21 August, Los Angeles: Black August – Free them All! Supporting and Freeing Political Prisoners

20 August 2016

Sunday, 21 August
7:00 pm
5730 Crenshaw Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90043
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1621416271482632/

Please join us and learn about the importance of supporting and working to free all political prisoners, some who have been held for decades in solitary confinement. Special presentation by Hank Jones and Professor Diane Fujino, UC Santa Barbara, who were part of a US delegation to Occupied Palestine where they visited prisons, streets and universities talking to the people and learning about their struggles against occupation and for self-determination. There will also be presentations by Mo N’ishida a longtime activist, Jitu Sadiki and Harold Welton discussing US Political Prisoners and mass incarceration, Brown Beret, Beto, giving an update on Leonard Peltier and Steve Kumasi on a project to help prisoners become self sufficient Hosted by Black August Los Angeles. Refreshments Served.

Video: New York protesters march through G4S lobby in support of Bilal Kayed

20 August 2016

New York City demonstrators rallied on Friday, 19 August outside a Manhattan office building holding an office of the British-Danish security company G4S, a contractor with the Israeli prison system, before marching twice through its lobby to call for the release of Bilal Kayed, a Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike against Israeli imprisonment without charge or trial.

Kayed marked his 66th day of hunger strike; as noted by Joe Catron, Samidoun organizer in New York, the 66th day of hunger strike was the day on which Irish republican political prisoner Bobby Sands died in 1981 in British jails, and the day of strike on which Khader Adnan achieved victory in 2012. Kayed, 34, has been on hunger strike since 15 June in protest of his imprisonment without charge or trial. Following the completion of his 14.5-year sentence in Israeli prison, instead of being released, he was ordered to a six-month indefinitely-renewable term of administrative detention. His case threatens a dangerous precedent of the indefinite imprisonment of Palestinian prisoners following the expiration of their sentences, and his strike is supported by over 100 fellow Palestinian prisoners on strike for his freedom.

Protests around the world, including numerous events and actions in New York City, have demanded Kayed’s release. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network’s weekly Friday protest targets G4S, the security corporation that is the subject of a global boycott campaign due to its involvement in providing control rooms, equipment and security systems to Israeli prisons, checkpoints and police training center. G4S’ involvement in youth incarceration and migrant detention and deportation in the United States, Canada, Australia, the UK and elsewhere. G4S has pledged to exit its Israeli business, but Palestinian campaigners have emphasized the importance of continuing to pressure the corporation until it no longer profits from the imprisonment of Palestinians. The Boycott National Committee issued a call for escalation of G4S protests in light of Kayed’s strike and the struggle of the prisoners.

Protesters marched repeatedly through the corridor inside 19 W. 44th Street, G4S’ office in Manhattan, chanting and demanding that G4S get out of Palestine, and distributed information and leaflets to passersby about Kayed’s strike and the situation of Palestinian prisoners. The protest was joined by several members of Voice of Jews, an Orthodox Jewish anti-Zionist organization opposed to the existence of the Israeli state and its army on religious and theological grounds.

Joe Catron of Samidoun spoke about the role of G4S in mass incarceration, criminalization and repression of popular struggle, including its potential role in attacking the Dakota Access Pipeline blockade being conducted by Lakota Sioux in North Dakota. The pipeline’s construction was halted prior to a federal court hearing next week, but prior to the announcement of the construction halt, G4S had been reported as contracted to provide “backup security” to repress the blockade alongside police, who arrested 28 people in the last week.

New Yorkers will continue to gather in support of Bilal Kayed and his fellow Palestinian prisoners, including next Tuesday, 23 August for a reportback from Palestine by members of NYC Students for Justice in Palestine who visited Kayed’s family and the solidarity actions in support of his struggle inside occupied Palestine on a recent delegation.

Photos/Video by Joe Catron, Anne Pruden, Aisha Abdirazak

Prisons on high alert for danger to Bilal Kayed’s health on 67th day of strike

20 August 2016

All Israeli prisons are in a state of high alert in anticipation of a potential health emergency for Palestinian hunger striker Bilal Kayed, on his 67th day of hunger strike in Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon. Kayed is at risk of a severe health crisis at any time and experiences constant pain, blurred vision and severe weakness.

Handala Center for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners also reported that various prisoners are being held under lockdown after hunger striking prisoner Jalal al-Faqih was taken to the hospital after a health deterioration on Saturday afternoon, 20 August. Al-Faqih is one of nearly 120 prisoners engaged in a series of rolling collective hunger strikes in support of Kayed, who is striking to demand his release from administrative detention without charge or trial.

Kayed, 34, launched his strike on 15 July after administrative detention was imposed on him immediately upon the completion of his 14.5-year sentence in Israeli prisons. His case represents a dangerous precedent for all Palestinian prisoners, who could be detained indefinitely following the completion of their sentences, and is supported both by his comrades in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Movement, composed of all Palestinian factions inside Israeli prisons.

Kayed’s strike has inspired protest inside and outside the prisons, with ongoing protests and repression growing inside Israeli jails accompanied by demonstrations throughout Palestine and internationally as his strike reaches a crisis point.

The Israeli prison administration is engaging in ongoing attacks in an attempt to repress the growing rebellion in the prisons. On Saturday morning, two leading figures in the PFLP inside Israeli jails, Nasser Abu Khdeir and Salah al-Ali, were removed from Ramon prison and thrown into solitary confinement in Eshel prison in the Naqab desert.

Remaining in Ramon prison is Ahmad Sa’adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the PFLP, currently held in isolation along with fellow leader Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh. Prisoners participating in the collective hunger strikes and protests are being denied family visits, prevented from legal visits, fined 200 NIS (approx. $50 USD) every time they refuse to stand for roll call, stripped of their personal belongings, including fans. Furthermore, striking prisoners are made to walk approximately 500 meters each way to and from a daily blood pressure test and weigh-in, a means of further physical pressure on the striking prisoners.

A new group of prisoners joined the collective hunger strike today in Ofer prison, some of whom have been part of previous cycles of the strike in support of Kayed. The new prisoners who joined the strike are:

Mohammed Nidal Abu Aker – Dheisheh cmp
Sabri Darwish – Aida camp
Khalil Arfa – Dheisheh camp
Ahmad Odeh – Deir Ammar, Ramallah
Yazan Mughammis – Bir Zeit
Mahmoud Damseh – Dheisheh camp
Feras Eshtayyeh – Kafr Naama, Ramallah
Mohammed Salah Abu Aker – Aida camp
Amjad Mufid Atta – Deir Abu Mishaal, Ramallah
Yacoub Ajlouni – al-Khalil
Ishaq Karam – Aida camp
Maher Ammarin – Arroub

Kayed will face an Israeli supreme court hearing on his adminisrative detention without charge or trial on Monday, 22 August, his 69th day of hunger strike, as his health situation becomes ever more criticial.

In addition to Kayed, several more hunger strikers are currently facing serious medical situations: Mahmoud al-Balboul, on strike since 1 July; Mohammed al-Balboul, Mahmoud’s brother, on strike since 4 July; Ayed Herama, on strike since 11 July; Malik al-Qadi, on strike since 11 July; and Walid Masalma, on strike against solitary confinement since 18 July. The Balbouls, al-Qadi and Herama are all held in Ramle clinic, while Masalma is held in Soroka hospital.

Protests are continuing throughout occupied Palestine to demand freedom for Kayed; the ongoing prisoner support tents in Ramallah, Bethlehem, Nablus and elsewhere were joined this past week by a delegation of European parliamentarians urging immediate action to release Bilal Kayed. On Friday, 19 August, international protests in Philadelphia; Sousse, Tunisia; New York City and London, while on Saturday, 20 August, seven cities in France will see protests in solidarity with Kayed, as well as Dublin, Helsinki, and Portadown, among other cities.

Image: Painting of Bilal Kayed by artist Lucy Orchard

Death of ex-prisoner Naim Shawamreh highlights urgency of campaign to free sick prisoners

20 August 2016

Former Palestinian prisoner Naim Shawamreh died on Tuesday, 16 August, three and a half years following his release from Israeli prisons. He developed muscular dystrophy while imprisoned and his family reports that he was constantly subject to medical neglect during his time in prison.

Shawamreh was released at the end of 2013 after 19 years in prison; he was immediately taken to hospital and since that time sought treatment abroad, yet his disease continued to progress. Issa Qaraqe, chair of the Prisoners Affairs’ Commission, said that Shawamreh’s death is an example of the results of medical neglect upon Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, only to be released to a swift death.

Shawamreh, 46, died at the Al-Ahli medical center in al-Khalil. “In general, there is an attitude in Israeli jails of disregard for all prisoners, and on all levels – whether from an Israeli dentist or physicians that deal with chronic diseases. They are deliberately slow in giving the prisoners treatment. Often it takes the prison services months or even years to get a patient to surgery,” said Muhammad el-Azza, a lawyer with Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, in an interview with Al-Jazeera.

In particular, the Ramle prison clinic – where Shawamreh was held prior to his release – is infamous for poor treatment, shackling of very ill prisoners, and lack of assistance for disabled prisoners.

There are over 700 total prisoners who receive frequent treatment in prison infirmaries, often receiving only painkillers, including 150 with serious health issues and diseases. Receiving necessary tests, treatments and surgeries is a constant battle and treatment is often delayed.

Bassam Sayeh, 45, a resident of Nablus imprisoned since 8 October, suffers from leukemia and heart failure and is held in the Ramle prison clinic. His medical condition has deteriorated rapidly to the point where he must use a wheelchair and cannot speak audibly. He was taken to the Assaf Harofeh medical center after experiencing severe pain, difficulty breathing and a lung infection.

Four of the hunger striking Palestinian prisoners, Mohammed and Mahmoud al-Balboul, Malik al-Qadi and Ayed Herama, are also now held at the Ramle prison clinic.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network emphasizes the full responsibility of the Israeli occupation for the life and health of Palestinian prisoners, and demands accountability for occupation officials for the ongoing and systematic practice of medical neglect against Palestinian prisoners. Medical neglect and mistreatment has taken and continues to take the lives of imprisoned Palestinians, or Palestinians released only to die shortly thereafter. Mobilization to free sick prisoners is critical to protect their lives and their health from an occupation prison system of slow death which takes lives and destroys health.

22 August, Derry: Emergency Demo for Bilal Kayed, Palestinian Prisoner on Hunger Strike

20 August 2016

Monday, 22 August
7:30 pm
H-Block Memorial
Rossville Street
Derry, Ireland
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/620133608148272/

Bilal Kayed has been on Hunger Strike in Palestine for over 65 days.

After 14.5 years in Israeli prison, on the day of his release after the full completion of his sentence, 13 June 2016, he was instead ordered to six months’ indefinitely-renewable administrative detention without charge or trial. He immediately launched his strike. He is one of 750 Palestinians held in administrative detention and 7000 total prisoners.

SFRY in Derry are calling on the people of Derry to come out and show support for the Bilal and all of the Palestinian Hunger Strikers, their struggle is our struggle.

This year marks the 35th anniversary of the 1981 Hunger Strike in Ireland where 10 young men lost their lives.

Join us and spread the word. #FreePalestine

Three Palestinian children in Ofer prison imprisoned without charge or trial

20 August 2016

palestinian-children-arrested-jerusalem Three Palestinian children are currently held in Ofer prison without charge or trial under administrative detention: Ahmed Nimer, Louay Nairoukh and Hamzeh al-Silwadi. They are among 750 Palestinians held without charge or trial under administrative detention orders, which are indefinitely renewable; as of April 2016, 13 children were imprisoned in administrative detention. There are approximately 350 total Palestinian children under the age of 18 currently imprisoned in Israeli jails.

Nearly all Palestinian children arrested by Israeli occupation forces are subject to physical or psychological torture, including threats against family members, kicking and hitting and other forms of abuse.

A Palestinian Prisoners’ Society lawyer, Jacqueline Farraja, said on Thursday, 18 August that a 16-year-old prisoner in Etzion prison, Ahmad Yousry Maswadah of al-Khalil, was assaulted by Israeli occupation forces with a rifle and electric shocks while blindfolded and taken away by a military vehicle, noting that he continues to suffer pain in his hands from the attack.

Farraja noted that five more Palestinians in Etzion were attacked by Israeli soldiers: Rashid Musa Sleibi, 19; Saher Ibrahim Ghatasha, 38; Abdallah Ziad al-Rajabi, 31; Hazem Tariq Hadoush, 20 and Mohammed Khalaf al-Sabah, 25.

Palestinian children can be held up to 90 days under interrogation, and are more frequently subjected to solitary confinement in an attempt to induce confessions under interrogation. “Israeli authorities apparently use isolation to create a psychologically compelling situation for the child detainee, and then vulnerability increases when access to legal counsel is denied,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, Accountability Program director at Defence for Children International Palestine. “The practice of using solitary confinement on children, for any duration, is a clear violation of international law, as it amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, and in some cases, torture.”

Palestinian women prisoners to launch protests against mistreatment of family visitors

20 August 2016

Palestinian women prisoners are declaring their intention to launch a series of protests over mistreatment of their relatives during family visits, Ma’an News reported on Thursday. In particular, Riyad al-Ashqar of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Center for Studies noted that family visits are frequently denied, cut short or delayed and visitors forced to undergo strip searches.

Lena Jarbouni, the elected representative of the 42 women held in HaSharon prison, stated that the women will protest so long as their families continue to experience lengthy waits in the sun, humiliating strip searches, repeatedly altered visitation schedules and prohibition of clothing for the prisoners and other necessary items. Several women prisoners, including Ansam Shawahneh, 19, have been completely denied family visits. There are currently approximately 60 Palestinian women held in HaSharon and Damon prisons.

On Thursday, Ofer Military Court ordered Taghreed al-Faqih, 44, from Dura near al-Khalil, imprisoned for two months and fined 5000 NIS (approximately $1100 USD) for “incitement.” Al-Faqih, the sister of Mohammed al-Faqih, extrajudicially executed by Israeli forces who bulldozed and fired a missile into his home, was arrested after her brother’s killing on 12 July 2016.

On Monday, 15 August, Randa Shahatit of al-Khalil was released on bail to house imprisonment in her home in Yatta until her next court date. A former prisoner held for nearly four years in Israeli prison, she was arrested by occupation forces while traveling between Bethlehem and al-Khalil.

Sana Abdelrahman Nayef Abu Sneineh, 24, from Dura near al-Khalil, was released on 15 August after six months in administrative detention. She was arrested on 17 February by Israeli occupation soldiers invading her home in a pre-dawn raid, accusing her of posting “inciting” material on Facebook. She was ordered to three months’ administrative detention without charge or trial, which was then renewed for an additional three months.

Two women remain in administrative detention without charge or trial, among nearly 750 Palestinians in total: Sabah Feroun, imprisoned since 19 June after an invasion of her Jerusalem home by Israeli occupation forces and ordered to six months in administrative detention, and Haneen Abdelqader Amer, 39, from Tulkarem, imprisoned since 27 March and accused of “incitement” on social media but ordered imprisoned without charge or trial.

Palestinians in Jerusalem protest ICRC cuts to family visits

20 August 2016

Family visits for Palestinian prisoners continue to come under attack by the Israeli occupation as well as under cutbacks by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). On Wednesday, 17 August, the families of Palestinian prisoners from Jerusalem protested outside ICRC headquarters in Sheikh Jarrah to demand the restoration of family visits to twice monthly.

The ICRC announced that as of 1 July, it was cutting family visits to detention centers housing adult male Palestinian prisoners from twice monthly to once monthly, citing budget cuts and inefficiency. Family visits are extremely arduous, require a full day of lengthy bus transport through multiple checkpoints, and, for Palestinian families in the West Bank, require pre-approved permits from Israeli occupation authorities that can take months to process and are still at times denied at the last minute.

Prisoners’ families have widely protested the ICRC decision as have prisoners themselves, who have refused meetings with the ICRC and gone on hunger strikes in protest of the decision, noting that it comes in full alignment with Israeli policies of constantly denying and cutting family visit access for Palestinian prisoners.

The Jerusalem protest was barred from entering the ICRC building and was set upon by Israeli police with horses and dogs. In addition, the protest came as five prisoners, also from Jerusalem, at Nafha prison were assaulted on Wednesday for protesting the mistreatment of their family visitors. Family visitors are subject to lengthy waits, interrogations, visit denials and searches.

Amjad Abu Asab, of the Jerusalem Committee for Prisoners’ Families, told Ma’an News that Samer Rajbe, Ammar Rajbe, Osama Rajbe, Abada Dandis and Nafez Gharouf were assaulted by Israeli prison guards with dogs in front of their families on 17 August. The five men were handcuffed and their families threatened with visit bans.

Samidoun has participated in protests against family visit cuts by the ICRC in New York, Brussels and elsewhere, while Inminds protested in London against the policy. These protests have accompanied numerous demonstrations in Palestine calling for increased, rather than reduced, family visitation.

Journalist Omar Nazzal’s administrative detention renewed for three more months

19 August 2016

Journalist Omar Nazzal‘s administrative detention military order, imprisoning him without charge or trial, was renewed on Friday, 19 August by an Israeli military court for an additional three months.

Nazzal, a member of the General Secretariat of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, was arrested on 23 April as he crossed the Karameh bridge to Jordan on his way to attend the European Federation of Journalists conference in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He was ordered to four months in administrative detention without charge or trial, on the basis of secret evidence. Administrative detention orders are indefinitely renewable.

Nazzal has been on hunger strike for 16 days in support of Bilal Kayed, striking for 67 days, and to demand his own freedom from administrative detention without charge or trial. He is one of over 20 Palestinian journalists imprisoned in Israeli jails; Nazzal’s case was one of those studied by the European parliamentarians’ and lawyers’ delegation that just left Palestine this week.

Palestinian ex-prisoner re-arrested 4 days after release in “next Bilal Kayed case” as hunger strikes, protests continue for 66th day

19 August 2016

Sufian Fakhri Abdo was arrested by Israeli occupation forces in a dawn raid on his home in the Jabal Mukabber neighborhood in occupied Jerusalem on 19 August, only days after his release from Israeli prison on Monday, reported Ma’an News. Abdo had served 14 years in Israeli prison.

He was transferred to the Moskobiya interrogation center in Jerusalem and will allegedly be charged with “incitement,” a charge that is frequently used to imprison Palestinians for social media activity and other political speech.

Bilal Kayed has been on hunger strike for 66 days in protest against his administrative detention without charge or trial, imposed on him upon the expiration of his 14.5-year sentence in Israeli prison. His strike has been joined by nearly 100 fellow prisoners and is supported by the entire Palestinian Prisoners’ Movement, who note that it is a struggle impacting all Palestinian prisoners. His case poses a dangerous precedent of indefinite imprisonment of all Palestinian prisoners following the expiration of their sentences.

Kayed, who is shackled hand and foot to his hospital bed and facing serious health deterioration after 66 days of strike in Barzilai Hospital, will face an Israeli Supreme Court hearing on his administrative detention on Monday, 22 August, moved from October following an appeal by his lawyers with Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association. Physicians for Human Rights have also appealed the Israeli court’s recent decision allowing his continued shackling and denying him access to an independent physician.

In addition, hunger-striking prisoner Mohammed Balboul was moved from Ofer prison to the Ramla prison clinic after the deterioration of his health after 44 days of hunger strike. He joined his brother Mahmoud, who has been on hunger strike for 47 days. Both Balboul brothers are held without charge or trial under administrative detention. Ayad Herama and Malik al-Qadi, on hunger strike for 36 days against their own administrative detention without charge or trial, were also moved to the Ramle clinic on Thursday and Friday from Ofer prison. All had previously been held in solitary confinement.

Walid Masalma is also on hunger strike for 33 days, in protest against his isolation for over 10 months, and was transferred to Soroka hospital on 16 August.

Kayed, the Balboul brothers, al-Qadi and Herama are among 750 Palestinians held without charge or trial under administrative detention. Fellow administrative detainee and former hunger striker Thaer Halahleh’s fifth renewal of his administrative detention without charge or trial was upheld by the military appeals court in Ofer on Wednesday 17 August. He has been held without charge or trial since August 2014 and has overall been imprisoned for nearly 12 years under administrative detention through repeated arrests.

They are among nearly 100 Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike against administrative detention and in support of Kayed, including imprisoned journalist Omar Nazzal, member of the General Secretariat of the Palestinian Journalists’ Union, held without charge or trial under administrative detention, whose detention was renewed for an additional three months on 19 August. Hunger strikers have been repeatedly attacked by Israeli prison guards or subject to room inspections, isolation and solitary confinement, denial of family visits, prevention of legal visits, denial of recreation, confiscation of personal belongings, and forbidding of canteen (prison store) purchases. 38 striking prisoners in Gilboa had been prohibited from legal visits, kept in extremely hot solitary confinement room, and subjecting them to repeated inspections. Several prisoners were transferred to three prisons in one week. Prisoners on strike in Ofer prison have also been targeted for harassment and attacks due to their participation in the collective protests.

As the protests have grown inside the prisons, so too have protests outside. Throughout Palestine, solidarity tents, sit-ins and protests continue in cities and villages to demand the release of Kayed and his fellow Palestinian prisoners. In Gaza City on 16 August, protesters gathered outside the French Cultural Center to demand the release of Kayed as well as Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, Lebanese Communist struggler for Palestine imprisoned in French prisons for 32 years. The Progressive Palestinian Youth Union convened the protest alongside the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Protests in Asqelan, Nablus, Ramallah, Qalqilya, Bethlehem, Haifa, Gaza, Jenin and throughout occupied Palestine have continued to grow.

In Brussels, protesters gathered outside the offices of the European Commission on Wednesday, 17 August, demanding freedom for Bilal Kayed and an end to administrative detention.

In Edinburgh, BDS Berlin joined with the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign and EuroPalestine to call for a boycott of Israel at the Fringe Festival, highlighting the case of Bilal Kayed in actions and displays. In Manchester, protesters gathered at Piccadilly Gardens for an urgent action in support of Kayed on 17 August, while in Glasgow, Scotland, posters of Bilal Kayed joined Palestinian flags as fans of the Celtics confronted an opposing Israeli football team with massive Palestine solidarity.

In Copenhagen, the Internationalt Forum’s Middle East Committee organized a protest to support Bilal Kayed; these protests followed one in Vienna on 15 August and numerous events in Ireland, including Dublin, Belfast and Derry, on 13 August.

International events, including protests in Helsinki, Dublin, Portadown and seven cities in France, are planned for 20 August, while further protests in Sao Paulo, Belfast, New York, and Barcelona are scheduled throughout the week. In Palestine, activists are planning a human chain in Asira al-Shamaliya for Sunday, 21 August stretching from the village’s municipality building to Kayed’s family home.

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