16 December, NYC: Justice for the Holy Land Five – A Documentary Screening

15 December 2016

Friday, 16 December
6:00 pm
224 W. 57th Street
NYC
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/345041559198177/

Samidoun note: Join us in NYC after the Samidoun protest for this important screening and discussion about Palestinian prisoners in US jails!

Join the National Coalition for the Protect of Civil Freedoms for the Screening of the Holy Land Five documentary produced by Al-Jazeera, which examines the case in detail. After the film, we will have a discussion of the work of the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms (NCPCF) in the context of the War on Terror and in particular, material support for terrorism laws that have criminalized many Muslim Americans in the United States. This event will also include a question and answer session with impacted family members of the Holy Land Five case, Noor and Asma Elashi and Nida Abu-Baker.

Co-Sponsored by Center for Constitutional Rights and the Witness Against Torture.

*Space is limited, so buy your ticket now!!!

Tickets available: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/justice-for-the-holy-land-five-a-documentary-screening-tickets-29735036294

Omar Nazzal and Adib Al-Atrash: Palestinian journalists ordered to further imprisonment without charge or trial

15 December 2016

Palestinian journalist Omar Nazzal was ordered to three more months in administrative detention on Monday, 12 December. This marked the third renewal of his administrative detention order since he was seized by Israeli occupation forces on 23 April 2016 as he sought to cross the bridge to Jordan in order to travel to the European Federation of Journalists’ conference in Sarajevo. Nazzal is a member of the General Secretariat of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate and president of the Democratic Journalists’ Assembly.

At a previous hearing on 22 November, Nazzal’s administrative detention was limited to a one and a half month extension; he was told he would be released on 24 December. Instead, however, Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association reported that the extension of his detention was for a full three months.

On Wednesday, 15 December, fellow journalist Adib al-Atrash was also ordered to another three months in administrative detention without charge or trial. Arrested in June, this marks the third consecutive time al-Atrash has received an order for three months of imprisonment without charge or trial.

Tens of Palestinian journalists are imprisoned in Israeli jails, several in administrative detention without charge or trial, including Addameer media officer Hasan Safadi whose own detention was just extended for six months. Administrative detention orders are indefinitely renewable by Israeli military order and Palestinians can spend years at a time imprisoned without charge or trial.

82 Days of Hunger Strike: Abu Fara, Shadid starving for freedom

15 December 2016

Anas Shadid and Ahmad Abu Fara are now on their 82nd day of hunger strike and in severely critical health condition on Thursday, 15 December. Their lawyer, Ahlam Haddad, said that the two stopped drinking water and are suffering from chest and heart pains and shortness of breath. The two are on hunger strike against their imprisonment without charge or trial under Israeli administrative detention.

Both were seized from their homes in Dura and Surif villages outside al-Khalil and ordered to imprisonment without charge or trial. On 25 September, they came together to launch a hunger strike to demand their freedom. They stopped drinking water in protest after the Israeli Supreme Court refused to release them to a Palestinian hospital despite their dire health condition. The two are demanding their release from administrative detention. They are held in Assaf Harofeh hospital under “suspended” administrative detention orders that will be reimposed if their health improves.

Abdelmajeed Shadid, the brother of Anas Shadid, was the MC at the welcoming celebration for former hunger striker Bilal Kayed on Monday, 12 December in Asira al-Shamaliyeh. Kayed, fellow former hunger-striker Khader Adnan and others took part in the past days in a protest in support of Shadid and Abu Fara, demanding their immediate release. Abu Fara, 29, is married for just less than a year and previously spent two years in Israeli prisons. Shadid, 19, is a farmer who was raising chickens on his family’s land before being seized by occupation forces. Only 15 days before he was arrested, he opened a small poultry shop. As a small farmer, his mother said that 500 of his 5,000 chickens had died and the shop was closed after he was seized because of the absence of their owner.

Also on hunger strike is fellow administrative detainee Ammar Hmour, who launched his hunger strike 26 days ago in protest of his imprisonment without charge or trial. Dozens of fellow citizens from his home village of Jaba south of Jenin took part in a solidarity protest on Wednesday, 14 December, demanding freedom for Hmour and his fellow hunger strikers.

Long-term prisoner Kifah Hattab is also on hunger strike for the 22nd day, demanding his recognition as a prisoner of war with all attendant rights under the Geneva Conventions.

Abu Fara, Shadid, and Hmour are three of over 700 Palestinians imprisoned without charge or trial under administrative detention. Administrative detention orders are issued for one to six month periods and are indefinitely renewable. These imprisonment orders come without charge or trial and are issued on the basis of so-called “secret evidence,” to which both the Palestinian detainee and their lawyers are denied access.

Palestinian parliamentarian ordered to 17 months Israeli imprisonment

15 December 2016

Palestinian Member of the Legislative Council Mohammed Abu Teir, 65, was ordered to 17 months in Israeli prison by the Ofer military court on Tuesday 13 December. Imprisoned since 26 January, the Change and Reform Bloc legislator has spent over 34 years in Israeli prisons. Since his election in 2006, he was subjected to multiple arrests and imprisonments, including a significant amount of time held in administrative detention without charge or trial. He was also sentenced to a fine of 8,000 NIS ($2100) and a 30-month suspended sentence.

Even more, Abu Teir, along with colleagues Ahmed Attoun and Mohammed Totah, and former PA minister of Jerusalem Affairs Khaled Abu Arafeh, was stripped of his Jerusalem ID in 2006 for participating in the PLC elections. As a member of the Change and Reform bloc associated with Hamas, he was subjected to mass arrests targeting the political movement by the Israeli occupation. The stripping of the Jerusalem IDs of Abu Teir and his colleagues is widely viewed as part of an overall Israeli attack on the Palestinian identity of Jerusalem and Jerusalemites.

Abu Teir is one of six members of the Legislative Council held in Israeli prisons. Ahmad Sa’adat, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, is imprisoned on a 30-year sentence, while Fateh leader Marwan Barghouthi is serving a life term. Mohammed Natsheh, Hassan Yousef, and Azzam Salhab are all held in administrative detention without charge or trial.

On Thursday morning at dawn, Israeli occupation forces broke into the home of PLC member Husni Burini in Asira al-Shamaliyeh village near Nablus, questioning him for nearly an hour and summoning him and his son to interrogation.

New attack on Rasmea Odeh as U.S. Attorney levels new charges against Palestinian American ex-prisoner, torture survivor

14 December 2016

The following statement is re-printed from the Rasmea Defense Committee, issued on Tuesday, December 13:

Today, U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade announced that a grand jury she had empaneled returned a new, superseding indictment against Rasmea Odeh for unlawful procurement of naturalization. This new indictment, just four weeks before her retrial, is a vicious attack by prosecutors desperate after a series of setbacks in their case against the Chicago-based Palestinian American community leader. From the outset, the government has attempted to exclude and discredit evidence of Rasmea’s torture at the hands of Israeli authorities, but the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the prosecution, which led to the retrial; and the government’s own expert affirmed that Rasmea lives with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

As the January 10 retrial approaches, and knowing that it faces the real prospect of losing before a jury, the U.S. Attorney’s office has reframed its case against Rasmea, putting allegations of terrorism front and center. In the first trial in 2014, prosecutors were barred from using the word “terrorism,” because Judge Gershwin Drain agreed the word would bias the jury. The new indictment adds two allegations that preclude this protection: first, that the crimes she was forced by torture to confess to are “terrorist activity”; and second, that she failed to report an alleged association with a “Designated Terrorist Organization.” Despite the government’s claim that this is a simple case of immigration fraud, this new indictment is written to ensure that Rasmea stands before a jury as an accused terrorist.

“They are switching course because they know that a jury will believe Rasmea,” says Nesreen Hasan of the Rasmea Defense Committee and its lead organization, the U.S. Palestinian Community Network. “We have always said, from day one, that this is a political case, and that the government is prosecuting Rasmea as part of a broader attack, the criminalization of the Palestine liberation movement. This new indictment is literally the same charge, with the same evidence – immigration forms. Only now, they want to paint Rasmea, and all Palestinians, as terrorists. The real criminals in this case are the Israelis who brutally tortured Rasmea 45 years ago, as well as those in the U.S. government who are trying to put her on trial for surviving the brutality committed against her.”

Prosecutors will be disappointed to find that these new allegations fail to erode Rasmea’s support. People have mobilized by the hundreds for countless hearings, every day of her 2014 trial, and her appeal earlier this year. “We have people ready to come from across the Midwest to stand with Rasmea in Detroit on January 10, but we are also prepared to adjust those plans to be there whenever we are needed,” says Jess Sundin of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, who lives in Minneapolis and has mobilized dozens of Minnesotans and others in support of the defense. “We will redouble our organizing and fundraising work, and make certain Rasmea has the best defense possible.”

Given the desperate move by prosecutors, it is clear that things may change quickly. Rasmea’s legal team has filed a motion to postpone the January 10 trial date, so they can prepare a defense against the new allegations. According to lead defense attorney Michael Deutch, “We also intend to challenge this indictment as vindictive and politically-motivated.”

The Rasmea Defense Committee is urging supporters to continue to call U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade at 313-226-9100, or tweet @USAO_MIE, and demand that she stop wasting taxpayer money, that she stop persecuting a woman who has given so much to U.S. society, and that she #DropTheChargesNow against Rasmea. In addition, the committee is calling on supporters to help win #Justice4Rasmea by donating to the defense and organizing educational events about the case.

Visit www.justice4rasmea.org for more information.

Media contact: Hatem Abudayyeh, 773.301.4108, hatem85@yahoo.com

In Photos: Bilal Kayed’s release celebration in Asira

12 December 2016

Over a thousand Palestinians gathered in Asira al-Shamaliyeh village near Nablus to welcome Bilal Kayed after his release from 15 years in Israeli prison on Monday, 12 December. Kayed, a prominent leader in the Palestinian prisoners’ movement inside Israeli jails, became well-known across Palestine and internationally when he launched a hunger strike for his freedom on 15 June.

Scheduled for release on 13 June after completing his 14.5-year sentence for involvement with the Palestinian resistance through the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the second Intifada, Kayed was instead ordered to six months in administrative detention without charge or trial, indefinitely renewable. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners across political lines joined his hunger strike inside Israeli jails, while demonstrations across Palestine and around the world demanded Kayed’s freedom. Thousands marched and joined actions and events in the US, Canada, Lebanon, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, Brazil, Chile, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, UK, Germany, Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Austria, the Czech Republic, South Africa and elsewhere to demand Kayed’s freedom.

The reception for Kayed’s release was attended by his family, comrades, and friends; he spoke to the crowd, emphasizing the importance of Palestinian national unity and the strength of Palestinian steadfastness. Former hunger strikers Khader Adnan and Mohammed al-Qeeq joined the celebration, as did former prisoners Rula Abu Deho and political leader Khalida Jarrar. Abla Sa’adat, women’s movement activist and the wife of imprisoned PFLP General Secretary Ahmad Sa’adat, also participated in the celebration. Speakers echoed the call to intensify the struggle to free all of the Palestinian political prisoners behind Israeli bars, including current hunger strikers Ahmad Abu Fara and Anas Shadid, on hunger strike for 80 days to demand an end to their administrative detention without charge or trial.

Photos below:

Justice orgs call for protection of human rights defenders working on issues related to Palestine

12 December 2016

December 9, 2016 – In marking International Human Rights Defenders Day, the undersigned organizations commend the work of all human rights defenders working for justice globally, stand in solidarity with them, and highlight the case of individuals and organizations focused on Palestine. Human rights defenders advocating and working on Palestinian human rights around the world are facing intensifying threats and are increasingly targeted for their work.

Human rights defenders operating in Palestine use a variety of non-violent methods to call attention to Israeli human rights violations and to seek accountability. Each of these methods, however, is met with acts of suppression and intimidation by Israel.[i] Weekly peaceful protests throughout the West Bank are routinely met with force by the Israeli military. Hashem Khader Abu Maria, 45, coordinator of Defence for Children International – Palestine’s community mobilization unit, was shot dead by Israeli forces while peacefully participating in a weekly protest in July 2014. Human rights defenders seeking to monitor and document human rights violations, including lawyers seeking to represent their clients, have their freedom of movement and access obstructed, and are further at risk of arrest and detention because of their work.[ii] Palestinian human rights organizations providing submissions to the International Criminal Court (ICC) during its preliminary examination have faced even more extreme targeting. Palestinian organizations Al-Haq and Al-Mezan have had staff members receive death threats, and have also been the targets of a wider campaign that attempts to discredit and destabilize the organizations.[iii] These campaigns have included the hacking of emails, intimidating phone calls to staff, and efforts to alarm donors; all of which seek to distract organizations from their primary human rights work. While the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor and other authorities have recognized these threats,[iv] acts of intimidation have persisted.

Human rights defenders advocating on issues related to Palestine in the United States and Europe are also facing intensifying pressure for bringing attention to Israeli human rights violations.[v] Israel has treated the Palestinian call to engage in nonviolent boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaigns, given the absence of accountability for Israel’s violations of international law, as a “strategic threat,” and has countered it with increasingly coercive and punitive measures, both in Palestine and globally.[vi]In the United States, individuals and institutions engaged in advocacy for Palestinian rights, including BDS campaigns, have been targeted[vii] with online harassment,[viii]surveillance, threats to their physical safety,[ix]frivolous lawsuits,[x]intimidation campaigns maligning them as terrorist supporters and antisemitic,[xi] and even disciplinary and criminal investigations and sanctions for their protest activities.[xii] Legislative measures in the US aim to penalize advocacy for Palestinian rights and engagement in BDS.[xiii]

These attacks in total aim to silence and undermine any resistance to Israel’s unlawful policies and should not be viewed in isolation. They should rather be examined within the broader context of impunity in Israel itself, as well as the failure of states to hold Israel accountable for its commission of internationally recognized crimes.

Citizens and organizations have internationally and domestically recognized rights[xiv] to engage in alternative means for accountability and advocate for justice for Palestinians.[xv] Our organizations underscore the universality of human rights, including the right to “participate in peaceful activities against violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms,”[xvi] and we call upon states to protect human rights defenders working on issues related to Palestine.

Signed by:

· Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel

· Addameer

· Al-Haq

· Al Mezan Center for Human Rights

· American Friends Service Committee

· American Muslims for Palestine

· Arab American Institute

· Badil Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights

· Bill of Rights Defense Committee & Defending Dissent Foundation

· Center for Constitutional Rights

· Defense for Children International- Palestine Section

· Interfaith Peace-Builders

· International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

· Jerusalem Center for Legal Aid and Human Rights

· International Committee of the National Lawyers Guild

· Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights

· Palestine Legal

· Ramallah Center for Human Rights Studies

· Samidoun

· US Campaign for Palestinian Rights

· U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN)

· World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

[i] For more information, see: Joint Oral Statement to the Human Rights Council on 29 September 2016, available at http://webtv.un.org/search/item7-general-debate-contd-29th-meeting-33rd-regular-session-human-rights-council-/5140985289001?term=item%207#full-text; PHROC Sends Letter to UN High Commissioner and Special Rapporteurs on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, Al-Haq, 16 June 2016, available at http://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/targets/palestinian-human-rights-organizations/1052-phroc-sends-letter-to-un-high-commissioner-and-special-rapporteurs-on-the-situation-of-human-rights-defenders; and PHROC Draws Attention to the Repression of Human Rights Defenders in Submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on the OPT, Al-Haq, 10 November 2016, available at http://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/targets/palestinian-human-rights-organizations/1084-phroc-draws-attention-to-the-repression-of-human-rights-defenders-in-submission-to-the-un-special-rapporteur-on-the-opt

[ii] See, e.g., the case of Hasan Safadi, Addameer’s Media Coordinator, Addameer, 13 June 2016, available at http://www.addameer.org/prisoner/hasan-safadi.

[iii] Al Mezan Condemns Continued Death Threats to Staff Members and Calls on the International Community to Intervene, Al Mezan, 11 August 2016, available at http://www.mezan.org/en/post/21475/Al+Mezan+Condemns+Continued+Death+Threats+to+Staff+Members+and+Calls+on+the+International+Community+to+Intervene; Update: Attacks Against Al-Haq Continue, 4 June 2016, available at http://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/topics/human-rights-defenders/1050-update-attacks-against-al-haq-continue

[iv] Report on Preliminary Examination Activities 2016, Office of the Prosecutor, International Criminal Court, para. 144, 14 November 2016, available at https://www.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/otp/161114-otp-rep-PE_ENG.pdf

[v] France’s criminalization of BDS activism is the most extreme example of the repressive reaction to Palestine advocacy outside of Israel. See France’s criminalisation of Israel boycotts sparks free-speech debate, France 24, 21 January 2016, available at http://www.france24.com/en/20160120-france-boycott-israel-bds-law-free-speech-antisemitism.

[vi]Israel brands Palestinian-led boycott movement a ‘strategic threat’, The Guardian, 3 June 2015, available at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jun/03/israel-brands-palestinian-boycott-strategic-threat-netanyahu

[vii]See generally, Palestine Legal and Center for Constitutional Rights, The Palestine Exception to Free Speech: A Movement Under Attack in the U.S., September 2015, available at http://palestinelegal.org/the-palestine-exception.

[viii]See, e.g., Exposed: Pro-Israel Modern Day McCarthyites Going to Extremes to Slime Human Rights Activists, Alternet, 30 September 2015, available at http://www.alternet.org/tea-party-and-right/modern-day-mccarthyists-are-going-extremes-slime-activists-fighting-israels.

[ix] See, e.g., Palestine Legal Demands Action from University of Chicago to Protect Student Activists, Palestine Legal, 19 November 2015, available at http://palestinelegal.org/news/2015/11/19/palestine-legal-demands-action-from-university-of-chicago-to-protect-palestine-advocates?rq=death%20threat; Ohio University: Student President Receives Death Threats, Palestine Legal, 10 March 2015, available athttp://palestinelegal.org/case-studies/2015/3/4/ohio-university-student-senate-president-received-death-threats-after-pro-bds-video

Another frivolous lawsuit against the American Studies Association’s Boycott, Palestine Legal, 21 July 2016, available at http://palestinelegal.org/news/2016/7/21/another-frivolous-lawsuit-against-the-american-studies-associations-boycott?rq=lawsuit.

[xi] See, e.g., Rights Groups to UC Irvine, UC Berkeley and SFSU: Condemn David Horowitz Posters, Protect Students from Intimidation Campaign, Palestine Legal, 20 October 2016, available at http://palestinelegal.org/news/2016/10/11/rights-groups-to-uc-irvine-condemn-david-horowitz-posters-protect-students-from-intimidation-campaign?rq=horowitz; IUPUI must stand with Haneen and SJP, too, Palestine Legal, 8 April 2016, available at http://palestinelegal.org/news/2016/4/8/iupui-must-stand-with-haneen-and-sjp-too?rq=iupui.

[xii] Palestine Legal collection of articles regarding the Irvine 11, available at http://palestinelegal.org/search?q=Irvine%2011&f_collectionId=55357b08e4b0366c2fd525e9; CUNY: Independent Investigators Clear SJP, Palestine Legal, 31 October 2016, available at http://palestinelegal.org/case-studies/2016/10/31/city-university-of-new-york-independent-investigators-clear-sjp?rq=brooklyn; Brooklyn College Students Cleared at Controversial Disciplinary Hearing, Palestine Legal, 31 May 2016, available at http://palestinelegal.org/news/2016/5/31/brooklyn-college-students-cleared-at-controversial-discipslinary-hearing?rq=brooklyn.

[xiii] See http://righttoboycott.org/.

[xiv] In NAACP v. Claiborne, the United States Supreme Court found that boycotts to effect social, economic and political change are a protected form of speech, association, assembly and petition under the First Amendment. Foreign ministers from Holland, Ireland and Sweden have all recognized the right to engage in BDS actions. See PHROC welcomes statements by European officials to uphold the right to participate in and call for BDS measures, Al-Haq, 30 May 2016 available at http://www.alhaq.org/advocacy/targets/palestinian-human-rights-organizations/1047-phroc-welcomes-statements-by-european-officials-to-uphold-the-right-to-participate-in-and-call-for-bds-measures. The EU foreign minister Federica Mogherini also stated that the right to boycott is protected under freedom of expression. See EU declares right to boycott Israel is protected free speech, Independent, 3 November 2016, available at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/eu-right-bds-boycott-israel-palestine-protected-free-speech-federica-mogherini-a7394536.html. Two hundred European legal scholars recently affirmed the right to boycott under international law. See Groundbreaking statement by 200 European Legal Scholars Upholds the Right to BDS for Palestinian Rights, Boycott National Committee, 8 December 2016, available at https://bdsmovement.net/news/groundbreaking-statement-200-european-legal-scholars-upholds-right-bds-palestinian-rights.

[xv] Where states fail to search for and prosecute individuals that have committed grave breaches of the Fourth Geneva Convention, organizations have filled this gap by providing submissions to the International Criminal Court. Where states have failed to ban the entry of settlement products into their domestic markets, consumers have sought boycott actions. Where states have given military aid to Israel without accountability, individuals and groups have campaigned to circumscribe that aid.

[xvi]Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, Article 12(1), available at http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Defenders/Declaration/declaration.pdf.

Salah Khawaja’s military court hearing continued to 15 December; calls for international support grow

12 December 2016

Palestinian human rights defender and prominent Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) leader Salah Khawaja‘s Israeli military court hearing was postponed once more on Sunday, 11 December, reported the Stop the Wall Campaign.

Khawaja is active with the Stop the Wall Campaign as well as serving on the secretariat of the BDS National Committee (BNC), the largest association of Palestinian civil society organizations leading the international BDS campaign. His home was raided in a violent night raid by Israeli occupation forces on 26 October. After this raid, he was held under interrogation for 20 days, subject to ill-treatment, beatings, threats and psychological mistreatment and lengthy interrogation sessions for hours at a time. He was denied access to a lawyer for two weeks.

He has since been transferred to Ofer prison and scheduled court hearings have been repeatedly continued. His next hearing will take place on Thursday, 15 December at 11 am at Ofer prison. The hearing on 11 December was attended by observers from the European Union, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and NOVACT. The EU has previously expressed concern about the situation of Salah Khawaja.

It is very important to encourage additional attendees from the diplomatic missions of your country as well as international organizations at the hearing on 15 December.

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 Barack Obama: 1-202-456-1111

Tell your government:

Salah Khawaja, a Palestinian human rights defender, has been arbitrarily detained since 26 October. 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. It is very important that an observer attend the 15 December hearing at Ofer military court at 11:00 am.
The government must do more than express concern, but should also take serious measures to end these violations, and suspend agreements with Israeli institutions involved in the ongoing imprisonment and oppression of Palestinians.

Shadid, Abu Fara announce court boycott, escalation after Israeli Supreme Court rejects appeal on 80th day of hunger strike

12 December 2016

The Israeli Supreme Court rejected a petition filed by Palestinian lawyers on behalf of administrative detainees Anas Shadid and Ahmad Abu Fara, now on their 80th day of hunger strike. In response, they announced that they would boycott all of the courts of the occupation and declared that they would stop drinking water on Monday evening. The petition, filed by lawyer Ahlam Haddad, called for their immediate release considering their desperate health condition.

The two strikers are held in Assaf Harofeh hospital where they are in danger of permanent brain or organ damage; both of their administrative detention is “suspended,” yet they are forbidden from being transferred to a Palestinian hospital and if their health improves, their detention will be reimposed.

Both have been on hunger strike since 25 September to demand their release from administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial. Their health situation is currently desperate and both are at risk of forced treatment, forced feeding, or sudden death. Anas Shadid, 19, has suffered almost complete loss of his vision and inability to speak, while Abu Fara, 29, cannot see in his right eye and experiences severe chest and head pain. Both are threatened with serious damage to their livers and kidneys. Abu Fara’s muscles are atrophied as well.

They have been imprisoned without charge or trial since 1 and 2 August and are among over 700 Palestinians imprisoned under administrative detention orders, which are indefinitely renewable and issued on the basis of so-called “secret evidence” without charge or trial.

Also on hunger strike are Ammar Hmour, on strike against his own administrative detention for 20 days, and Kifah Hattab, striking to be recognized as a prisoner of war for 17 days. A rally was held today in Jenin, Hmour’s home city, urging his immediate release.

Former hunger striker Bilal Kayed was released on Monday, 12 December; his 71-day hunger strike secured his release after he was ordered to administrative detention just as he was scheduled to be released after 14.5 years in Israeli prison. Thousands of supporters greeted him in his hometown of Asira al-Shamaliyah.

Palestinian prisoners’ leader Bilal Kayed released today in victory secured in 71-day hunger strike

12 December 2016

Palestinian prominent former hunger striker and leader of the prisoners’ movement Bilal Kayed was released today, Monday, 12 December, after 15 years in Israeli prisons to the cheers and salutes of his family, friends and comrades in his home village of Asira al-Shamaliyeh, throughout Palestine and internationally.

Kayed, 35, conducted a 71-day hunger strike in June-August 2016 after he was suddenly ordered to administrative detention after completing his 14.5-year sentence in Israeli prison. He had been seized by Israeli occupation forces in December 2001 and imprisoned for participating in the Palestinian resistance in the second Intifada as a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Inside the prison, he developed into a leader of the prisoners’ struggle. He played a leading role in organizing collective hunger strikes and other protests, and was elected to coordinate with representatives of other Palestinian political movements in collective strikes like the 2012 Karameh hunger strike.

Upon his scheduled release date on 13 June, instead of being released to his friends and family who were waiting for him at an Israeli occupation military checkpoint, he was suddenly ordered to administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial. He launched his hunger strike to demand his release. His strike found support from hundreds of fellow Palestinian prisoners across factional lines inside Israeli prisons.

Kayed became an internationally-known figure during his hunger strike as dozens of cities around the world held events and rallies for his release and thousands of supporters signed petitions and wrote letters demanding his freedom. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network coordinated numerous events around the world to demand Kayed’s release, including a delegation of European lawyers and parliamentarians who traveled to Palestine to support his strike. Dozens of events in Ireland – including a mural on Belfast’s famous International Wall – demanded his release, while the city of Naples in Italy named Kayed an honorary citizen.

He concluded his strike in an agreement for his release on 12 December. The streets of Asira al-Shamaliyeh have been festooned with graffiti and stenciled images celebrating his release and his victory. Earlier on his release day, suspicions were escalated as Israeli occupation officials refused to inform his family or his lawyers of the time and location of his release. He was released at approximately 3:00 Palestine time and is currently participating in the celebration of his release in Asira al-Shamaliyeh.

[fbvideo link=”https://www.facebook.com/handala67/videos/1348420565181955/” width=”800″ height=”” onlyvideo=”1″]

A large demonstration also marked the occasion today in Gaza City, outside the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross, celebrating Kayed’s release and the 49th anniversary of the founding of his party, the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and demanding the release of all Palestinian political prisoners.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes Bilal Kayed on the occasion of his release. A symbol of the struggle for freedom and the prisoners’ movement, his release after his lengthy hunger strike marks a victory for his steadfastness and that of his fellow prisoners. On this occasion, we also salute all of the thousands in Palestine and around the world who joined in the struggle for Bilal’s release with legal efforts, international advocacy, grassroots organizing and mass actions. The freedom of Bilal Kayed is part of the struggle for the freedom of all 7,000 Palestinian political prisoners and the freedom of Palestine and its people.

Photo of Bilal’s release by Hafez Omar. Gaza photos by Handala Center for Prisoners and Former Prisoners

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