Palestinian prisoner Bilal Kayed is now on his 41st day of hunger strike against his administrative detention without charge or trial. Approximately 65 Palestinian prisoners are now engaged in a collective open hunger strike demanding his freedom, after the entrance of a new group of strikers into the collective battle on Sunday, Kayed’s 40th day of hunger strike. Hundreds of prisoners, all of the members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Kayed’s leftist party, are engaged in a two-day strike today and tomorrow, demanding Kayed’s freedom.

Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association lawyer Farah Bayadsi visited Kayed in Barzilai Hospital yesterday, where he is surrounded by three jailers. He continues to refuse any supplements or medical tests, and consume only water; his health condition is deteriorating. Despite his weakness, he is shackled by the right hand and left foot to his hospital bed on a constant basis. Kayed is suffering from severe throat, head, and eye pain, and experienced a two-hour period in which he could not see. He is extremely exhausted and feels aches throughout his body.

He has come under severe pressure to end his strike as well as to accept several medical tests, including on his brain and eyes. He has refused all such medical tests. The director of Ashkelon prison visited him and demanded he end his strike in order to “calm the situation” in the prisons; Kayed rejected this demand and announced that his strike will continue until he wins his freedom.

He received a visit from the representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross, but refused to allow the visit to take place while he was shackled. Following this, he was unshackled for the visit and then re-shackled immediately following the departure of the ICRC representative.

Kayed, 34, launched his hunger strike on 15 June after he was ordered to six months in administrative detention without charge or trial following the expiration of his 14.5-year sentence in Israeli prisons. With the support of his comrades and the broad Palestinian prisoners’ movement, his strike is supported with dozens of fellow strikers, partial strikes by hundreds of prisoners, and other protests inside the prisons. His case is seen as threatening a dangerous precedent of indefinite imprisonment of Palestinian prisoners who complete their sentences. On the 40th day of his strike, protests continued for his release, including marches and sit-ins in Rafah, Nablus, Ramallah, and Ara village.

25 July also marks the World Student Day of Solidarity, called by the Progressive Student Labor Front, as well as the ongoing global days of solidarity with Kayed from 20-30 July. Protests for the Student Day of Solidarity will take place throughout Palestine, as well as in New York City, organized by New York City Students for Justice in Palestine. They will protest in front of the Israeli consulate to demand freedom; their protest is threatened with racist attacks by the extremist, so-called “Jewish Defense League.”

The General Union of Tunisian Students has urged wide participation in the day of action, and the Karama Party students in Egypt will hold an event in Cairo in support of Kayed’s strike. Events will also take place in Alexandria in support of Kayed. The Iraqi Communist Party – Left issued a statement in support of the prisoners and noted that their affiliated students would hold events in solidarity with Bilal Kayed. The youth and students of the Democratic Way in Morocco also announced that they will participate in the day of action. The Wihda Party Youth of Jordan announced that it will launch a schedule of events continuing their ongoing youth actions in support of Kayed.

Palestinian prisoner Bilal Kayed has now been on hunger strike for 40 days. Shackled hand and foot to his hospital bed in Barzilai Hospital, Kayed has consumed only water for the duration of his strike; he rejects all supplements, salts, and medical examinations. His lawyer, Farah Bayadsi of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, reports that he suffers from pain in his eyes, extreme fatigue and exhaustion, and a further deterioration of his health condition. At the same time, he continues his strike with firm determination “as if he is beginning his strike for the first day.”

Dozens of fellow Palestinian prisoners have joined his open hunger strike in rejection of his imprisonment without charge or trial under administrative detention after completing his 14.5 year sentence in Israeli prisons. In 2001, he was arrested for membership in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and involvement in the Palestinian resistance in the second Intifada.

On 13 June 2016, rather than being released as scheduled, Kayed was instead ordered to six months imprisonment without charge or trial under administrative detention. His case is seen as threatening a dangerous precedent for all Palestinian prisoners of imprisonment without charge or trial, indefinitely renewable, after the expiration of lengthy sentences.

Kayed was born on 30 November 1981 in Syria to Palestinian parents from the West Bank of occupied Palestine; his father was part of the Palestinian resistance in Lebanon. When his family returned to Palestine in the mid-1990s, he studied at the Qalandiya Technical Institute and became a refrigeration technician.  As the second intifada began, he joined the Palestinian security forces, where he guarded Palestinians under threat of Israeli assassination, including Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, who was later killed by an Israeli air force missile attack. Imprisoned on 14 December 2001, he became a leader inside prison who participated and worked with other political parties to coordinate hunger strikes and protests within the prison. He was heavily involved in the 2012 collective Karameh hunger strike and other actions of the prisoners’ movement. The arbitrary detention of Kayed also appears to be a form of retaliation for his leadership and activity inside the prisons.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Movement, consisting of all Palestinian political parties and factions in Israeli prisons, has pledged its full support for Kayed’s strike and its participation in escalating protests inside the prisons. Dozens of prisoners are on open hunger strike while hundreds more have returned their meals on a partial basis; many more have answered morning roll call with “Bilal Kayed” rather than their own name or number. Outside prison, former hunger strikers and prominent leaders like Khader Adnan, Mohammed al-Qeeq, Muhammad Allan, and Bilal Diab, have played a prominent role in leading and participating in protests for Kayed’s release.

Protests are taking place throughout Palestine, demanding Kayed’s release. Recent protests have been organized in Ramallah, El-Bireh, Nablus, Al-Khalil, Asira al-Shamaliya, Dheisheh refugee camp, Tulkarem, Qalqilya, Jenin, Haifa, Wadi Ara, Arara, Gaza City, Jerusalem, Deir al-Balah camp, Tubas, Silwan, and numerous other cities, villages, and refugee camps.

In Lebanon, Samidoun along with the Palestinian Youth Organization has launched a Youth Campaign to Free Bilal Kayed. The new Youth Campaign has organized a series of lectures and events in Ain el-Helweh refugee camp, including presentations to children and youth about Bilal Kayed and the struggle of the Palestinian prisoners inside occupied Palestine. The Youth Campaign is holding a vigil this evening, 24 July, outside the hospital in Ain el-Helweh, in solidarity with Kayed.

Internationally, many cities are organizing events, actions, and protests for the 20-30 July global days of solidarity with Kayed’s strike. Protests, events and actions are being organized in Brussels, Berlin, New York, London, Cagliari, Lysekil, Philadelphia, Cairo, Athens, Manchester, Malmo, Milan, and elsewhere. New York City Students for Justice in Palestine have joined Arab students from Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Iraq, and elsewhere in responding to the Progressive Student Labor Front‘s call for a World Student Day of Solidarity with Bilal Kayed and Palestinian Prisoners on 25 July. Inside Palestine, a youth and student delegation from Belgium associated with Comac, the youth movement of the Workers’ Party of Belgium, visited the family of Bilal Kayed in Asira al-Shamaliya to express their solidarity.

Bilal Kayed is not alone on hunger strike inside Israeli prisons. Fellow administrative detainees Mohammed and Mahmoud al-Balboul, brothers, have been on hunger strike for 19 days against their imprisonment without charge or trial; Ayad Herama, Muhannad Mutahna, and Malek al-Qadi are also on hunger strike for one week against their detention without charge or trial. Dozens of Palestinian prisoners, mostly associated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Kayed’s comrades, but also including prisoners from Fateh, Islamic Jihad, and the People’s Party, have been on strike for the past week demanding Kayed’s freedom.

Within the prisons, 29 new names of Palestinian prisoners were announced as part of the ongoing strike. (10 of the prisoners on the list have been on strike since earlier in the week, but their names were not previously announced.)

The newly named strikers include Kamil Abu Hanish and Wael Jaghoub, leaders of the PFLP in Israeli prisons, who are currently being held in isolation in Hadarim prison after they were seized and transferred from Ramon prison following the prison protests for Kayed’s release. The list, from Handala Center for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners is, as follows, with each striking prisoner’s name, hometown, and prison:

1. Kamil Abu Hanish – Nablus – Hadarim
2. Wael Jaghoub – Nablus – Hadarim
3. Khaled Halabi – Jerusalem – Ramon
4. Mohammed Alyan – Jerusalem – Ramon
5. Mahmoud Abu Wahdan – Nablus – Ramon
6. Firas al-Barghouthi – Ramallah – Ramon
7. Hassan Atta – Ramallah – Ramon
8. Hamdi Zaghloul – Bethlehem – Ramon
9. Mustafa Musallam – Bethlehem – Ramon
10. Fadi Hamamreh – Bethlehem – Ramon
11. Amir al-Sayed – al-Khalil – Ramon
12. Mohammed Arahima – Ramallah – Ramon
13. Mohammed Morrar – Ramallah – Eshel
14. Noureddine Firoan – Jerusalem – Eshel
15. Hamdi Qur’an – Ramallah – Nafha
16. Walid Hubeis – Jerusalem – Nafha
17. Ibrahim Arfa – Bethlehem – Nafha
18. Mohammed Hawarin – Bethelehm – Nafha
19. Alaa Bani Shams – Nablus – Nafha
20. Yazan Maghamis – Bir Zeit – Ofer
21. Khalil Arafa Khalil – Bethlehem – Ofer
22. Nabil Ali Salah – Bethlehem – Ofer
23. Shehadeh Mohammed Salah – Bethlehem – Ofer
24. Huzaifa Ahmad Badr – Bethlehem – Ofer
25. Hazam Alamsi – al-Khalil – Ofer
26. Mahmoud al-Titi – al-Khalil – Ofer
27. Mumin Abdul Bari Abu Shamsiya – al-Khalil – Ofer
28. Hazem Shukri Qawasmeh – al-Khalil – Ofer
29. Yacoub Mohammed Ajlouni – al-Khalil – Ofer

Protesters gathered in New York City on Friday, 22 July to demand freedom for Bilal Kayed and all Palestinian prisoners. Kayed, on hunger strike since 15 June, is demanding his release from administrative detention without charge or trial. He has refused all supplements, vitamins, salt or medical examinations and has consumed only water for the entire time; he is currently held in Barzilai Hospital, shackled hand and foot to his hospital bed.

Kayed was scheduled to be released after 14.5 years in Israeli prison on 13 June 2016; instead he was ordered to six indefinitely renewable months of imprisonment without charge on the basis of secret evidence.

Hundreds of Kayed’s fellow prisoners have joined in the protest movement inside Israeli jails; the Palestinian Prisoners’ Movement, representing all of the major Palestinian political parties, pledged support for his protest. Dozens have joined a collective open hunger strike, pledging to refuse food until Kayed is free.

In New York City, this is the third Samidoun protest in solidarity with Kayed’s strike; last week, Samidoun joined a number of prisoner advocacy and Palestine solidarity groups for a panel, “Imprisoned Resistance,” highlighting struggles for liberation inside and outside prisons in the U.S. and occupied Palestine. Several participants in Friday’s protest joined after learning about Kayed’s case at the large panel, which drew hundreds to the Malcolm X and Betty Shabazz Center in Washington Heights.

Participants were excited to learn about the events taking place around the world to support Palestinian prisoners, and especially the news that ADEDY, the Greek trade union representing 400,000 public workers, had officially called for a protest in solidarity with Kayed in Athens on 28 July.

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.

The protest took place as part of the global days of action for Bilal Kayed’s freedom, from 20-30 July. New Yorkers will join in several upcoming actions to demand freedom for Bilal Kayed and fellow Palestinian prisoners. New York City Students for Justice in Palestine will be protesting on Monday, 25 July as part of the World Student Day of Solidarity with Bilal Kayed and Palestinian Prisoners; and Samidoun will be back outside the G4S offices on Friday, 29 July for another protest for freedom for Kayed and his fellow 7,000 Palestinian prisoners. Samidoun activists will also travel to Philadelphia to join the 26 July SJP Ona MOVE protest outside the Democratic National Convention focusing on U.S. and Palestinian political prisoners.

Photos/video by Joe Catron