University Forming a Radically Ethical Endowment
Independent Jewish Voices McGill University
International Socialist Organization
International Socialist Organization – Portland, OR
International Socialist Organization-Asheville, NC
International Socialist Organization, Austin, TX
Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Jewish Voice for Peace – Boston
Jewish Voice for Peace – Los Angeles
Jewish Voice for Peace – NYC
Jewish Voice for Peace – Ohio State University
Jewish Voice for Peace – Philadelphia
Jewish Voice for Peace – Portland, OR
Jewish Voice for Peace – San Diego, CA
Jewish Voice for Peace – Vassar
Jewish Voice for Peace – Westchester
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return
Labor for Palestine
MENA Solidarity Network-US
Middle East Children’s Alliance
Muslim American Society of New York
NH Veterans for Peace
Occupation-Free Portland
Ohio Student Association
Palestine Solidarity Alliance, Hunter College
Palestine Solidarity Collective – Syracuse, NY
Palestine Solidarity Committee, Harvard College
Palestine Solidarity Committee, UT Austin
Peace Action Manhattan
Peace, Justice, Sustainability Florida
Philadelphia Coalition for REAL Justice
Police Reform Organizing Project
Progessive Student Union – U.T. Arlington
Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
Showing Up for Racial Justice NYC
Students for a Democratic Society at UH
Students for Justice in Palestine, Bard College
Students for Justice in Palestine, Berkeley Law
Students for Justice in Palestine, Brown University
Students for Justice in Palestine, Bryn Mawr and Haverford
Students for Justice in Palestine, California State University, Fullerton
Students for Justice in Palestine, California State University Sacramento
Students for Justice in Palestine, City College of New York
Students for Justice in Palestine, College of Staten Island
Students for Justice in Palestine, Columbia
Students for Justice in Palestine, CUNY Law
Students for Justice in Palestine, DePaul University
Students for Justice in Palestine, Duke University
Students for Justice in Palestine, FIU
Students for Justice in Palestine, Florida State University
Students for Justice in Palestine, George Washington University
Students for Justice in Palestine, Georgetown University
Students for Justice in Palestine, Green Mountain College
Students for Justice in Palestine, Houston
Students for Justice in Palestine, Hunter College
Students for Justice in Palestine, John Jay College
Students for Justice in Palestine, Kent State University
Students for Justice in Palestine, Louisiana State University
Students for Justice in Palestine, Maastricht
Students for Justice in Palestine, National Coordinating Committee
Students for Justice in Palestine, The New School
Students for Justice in Palestine, New York University
Students for Justice in Palestine, Northeastern University
Students for Justice in Palestine, Northwestern University
Students for Justice in Palestine, Ohio State University
Students for Justice in Palestine, Rotterdam
Students for Justice in Palestine, Saint Joseph’s College
Students for Justice in Palestine, TCD
Students for Justice in Palestine, University of California Berkeley
Students for Justice in Palestine, University of California Los Angeles
Students for Justice of Palestine, University of California, Riverside
Students for Justice in Palestine, University of California Santa Cruz
Students for Justice in Palestine, University of Chicago
Students for Justice in Palestine, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Students for Justice in Palestine, University of North Florida
Students for Justice in Palestine, University of Texas at Arlington
Students for Justice in Palestine, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Students for Justice in Palestine, Vassar College
Students for Justice in Palestine, Wesleyan University
Students for Peace and Justice in Palestine, Earlham College
Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights- Portland State University
US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI)
Warscapes Magazine
Wasatch Coalition for Peace and Justice, Salt Lake City
WESPAC Foundation
Young Democratic Socialists of Princeton
Young Communist League – Hamilton Chapter

*There is also a lengthy list of individual signers. All organizations and individuals, please sign on at the Google Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfJrCCgNw-kWfG4RfY461GIfzyPS6o87lOE9Q4qplCgZLumRw/viewform

Leonard Peltier denied clemency or commutation by Obama

19 January 2017

Indigenous U.S. political prisoner Leonard Peltier was denied clemency by President Barack Obama last night, 19 January, in yet another example of settler colonial injustice against the American Indian Movement struggler. Peltier has been imprisoned for over 40 years in U.S. federal prisons. He suffers from a number of severe, life-threatening health conditions. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network reiterates its support and solidarity with Leonard Peltier, one of the longest-serving political prisoners in U.S. jails, and the indigenous movement for self-determination, sovereignty and justice challenging settler colonialism. We denounce in the strongest terms his continuing imprisonment and President Obama’s denial of justice.

We also once again urge all to continue to take action to support clemency and commutation for U.S. politica prisoners, including Dr. Mutulu Shakur, Veronza Bowers and the Holy Land Foundation 5 (Mufid Abdulqader, Shukri Baker, Ghassan Elashi, Mohammad El-Mezain, and Abdulrahman Odeh.)

Below is the re-published statement of the International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee, with a powerful quote from Leonard and a call to write letters of support and solidarity to him:

Brothers, sisters, friends and supporters:

Our hearts are heavy today. President Obama has denied Leonard’s application for a commutation. His name appears on the January 18 list of commutations denied by Obama as issued by the Office of the Pardon Attorney. Leonard’s attorney Martin Garbus was also notified. (Pardon Attorney’s Letter)

Today, in an email, Leonard said, “If I should not [receive clemency] then after we are locked in for the day I will have a good cry and then pick myself up and get myself ready for another round of battles until I cannot fight [any] more. So, don’t worry. I can handle anything after over 40 years.”

It’s hard to bear such a blow, though. And make no mistake — Leonard has been hit hardest of all. But let’s not mourn so very long. Instead, let’s move ever forward. Channel your grief and anger in a positive way. Remember that Leonard still needs our help. He needs quality health care and a transfer to a medium security facility, among other things. We’ll always work towards freedom for Leonard, but these actions may help to make his life more bearable until freedom is won.

Now, we urge you to write to Leonard and help to keep his spirits up. Tell him you won’t give up, that you’ll walk the rest of the way with him. Send cards and letters to:

Leonard Peltier #89637-132
USP Coleman I
PO Box 1033
Coleman, FL 33521

Thank you for your hard work and determination. Blessings to all of you.

Please stay tuned.

In solidarity,

International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee

Nadia Abu Jamal ordered exiled from Jerusalem; Yasmin Zarou Tamimi released after a year in prison

19 January 2017

Palestinian prisoner Yasmin Zarou al-Tamimi, 21, was released from Israeli prisons on Tuesday afternoon, 17 January. Zarou had spent nearly one year in Israeli prison after she was shot and severely injured and accused of “attempting to stab” an Israeli occupation soldier on 15 February 2016, even though even allegedly, she only tossed a small knife in the direction of occupation soldiers at a checkpoint. When she was shot, she was left injured and bleeding and passersby were barred from helping her or providing medical assistance; she needed multiple surgeries. She was sentenced to one year in Israeli prison and a one-year suspended sentence for five years.

In addition, Nadia Abu Jamal, the widow of Ghassan Abu Jamal, was released from Israeli occupation imprisonment on Wednesday, 18 January, but ordered from her home city of Jerusalem. After her husband and his cousin, Uday Abu Jamal, carried out their attack, she was stripped of her Jerusalem ID. However, she remained in the family home in Jabal al-Mukabber neighborhood in East Jerusalem. She was ordered to return to her family village of Sawahra al-Sharqiya; while her three children have Jerusalem residency and were born in the city, she must bring them with her to Sawahra al-Sharqiya or face separation from them.

If she is found returning to Jerusalem, she will be subject to a six-month prison sentence. The arrest and exile of Abu Jamal from Jerusalem comes amid an ongoing and massive series of repressive measures and attacks against Jabal al-Mukabber neighborhood and Palestinians in Jerusalem more broadly, including announced plans to demolish dozens of homes and build settlements on Palestinian land.

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Solidarity With Fordham SJP!

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