New Video: South African Activists Call for Freedom for Bilal Kayed, All Palestinian Prisoners

8 August 2016

A new video from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in Johannesburg, South Africa highlights the struggle of Palestinian prisoner Bilal Kayed and fellow Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons. Kayed, 34, is today on his 55th day of hunger strike against his administrative detention without charge or trial. He was ordered to administrative detention on 13 June after the completion of his 14.5-year sentence in Israeli prison. Today, he is shackled hand and foot to his hospital bed in Barzilai Hospital, under the eyes of three prison guards, and threatened with forcible treatment at any moment.

Participants in the video include former South African government minister Ronnie Kasrils, filmmaker Karima Effendi, migrant rights activist Roshan Dadoo, trade unionist Alan Horwitz, educator Fatima Rahiman, fashion designer Nandi Kubheka, journalist Amina Frense, and Afro-Middle East Media’s Mahlatse Mpya, who come together on Johannesburg’s Constitution Hill, formerly the site of an infamous apartheid-era prison and today the home of South Africa’s Constitutional Court.

Watch the video below:

Journalist and hunger striker Omar Nazzal’s appeal rejected by Israeli high court

8 August 2016

The Israeli High Court today rejected an appeal by Palestinian journalist Omar Nazzal against his administrative detention without charge or trial. Imprisoned since 23 April 2016 when he was arrested while traveling to attend the Sarajevo conference of the European Federation of Journalists, the member of the General Secretariat of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate is part of the collective hunger strike for freedom for fellow administrative detainee Bilal Kayed. Nazzal, who began striking on Thursday, 4 August, is one of over 20 Palestinian journalists imprisoned in Israeli jails. While his four-month administrative detention order is scheduled to expire on 22 August, like all of the nearly 750 administrative detainees in Israeli jails, his imprisonment is subject to indefinite renewal at the whim of the Israeli intelligence and occupation military.

The statement from Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Nazzal’s lawyers, follows:

Israeli High Court rejected an appeal by Addameer’s attorney to cancel the administrative detention order against journalist Omar Nazzal today, Monday 08 August 2016. An administrative detention order was issued on 02 May 2016 against Mr. Nazzal, which is set to end on 22 August 2016, but may be renewed indefinitely.

Recently, Mr.Nazzal has joined the mass hunger strike in solidarity with hunger striking administrative detainee Bilal Kayed.

Occupation forces arrested the journalist Omar Nazzal, a member of the General Secretariat of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, and president of the Democratic Journalists Union on 23 April 2016, from the Allenby Bridge while en route to participation in the European Federation of Journalists General Meeting.

Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association condemns the continued and systematic targeting and arrests of journalists, including Mr. Nazzal, in contravention with the internationally codified freedom of expression and of movement. Journalists continue to be targeted for practicing their professions and reporting and investigating human rights violations in occupied Palestine.

Administrative detention orders are issued either at the time of arrest or at some later date and are often based on “secret information” collected by the Israeli Security Agency. Neither the detainee nor his lawyer is ever informed of the reasons for the detention or given access to the “secret information”.

Anti-Internment March in Belfast demands freedom for Irish, Palestinian anti-colonial strugglers

8 August 2016

Every year, the Anti-Internment March in Ireland highlights the cases of imprisoned Irish republicans in British jails who remain imprisoned to this day. Large crowds of people participated in this year’s rally and march through Belfast on 7 August that highlighted the struggle of anti-colonial Palestinian prisoners directly alongside the struggle of Irish prisoners for freedom and liberation. Particular attention was paid to the case of Bilal Kayed, now on his 55th day of hunger strike. The Irish history of hunger strikes in prison is long and painful; in 1981, ten Irish prisoners died while hunger striking for recognition of their political status.

The Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association launched a new mural on Belfast’s International Road at the march, with an Irish flag and a Palestinian flag and demanding freedom for Bilal Kayed. The march, which mobilized large crowds to highlight the ongoing Irish anti-colonial struggle and the fight against repression and imprisonment, was jointly led by two banners, one reading “End British Internment” and the other reading “Free Bilal Kayed – End Administrative Detention.”

In Palestine, activists in the solidarity tent to support Bilal Kayed raised the Irish flag to show solidarity with the Irish struggle and the interned prisoners. Kayed’s hunger strike has been joined by over 80 Palestinian prisoners collectively engaged in a long-term open hunger strike to demand his freedom, including Ahmad Sa’adat, General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Kayed was ordered to six months of indefinitely-renewable administrative detention without charge or trial after the expiration of his 14.5-year sentence in Israeli prison on 13 June. His strike is part of a battle against this dangerous precedent of indefinite imprisonment of Palestinian prisoners without charge or trial following the completion of their sentences and is supported by the Palestinian prisoners’ movement as a whole.

The Irish republican movement’s solidarity with Bilal Kayed is building on a long history of mutual solidarity between liberation struggles and prisoners’ movement. Frequent protests and actions for Kayed and previous hunger strikers take place in Belfast, Dublin, Derry, Wicklow and elsewhere throughout Ireland, often highlighting the struggles of Irish imprisoned hunger strikers alongside the Palestinian battles for freedom. The Irish republican socialist group, eirigi, has organized a number of events in solidarity with Kayed.

Mutual solidarity messages were exchanged in the 1980s between Palestinian prisoners in Nafha Prison and the infamous H-Block British jails in Ireland. The 1981 statement from Palestinian prisoners follows:

“The following letter was received from Palestinian prisoners in Nafha prison. It was forwarded to the Starry Plough by the Interational Relations Committee of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

To the families of the martyrs oppressed by the British ruling class, To the familes of Bobby Sands and his martyred comrades,

We, revolutionaries of the Palestinian people who are under the terrorist rule of Zionism, write you this letter from the desert prison of Nafha. We extend our salutes and solidarity with you in the confrontation against the oppressive terrorist rule enforced upon the Irish people by the British ruling elite.

We salute the heroic struggle of Bobby Sands and his comrades, for they have sacrificed the most valuable possession of any human being. They gave their lives for freedom.

From here in Nafha prison where savage snakes and desert sands penetrate our cells, from here under the yoke of Zionist occupation, we stand alongside you. From behind our cell bars, we support you, your people and your revolutionaries who have chosen to confront death.

Since the Zionist occupation, our people have been living under the worst conditions. Our militants who have chosen the road of liberty and chosen to defend our land, people and dignity, have been suffering for many years. In the prisons we are confronting Zionist oppression and their systematic application of torture. Sunlight does not enter our cell; basic necessities are not provided. Yet we confront the Zionist hangmen, the enemies of life.

Many of our militant comrades have been martyred under torture by the fascists allowing them to bleed to death. Others have been martyred because Israeli prison administrators do not provide needed medical care.

The noble and just hunger strike is not in vain. In our struggle against the occupation of our homeland, for freedom from the new Nazis, it stands as a clear symbol of the historical challenge against the terrorists. Our people in Palestine and in the Zionist prisons are struggling as your people are struggling against the British monopolies, and we will both continue until victory.

On behalf of the prisoners of Nafha, we support your struggle and cause of freedom against English domination, against Zionism and against fascism in the world.

Palestinian prisoners in the desert prison, Nafha, July 1981.”

On the Streets to Free Bilal Kayed: Report from International Days of Action for Palestinian Prisoners

7 August 2016

People around the world are continuing to mobilize and organize in solidarity with Bilal Kayed, now on his 54th day of hunger strike. In just the past several days, protests in New York City, London, Berlin, Vancouver, Amman, Ein el-Helweh, Wicklow and Galway joined numerous marchers and protesters throughout Palestine to demand freedom for Kayed and the over 100 fellow Palestinian prisoners who have joined in a collective hunger strike to demand his freedom.

Kayed, 34, was ordered to administrative detention on 13 June – when he had been scheduled for release after completing a 14.5-year sentence in Israeli prison. Instead of being released to his waiting family, he was ordered to six months of indefinitely-renewable imprisonment without charge or trial on the basis of secret evidence. He immediately launched his hunger strike and today is held shackled hand and foot to a hospital bed in Barzilai Hospital. Kayed, a leader of the prisoners’ movement in Israeli jails, is supported in his strike by comrades in the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the broad Palestinian Prisoners’ Movement. Prominent Palestinian prisoners, including PFLP General Secretary Ahmad Sa’adat, have joined the strike in support of Kayed, such as Samer Issawi, Omar Nazzal, Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh, Mohammed Abu Sakha, Hassan Karajah and dozens more. Kayed is one of nearly 750 administrative detainees and 7,000 total Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons.

Daily protests are taking place throughout Palestine for Kayed’s freedom and a series of events and actions are planned for the coming days in Beirut, Brussels, Montreal, Gothenburg, Copenhagen, New York City and elsewhere. In France, imprisoned Lebanese Arab struggler for Palestine Georges Ibrahim Abdallah returned his meals for three days in solidarity with Kayed, along with six more Basque and Arab prisoners; meanwhile the largest coalition of organizations concerned with Palestine, including labor unions and political parties, urged the French government to demand his release. In Naples, Italy, the city council named Kayed an honorary citizen of the city. The Tunisian General Union of Workers called for Kayed’s release, while in Greece, the Public workers’ union, ADEDY, called for a protest for his freedom.

On 20-30 July, a concentrated series of events over these ten days took place around the world as part of Days of Action for Bilal Kayed, urging Kayed’s release alongside his fellow Palestinian prisoners. The Days of Action included the World Student Day of Solidarity for Bilal Kayed and Palestinian Prisoners, called on 25 July by the Progressive Student Labor Front in Palestine.

Brussels

In Brussels on 21 July, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network joined with community cafe Le Space to host a talk by Kristian Davis Bailey of Black4Palestine and BYP100 (Black Youth Project) Detroit and Khaled Barakat, Palestinian leftist writer. Participants discussed the role of imprisonment and state repression in undermining the Black and Palestinian Liberation movements, as well as addressing current key struggles including movements against policing, Black Lives Matter, the cases of Aiyana Jones and Bilal Kayed, and a number of others. Participants collectively made signs in support of political prisoners and of people whose lives were taken by racist oppression and state violence.

On 27 July in Brussels, protesters took to the streets outside the offices of the European Commission in a demonstration organized by Samidoun with the Palestinian Community of Belgium and Luxembourg and the European Alliance for the Defence of Palestinian Detainees. Sspeakers from a number of organizations demanded freedom for Kayed and his fellow Palestinian prisoners. The rally also included a statement from the family of Omar Nayef Zayed, the former Palestinian prisoner whose life was taken in the Palestinian embassy in Sofia as he resisted extradition from Bulgaria to Israel.

New York City

Protesters gathered in New York City on Friday, 22 July to demand freedom for Bilal Kayed and all Palestinian prisoners, organized by Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network. The protest took place outside the offices of G4S, the multinational security corporation that contracts with Israel’s prison administration to provide control rooms, security systems, and equipment to the jails that imprison Palestinians. It also is involved in youth incarceration and migrant deportation and detention in the United States, UK, Australia and elsewhere and is globally criticized for its poor human rights record.Palestinian prisoners, civil society organizations and international groups have urged a boycott of G4S for its profiteering from oppression, apartheid and imprisonment. Full report..

As part of the World Student Day of Solidarity with Bilal Kayed and Palestinian Prisoners, NYC Students for Justice in Palestine organized a rally outside the Israeli embassy on 25 July demanding freedom for Kayed and fellow Palestinian prisoners. Despite drenching rain, students and supporters gathered to demand Kayed’s release and participate in the world student day of action. The protest had earlier been threatened by the infamously racist and violent “Jewish Defense League,” identified as responsible for the 1985 assassination of Palestinian American community leader Alex Odeh in Santa Ana, California. However, despite posting racist chants to social media, the JDL counter-protest fizzled with only a few individuals standing in the pouring rain – and departing before the student protest ended. Full report…

New York activists gathered outside the offices of multinational security corporation G4S on Friday, 29 July to demand freedom for hunger-striking Palestinian prisoner Bilal Kayed and that the company get out of the business of profiteering from the occupation of Palestine. The protest on 29 July was the fourth for New York activists in the past week in support of Bilal Kayed and his fellow Palestinian prisoners, following a similar protest on 22 July, participation in the World Student Day of Action on 25 July and joining protests outside the Democratic National Convention on 26 July. Full report…

Berlin

Candles lit the evening in Berlin’s Hermannplatz on Friday, 22 July, as the Democratic Palestine Committees organized a vigil in solidarity with Palestinian prisoner Bilal Kayed, on hunger strike since 15 June, demanding freedom. Families with children joined the vigil, as did Palestine solidarity activists, organizers for boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS), and representatives of various Palestinian organizations, including the Palestinian Association of Germany and the Palestinian Community of Germany. Full report…

The Friday evening vigil was followed on Saturday, 23 July by the Democratic Palestine Committees’ participation in the annual Cuba Solidarity Festival, held in Stadtpark Lichtenberg. Palestinian organizers set up a table and falafel stand filled with posters and information about Bilal Kayed and his ongoing hunger strike, and the struggle of the Palestinian people for freedom.

Lysekil

The Communist Party of Sweden also held a solidarity meeting as an part of its annual summer camp; the meeting took place on 23 July, in the city of Lysekil with a heavy tourist presence in the summer. Communist Party chair Robert Mathiasson spoke about Bilal Kayed and the Palestinian prisoners, while well-known Swedish activist Eva Hammad, once severely wounded in the Palestinian refugee camp of Tel al Zaatar in Lebanon, spoke as well at the public gathering. Full report..

London

On Saturday 23 July 2016, on London’s Oxford Street – Europe’s busiest shopping area – protestors held a loud and colourful demonstration demanding the release of Bilal Kayed, a Palestinian political prisoner who is now in the second month of a hunger strike. The protest was organised by the Revolutionary Communist Group (RCG) and took place outside the flagship store of Marks and Spencer, Britain’s biggest corporate supporter of Israel. The RCG has organised pickets outside Marks and Spencer for more than 14 years because of the company’s historical links with the zionist movement, and its continuing economic ties with Israel. The 23 July picket was dedicated to the cause of Bilal Kayed and all Palestinian prisoners. Full report…

Cagliari

In Cagliari, Sardinia, the annual celebration of Palestinian culture on 23 July, Palestina en Sardegna, highlighted the struggle of Bilal Kayed for freedom. While participants experienced Palestinian food, music and culture, the Associazione Amicizia Sardegna Palestina featured posters of Bilal Kayed and information about Palestinian Prisoners and the ongoing hunger strike for freedom.

Cairo

As part of the World Student Day of Solidarity with Bilal Kayed and Palestinian prisoners, Palestinian students in Egypt and the students of the Karama Party organized an event at the party’s office in Cairo in support of Kayed’s strike, featuring former prisoner Ahmed Abu Saud, speaking about the experience of imprisonment in Israeli jails and the centrality of the prisoners’ struggle to the Palestinian movement for national liberation. Report…

Ain el-Helweh

Following a series of seminars and lectures in the camp, on 25 July, the Youth Campaign to Free Bilal Kayed, composed of Samidoun and the Palestinian Youth Organization, held a protest and demonstration in support of Bilal Kayed, organized as part of theWorld Student Day of Solidarity for Bilal Kayed and Palestinian Prisoners, in a central street of Ain el-Helweh refugee camp in Lebanon, across from Human Call Hospital. Emergency medical workers at the hospital joined the protest as did other hospital staff, alongside Palestinian children of the camp, youth activists, and other Palestinian refugees in the camp, as a huge Palestinian flag fluttered from above. Full report…

Philadelphia

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Philadelphia outside the Democratic National Convention on Tuesday, 26 July, protesting the Democrats’ support for war, occupation, and imperialism; denouncing the nomination of Hillary Clinton as the party’s presidential candidate; and demanding action to stop the ongoing police and state killing of Black people and defend Black lives under attack. Temple University Students for Justice in Palestine organized an SJP Ona MOVE contingent that focused on the liberation of political prisoners, both Palestinian political prisoners and on political prisoners in US jails, including Mumia Abu-Jamal and the MOVE 9. The contingent was also part of the World Student Day of Solidarity with Bilal Kayed and Palestinian Prisoners. Joe Catron of Samidoun spoke at the march and rally, and read aloud a statement from Mahmoud Kayed, the brother of Bilal Kayed, on hunger strike since 15 June against his administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial. Full report…

Athens

In Athens on 29 July, the ADEDY trade union called a demonstration for Kayed’s freedom outside the Israeli Embassy, joined by a number of Palestinian and solidarity organizations who came together in support of Palestinian political prisoners. Participants came from many organizations to demand justice and freedom for all Palestinian prisoners and to highlight the case of Bilal Kayed.

Belfast

Irish republican socialist group eirigi demanded freedom for Bilal Kayed in Belfast, displaying a banner and distributing literature outside Stormont, demanding Kayed’s freedom from administrative detention and highlighting his lengthy hunger strike. They said, “éirígí once more extends its solidarity to all Palestinian political prisoners, and reiterates its support for the total liberation of Palestine from the auspices of Zionism and Imperialism.”

Malmo

Mohammed Khatib of Samidoun spoke in Malmo on 28 July on Palestinian prisoners and the movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS). The event addressed the campaign to boycott G4S and the centrality of the campaign to free Palestinian prisoners as part and parcel of the movement for the international isolation of the Israeli state.

Quezon City

The Philippines-Palestine Friendship Association successfully held a forum on Palestinian and Lebanese Peoples’ Struggles for National Liberation and against imperialism and Zionism, with guest speakers Arab Network on Food Sovereignty’s (ANFS) Razan Zuayter and Hassan al Jaajaa. Attendees to the forum came from peoples’ and social movements in the Philippines, faith-based networks, ecumenical accompaniers, and foreign delegates. The forum concluded with a short action in support of the global campaign to demand the release of Comrade Bilal Kayed and to condemn Israel’s illegal and wanton use of administrative detention to repress the Palestinian peoples. Full Report..

Milan

In Milan, Italy, Fronte Palestina organized a protest at Piazza Guglielmo Oberdan on 29 July, coming together to distribute information to the public and raise the call for freedom for Bilal Kayed and his fellow 7,000 Palestinian political prisoners. Participants rallied for freedom for Bilal Kayed and fellow Palestinian prisoners, distributing information and inviting people to join the struggle to support Palestinian prisoners under attack.

Manchester

In Manchester, Fight Racism Fight Imperialism, the Revolutionary Communist Group and Manchester Palestine Action gathered on 30 July to protest for freedom for Palestine and for Palestinian political prisoners. Protesters rallied in Piccadilly Gardens before marching on corporate supporters of Israeli apartheid and colonialism like Barclays Bank.

Rabat

Protesters gather in Rabat, Morocco on 30 July as part of the World Student Day of Solidarity with Bilal Kayed and Palestinian Prisoners, outside the Parliament building. The protesters demanded freedom and justice for hunger-striking Kayed and all Palestinian prisoners.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes all of those who have been and continue to organize for freedom for Bilal Kayed and Palestinian prisoners. We urge the continuation and escalation of protests and actions everywhere in the coming days as Bilal nears 60 days on hunger strike. His health is at risk at any time and it is critical to elevate the level of our international solidarity to create significant and meaningful pressure to support the level of sacrifice and struggle being exercised by Bilal Kayed and his fellow Palestinian prisoners.

We urge all international supporters of justice and liberation for the Palestinian people to meet the prisoners’ sacrifice with struggle: organize protests, actions and demonstrations, and escalate BDS campaigns and the boycott of Israel and complicit corporations like G4S, to demand freedom for Bilal Kayed and his fellow Palestinian prisoners.

INTERNATIONAL SUPPORTERS OF THE CAMPAIGN TO FREE BILAL KAYED

Over 150 organizations signed on to the previous call to action to free Bilal Kayed! See the list of organizations below. Events were organized in Berlin, Paris, Brussels, New York, London, Dublin, Belfast, Galway, Amsterdam, The Hague, Toulouse, Torino, Milan, Vancouver and more. Participating organizations have made the call to action about this case available in: French | German | Greek | Italian | Spanish | Turkish | Czech | Dutch Join in!

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
Abna’a el-Balad Movement – Palestine
ACAT France
Actions4Palestine – Toronto, Canada
AFPS Association France Palestine Solidarité
Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition NY
Al-Awda Palestine Right to Return Coalition – US
Alternative Information Center
Asociación Palestina BILADI
Association Belgo-Palestinienne
Association for Protection of Democratic Rights (APDR) – India
Association of Academics for the Respect of International Law in Palestine – AURDIP
Association of the Palestinian Community in Scotland
Associazione Amicizia Sardegna Palestina
BAYAN USA
BDS Action Calgary
BDS Amsterdam
BDS Austria
BDS Berlin
BDS Hamburg (Germany)
BDS Nederland
BDS Oudàh
BDS Slovenija
BDS Trieste
BDS Turkey (Filistin Için Israil’e Boykot Girisimi)
BDS Vancouver
Belgian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (BACBI)
Black Lives Matter Rockland Orange Alliance
Boycott! Supporting the Palestinian BDS Call from Within (Israeli citizens for BDS)
Byron Friends of Palestine
Campaign to Boycott Supporters of “Israel” in Lebanon
Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat
Campaign to Free Georges Ibrahim Abdallah
Canada Palestine Association
CAPJPO – EuroPalestine
Cátedra de Estudiso Palestinos Edward W. Said
Citizens International – Malaysia
Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine (Sydney)
Collectif Judeo Arabe et Citoyen pour la Palestine
Collettivo Autogestito CASAROSSA40
Comité Palestina Libre / Uruguay
Comite Salta de solidaridad con Palestina
Committee of the Greater ABC/SP of Solidarity with the Palestinian People – Brazil
Committee to Stop FBI Repression
Committees for a Democratic Palestine – Brazil
Communist Party, Sweden
Contemporary Lawyers Association (Çagdas Hukukçular Dernegi)
Corvallis-Albany Palestine Solidarity
Coup Pour Coup 31
Democratic Lawyers’ Alliance – Palestine
Democratic Palestine Committees – Germany
docP (Diensten en Onderzoek Centrum Palestina , Netherlands)
éirígí
Education Equals Making Community Connections
European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine (ECCP)
Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor
Faculty for Palestine (Canada)
February 20 Movement – USA
Filipino Refugees in the Netherlands
Finnish-Arab Friendship Society
Football Against Apartheid
Freedom Archives
Freedom Road Socialist Organization
Free Gaza Movement
Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition (NYC)
Friends of Ain el-Helweh, Grenoble
Fronte Palestina
Gaza Action Ireland
Gerechtigkeit und Frieden für Palästina
Gesellschaft Schweiz Palästina
Grandmothers for Peace
Groupe Non-Violent LOUIS LECOIN
Grupo de Tecnología Alternativa S.C.
Gruppo Azione Palestina – Parma
Handala Center for Prisoners and Former Prisoners
Handala Cultural Center – Vienna
Hilton Head for Peace
Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (Türkiye Insan Haklari Vakfi)
Human Rights Institute – Bratislava, Slovakia
Human Rights March – Denmark
Hunter College Students for Justice in Palestine
Initiative for a Just Peace in the Middle East – Slovakia
Inminds.com
intal
International Action Center
International Committee for Peace, Justice and Dignity
International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal
International League of Peoples Struggle in Canada
International Movement for a Just World (JUST)
International Solidarity Movement – Palestine
International Solidarity Movement – Northern California
International Solidarity Movement Czech Republic group
Internationale Socialisten
Internationalt Forum/Middle East Group
InvictaPalestina – Torino
Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association
Isçi Demokrasisi Partisi (IDP)
Jewish Voice for Peace, San Diego
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return
Labor for Palestine
LADH (Liga Argentina de los Derechos del Hombre)
Landless Workers ‘ Movement (MST) – Brazil
Lefterianews – Greece
Left Perspective – Czech Republic
Leuvense Actiegroep Palestina
Libertarian Lawyers Association (Özgürlükçü Hukukçular Dernegi)
London Palestine Action
Los Otros Judios
Merton PSC – London
MRAP Vaucluse
Mouvement Citoyen Palestine
National Jericho Movement
National Lawyers Guild – Palestine Subcommittee
Netherlands Palestine Committee (NPK)
New York City Students for Justice in Palestine
Northeast Political Prisoner Coalition
NY 4 Palestine Coalition
NYC Free Peltier
NYC Friends of MOVE
OPIRG Carleton
Palästinensische Kulturzentrum Schweiz
Palestijnse Gemeenschap in Nederland
Palestina Kommitee Rotterdam
Palestina Rossa
Palestina Solidariteit
Palestine Platform Human Rights and Solidarity (PPMS)
Palestine Solidarity Campaign of South Africa
Palestinian Arab Cultural Center in Brazil – Rio Grande do Sul
Palestinian Arab Cultural Center in Brazil – Sao Paulo
Palestinian Arab Society – Corumba (Brazil)
Palestinian Child and Youth Institute – Lebanon
Palestinian Club in the Czech Republic
Palestinian Democratic Coalition – Chicago
Palestinian Documentation Center
Palestinian Prisoners’ Committee – Palestine
Palestinian Youth Organization
Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine
Plateforme des ONG françaises pour la Palestine
Philippines-Palestine Friendship Association
Progressive Palestinian Youth Union – Palestine
Progressive Student Labor Front – Palestine
Proletaren FF, sports club, Sweden
Raja’een Folkloric Dance Troupe
Red Sparks Union
Release Aging People in Prison
Resistance for Free Palestine – Greece
Rete Nazionale “Noi Saremo Tutto”
Revolutionaire Eenheid
Revolutionary Communist Group/Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism!
Revolutionary Communist Youth, Sweden
Sawt al-Shaab (Voice of the People Radio) – Palestine
SODePAZ Balamil
Solidarity with Novorossiya and Antifascists in Ukraine – NYC
Stanford Students for Justice in Palestine
Stichting Groningen-Jabalya
Studenten Voor Rechtvaardigheid in Palestina- Nijmegen
Studenten voor Rechtvaardigheid in Palestina (SRP) – Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
SJP at Sacramento State University
Students for Justice in Palestine – Maastricht
Students for Justice in Palestine at the College of Staten Island
Students For Justice in Palestine – Rotterdam
UDAP – Unione Democratica Arabo-Palestinese
UJFP French Jewish Union for Peace
Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees – Palestine
United for Palestine
USC Students for Justice in Palestine
US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN)
Vlaams-Socialistische Beweging
Voice of Palestine
West Valley Neighborhoods Coalition
Women In Black International(Seattle USA chapter)
Women in Black (Vienna)
Women in Black The Netherlands

9 August, Gothenberg: Protest in Solidarity with Bilal Kayed and Palestinian Prisoners

7 August 2016

Tuesday, 9 August
2:00 pm
Drottningtorget
Gothenburg, Sweden

Protest in solidarity with the hunger strike in the Zionist prisons, led by Palestinian leader Ahmad Sa’adat, and Bilal Kayed, on hunger strike since 15 June. We urge all Palestinian and Arab communities in Sweden and supporters of Palestine to join in the protest in solidarity with this great battle for freedom.

20 August, Petaling Jaya: Book Launch for “Dreaming of Freedom – Palestinian Child Prisoners Speak”

7 August 2016

Saturday, 20 August
1:00 pm
PJ Live Arts
72A Jalan Universiti
46200 Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1219937651372666/

“Dreaming of Freedom – Palestinian Child Prisoners Speak” is an anthology of accounts by Palestinian children of their experiences of arrest and military incarceration by the Israeli Occupation Forces.

Translated by Yousef Aljamal and edited by Norma Hashim

In conjunction with the FREEDOM FILM FESTIVAL 2016. Organized by Komas

For more info on the film festival:
http://freedomfilmfest.komas.org/

“DREAMING OF FREEDOM – PALESTINIAN CHILD PRISONERS SPEAK” will be on sale at the event.

For those who can’t attend, you can get the book at Amazon US
https://goo.gl/DrMcZV

Available in Malaysia and Singapore at http://goo.gl/ue8kE6

Full address of the event:
CABARET – PJ LIVE ARTS,
JAYA ONE, 2A-3, Block K, Jaya One, Section 13, No.72A, Jalan Universiti, 46200, Petaling Jaya, Selangor D.E, Malaysia.

New York protesters demand freedom for Bilal Kayed, G4S out of Palestine

7 August 2016

Protesters in New York City rallied outside the Manhattan office of British-Danish security corporation G4S on Friday, 5 August to demand freedom for Bilal Kayed, a Palestinian political prisoner in Israeli jails, on his 53rd day of hunger strike.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network gathered outside the G4S office, carrying Palestinian flags and signs urging freedom for Kayed, on hunger strike since 15 June demanding his release from imprisonment without charge or trial under administrative detention. He was ordered to administrative detention after the completion of his 14.5-year prison sentence on 13 June. Kayed’s case threatens a dangerous precedent for all Palestinian prisoners completing lengthy sentences, who could suddenly be ordered to indefinitely-renewable administrative detention. He is one of nearly 750 Palestinian prisoners held without charge or trial under administrative detention, and 7,000 total Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are engaged in actions to support Kayed, including over 100 joining an open hunger strike for his freedom.

The protest found many enthusiastic and interested passers-by, who received the flyers and literature about Kayed‘s case with interest. Several drivers witnessing the protest on the road also honked their support for Palestine and for Kayed’s freedom.

The protest was part of Samidoun’s ongoing actions protesting the security corporation, which contracts with the Israeli Prison Service to provide control rooms, equipment and security systems for Israeli prisons, as well as checkpoints and police training centers. Palestinian political prisoners have urged a global boycott of the corporation, which is also the focus of human rights protests for its involvement in the incarceration and deportation of youth and migrants in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and elsewhere. Divestment from G4S has also been part of the demands of Black activists and prison abolitionists demanding an end to investment in the mass incarceration of Black youth in the United States.

Many participants in the protest are also currently participating in #ShutDownCityHallNYC, a protest encampment against NYPD violence and repression against the Black community and other oppressed communities in the city. Joe Catron of Samidoun spoke about the occupation’s demands, including defunding the NYPD, ending so-called “broken windows” policing and payment of reparations to survivors and victims of racist police violence. The movement celebrated a partial victory when Bill Bratton, the police commissioner whose firing was demanded by the movement, announced his abrupt resignation earlier in the week. Catron noted that police and prison abolition rather than reform is a primary focus of the encampment, which emerges from the broad Movement for Black Lives.

Noura Khouri, a Palestinian activist in the Bay Area and a member of the national committee of the War Resisters’ League, joined the protest during her visit to New York City. She also emphasized the importance of joint collective struggle to confront policing, imprisomnent and repression. In particular, she highlighted the campaign against Urban Shield, in which Palestinian activists in the Bay Area were deeply involved. The Stop Urban Shield Coalition is a broad coalition of social justice-oriented community organizations who came together to expose Urban Shield, a SWAT training and weapons exposition that brings together police and military units across the US and internationally. The coalition stopped Urban Shield from being hosted in Oakland and is now working to put an end to this militarized gathering altogether.

She also highlighted the campaign to cut the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI), which funds the militarization of local police departments across the country under a “counter-terrorism” pretext, supporting the further surveillance, entrapment and repression against Arab and Muslim communities while intensifying the militarized repression of Black communities and other oppressed communities.

Samidoun is organizing with an array of New York City groups for a march and rally in support of Kayed’s strike on Friday, 12 August, as he enters his 60th day of hunger strike. Endorsers of the march include Al-Awda NY, the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition, the International Action Center, International Concerned Friends and Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Jericho Movement, Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, Labor for Palestine, NY4Palestine, NYC Free Peltier and NYC Students for Justice in Palestine.

Protesters will gather at the G4S office at 19 W. 44th Street in NYC before a 5:30 march to another G4S office at 370 Lexington Avenue, demanding that Israel release Bilal Kayed, all administrative detainees and all Palestinian political prisoners immediately, and that G4S immediately get out of Palestine.

12 August, NYC: Rally and March for Bilal Kayed entering 60th Day of Hunger Strike

7 August 2016

Friday, 12 August
Gather at 4:00 pm, march at 5:30 pm
19 W. 44th Street – G4S Office
New York City
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/306112119739656/

As Bilal Kayed enters his 60th day on hunger strike in the Zionist prisons of occupied Palestine, rally outside a Manhattan office of British-Danish security conglomerate G4S, a contractor with the Israeli prison system.

At 5:30 pm, we will march to another G4S office at 370 Lexington Avenue.

Bilal, one of 7,000 Palestinian political prisoners held by Israel, had been scheduled for years to be released on June 13, the end of a 14 1/2-year sentence by an Israeli military court in the occupied West Bank.

Instead, on the morning his family and friends planned to welcome him home, he was given an administrative detention order, a decree by an Israeli military commander sentencing him to six more months’ imprisonment, without charge or trial and subject to indefinite renewal.

Now one of 715 Palestinian administrative detainees in Israeli prisons, Bilal launched a hunger strike on June 15 to demand his freedom.

Demand Israel release Bilal, 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 united appeals by Palestinian prisoners for escalated boycotts of G4S and solidarity with Bilal.

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

Endorsed by:

Al-Awda NY: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
Committee to Stop FBI Repression
Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition
International Action Center
International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal
The Jericho Movement
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return
Labor for Palestine
NY4Palestine
NYC Free Peltier
NYC Students for Justice in Palestine

54 Days of Hunger Strike: Bilal Kayed named honorary citizen of Naples as protests grow to demand his freedom

7 August 2016

As he enters his 54th day of hunger strike shackled hand and foot to his hospital bed in Barzilai Hospital, Bilal Kayed was declared an honorary citizen of the city of Naples, Italy.

Proposed by city councillor Mario Coppeto and the council group “Napoli in Comune a Sinistra” (Naples Common Left), the order expresses the solidarity of the city of Naples with Bilal Kayed and Palestinian prisoners subject to unjust imprisonment. It was adopted unanimously with two abstentions.

Dozens of fellow Palestinian prisoners are on strike in solidarity with Kayed, who launched his strike on 15 June in protest of the indefinitely-renewable six-month administrative detention order issued against him on 13 June upon the completion of his 14.5-year sentence in Israeli jails. His case represents a distinctly threatening precedent to all Palestinian prisoners completing their sentences, who could be ordered to indefinitely-renewable administrative detention without charge or trial.

Kayed, a leader within the prisons, has been joined by numerous comrades from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine on his strike, including PFLP General Secretary Ahmad Sa’adat; his strike is supported by the Palestinian Prisoners’ Movement, composed of all the Palestinian factions in Israeli prisons.

Kayed’s strike is also accompanied by fellow administrative detainees seeking their freedom – brothers Mohammed and Mahmoud al-Balboul, who launched their strikes for freedom on 4 and 7 July, and Malik al-Qadi and Ayed Herama, who launched their strikes on 14 July.

Several hundred Palestinian prisoners, mostly affiliated with Hamas, launched a hunger strike on Thursday, 4 August in protest of the attacks on prisoners in Nafha prison and elsewhere; this group of striking prisoners ended their strike on Saturday, 6 August after an agreement regarding attacks by repressive guard units and related issues.

The collective hunger strike to demand Kayed’s freedom continues without interruption. In Lannemezan prison in France, Lebanese Arab struggler for Palestine, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, refused meals for three days along with six more prisoners in solidarity with Kayed and his fellow Palestinian hunger strikers.

On Thursday, 6 August, Israeli prison administration lawyers defended the shackling of Bilal Kayed to his hospital bed, claiming that he is at risk of being seized in an attempt to free him, despite the presence of three guards constantly in his hospital room. Physicians for Human Rights filed a legal challenge to the ongoing mistreatment of Kayed in Barzilai Hospital, calling for him to be freed from his shackles and to have access to a doctor of his choice.

Haneen Nassar, speaking on behalf of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Committee, said that there is an escalating state of tension in Ofer prison especially as repression inside the prison increases while more prisoners join the collective hunger strike for Bilal Kayed’s freedom. Nassar’s husband, Rami Fadayel, is currently held in Ofer prison. She noted that prisoners are facing collective punishment and repression, including solitary confinement and a ban on family visits.

Fadayel joined the hunger strike on Thursday, 4 August along with journalist Omar Nazzal and Abdullah Mubarak, Mohammed Ghattasha, Ahmad Muharreb, Sami Hammad, Mumin Marrar, Mahmoud Abu Ghazi, Ahmad Abu Ajamia, and Hiran Jaradat.

In Amman, the Wihda Party (Popular Democratic Unity Party) Youth organized a protest outside the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Wednesday, 3 August in solidarity with Bilal Kayed and his fellow hunger strikers in Isaeli prisons.

Protests throughout Palestine and internationally have continued to grow in support of Kayed. Protesters in Vancouver gathered for a “Boycott Israeli Wines” protest at a BC Liquor Store, calling for the boycott of wines produced in the occupation state including those from the occupied Golan Heights on Saturday, 6 August. They carried signs and literature demanding freedom for Bilal Kayed, Ahmad Sa’adat and their fellow Palestinian prisoners.

In Berlin, the Palestinian National Action Committee and the Democratic Palestine Committees joined with activists from BDS Berlin and other groups for an evening protest on 6 August at Potsdamer Platz, demanding freedom for Bilal Kayed and all Palestinian prisoners.

These protests followed on events in New York City, London and Wicklow on 5 August in support of Kayed’s strike.

In London, Inminds protested outside the offices of the ICRC to demand restoration of denied family visits and freedom for Bilal Kayed on Friday, 5 August.

In New York City, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network organized their weekly protest outside the offices of G4S, demanding the corporation stop profiteering from occupation and contracting with Israeli prison services. They distributed literature and picketed outside the office, demanding Bilal Kayed’s freedom and that of his fellow prisoners.

In Ireland, éirígí organized actions on 5 and 6 August for Bilal Kayed’s freedom. In Wicklow, activists rallied and presented a letter to Wicklow city council urging the council to take a position on the case of Bilal Kayed and fellow Palestinian prisoners. On 6 August, eirigi activists in Galway dropped a large “Free Bilal Kayed” banner from the Spanish Arch and held an information table in the center of town.

Forthcoming international protests are scheduled for Montreal, Copenhagen, Gothenburg, Brussels, New York City and other international cities. In France, the largest national coalition of organizations concerned with Palestinian rights, the National Collective for a Just Peace, sent a letter to Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, urging action on the case of Bilal Kayed and an end to administrative detention.

These protests come amid escalating events inside Palestine and around the Arab world in solidarity with the striking prisoners, especially as the strike grows and Kayed’s health becomes more delicate.

In Ain el-Helweh refugee camp in Lebanon, the Youth Campaign to Free Bilal Kayed, composed of Samidoun and the Palestinian Youth Organization, continued its protests and organizing activities, leading up to a major event and protest in Beirut scheduled for 10 August.

In Tunis, leaders of the Popular Front in Tunis conducted a one-day hunger strike in solidarity with Kayed, Sa’adat and fellow striking prisoners. This came after the Tunisian General Union of Workers issued a call for action and statement in solidarity with Kayed.

These come while protests in Palestine continue to grow in support of Kayed. Permanent solidarity tents have been erected with daily protests and actions in Ramallah, Nablus, Dheisheh refugee camp and Kayed’s hometown of Asira al-Shamaliyeh, while ongoing actions in cities and towns throughout occupied Palestine demand Kayed’s freedom. Actions planned in the coming week include protests in Jerusalem, Haifa and Asqelan by Barzilai Hospital.

London protest demands restoration of ICRC visits, freedom for Bilal Kayed

7 August 2016

Report from protest organizers, Inminds. All photos via Inminds: On Friday 5th August 2016 Inminds human rights group protested outside the UK Mission of the International Committee of the Red Cross in London to demand it restore the twice-monthly family visits for Palestinian political prisoners which were cut last month to just once monthly.

Inminds chair Abbas Ali said “These cuts by the International Committee of the Red Cross steal the valuable few minutes Palestinian families have with their imprisoned loved ones and are tantamount to collaboration with the Israeli occupation in denying Palestinian political prisoners the right to family visits that is enshrined in international law as part of the Fourth Geneva Convention which the ICRC is mandated to uphold. The ICRC should be ashamed of themselves acting as an arm of the occupation.”

Many members of the Red Cross came out of the building to show their support for our protest, shaking our hands to thank us. Others didn’t know of this shameful decision and were shocked to learn that ICRC cuts were targeting the most vulnerable.

londonn2
We were invited inside to meet with Mona Sadek, the deputy head of mission for the International Committee of the Red Cross in the UK. We handed her a letter from Neimeh Shamlawi, the mother of a Palestinian child prisoner Ali Shamlawi, who is being denied the right to visit her son by the ICRC.

Three years ago her son Ali, 16 years old at the time, was falsely accused of throwing stones. He was tortured and then sentenced to 15 years imprisonment. She explains how her daughter who has not been able to see her brother for 7 months has finally been given permission by the Israeli occupation to visit her brother this month but due to ICRC cuts she will miss the visit because the dates stipulated in the visitation permit falls outside the new once a month ICRC visit schedule. If the ICRC had maintained their twice-monthly visits then she would have been able to visit her brother but now she may have to wait another 6 months for a permit from the Israeli occupation to visit her brother.

Mona Sadek said that having seen our alert for the protest she had already contacted ICRC offices in Palestine with a view to resolving the “special case” of Ali Shamlawi so that his sister could visit him. We welcomed her intercession but explained that it was not a “special case” but just one of thousands of families that will suffer due to ICRC’s decision.

londonn3

Unfortunately whilst she empathised with their plight she could not offer a solution, saying that cuts were needed as the ICRC was over-stretched due to other factors in the region (Syria) and their figures showed that uptake on the second monthly visit was not great. We pointed out that it was unfair as their figures measured the results of the success of Israeli occupation policy of depriving prisoners of family visits by placing insurmountable barriers to prevent families from visiting, starting by placing the prisons outside the West Bank across a border in Israel, in breach of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, so that families after having waited months for permits still cannot visit without being escorted by the ICRC across the border; then the 12-14 hour round trip journey elderly parents have to endure in the heat for a 45 minute visit; and the humiliation they suffer at the hands of the occupation at each step of the journey from the soldiers at the checkpoints to the prison guards who often demand strip searches before they can see their loved ones. The ICRC action was rewarding the occupation on the success of this policy rather than providing support for the victims. The right to have two family visits per month was something Palestinian prisoners fought hard to achieve through many sacrifices, including enduring hunger strikes. Now the ICRC had taken that right away from them and delivered the Israeli occupation a victory in helping it fulfil its illegal policy of denying family visits to Palestinian political prisoners.

Prof. Manuel Hassassian, the Palestinian Ambassador for the UK, joined the protest to show his solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners which he said were treated “like animals” by the Israeli occupation. He was disappointed by the ICRC decision, saying he was there to show “our dissatisfaction, our indignation against the Red Cross.. [The Red Cross] if not controlled, is pressured by the Israelis.. they are becoming helpless.. they should be more aggressive in trying to expose the naked truth of the Israeli jailers..”

londonn4

NEIMEH SHAMLAWI’S LETTER

I am Neimeh Shamlawi, mother of Ali Shamlawi who is now in Al-Naqab prison. My son has spent more that 3 years in prison and I used to visit him twice monthly, but from July the Red Cross decided to reduce the visits to 50%. The Israeli government deprived me from my son, and it was a chance to see my son twice a month, but now the Red Cross wants to prevent even this chance. The Red Cross must help us, not help the Israeli occupation in its crimes against us. Without the help of the Red Cross, we will suffer and face many difficulties in trying to visit our children in Israeli prisons.

Apart from the exorbitant cost of around $250 to arrange a visit, we also have to contend with the impossibility of negotiating with the Israeli military to achieve such a feat. The decision to cut family visits to once a month will have terrible repercussions.

One example is that my daughter was finally given permission to visit her brother whom she misses terribly, the permit is for one visit and is only valid between 10th July to 23rd August. I had visited my son Ali on July 6th, with the next scheduled Red Cross visit being on August 24th. It means that my daughter will not be allowed to see her brother and the permit which was very difficult to get will be wasted. She may not get another permit for at least 6 months. If there was 2 visits in a month (like it was before the Red Cross decision) then she could have visited her brother Ali.

We hope that the Red Cross will reconsider and stop this unfair decision, , and remain the humanitarian organization it is supposed to embody.

Neimeh Shamlawi

BILAL KAYED – 52 DAYS ON HUNGER STRIKE

The protest also demanded freedom for the Palestinian hunger striker Bilal Kayed who has been without food for 52 days.

Bilal Kayed was imprisoned by the military occupation in 2001. He completed his 14.5 years sentence on 13th June 2016. But instead of being released as scheduled, to meet his waiting family at the military checkpoint, he was re-arrested without charge or trial and ordered to indefinitely-renewable 6 months administrative detention.

To demand his freedom Bilal Kayed went on hunger strike. The protest marked day 52 of his hunger strike. Health experts have said Kayed could die any moment as he is imminently vulnerable to cerebral haemorrhage, heart attack or stroke due to the physical strain on his body. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners have joined Kayed in open hunger strike.

There are around 750 Palestinians being held indefinitely without charge or trial, with no way to defend themselves, under Israel’s illegal use of administrative detention. 127 administrative detention orders were issued just last month in July 2016.

A letter written by Bilal Kayed in prison on day 48 of his hunger strike was read out at the protest.

Inminds chair Abbas Ali said “The caging of Bilal Kayed without charge or trial after he has already served his 14.5 year sentence sets a very dangerous precedent for all Palestinian political prisoners and must be vigorously challenged by human rights activists around the world. His imprisonment today represents the imprisonment of all Palestinians tomorrow. We demand his immediate freedom!”.

INTERNATIONAL SUPPORTERS OF THE CAMPAIGN TO FREE BILAL KAYED

Follow us on Instagram @samidounnetwork