Ayed al-Heraimi ends hunger strike in agreement after 45 days

30 August 2016

Palestinian prisoner and administrative detainee Ayed al-Heraimi suspended his hunger strike after 45 days on Tuesday evening, 30 August in an agreement with Israeli occupation officials.

Heraimi, 23, who has been held under administrative detention without charge or trial since 23 December 2015; in the agreement he will be detained for four more months and will be released following that time. His detention will not be extended further. He has been on hunger strike for 45 days, since 16 July, along with Malik al-Qadi. His strike came in protest of his imprisonment without charge or trial.

Three Palestinian prisoners, Mahmoud al-Balboul, Mohammed al-Balboul and Malik al-Qadi, remain on hunger strike against administrative detention – their imprisonment without charge or trial. The Balboul brothers have been on hunger strike since 4 and 7 July respectively.

Heraimi’s health has deteriorated greatly over the past several days; he has lost over 25 kg of weight (51 pounds) and the ability to focus; he has lost the ability to speak, his vision is blurry, and he can drink water only with difficulty.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes the steadfastness and resistance of Ayed al-Hreimi and congratulate him on the conclusion of his hunger strike and his coming freedom. We urge all international support and activities to continue in solidarity with the remaining hunger strikers and with all Palestinian prisoners of the occupation.

3-10 September: Join the International Week of Action for Palestinian Hunger Strikers!

30 August 2016

NOTE: As of the evening of 30 August 2016, Ayed al-Heraimi has ended his hunger strike. The Balboul brothers and Malik al-Qadi remain on strike and are in urgent need of support and solidarity.

Four Palestinian prisoners are currently on hunger strike in Israeli jails against their administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial. All four are currently held in Israeli hospitals as their health conditions have seriously deteriorated.

Mahmoud al-Balboul, 21, has been on hunger strike since 4 July; his brother Mohammed al-Balboul, 26, has been on hunger strike since 7 July. The brothers are joined by Ayed al-Heraimi and Malik al-Qadi, on hunger strike since 16 July to demand their freedom; all are imprisoned without charge or trial under indefinitely renewable “administrative detention orders.” They launched their strikes during the 71-day strike of Bilal Kayed against the attempt to impose administrative detention following his completion of a 14.5-year prison sentence and are continuing to demand their freedom. Kayed’s family have urged all supporters in Palestine and internationally to continue their efforts and level of struggle to free the four strikers and bring an end to administrative detention. There are currently approximately 750 Palestinians imprisoned without charge or trial under administrative detention.

Khader Adnan, former hunger striker and prisoner advocate, urged that the four strikers find a collective agreement to secure all of their freedom and bring an end to administrative detention against them. He urged greater action and solidarity with the four striking prisoners.

As Mahmoud al-Balboul reaches his 60th day on hunger strike, Qadri Abu Wasel, a Palestinian organizer from Nazareth in ’48 Palestine, attempted to visit him in Assaf Harofeh hospital. Abu Wasel, of Abnaa el-Balad, is a longtime struggler for the freedom of Palestinian and Arab political prisoners in Israeli jails. He was stopped by Israeli guards as he attempted to enter Mahmoud’s room; he called to Mahmoud that he was a human rights activist and supported him, asking him how he was. Abu Wasel reported that Mahmoud smiled at him before he was forced to leave the area; he was then prevented from accessing his brother Mohammed or Ayed al-Heraimi.

Al-Heraimi is in a very serious health condition after 45 days of hunger strike, reported Mohja al-Quds Foundation on 30 August. He has lost the ability to speak, has severe pain throughout his body, suffers from blurred vision and has difficulty drinking water at all. Heraimi, 23, has been held without charge or trial since 23 December 2015; he was re-arrested only weeks after 3 years in Israeli prison.

Malik al-Qadi, 20, also on his 45th day of hunger strike, was transferred to Wolfson hospital on 30 August, reported Mohja al-Quds, following a further deterioration of his health. He has been detained without charge or trial since 22 May, only a month after his release after four months of detention without charge or trial.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges supporters of justice and liberation for Palestinian prisoners and for Palestine to build on their excellent work to support Bilal Kayed and his fellow hunger strikers to continue efforts to free these four Palestinian prisoners and take action between 3-10 September 2016. Their bodies are on the line in the struggle to secure their freedom and end administrative detention – and the struggle for the liberation of all Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinian people.

Now is the time for urgent action to support Mahmoud al-Balboul, Mohammed al-Balboul, Ayed al-Heraimi and Malik al-Qadi in their struggle for freedom.

1. Hold a direct action, protest, picket or demonstration, including building the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign to internationally isolate Israel, its institutions, and the corporations – like G4S -that profit from imprisonment, occupation, racism, colonialism and injustice. Demand freedom for the Balboul brothers, al-Heraimi, al-Qadi and all Palestinian prisoners. Please email samidoun@samidoun.net or post to Samidoun on Facebook about your events and actions.

2. Call political figures to demand action for the four hunger strikers. Call your government officials to pressure them to end the silence and complicity with the Israeli regime of political imprisonment and administrative detention.

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:

Four Palestinian prisoners, Mahmoud al-Balboul, Mohammed al-Balboul, Ayed al-Heraimi and Malik al-Qadi, have been on hunger strike since July against administrative detention, Israeli imprisonment without charge or trial.
Your government must demand the strikers’ immediate release and end all support for Israel’s political imprisonment and other crimes against Palestinians.
Israel’s use of administrative detention is a universally-recognized violation of human rights and international law.
The government must do more than criticize administrative detention or express concern, but should also take serious measures to end these violations.

2 September, NYC: Protest to free the hunger strikers and stop G4S

30 August 2016

Friday, 2 September
4:00 pm
G4S Office – NYC
19 W. 44th St, NYC
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/154530068322800/

Four Palestinian political prisoners – brothers Mahmoud and Mohammed al-Balboul, Ayed Heraimi, and Malik al-Qadi – are on hunger strikes protesting their “administrative detention” by Israel without charge or trial.

Stand with Mahmoud, Mohammed, Ayed, and Malik to demand that Israel release them, other administrative detainees, and all Palestinian politicial prisoners immediately, and that occupation profiteer G4S end its contracts with Israeli prisons and detention centers, occupation and security forces, and checkpoints now.

Join us to answer a united appeal by Palestinian prisoners for escalated boycotts of G4S (https://samidoun.net/2015/08/stop-g4s-a-call-to-the-global-boycott-movement-from-palestinian-political-prisoners).

Support the Palestinian people, the Palestinian prisoners, the Palestinian Resistance, and the liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea.

Take Action: Demand freedom for 6 Palestinian prisoners in Palestinian Authority jails on hunger strike

30 August 2016

Six Palestinian youth, arrested as part of the Palestinian Authority’s “security cooperation” with the Israeli occupation, are currently on hunger strike and imprisoned in the PA’s Beitunia jail, demanding their freedom.

Basil al-Araj, Mohammed Harb, Haitham Siyaj, Mohammed al-Salamen, Ali Dar al-Sheikh and Seif al-Idrissi have all been held by the Palestinian Authority’s intelligence agencies since late March and early April 2016. Their detention has been extended repeatedly and indefinitely and their lawyers and families are now urging international action and solidarity for their freedom. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network has consulted directly with the families of the six imprisoned Palestinian youth, who all urge international action and support by Palestinian communities and friends of Palestine for the freedom of their sons.

Al-Araj, Harb and Siyaj have been imprisoned since 30 March when they were arrested while walking near Ramallah. The three had been labelled “missing young men,” and the PA security forces originally noted that they would be questioned and then returned to their families. However, instead, the three were subjected to torture to induce forced confessions, as reported by their lawyers in Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association. The Palestinian youth were subjected to sleep deprivation, stress positions, lengthy interrogations, physical hitting and beating, insults and denial of access to the toilet.

Al-Salamen, Dar al-Sheikh and Idrissi was detained around the same time period and their cases connected to one another, and also subject to torture and mistreatment. When Palestinian student and leftist activist Kifah Quzmar was himself arrested for protesting Idrissi’s detention on Facebook, international pressure helped to secure his release.

All six of the prisoners’ detentions were extended for 15 days and then another 15 days, and then for 45 days. Their detention has since been extended repeatedly; there are no charges against them and no allegations. The six were transferred to Jericho prison and then to Beitunia prison in Ramallah. Basil al-Araj suffers from kidney stones and diabetes, while Saif al-Idrissi has a heart condition; they are being denied access to medical treatment.

There is no allegation that these six young people are a threat to Palestinian security. In fact, all are well-known in their communities and families for their commitment to Palestinian freedom. Their arrest, torture and continued imprisonment clearly comes under the auspices of Palestinian Authority “security coordination” with Israel; under the Oslo Accords, the PA is a subcontractor for the Israeli state and its occupation that daily kills Palestinians, imprisons thousands, demolishes homes, confiscates land, builds settlements and prevents millions of Palestinian refugees from returning home.

Indeed, just as PA security forces have boasted of their relationship with Israel in suppressing Palestinian resistance, PA President Mahmoud Abbas told Der Spiegel only two weeks after the youths’ arrest that “Our security forces are working very efficiently to prevent terror. Just a couple of days ago, three young men were tracked down and arrested. They were planning an attack. In this context, our security cooperation with Israel is functioning well.”

This action also comes as thousands of Palestinians in Nablus joined the mass funeral for Ahmed Izz Halaweh, a former Fateh leader beaten to death by Palestinian security forces on Tuesday, 23 August, and following the attacks by PA security forces upon a protest in support of Palestinian hunger striker Bilal Kayed outside the offices of the United Nations in Ramallah on 22 August. Palestinian journalists have also called attention to ongoing cases of the detention and imprisonment of Palestinian writers by PA security forces, in apparent joint action with the Israeli occupation.

The six Palestinian youth have launched a hunger strike to demand their freedom; this action comes after months of detention without charge amid international proclamations that they are being imprisoned due to PA/Israeli “security coordination.” They are being represented by Addameer lawyers Muhannad Karajah and Anas Barghouthi. A Facebook page (mostly in Arabic) has been set up to support them: follow the page at Freedom4Youth. Karajah emphasized that they launched their strike on Sunday after an appeals court refused to allow their release, citing a threat to “public order.”

The six youth are:

Basil al-Araj, 33, of Bethlehem, who holds a pharmacy degree and works as a researcher in Palestinian oral history and is active in Palestinian civil society, boycott and anti-normalization campaigns.

Mohammed Harb, 23, of Jenin, an electrical engineer and graduate of An-Najah University, working as a trainee in an engineering office in Ramallah. This is his first time in political detention.

Haitham Siyaj, 19, of al-Khalil is a former prisoner who spent one year and three months in Israeli prison and was released only eight months prior to his arrest by PA security forces.

Seif al-Idrissi, 26, of Tulkarem, was arrested from his home. He holds a marketing degree and was working at a private firm; he was previously interrogated and detained by PA security forces.

Mohammed al-Salamen, 19, of al-Bireh, is a first-year student at Birzeit University and was arrested after being summoned for interrogation. This is his first experience with arrest and detention.

Ali Dar al-Sheikh, 21, is from the village of Biddu and his family lives in Bir Nabala. He was arrested, for the first time, after being summoned to interrogation. He works in a shoe store in Ramallah.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network revives and renews its call for international solidarity with these six detained Palestinian youth, prisoners of security coordination. There are currently four Palestinian youth also on hunger strike inside Israeli prisons. Samidoun emphasizes that 4+6 = 10 – that support for all of these prisoners comes hand in hand as a comprehensive defense of Palestinians under attack and facing imprisonment at the behest of the Israeli occupation. We urge that international voices be raised to demand the immediate release of these six youth on hunger strike an and end to the policies of security coordination that further threaten Palestinian life and freedom at the behest of the occupation.

Take Action!

1. It is critical that official Palestinian institutions hear from Palestinian communities in diaspora and exile and from friends of the Palestinian people in support of the six detained Palestinian youth.

We urge you to CALL the Palestinian Mission to the United Nations at +1 212 288-8500 and EMAIL the mission at palestine@un.int.

* Tell the mission that you are calling as a supporter of Palestine or as a Palestinian and your location, regarding the case of the six Palestinian youth detained in PA prison in the West Bank.

* Tell the mission that you are urging the immediate release of the six detained Palestinian youth who are currently on hunger strike in Beitunia prison.

* Tell the mission that PA security coordination with Israel only hurts the Palestinian people.

We also urge you to CALL the office of PA Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah in Ramallah at + 970 229 68989, or EMAIL the office at info@pmo.gov.ps. Please emphasize the same points above and the importance of the immediate release of the six youth.

2. Sign and Share the Petition – Call on PA officials to immediately release the six Palestinian youth! This petition was launched upon their arrest in April. Please sign and share this petition and build international solidarity to free the six! Sign and share: https://www.change.org/p/palestinian-authority-free-six-young-palestinian-activists-from-political-detention

#NoDAPL: Stand with Standing Rock against the Dakota Access Pipeline

30 August 2016

Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network expresses its strongest support for the Sioux nation and Native resistance in confronting the Dakota Access Pipeline and defending indigenous land from ongoing threats and attacks on the land and environment. We stand in solidarity with the Camp of the Sacred Stones, the 2,200-mile run by indigenous youth and all other ongoing efforts to stop the pipeline and similar destructive projects.

The Dakota Access Pipeline is an illegal and environmentally destructive project of the oil industry ripping through indigenous land. It threatens the drinking water of the tribe and would disturb sacred and cultural sites. As we stand with Palestinian land defenders targeted by the settler-colonial Zionist project, we emphasize our firm stand with indigenous land defenders in North America and full support for indigenous sovereignty and self-determination.

Settler colonialism and its theft of native land for the purpose of exploitation and the construction of colonial and imperialist power is a threat to indigenous peoples around the world and indeed, the future of the world itself. Today, the settler-colonial United States, built on the dispossession and genocide of indigenous people and nations – as well as the murderous and genocidal exploitation of Black labor through slavery – is the greatest threat to the environment and people of the world. It is also the strongest and largest backer and strategic ally of the Zionist settler-colonial project in Palestine that has ravaged indigenous Palestinian land for nearly 100 years.

The struggle against settler colonialism and the theft and plunder of indigenous land and resources, from North America to Palestine, is one that brings together Native struggles and the struggle of the Palestinian people. There is a history of mutual struggle and solidarity between Native strugglers in North America and the Palestinian liberation movement, from direct organizing in the United States to joint strategizing and action in the United Nations. Today, Palestinians and indigenous strugglers share a common goal of liberation from settler colonialism and defense of land and water from plunder and exploitation, as well as a common enemy engaged in an ongoing genocide threatening the very existence of indigenous life through intensified exploitation, colonialism, and massive securitization and criminalization.

The imprisonment of strugglers for liberation has always been central to colonial and settler-colonial projects. For the indigenous movement, resisting repression and political imprisonment – from COINTELPRO attacks on Native organizing to the political imprisonment of Leonard Peltier – has always been central to organizing, just as today the Standing Rock blockade is forced to resist police repression and imprisonment of land defenders at the camp blockading pipeline development. For Palestinians, over 7,000 political prisoners are held in Israeli jails, their political parties and movements criminalized and their leaders forced behind colonial bars. The struggle to free political prisoners and resist repression is critical to both Native and Palestinian struggles. As the blockade faces police and federal state repression, we affirm the fundamental right of indigenous peoples to resist and defend their land, people and societies under attack.

G4S, the world’s largest security company and second-biggest private employer, is subject to a global boycott campaign for its role in profiteering from the imprisonment of Palestinians: contracting with the Israeli prison system and other occupation agencies to provide control rooms, equipment and security systems for Israeli prisons, checkpoints, and even the Erez/Beit Hanoun Gaza border crossing where the siege on Gaza is imposed. The company is also notorious for its role in the imprisonment of youth in the United States and United Kingdom, and its involvement in migrant detention and deportation in the US, UK, Canada and Australia. In Canada, G4S provides security to pipeline and mining projects on stolen Indigenous lands and environmentally destructive tar sands mega-projects. Reports have noted that G4S is scheduled to provide “backup security” to the police that have arrested dozens of people at the site.

At this critical moment, it is essential for friends and supporters of the Palestinian struggle for liberation to extend our support to the struggle at Standing Rock. We encourage all to take action and join the struggle to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline and support the Standing Rock Sioux and the Sacred Stone Camp.

Sign on. Sign the Rezpect Our Water petition and the Pledge of Resistance initiated by the campaign to stop the pipeline.

Donate. The Sacred Stone Camp is fundraising for legal defense in the face of police repression. Contribute today to help support indigenous land defenders. The Rezpect Our Water campaign is funding Native youth to join the camp. Contribute today to bring youth leaders to block the pipeline.

Spread the word. Share information from the Camp of the Sacred Stones and the Rezpect Our Water campaign, as well as news from the frontlines, on social media using the hashtag #NoDAPL, and ask your organizations to express their support.

Join solidarity rallies and actions in your own city or area to stand with Standing Rock and the campaign to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Join the camp. Travel to North Dakota to answer the call of the Standing Rock Sioux for indigenous and non-indigenous people to join the struggle on the ground.

Photo: Joe Catron

31 August, Cagliari: Sit-In in Solidarity with Palestinian Political Prisoners

27 August 2016

Wednesday, 31 August
6:30 pm
Piazza Emanuele Ravot
Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/555621527972375/

Associazione Amicizia Sardegna Palestina and UDAP (Arab Palestinian Democratic Union) call on you to join a sit-in in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners. Following the recent victory of Bilal Kayed, there remain many prisoners in Israeli jails on hunger strike against administrative detention, including:
Mahmoud al-Balboul, on his 57th day of hunger strike
Mohammed al-Balboul, on his 54th day of strike
Ayad al-Heraimi, 47 days of strike
Malik al-Qadi, 47 days

6 September, Brussels: Palestinian Political Prisoners – Lawyers and Advocates for Freedom

27 August 2016

Tuesday, 6 September
7:00 pm
Intal
Chaussée de Haecht 53,
1210 Saint-Josse-ten-Noode
Brussels, Belgium
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/177239966018547/

Alongside the launch of “If I were in Palestine…” a photo exhibition highlighting the struggles of Palestinian political prisoners hosted in the European Parliament from 5-9 September, advocates for Palestinian prisoners – with unique histories as a former prisoner and a former jailer – will speak about their experiences and the current situation of Palestinian prisoners struggling for justice.

Salah Hamouri will speak about the seven years he spent in Israeli prison, including his time as an administrative detainee without charge or trial. As a French-Palestinian citizen, his arrest was the subject of a significant campaign in France for his freedom. Today, he is a lawyer with Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, defending the rights of Palestinian political prisoners.

Yamin Zeidan is a former prison guard in Israeli prisons, who drastically changed his career and life, becoming a lawyer representing Palestinian political prisoners after personally witnessing the circumstances under which Palestinians are imrprisoned.

The event will take place in English. Please note that we will begin promptly at 7 pm.

Organized by Palestina Solidariteit, Intal, and Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network.

6 September, The Hague: Netanyahu Not Welcome!

27 August 2016

Tuesday, 6 September
4:00 pm
Den Haag Centraal Station
Den Haag, the Netherlands
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1190663640975920/

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all to participate in this important protest!

Prosecute war criminal Netanyahu, boycott Israeli Apartheid!

On Tuesday 6th of September Benjamin Netanyahu will be visiting the House of Representatives in The Hague. This visit will mark the Dutch Parliament with the blood on the Israeli Prime Minister’s hands. Netanyahu was the Prime Minister of Israel when more than 2300 Palestinians, among which 500 children, were killed during the mass murder “Operation Protective Edge” in Gaza 2014. We believe that the only place in the Hague in which Netanyahu belongs is the International Criminal Court. We have not forgotten about the Palestinian martyrs. We demand prosecution of war criminal Netanyahu.

Although we push the Dutch government to immediately prosecute Netanyahu, we are not naive. The Netherlands is an important contributor to the Israeli Apartheid regime. Prime Minister Mark Rutte would be happy to shake Netanyahu’s bloody hands. It is our job however, as citizens of the Netherlands to prevent the Israeli Prime Minister from using his visit to promote the illegal Israeli occupation. It is of great importance to show through mass demonstration that we have not forgotten about Netanyahu’s war crimes. Therefore we will demonstrate to show our mass support for the Palestinian liberation.

The only way in which Palestinians can liberate themselves is by taking action. The most crucial (non-violent) weapon that we possess in the Netherlands is the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. The BDS movement played a prominent role in the fall of South African Apartheid and could have the same effect on the Israeli Apartheid. In order to contribute to the development of the BDS movement it is of great importance to join together on the streets in large numbers. We demonstrate for the prosecution of Netanyahu, for the boycott of Israel and for the liberation of Palestine. Take action and join us on Tuesday 6th September!

P.S. Sign and share the petition against Netanyahu’s visit:http://www.docp.nl/netanyahunee/

Four Palestinian Prisoners Continue Hunger Strike: Urgent Support Needed

26 August 2016

Following the conclusion of Bilal Kayed’s hunger strike on 24 August, his family and comrades – and Bilal himself – urged that international attention remain on the issue of administrative detention and in particular on the four Palestinian prisoners currently on hunger strike in protest of their administrative detention without charge or trial.

Mahmoud al-Balboul, 21, launched his hunget strike on 1 July. Imprisoned alongside his brother Mohammed since 9 June, both are held under administrative detention without charge or trial. Mahmoud and Mohammed were arrested in a violent pre-dawn raid on their home following the imprisonment of their younger sister, Nuran, 15, on 12 April. She was released in June after 3 months of imprisonment after having a verbal altercation with an Israeli occupation soldier at a checkpoint; she was then accused of possessing a knife, despite a lack of evidence.

Mahmoud, Mohammed and Nuran are the children of Sanaa al-Balboul and her husband Ahmad; Ahmad al-Balboul was assassinated by Israeli occupation forces on 18 March 2008 and accused of being a Fateh military leader.

Mohammed al-Balboul, 26, Mahmoud’s brother and a dentist in Jenin, joined the hunger strike on 4 July. He was held for a year in administrative detention nearly 10 years ago; after his release, he studied dentistry in Egypt before returning to Palestine to open his dental clinic.

Mahmoud and Mohammed are currently both held at the Assaf Harofeh hospital after 56 and 52 days of hunger strike, respectively; their medical situation has intensified in the previous days as Mohammed was transferred from the Ramle prison clinic to join his brother.

Ayed Heraimi, 23, and Malik al-Qadi, 20, joined the hunger strike on 16 July, protesting their own administrative detention without charge or trial. Hereimi was arrested on 23 December 2015, soon after he was released from three years imprisonment. Al-Qadi was arrested on 22 May 2016. Both face an appeals hearing in the Israeli Supreme Court on 30 August in which they are demanding an an end to the administrative detention order against them. Both were transferred to the Assaf Harofeh hospital on 23 August following the deterioration of your health condition.

In addition, on 23 August, it was reported that Tawfiq Faisal Nazzal, 30, of Qabatiya was re-arrested frm a checkpoint the same day he was released from Ketziot Negev prison from an 8-month sentence, only to be ordered to three months in administrative detention without charge or trial. Nazzal’s two brothers are also imprisoned: his brother Mohammed is serving a 15-year sentence and Majid has been held at Jalameh interrogation center for 55 days.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network echoes the call of Bilal Kayed’s family to escalate international solidarity with the hunger striking prisoners and with all Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails with protests, events and actions and through escalating the boycott campaign against the Israeli state and complicit institutions and corporations, including G4S.

26 August, Cape Town: Protest in Solidarity with Palestinian Prisoners

26 August 2016

Friday, 26 August
12:30 pm – 3:00 pm
Company Gardens near St George’s Cathedral
Wale Street
Cape Town, South Africa

The Ex-Political Prisoners’ Association of South Africa (EPPA) and the human rights and Palestine solidarity organization BDS South Africa joins the international community in demanding that Israel releases the Palestinian hunger striker Bilal Kayed and all Palestinian political prisoners.

Kayed was arrested in December 2001 and sentenced to 14 years and six months’ imprisonment. He was held in solitary confinement during his last nine months of imprisonment. In a cruel act, on 13 June 2016, the day of his scheduled release, Israel issued a six-month apartheid-like “administrative detention” order against him on unspecified security grounds and relying on secret evidence. In protest Kayed launched a hunger strike. Israel’s administrative detention has been compared to Apartheid South Africa’s “detention without trial”.

At least 65 Palestinian political prisoners have declared an open-ended hunger strike in solidarity with activist Bilal Kayed. The hunger strike led and inspired by Bilal Kayed has lasted over 70 days.

Yesterday, in an emotional letter released on his 70th day hunger strike, Kayed, addressing his mother wrote: “I extend my words to be present with you on these stands of honor and freedom, hoping though in my last hours, the body may be absent and the mind fading, but the spirit is still holding fast to its decision, which cannot be deterred by any force in the world. Either victory or victory….And I, my mother, I will remain on my promise, and to my proud people, don’t drop the sign of victory, my mother, until I am victorious with you and for you, and together we will be the body and the bridge on which liberators and revolutionaries can cross…”

The United Nations Assistant Secretary General, Robert Piper, has slammed Israel’s treatment of Kayed and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Cécile Pouilly in an official statement said: “We are also worried at the situation of some 100 Palestinian detainees who are on hunger strike in solidarity with Mr. Kayed or to protest their own administrative detention or placement in isolation. One of them, Ayyad Jamal Al-Hreini, was also re-arrested and held in administrative detention on 23 December 2015, ten days after having completed a three-year sentence. He has been on hunger strike since mid-July. We, once again, urge the Israeli authorities to end their practice of administrative detention and to either release immediately or promptly charge and prosecute all administrative detainees, with all the judicial guarantees required by international human rights law and standards.”

As South Africans, some of us who were political prisoners, we challenge the Israeli government to stop using Apartheid like laws. These desperate and inhumane actions serve as clear evidence that the Israeli government acts above international law and with impunity. The actions of the Israeli regime against Bilal and other prisoners continue to prove that Israel is a mirror image of Aparthied South Africa.

Currently, there are over 7000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel; 750 of them are being held under Israel’s “administrative detention” (Apartheid South Africa’s “Detention Without Trial”), 350 of them are children and 7 of them are Members of Parliament. In the last 11 years alone, more than 7500 Palestinian children have been detained in Israeli prisons and detention facilities (including being held in solitary confinement). Click here.

In the last few days protests have taken place and solidarity hunger strikes have began in New York, London, Tampa, Arklow, Enniscorthy, Wicklow, Manchester, Beirut, Haifa, Berlin, Milan and elsewhere across the globe.

Members of BDS South Africa and the EPPA will be joining the public demonstration hosted by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) in support of Bilal Kayed and Palestinian detainees this Friday 26 August (12.30 – 3pm) at the entrance to the Company Gardens near St Georges Cathedral, Wale Street, Cape Town.

We strongly condemn the inhuman treatment and illegal detention of the Palestinian leader, Cde. Bilal Kayed by the Israeli military junta. We call on the Israeli apartheid regime to unconditionally release all political prisoners, especially women and children who are detained without trial. The racist Israeli regime is using apartheid-like detention laws ( like the notorious section 29 of the internal security act, through which many of our people were detained under apartheid SA).We call on all peace loving people to protest against Israel’s unlawful detentions and for the immediate release of Cde Balil Kayed and all political prisoners.

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