28 October, Paris: Evening for Georges Ibrahim Abdallah

10 October 2016

Friday, 28 October
7:00 pm
61
3 rue de l’Oise
75019 Paris
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1149017541857939/

BBoyKonsian and Angles Morts present their new monthly evening event, “VendrediEZ” at 61 in Paris on the last Friday of every month.

For this eighth edition of VendrediEZ on 28 October, the program is:

7 pm: Discussion with the comrades of support from Bagnolet about the struggle of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah and the political prisoners

9 pm: BBoyKonsian Sound System (Soul – Rap – Reggae)
Métro : Ourcq ou Crimée

Artwork : H* (BBoyKonsian)

19 October, Toulouse: Palestine Evening for Freedom for Georges Abdallah!

10 October 2016

Wednesday, 19 October
7:00 pm
Blind Tiger – Toulouse
61 rue Pargaminieres
31000 Toulouse
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1133091906760974/

As part of the week of action in support of Georges Abdallah from 15 to 22 October 2016, the anti-imperialist collective Coup Pour Coup 31 is organizing a Palestine evening on Wednesday, 19 October at 7 pm.

Solidarity punch; Literature tables, information on the campaign for Palestinian refugees; Workshop of writing letters for Georges Abdallah and other political prisoners; Screening video clips of protests at Lannemezan and in support of Georges Abdallah by Leila Khaled and Robert Abdallah, among others.

Come out to support Georges Abdallah and sign up for the bus to Lannemezan on 22 October for the mass march to free Georges Abdallah. All proceeds will go to support our campaign for Palestinian refugees.

12 October, Sassari: Administrative Detention of Children and the Palestinian prisoners

10 October 2016

Wednesday, 12 October
6:00 pm
CSS
Corso Vittorio Emanuele 32
Sassari, Sardinia, Italy

Confederazione Sindacale Sarda and Associazione Nazionale di Amicizia Italia-Cuba, together with Associazione Amicizia Sardegna-Palestina are organizing this event to organize against administrative detention used against Palestinian children and adults.

Speech by Ugo Giannangeli, lawyer and expert in international law, involved in the struggle to defend the rights of Palestinian prisoners.

In memory of Graziella Deffenu, a lifelong activist in support of the Palestinian people

14 October, Magdeburg: Free Georges Ibrahim Abdallah

10 October 2016

Friday, 14 October
6:00 pm
A-Puschkin-Str 20
Magdeburg, Germany

More info: http://rotehilfemd.blogsport.de/

Information session and discussion on the struggle to free Georges Ibrahim Abdallah! Organized by the Network to Free all Political Prisoners and Rote Hilfe og Magdeburg.

Jerusalemite activist Samer Abu Aisha sentenced to 20 months in Israeli prison

10 October 2016

Israeli Magistrate’s Court in Jerusalem sentenced Palestinian Jerusalemite journalist and activist Samer Hussam Abu Aisha, 29, to 20 months in Israeli occupation prison. Abu Aisha has been imprisoned since 6 January 2016; he was attacked and abducted from inside the Jerusalem office of the International Committee of the Red Cross, where he and Hijazi Abu Sabih had erected a protest tent against the Israeli occuoation’s order expelling them from their city of Jerusalem. They held evening events, lectures and cultural programs in rejection of deportation and in defense of the Palestinian identity of Jerusalem.

The two organizers were leaders of a campaign against Israeli occupation orders of expulsion from Al-Aqsa Mosque and from the city of Jerusalem. Their campaign included singing protests and other forms of cultural resistance and creative actions. On 16 December 2015, he and Abu Sbeih were delivered an order of expulsion from the city of Jerusalem for five months, citing “state security and order.” He had previously been arrested and harshly interrogated for 33 days, then released and banned from traveling outside Palestine. As soon as his house arrest ended, the Israeli occupation imposed the expulsion order upon them.

Abu Aisha went on hunger strike for 21 days in August in solidarity with Bilal Kayed’s demand for release from Israeli prison; he was part of a group of 35 prisoners from Gilboa prison who also demanded improved conditions inside the prison. Rawan Abu Aisha, Samer’s wife, said that the strike was in part prompted by ongoing denials of family visits.

Abu Aisha wrote earlier regarding the Israeli charges against him:

I was born in Jerusalem in 1987. I lived there all my life except for a few years during my studies in Egypt. As part of my work, I often travel to participate in conferences and youth exchanges in Arab countries and across the world.

Last August I travelled to Lebanon to participate in the 25th Arab Youth Camp. 28 hours after my return to Jerusalem on 17 August 2015, I was arrested by Israeli occupation forces and subjected to an interrogation that lasted 44 days. Eventually, I was conditionally released under open ended house arrest and accused of traveling to an “enemy state” in violation of the “Israeli” emergency regulations of 1952 which place a ban on travel to enemy state of the Zionist regime. These “laws” and policies are forced on us Palestinians despite the fact that we don’t recognize these laws, and the fact that Palestinians hold Lebanon to be a sister state which is naturally, geographically and culturally connected to Palestine.

The detention of Nasser Qous, Jerusalem director of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, was extended as well by Israeli occupation courts on 9 October; he had been assaulted and arrested by police forces in the Old City of Jerusalem and accused of “obstructing police work.”

Khader Adnan attacked by PA forces; demonstration today to challenge security forces’ suppression

10 October 2016

Just days after attacking a protest against PA President Mahmoud Abbas’ participation in the funeral of former Israeli president and war criminal Shimon Peres, Palestinian Authority security forces attacked and arrested former prisoners and long-term hunger strikers Khader Adnan, Mohammed Allan and others when they went to greet freed prisoner Hussein Abu Obeideh in the village of Sarra, near Nablus.

On Sunday, 9 October, individuals claiming to represent the Fateh movement attacked Adnan and his delegation with sticks and other weapons; Palestinian Authority security forces then intervened and arrested Adnan, Allan and their colleague Maher al-Akhras, holding them for hours at Junaid prison in Nablus before their release. Islamic Jihad responded by saying that the PA security forces have “crossed all red lines…this attack on the sons of the movement proves their loyalty to the Israeli occupation and security coordination.” Adnan and his colleagues had gone to the celebration to present a plaque honoring the freed prisoner Abu Obeideh; people in the village gathered around Adnan to protect them, but they were threatened with arrest by the PA forces.

This is not the first time that Adnan has faced harassment and arrest at the hands of PA security services. Having secured his freedom from administrative detention – Israeli imprisonment without charge or trial – twice through hunger strikes of 66 and 55 days, Adnan is one of the most visible symbols of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement. He is a frequent participant in actions and demonstrations for the freedom of all Palestinian political prisoners, and in support of Palestinian hunger strikers in Israeli jails. Adnan himself noted that the attack on him is not an individual incident but part of a policy of repression of all political forces who reject the policies of the PA, including Islamic Jihad, Hamas and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

These events come only days after Addameer lawyer Muhannad Karajah – the brother of imprisoned Palestinian activist Hasan Karajah – was beaten and attacked, his clothes torn, while participating as a legal observer in a protest on Tuesday, 4 October, challenging PA President Abbas’ participation in Peres’ funeral and honoring Palestinians killed by Israeli occupation forces over the past year. Protesters gathered near the Yasser Arafat Square in Ramallah and were attacked by dozens of plain-clothes PA security forces. Dressed in civilian clothes, they beat and shouted cures at the young women and men participating in the protest. Karajah and other lawyers present attempted to intercede and stop the security forces from attacking the protesters. His suit and clothing were ripped and he was injured in the face and neck, requiring medical care. Participants’ phones were taken, confiscated and thrown to the ground, breaking them and preventing participants from taking photographs or videos.

The Palestinian Human Rights Organization Council released a statement denouncing the actions of the PA security forces and the violation of Palestinians’ right to protest and freedom of expression. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine said that Abbas was “personally responsible for the brutal attack by the security services” on the Ramallah rally, demanding accountability and “confrontation of the authoritarian policies and practices of the repressive security apparatus.”

Another protest is being called in Ramallah today, Monday, 10 October at 4:30 pm at Manara Square, to protest the suppression of Palestinian protests by PA security forces. Palestinian organizers have linked the suppression of Palestinian protests in support of the intifada and the prisoners to the ongoing policy of PA security cooperation with the Israeli occupation, noting that these policies come hand in hand with the suppression of Palestinian resistance on behalf of the occupation.

31 administrative detention orders issued against Palestinians, including PLC member and former PA detainee

10 October 2016

Israeli occupation authorities issued 31 administrative detention orders, reported Palestinian lawyer Mahmoud Halabi on Sunday, 9 October. Ten of the orders were against newly-arrested Palestinians, while 21 renewed the ongoing imprisonment without charge or trial of Palestinian prisoners.

There are over 700 Palestinians held without charge or trial on the basis of so-called “secret evidence” under Israeli administrative detention. Orders are issued for periods of one to six months, and are indefinitely renewable.

Among those ordered to imprisonment without trial was Palestinian Legislative Council member Mohammed Jamal Natsheh, who was ordered to six months in prison. Natsheh, an elected PLC member of the Hamas-aligned Change and Reform bloc has been repeatedly arrested and imprisoned, spending nearly 20 years in prison. Natsheh’s recent arrests have all been under administrative detention orders, repeatedly renewed.

Also among those ordered to administrative detention was Mohammed Harb of Jenin, ordered to six months imprisonment. Harb was arrested by Israeli occupation forces after six months’ imprisonment by the Palestinian Authority, alongside five other Palestinian youths. While their case was initially trumpeted by PA officials as a triumph of “security coordination,” they were imprisoned for months with no charges against them and finally released after a growing Palestinian and international outcry denouncing PA security coordination with the Israeli occupation.

The full list of Palestinians ordered to arbitrary imprisonment is below. Those which are new orders are marked as such.

1. Said Mustafa Daoud, Jerusalem, 4 months
2. Mohammed Ahmed Atwa, Ramallah, 4 months
3. Maher Ali al-Qadi, Ramallah, 4 months
4. Rafiq Amer Mahariq, al-Khalil, 2 months
5. Tariq Hassan Kawani, Nablus, 6 months
6. Mahdi Mahmoud Shuraitah, Ramallah, 6 months
7. Mohammed Hesham Shuraitah, Ramallah, 6 months
8. Raghab Mohammed Suwaitah, al-Khalil, 2 months
9. Ammar Mustafa Abu Aker, Bethlehem, 4 months, new
10. Muath Abdeljaber Abu Tarboush, Bethlehem, 4 months, new
11. Mohammed Khalil Dura, al-Khalil, 6 months, new
12. Ahmed Muayan Subeh, Jenin, 6 months
13. Baraa Ismail Shahameh, Jerusalem, 3 months
14. Amed Ayoub Zamari, Qalqilya, 6 months
15. Yazid Hosni Erqawi, Jenin, 3 months
16. Mahmoud Abdel-Afu al-Amleh, Ramallah, 6 months
17. Mohammed Said Sweitat, Jenin, 6 months
18. Islam Ziad Zahdah, al-Khalil, 4 months, new
19. Hashem Mohammed Hmeidan, Jerusalem, 3 months
20. Mohammed Abdullah Harb, Jenin, 6 months, new
21. Imad Abdel-Rahman Zaben, Jenin, 3 months
22. Fadi Ahmed Zayat, Jerusalem, 3 months
23. Amer Nizar Khawaja, Ramallah, 6 months, new
24. Ismail Yousef Tamadheh, al-Khalil, 3 months
25. Mustafa Ismail Safi, al-Khalil, 6 months
26. Mahmoud Mohammed al-Khaddour, al-Khalil, 3 months, new
27. Musa Mohammed Abed Rabbo, Bethlehem, 3 months, new
28. Shadi Mohammed Shehadeh, Bethlehem, 4 months, new
29. Mohammed Jamal Natsheh, al-Khalil, 6 months, new
30. Mohammed Kayed Imam, al-Khalil, 5 months
31. Issa Taleb al-Suneideh, al-Khalil, 6 months

21 October, NYC: Join the international week of action for Georges Abdallah

9 October 2016

Friday, 21 October
4:00 pm
Consulate General of France
934 5th Avenue – NYC
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/555062591351399/

Following an October 14 protest at the Mission permanente de la France auprès des Nations unies, join the second of Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network‘s New York City events during the international week of action to free جورج إبراهيم عبدالله Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.

The protest will come a day before a mobilization outside the prison in Lannemezan, France where Abdallah is held.

After the demonstration, come to the Solidarity Center NYC and celebrate our first year of weekly rallies in support of Palestinian political prisoners.

Join in the international week of action on October 15-22 in support of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, Lebanese Arab struggler for Palestine, imprisoned in French prisons for over 32 years. Georges Abdallah’s case has built significant support in Lebanon and in France, and Palestinian prisoners have highlighted the importance of Abdallah’s case as part of the struggle of the Palestinian political prisoners for freedom and liberation.

Abdallah was sentenced to life imprisonment in France, accused of participating in actions in France targeting U.S. and Israeli interests during the Israeli invasion and occupation of Lebanon. During his arrest and trial, one of his original lawyers was a spy against him, working for French intelligence. He has been eligible for release under parole since 1999. He has been repeatedly refused, and at times when his release to Lebanon has been approved by the French judiciary, the highest forces of the state, including then-Interior Minister Manuel Valls – with the clear involvement of the U.S. government, including the personal intervention of Hillary Clinton – have intervened to keep Georges Ibrahim Abdallah locked up in French prison.

Throughout his time in prison, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah has remained politically active and, indeed, a leader, extending solidarity and full support to struggling prisoners and peoples’ movements around the world. He and fellow prisoners – Basque and Arab, among others – in Lannemezan prison returned their meals in solidarity with Palestinian hunger striker Bilal Kayed, and he has previously participated in hunger strikes in solidarity with Palestinian individual and collective strikes for justice and freedom. He recently expressed his solidarity with Toulouse BDS activists under attack and has constantly remained an active thinker on Arab, Palestinian and international liberation struggles.

He has always refused to in any way capitulate or renounce his political vision and commitment to the Palestinian cause, to the people of Lebanon, and to international struggles for liberation. He remains a committed anti-Zionist, anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist. In part because of that very refusal, he remains today imprisoned in the French prison of Lannemezan.

The imprisonment of Georges Abdallah comes alongside the persecution and arrest of BDS activists in France for urging the boycott of Israel in solidarity with the Palestinian people, ongoing racist targeting of Arab and Muslim communities in France and the “state of emergency” being used to repress popular movements for justice, while the French state promotes itself as a supporter of “peace” in the region while acting directly in support of the Israeli occupation and Zionist colonization.

Palestinian astrophysicist Imad Barghouthi sentenced to 7 months imprisonment

9 October 2016

Dr. Imad Barghouthi, professor at Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, was sentenced to seven months in Israeli prison at the Ofer military court on Sunday, 9 October. Barghouthi was sentenced on charges of “incitement” for posting about Palestinian politics and occupation on Facebook and social media.

His imprisonment will be calculated from the date of his arrest in April, meaning that he will be released in November. He was originally arrested on 24 April by Israeli occupation forces at a checkpoint near Nabi Saleh as he traveled to his hometown of Beit Rima. He was originally ordered to administrative detention without charge or trial; he had been held once before in administrative detention in December 2014, arrested by occupation forces as he traveled to an academic conference in the United Arab Emirates.

After an outcry by hundreds of scientists and academics around the world protesting the arbitrary detention of Barghouthi, whose work in astrophysics is world-renowned, his administrative detention was ordered ended on 26 May, with his release to follow on 29 May. Instead of being released, however, Barghouthi was transferred to the military courts, where he was accused of “incitement” for posting on social media. In fact, the number of “likes” and “shares” his Facebook posts received were entered as “evidence” of these charges.

The case has dragged on for months and has been repeatedly continued.

Barghouthi will also be fined 2,000 NIS (approx. $500 USD). After her father’s arrest, Duha Barghouthi, Imad’s daughter – who graduated high school during his imprisonment -said, “My father is a man who loves his country and he has paid a price for that. He rejected job offers from several countries around the world in order to stay in Palestine and work to raise up his nation through science and education of the youth. It is this love of country that fills his soul.”

Barghouthi’s case is one of the more prominent among hundreds of cases of Palestinians targeted for arrest and persecution for posting on social media, especially Facebook, alongside the cases of journalist Samah Dweik, stylist Majd Atwan and poet Dareen Tatour.

22 October, Berlin: Freedom for Georges Ibrahim Abdallah

9 October 2016

Saturday, 22 October
1:30 pm
French Embassy in Berlin
Pariser Platz 1
10117 Berlin

Join the Democratic Palestine Committee in Berlin for a solidarity demonstration with Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, imprisoned for 32 years in French prison. Demand his freedom; part of the international week of action to free Georges Ibrahim Abdallah!

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