Palestinian girl Nurhan Awad, 17, threatened with 15-year prison sentence

27 October 2016

The Israeli occupation prosecutors are seeking a sentence of 15 years of imprisonment against Nurhan Awad, 17, a girl from Qalandiya refugee camp, they announced in a hearing at the Jerusalem District Court on Thursday, 27 October.

The final decision in Nurhan’s case will be issued on 16 November; the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society noted that this is the highest penalty demanded by the prosecution in comparison with other similar cases. Nurhan is one of 12 Palestinian girls imprisoned in Israeli occupation prisons.

Nurhan was arrested on 23 November 2015 by occupation forces; her cousin, Hadeel Awad, 14, was shot dead by Israeli men at the same time. Al Jazeera has written a longer piece regarding the extrajudicial execution of Hadeel, who was repeatedly shot at close range by an armed Israeli after she lay injured on the ground; she had allegedly attempted to stab a man with scissors. The 70-year-old Palestinian man that was lightly stabbed with scissors was released the same day with minor injuries. Throughout the video of the incident, Nurhan stood in place holding a pair of scissors until one man hit her from behind from a chair and as she lay on the ground, she was shot by another man, several times at close range, including as she lay injured on the ground. Nurhan was severely injured after being shot in the chest twice at close range; Hadeel was killed.

“The cold-blooded murder of mostly children and teens can’t be explained from a security perspective or basic rules of engagement,” said Hussam Zomlot, co-founder of the Palestine Strategy Group, commenting on the extrajudicial execution of Hadeel and the shooting of Nurhan.

Now, Nurhan is being threatened with 15 years imprisonment while her cousin’s life was taken entirely by the same occupation forces who killed Hadeel’s brother, Mahmoud, in 2012, who was shot in the head by occupation forces at a protest.

Nurhan is the latest Palestinian child to be threatened with severe sentences; prosecutors are demanding a 12-year sentence against 14-year-old Ahmad Manasra; Ahmad’s 15-year-old cousin, Hassan, was also shot dead. Hassan’s body was held captive by Israeli occupation forces for seven months before finally being returned to his family. Child prisoner Muawiya Alqam, 14, was sentenced to 6.5 years in Israeli prisons.

There are over 350 Palestinian children currently held in Israeli prisons. While sentences for children are theoretically limited based on their age, in practice this restriction is meaningless; this restriction does not apply to any offense with a maximum sentence of greater than five years. Allegations like throwing stones or even membership in a prohibited organization routinely can carry maximum sentences above five years, meaning that Palestinian children are sentenced in exactly the same way as adults by Israeli courts.

Sheikh Raed Salah held in solitary confinement, denied books and magazines

27 October 2016

Sheikh Raed Salah, the imprisoned head of the Northern Islamic Movement in Palestine ’48, remains in solitary confinement and subject to a number of punitive measures. The Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights had appealed for an end to his isolation, which was rejected by an Israeli court on Tuesday, 25 October.

He has been held in solitary confinement since 8 May; he is imprisoned on charges of “incitement” for his speeches about Israeli plans for Al-Aqsa Mosque. An order for his isolation has been renewed monthly, reported his lawyer Khaled Zabarqa, saying that it was ordered under the pretext that he could influence other prisoners.

He is serving a nine month sentence and is held in Ramon prison currently. During that time, he has been denied access to books given him by his family members present for visits. He has been denied visits by prominent personalities, including Knesset member for the National Democratic Alliance/Balad, Jamal Zahalka.

In addition, the imprisonment of Sheikh Salah has been accompanied by the prohibition of the Islamic Movement and a series of raids and arrests on Palestinian organizations and institutions in Palestine ’48, a move that has been slammed by Palestinian organizations from across the political spectrum as a clear and racist attack upon Palestinians holding Israeli citizenship and a violation of their basic rights.

Protests are being organized throughout occupied Palestine in support of Salah and demanding an end to his isolation, On Thursday, Palestinians in Gaza protested against Salah’s solitary confinement outside the International Committee of the Red Cross headquarters in Gaza, following a protest on Tuesday outside Eshel prison and further protests in Gaza and the West Bank. Zahalka joined in the protest, noting that “the actions against Sheikh Salah and his imprisonment itself are retaliatory steps as part of the political persecution and the criminalization of political action for Palestinians inside…the Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is the one who leads and directs this fascist campaign of racism…the position must be clear, that the targeting of any of us targets all of us.”

Palestinian student’s hearing continued until December

27 October 2016

Palestinian student Noor Darwish‘s military court trial was once again continued on 25 October until 14 December. Darwish, 22, is a student at Al-Quds University in Abu Dis. On 19 April, she was arrested by Israeli occupation forces alongside two other female students at the university; all of the charges against the students were based on their participation in public events and activities of the student union and the Islamic Bloc, one of the student parties at the university.

Darwish, from the village of Deir Abu Meshaal near Ramallah, is active in the Islamic Bloc at the university, where she studies in the health sciences faculty. Her brother Miqdad spent 16 months in Israeli prison as well as two months in Palestinian Authority prisons; he studies computer engineering at Palestine Polytechnic University.

Meanwhile, Palestinian student Sujoud Daraweesh, who studies at Hebron University, was issued an order on 25 October by the Shin Bet, the Israeli intelligence agency, prohibiting her from entering the city of al-Khalil, where her university is located. Daraweesh had been arrested for one day in late September and interrogated by the intelligence agency in Etzion military camp before being released. She is seeking to complete her studies remotely; the university denounced the banning of Daraweesh as an attack on Palestinian students’ right to education, placing it in the context of ongoing attacks on the rights of Palestinian students.

Daraweesh lives in the village of Dura, outside the city; the exclusion order is dated until 13 February 2017. She is in her final year of studies of Islamic law at the university, scheduled to graduate in the coming spring. In an interview with Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Daraweesh said that the university was working with her to prevent the Israeli occupation from stamping out her educational goals, including meeting with tutors and conducting exams in Dura. “The Israeli occupation wanted to punish me and deprive me of my future education and life with this order of exclusion, but we have the determination and resolve to confront this order and will not allow the occupation to achieve its goals,” said Daraweesh.

Meanwhile, the detention of Ghadeer Jamjoum of Jerusalem was extended by occupation forces until Friday, 28 October, the fifth extension of her detention since her arrest on 12 October. She is forbidden to meet with her lawyer and publication of the details of her case continue to be prohibited by court order.

Sabah Faraoun, one of two women held under administrative detention without charge or trial, was expected to be released on Wednesday, 26 October, but was not; she has been imprisoned since 19 June 2016 and is held in HaSharon prison, reported Asra Media. Faraoun is imprisoned with Haneen Abdel-Qader Amer, 39, of Tulkarem, who has been held under administrative detention without charge or trial since 27 March 2016; she was initially ordered to four months in administrative detention, an order renewed at the end of July.

Amer, Faraoun, Jamjoum and Darwish are among approximately 60 Palestinian women imprisoned by the Israeli occupation; most are held in either HaSharon or Damon prisons. Damon prison is very distant from the military courts, and prisoners going to trial are forced to be transported by “bosta” for lengthy hours and even days of travel. Former long-term hunger striker Samer Issawi announced on 27 October that he is on hunger strike in Nafha prison in solidarity with his imprisoned sister Shireen Issawi and the other women in Damon prison, urging that they be transferred somewhere closer to the courts and calling for an end to the abusive practices against the imprisoned women.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges the immediate release of all Palestinian women prisoners and of all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. We particularly highlight the cases of Darwish and Daraweesh as Palestinian students subject to an ongoing campaign of arrests and persecution targeting Palestinian students at universities throughout Palestine of all political affiliations, targeting students for arrest and persecution in an attempt to criminalize student activism and student organizations on Palestinian campuses. We note that this is yet another violation of the right of Palestinian students to education by the Israeli state, in which the Israeli academy is deeply complicit, and urge the escalation of academic boycott campaigns toward Israeli academic institutions in solidarity with Palestinian students in their struggle for freedom.

Administrative detention: Last-minute renewals, new orders, and the torture of Palestinian families

27 October 2016

There are over 700 Palestinian prisoners currently held without charge or trial under “administrative detention,” Israeli imprisonment without charge or trial on the basis of secret evidence, indefinitely renewable. In recent days, administrative detention orders have been renewed and issued against detained Palestinians, including some prominent prisoners.

shaherandmanal Shaher al-Rai, whose wife Manal recently spoke in a new video by Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association about administrative detention, recently saw his administrative detention without charge or trial renewed on the day of his anticipated release, 25 October. Al-Rai had been ordered to an additional five months in administrative detention in late May; he had already packed his personal items, said goodbye to his fellow prisoners and headed to the prison’s exit when he was ordered back to administrative detention.

Al-Rai, 46, of Qalqilya, is married with three children. His home was violently raided by occupation forces on 3 June – simultaneously with fellow administrative detainee Jamal Barham – and Al-Rai was taken to a settlement, then to Huwwarra detention center and Megiddo prison. He was interrogated quickly about “membership in an illegal organization” and refused to confess or sign any papers, and was shortly thereafter ordered to administrative detention. He has been arrested seven times, including three periods in administrative detention. Shaher and Manal lived together for only five full years of their 25-year marriage; they have three children: Jarrah, 24, a physiotherapist; Wajla, 20, a law student; and Kanaan, 5.

Al-Rai had also previously been imprisoned by Palestinian Authority security forces for multiple years after he and his cousin were implicated in a false affidavit given by a Palestinian prisoner under Israeli torture. The confession was proven false by incontrovertible evidence and the Palestinian who made the confession under torture released and later compensated by Israeli intelligence, in an unusual case. Nevertheless, al-Rai remained held in PA prison for years after the discrediting of the confession, and released only after a widespread campaign.

Manal told Addameer that she was shocked when the family heard the news about the administrative detention renewal. She said, they were on their way to pick Mr. Al-Rai up, but were informed that he will not be released. “It a shock for all of us, especially his youngest son Kanaan (5-year-old), who started heavily crying in distress,” said Manal.

Motassem Abeido suffered similarly on 25 October; he was scheduled for release from Ketziot prison on that day after the end of his administrative detention order, yet as in the case of al-Rai, after he was already informed of his release, he was then ordered to another six months in administrative detention. Abeido’s family, who came to meet him at an Israeli occupation checkpoint, were informed that his administrative detention had been renewed for another six months.

These cases highlight the pressure and psychological torture of administrative detention and the uncertainty created by indefinitely renewable arbitrary imprisonment, on Palestinian detainees and their entire families.

thamer-sabaaneh2 Thamer Saba’aneh, journalist and writer and former prisoner, was also ordered to three months imprisonment without charge or trial under administrative detention. Saba’aneh, 40, from Jenin, was seized by occupation forces on 11 October in a violent raid on his home in Qabatiya near Jenin. He is a prominent activist for the freedom of Palestinian prisoners and participates frequently in events and activities in support of their struggle. He has written two books and published many articles, including from inside Israeli prisons, where he spent over 8 years. He was last arrested on 6 March 2013 and sentenced to 38 months in prison and a 10,000 NIS ($2500 USD) fine, accused of being in contact with “hostile parties” and attempting to “transfer illicit funds.” He was finally released on 5 March 2016, only to be re-arrested six months later.

Also ordered to administrative detention was Abdul Salam Jamal Abu al-Hija, 30, the son of imprisoned Hamas leader Jamal Abu al-Hija. Abu al-Hija was seized by occupation forces who raided his family home on 11 October and ransacked its contents. He has been arrested previously and spent several years in Israeli prisons, frequently under administrative detention. He was last able to see his father, serving nine life sentences, in 2003, when he was imprisoned in the same prison as his father in Ashkelon prison. They were imprisoned together for 40 days and were separated in prison transfers after; they have not seen each other since 2003.

The Ofer Military court issued “final” administrative detention orders in three cases, setting release dates of three Palestinians, on the basis that this will be the final renewal of their administrative detention order. These three cases include those of Omar Barghouthi, 63, who has spent 26 years in Israeli prisons over various arrests and was ordered to administrative detention after his seizure by occupation forces on 19 November 2015, as well as Firas Amarna, 36, to be released on 3 November, and Abdel-Rahman Atiq, to be released on 16 November. Barghouthi is the brother of Nael Barghouthi, released in 2011 in the Wafa al-Ahrar prisoner exchange after 32 years of imprisonment and then re-arrested in 2014; he remains imprisoned today.

New flyer: Support Palestinian Prisoners on Hunger Strike

27 October 2016

Six Palestinian prisoners are currently on strike in Israeli prisons against administrative detention, incarceration without charge or trial, and isolation and solitary confinement.

Ahmad Abu Fara, 29, and Anas Shadid, 19, have been on hunger strike for 33 days in protest against administrative detention. Both are imprisoned without charge or trial under administrative detention and their health is showing signs of severe deterioration after over a month of refusing all food and drinks other than water, vitamins or supplements. Both have been moved repeatedly among several prisons and the Ramle prison clinic, itself a process that induces further physical and psychological pressure on the strikers. Abu Fara is suffering from severe headaches, dizziness and shortness of breath, blurred vision and severe pain. Shadid cannot walk and must use a wheelchair and experiences severe pain and shortness of breath, blurry vision and dizziness. He now weighs only 42 kilograms (approximately 90 pounds).

Majd Abu Shamla and Hassan Rubayah have been on hunger strike for 23 days against administrative detention without charge or trial; both are held in isolation in the Negev desert prison.

Two more Palestinian prisoners have joined the hunger strike: Yousef Abu Saeed of Nablus, in protest of his isolation in Ashkelon prison; and Musab Manasrah, in protest of his administrative detention without charge or trial. Abu Saeed has been on hunger strike for five days and Manasrah for two days.

Palestinian administrative detainee, Adib Mafarjah, who conducted a 59-day hunger strike which concluded with an agreement to release him at the end of his administrative detention order in December 2016, will now be released on 15 November 2015 following an appeal at the Ofer Military Court on 25 October.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges the utmost support and solidarity to the hunger strikers and to all Palestinian prisoners. Samidoun in New York will be protesting on Friday, 28 October for freedom for the prisoners. We urge all advocates for justice and freedom for Palestine to protest and act in support of the hunger strikers’ struggle for liberation.

Download flyer: Click here to download PDF

4strikers

4 November, Vancouver: Teach-In: Boycott and Divest from G4$

24 October 2016

Friday, 4 November
6:30 pm
706 Clark Drive
Vancouver, BC
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1094927640556860/

G4$ is the world’s largest security company and third largest private sector employer, profitting from war and occupation, mass incarceration of oppressed people and development aggression across the planet. They have a large contract providing ‘security services’ for the Israeli prisons, the Apartheid Wall and at occupation check-points. They run prisons around the world, including immigration detention centres that warehouse criminalized immigrants and refugees in Ontario. And they have recently been revealed to be ‘securing’ the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline accross Indigenous territories in the U.S.

Join us for a teach in on G4$: case studies of G4S’s collaboration with imperialist war, occupation, plunder and exploitation; specific information about G4S operations locally; discussion on how we can increase practical solidarity between struggles based on our common enemy; information on the campaign to boycott and divest from G4S in Canada.

Co-Hosted by BDS Vancouver – Coast Salish Territories, Young Communist League – Vancouver, International Leauge of Peoples Struggles in Canada and the Centre for Socialist Education

26 October, Haifa: Freedom for Georges Ibrahim Abdallah

24 October 2016

Wednesday, 26 October
7:30 pm
French Consulate
37 Vine Street
Haifa, Palestine

The Committee for the Freedom of Prisoners urges all to participate in a vigil of solidarity and support for imprisoned Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, held for more than 32 years in French imperial prisons. He has been eligible for release for 17 years yet the French state refuses to release him. He remains steadfast on his principles and positions despite long years in prison. Join us to raise your voices for freedom.

Gaza City protesters demand freedom for Georges Ibrahim Abdallah

24 October 2016

Palestinians in Gaza urged freedom for Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, imprisoned Lebanese struggler for Palestine, held in French prisons for 32 years, in a protest Monday, 24 October outside the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Protesters demanded the freedom of Abdallah and all Palestinian prisoners at the demonstration organized by the Prisoners’ Commission of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Palestinian leftist party.

The demonstration included a message from prominent Palestinian leader, the imprisoned General Secretary of the PFLP, Ahmad Sa’adat, read by Haneen Ammar. Sa’adat said that “the prisoners’ struggle for freedom is one struggle with that of Comrade Georges Abdallah…his liberation will be a victory for all oppressed people, all prisoners of conscience and victims of torture, a triumph of the rights of the peoples, and of the Palestinian struggle for freedom.”

gaza4 Allam Kaabi, former prisoner, spoke about the imprisonment of Georges Abdallah as a stain that exposes the continued role of France as a global imperialist power, aligned with the United States and the Zionist entity. Kaabi demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Abdallah, saying “the case of the freedom fighter Georges Abdallah is integrally linked to the cause of thousands of Palestinian political prisoners suffering within the cells of the occupation…The cause of Georges Abdallah is part of the struggle against colonialism and occupation, a struggle of the Palestinian people and the collective struggle against Zionism and imperialism.”

Participants in the protest burned posters of Benjamin Netanyahu, US President Barack Obama and French President Francois Hollande as they demanded freedom for Abdallah and all Palestinian prisoners.

Two more former PA prisoners seized and beaten by invading occupation forces

24 October 2016

Two more of the Palestinian youth, held by the Palestinian Authority without charge for six months until their release following a hunger strike and campaign for their freedom, were seized by occupation forces at around 1:00 a.m. on Friday, 21 October.

Occupation forces stormed the homes of Haitham Siyaj, 19, of al-Khalil and Mohammed al-Salameen of al-Bireh, who joined the already imprisoned Seif al-Idrissi and Mohammed Harb. Harb has been ordered to six months imprisonment in administrative detention without charge or trial on the basis of secret evidence.

The invading forces blocked off the area around Siyaj’s home and violently invaded the house, dragged out Siyaj and beat him. More than 10 occupation soldiers engaged in the attack on Siyaj, beating him and spraying pepper spray in his face. He refused to turn over his identity card and the soldiers stormed his family home again.

The beating of Siyaj by occupation forces was caught on video:

[fbvideo link=”https://www.facebook.com/QudsN/videos/1297455440331354/” width=”800″ height=”” onlyvideo=”1″]

Also seized by occupation forces was Mohammed al-Salameen, 19, in his family home in El-Bireh. His home was also violently invaded and ransacked as he was taken.

Occupation forces also raided the home of Bassil al-Araj, 33, another of the six former prisoners and a prominent youth activist, on three occasions on Friday and the early pre-dawn hours of Saturday, repeatedly invading the family home in al-Walaja village near Bethlehem.

Al-Araj, Siyaj, Salamin, Harb, al-Idrissi and Ali Dar al-Sheikh were arrested in early April by Palestinian Authority security forces; Al-Araj, Harb and Siyaj were arrested on 9 April after they had left their homes for several days. Al-Salameen, al-Idrissi and Dar al-Sheikh were arrested in the following days. Their arrest was trumpeted in the media as a victory for the “security coordination” of the Palestinian Authority with the Israeli occupation, as PA officials boasted of having “prevented” Palestinian resistance actions by arresting the youth. Under the 1993 Oslo agreements, the Palestinian Authority security forces serve the interests of the Israeli occupation under the framework of “security coordination,” to target and arrest Palestinian resistance organizers and activists.

Nevertheless, they were held without charge for over five months in PA prisons before launching a hunger strike that drew widespread Palestinian and international support. The six were finally released, with their matter postponed by the Palestinian judiciary. Four of the six are now in the custody of occupation forces, while al-Araj’s home has now been raided on multiple occasions.

Four hunger strikers face deterioration in their health as they continue strike for freedom

24 October 2016

4strikers-24oct Four Palestinian prisoners continue on hunger strike to demand their freedom from administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial, with two strikers reaching the 30-day mark without food and facing serious deterioration to their health.

Ahmed Abu Fara, 29, and Anas Shadid, 19, have been on hunger strike since 25 September 2016, entering their second month of hunger strike today. Both are demanding their freedom from administrative detention as they have began to see significant deterioration in their health. Abu Fara has been imprisoned since 2 August and Shadid since 1 August; Abu Fara previously was imprisoned for two years.

Abu Fara’s wife suffered a miscarriage after the shock of the armed invasion of her home by occupation soldiers and the arrest of her husband.

Majd Abu Shamla, 24, and Hassan Rubayah, 31, have been on hunger strike for 20 days, since 5 October, against their imprisonment without charge or trial. Abu Shamla has imprisoned since 27 January and Rubayah since 30 March.

All of the strikers are being held in solitary confinement; Shadid and Abu Fara in the Ramle prison clinic and Abu Shamla and Rubayah in the Negev desert prison. They are all suffering from severe fatigue, exhaustian and pain throughout their body; they continue to consume only water.

Abu Fara and Shadid are prohibited radio, television and even pen and paper to write their family. They were brought to a legal visit on 20 October in wheelchairs as they cannot walk, and have each lost more than 10 kilograms of weight.

They are among over 700 Palestinians held in administrative detention without charge or trial. Administrative detention orders, issued from one to six months on the basis of secret evidence, are indefinitely renewable; Palestinians have spent years at a time under administrative detention.

Samidoun urges international attention, action and support to these four hunger strikers, whose bodies are on the line in Israeli jails for their own freedom and for the freedom struggle of the Palestinian people.

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