25 July Action Call from Progressive Student Labor Front: Student action to free Bilal Kayed!

15 July 2016

The following call to action from the Progressive Student Labor Front in Palestine was issued on 14 July, the 30th day of hunger strike for Palestinian prisoner Bilal Kayed, imprisoned under administrative detention – without charge or trial – after the expiration of his 14.5 year sentence in Israeli jails. Kayed is currently held in isolation in Ashkelon prison. Events across Palestine and around the world are being organized for his release. Kayed is one of 750 Palestinians held in administrative detention and over 7,000 total Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

The Progressive Student Labor Front responds to the call of the heroic prisoners, announcing the World Student Day of Solidarity with the struggler Bilal Kayed and all Palestinianprisoners

The Progressive Student Action Front confirmed it is responding to the call of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine leadership, urging the student movement to take urgent action and organize events in support of the struggling prisoners, in particular the hunger striking prisoner Bilal Kayed engaged in a battle of freedom with the occupation, fighting the jailer with steadfastness and his empty stomach.

The PSLF said that it will work with the Palestinian and international student movement to organize a series of events supporting the prisoners, including a wide range of activities to be organized by the PSLF in universities and in front of the International Committee of the Red Cross buildings, and in public streets and squares.

The PSLF also announces that it will launch an initiative to organize a World Student Day of Solidarity with Bilal Kayed and Palestinian prisoners, including a one-day hunger strike, with the participation of progressive student organizations and student supporters of justice in Palestine around the world.

The PSLF called upon all student supporters of justice for Palestine to participate in this day of solidarity on 25 July, and for this to become an international student day of solidarity with the prisoners in Israeli jails.

The PSLF emphasized their support of the heroic prisoners, in the forefront the imprisoned General Secretary of the PFLP, Ahmad Sa’adat, and the imprisoned Palestinian students inside the Zionist jails, confronting the jailer with steadfastness.

Progressive Student Labor Front – Palestine
14 July 2016

New video highlights struggle of Bilal Kayed on 30th day of hunger strike

14 July 2016

The Palestinian Refugees’ Portal designed and posted a new video highlighting the struggle of Palestinian prisoner Bilal Kayed on his 30th day of hunger strike. Kayed, 35, has been imprisoned since 14 December 2001. Since completing his 14.5 year sentence in Israeli prison, rather than being released as scheduled, he was ordered to six months administrative detention – imprisonment without charge or trial. Supported by hundreds of his comrades and the Palestinian prisoners’ movement as a whole, Kayed launched a hunger strike on 15 June to demand his freedom, which continues today. Protests across Palestine and internationally are growing to demand his release.

Watch and share the video:

14 July, Online: Twitterstorm to #FreeBilalKayed

14 July 2016

Friday, 14 July
8 pm Palestine time
(1 pm East Coast/US; 10 am West Coast/US; 7 pm central Europe; 5 pm GMT)

Join us on Thursday, 14 July to tweet in solidarity with Bilal Kayed! He has been on hunger strike for 30 days and will continue until he is freed from administrative detention imposed upon him after 14.5 years in Israeli jails.

Follow the Addameer facebook page for updates on the hashtag to be used.

30 Days of Hunger Strike: Bilal Kayed’s struggle for freedom continues

14 July 2016

Palestinian prisoner Bilal Kayed is on his 30th day of hunger strike, demanding his freedom from administrative detention without charge or trial; the six-month administrative detention order was imposed upon him on 13 June 2016, immediately following the completion of his 14.5-year sentence in Israeli prisons.

Rather than being released to his home and family – who were left to wait for him at an Israeli checkpoint – he was instead ordered to administrative detention on the basis of “secret evidence.” Held in solitary confinement since that time, he launched his hunger strike on 15 June.

Kayed remains in solitary confinement in Ashkelon prison. He is held in a small cell, 1.5 x 2 meters in size, without a window, and is denied access to a fan, electronic devices, and reading material. He was briefly transferred to the hospital on Tuesday, 12 June, for EKG tests, but was then returned to the prison, where he remains. Kayed’s health has deteriorated, he has lost significant amounts of weight and he suffers from dizziness, fatigue and insomnia.

Contrary to some reports in Arabic-language and Palestinian media, Kayed’s lawyers in Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association refuted claims that he had been transferred to Soroka Hospital, noting that he remains in isolation in Ashkelon. Addameer cautioned against the reporting of unfounded rumors about Kayed’s situation.

Farah Bayadsi of Addameer, Kayed’s lawyer, noted that an appeal hearing on Kayed’s detention will take place today, 14 July, at Ofer Military Court. Kayed has boycotted the military courts convening on his detention, rejecting them as illegitimate.

Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, affiliated to the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Kayed’s party, are engaged in a series of protest actions and limited-time hunger strikes demanding Kayed’s release, escalating to a full collective open hunger strike. Over 300 prisoners are refusing food on 14 and 15 July, and will do so again on 17 and 18 July. Sections of the PFLP prisoners were stormed by repressive units yesterday, their sections have been locked down, they have been prohibited from family visits, and their personal belongings confiscated. 600 NIS ($150) fines have been imposed on all prisoners participating in the hunger strikes.

Support for Kayed runs strongly across political lines. The Palestinian Prisoners’ Movement, comprised of all the Palestinian factions in Israeli jails, including Hamas, Fateh, the PFLP, Islamic Jihad and the DFLP, isssued a statement on Tuesday, 12 July, emphasizing support for Bilal Kayed, and that “this battle is the battle of the prisoners’ movement as a whole.”

The Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council issued a statement demanding the release of Kayed and the end of the use of administrative detention.

Events and actions are being organized throughout Palestine and internationally for Kayed’s release. A global week of action for Kayed is being organized for Kayed from 8-15 July; events will be held on 14 July in Amman, Haifa, Nablus, Beirut and Milan; on 15 July in New York City; and on 16 July in Istanbul.

In Berlin, Germany, on 13 July, the Democratic Palestine Committees met with the German Foreign Ministry, delivering a letter on behalf of Palestinians in Berlin urging action on the case of Bilal Kayed and the issue of administrative detention. They also held a protest outside the office of the Foreign Ministry.

In Gaza, a mass march and rally led by Palestinian children marched through the streets of Gaza City, from Saraya to the Square of the Unknown Soldier. Participants from the PFLP, mass political organizations, labor and women’s organizations, former prisoners, and Palestinian political organizations and parties, demanded the end of administrative detention, freedom for Bilal Kayed and for all Palestinian prisoners. Mohammed Makkawi of the PFLP said that the detention of Kayed and the repression campaign against PFLP prisoners were a “means of revenge and intimidation practiced by the Israeli prison administration against the imprisoned Kayed and his comrades…they will not break the will of the prisoners, and will not succeed in stopping this battle that has opened the door for a new confrontation against the criminal policy of administrative detention which represses hundreds of strugglers.” Makkawi urged “massive, sustained and diverse popular participation in the events to support the prisoners and their rights generally and the battle of the prisoner Bilal Kayed in particular,” highlighting the ongoing international solidarity with Kayed’s case.

Dr. Abdullah Abu Atta, speaking at the event on behalf of the national and Islamic forces, urged “all friendly organizations, international bodies, the international community, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and all the parliaments of the world…to pursue the just cause of Palestinian prisoners and work for their speedy release.”

A “Twitterstorm” – an electronic campaign focused on posts at a specific time on Twitter about a specific issue – for freedom for Kayed is being organized for tonight, 14 July, at 8 pm Palestine time (1 pm EDT, 10 am PDT, 5 pm GMT). Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association will be updating its Facebook page with information about the hashtags to be used shortly before the Twitterstorm begins.

14 July, Amman: Freedom for Bilal Kayed!

14 July 2016

Thursday, 14 July
6:00 pm
United Nations building in Jordan
Amman, Jordan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1055394627862709/

Alongside the international events in support of Comrade Bilal Kayed, who is conducting an open hunger strike in rejection of administrative detention after 14.5 years of imprisonment in Zionist jails, the youth of the Popular Democratic Unity Party (Wihda Party) of Jordan invite all to participate in a vigil in front of the UN headquarters in Amman.

Trials of Palestinian girl Manar Shweiki and student Salam Abu Sharar delayed until September

14 July 2016

The trial of imprisoned Palestinian girl, Manar Shweiki, 15, was continued until 7 September by the Jerusalem magistrate’s court on Wednesday, 13 July.

Manar is accused of possessing a knife in order to carry out a resistance action; however, the knife was allegedly found inside her bag after she was arrested by occupation forces after leaving her school in the Wadi Hilweh neighbourhood of Silwan on 6 December 2015. She was taken to a military base. Her father, Majdi Shweiki, told Asra Media that the arrest was an action of revenge by occupation forces; Manar was detained and released twice, and threatened by interrogators that she would be arrested again. Shweiki also said that an intelligence officer told Manar’s mother that she will “not get away this time” with avoiding prison. Further, Shweiki said, her parents were not informed originally of her detention and she was not allowed a lawyer. He has been denied the right to visit her as a former prisoner.

Manar is among 61 Palestinian women and girls, including 12 minor girls, currently imprisoned by the Israeli occupation.

salamabusharar Salam Abu Sharar, 22, from al-Khalil, a student at Al-Quds University in Al-Khalil remains imprisoned after her trial on allegations of participation in student activities was continued until September 2016 by the Israeli Ofer Military court. She was arrested with her fellow students, Hala Bitar – sentenced to four months’ imprisonment for participating in student activities earlier this week – and Nour al-Islam Darwish on 19 April, the day of student elections at the university. The arrests came in the context of an ongoing campaign of arrests and persecution against Palestinian student politics.

Youth activist Karajah’s detention extended until Sunday by Ofer Military Court

14 July 2016

The Israeli Ofer military court extended the detention of Palestinian youth activist Hassan Karajah until Sunday, reported Thameena Husary, Karajah’s wife.

Karajah was arrested on the evening of 12 July, by Israeli occupation forces at Beit Ur al-Fuqua checkpoint west of Ramallah. He is currently being held in the Ofer prison of the Israeli occupation. He was previously arrested on 23 January 2013 and freed on 19 October 2014, facing an Israeli military court on allegations of participation in a prohibited organization (all Palestinian political parties are prohibited organizations) and contact with an enemy state (frequently used to target Palestinians who travel to Lebanon for conferences and other events.)

Karajah, well known for his work in a number of civil society organizations, including the Stop the Wall Campaign and the Partnership for Development Project, and his advocacy for boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) against Israel, was the subject of an international campaign for his release, which highlighted the Israeli targeting of Palestinian human rights defenders.

Former US-held political prisoner Laura Whitehorn speaks for freedom for Bilal Kayed

14 July 2016

laura-vigil1 Former US-held political prisoner Laura Whitehorn spoke on Monday, 11 July at a vigil across from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan, New York, focusing on the struggle of Palestinian political prisoners and the case of Bilal Kayed.

The vigil, organized by No Separate Justice: A Post-911 Domestic Human Rights Campaign, highlights state repression, imprisonment, and surveillance in so-called “War on Terror” cases.

Whitehorn, a participant in the Anti-Prison, Labor and Academic Delegation to Palestine earlier this year, urged people to support Bilal Kayed in his hunger strike protesting the imposition of administrative detention. She explained that this use of administrative detention was unprecedented, because it was imposed at the end of Kayed’s sentence of 14.5 years in prison.

laura-vigil2
In this way, it allows the Israeli military authorities to hold political prisoners indefinitely even beyond the sentences imposed by courts and procedures that are illegal in the first place. Whitehorn also spoke about the fact that the Palestinian political prisoners have expressed a united request for international support for Kayed and all hunger-striking political prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Kayed was ordered to six months administrative detention following the completion of his 14.5-year sentence in Israeli prisons on 13 June, and began his hunger strike on 15 June. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – Kayed’s party – and across political lines, are joining in steps of protest to demand Kayed’s freedom and the cancellation of his administrative detention.

laura-vigil3

Administrative detention orders, for imprisonment without charge or trial, are indefinitely renewable, issued on the basis of secret evidence. Kayed is among 750 Palestinians held without charge or trial, and 7000 total Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. International protests are taking place around the world this week demanding Kayed’s freedom and supporting his strike.

Photos: Bud Korotzer/Desertpeace

Appeal rejected for imprisoned Palestinian journalist Omar Nazzal

13 July 2016

The Israeli Ofer military court rejected the appeal of Palestinian journalist Omar Nazzal against his administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial, on Tuesday, 12 July. Nazzal, a member of the General Secretariat of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, was arrested on 23 April at the Karameh crossing from Palestine’s West Bank to Jordan.

He was on his way to attend the annual meeting of the European Federation of Journalists in Sarajevo when he was seized; the EFJ and its parent organization, to which the PJS is also affiliated, the International Federation of Journalists, have called for Nazzal’s release. Nazzal was ordered to four months in administrative detention without charge or trial; administrative detention orders are indefinitely renewable. Nazzal is one of 20 imprisoned Palestinian journalists and 750 Palestinians held under administrative detention. There are a total of over 7,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Nazzal’s lawyer, Mahmoud Hassan of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, noted that this decision came after the adjournment of the military court’s first hearing on the case, on 3 July, and a meeting between the judge and Israeli intelligence. He emphasized that his detention is coming in the context of his journalistic and trade union activity. Marlene Rabadi, Nazzal’s wife, said that they will continue to appeal the case to the Israeli supreme court. There is an ongoing popular campaign at the Palestinian, Arab and international levels to release Nazzal and the other Palestinian journalists.

Palestinian teen Nuran al-Balboul released; two Palestinian women sentenced

13 July 2016

Nuran al-Balboul, 15, was released from Israel’s HaSharon prison on 12 July after a successful appeal for early release following three months’ imprisonment.

Nuran was welcomed at a checkpoint near Beit Sira west of Ramallah by her family as well as Prisoners Affairs’ Committee chair Issa Qaraqe, before returning to her family home in al-Khader near Bethlehem. She was imprisoned by Israeli occupation forces on 13 April at the 300 checkpoint, accused of carrying a knife in her school bag.

“Lawyer Abeer Bakr said on Tuesday that the release came after the Israeli Central Court accepted an appeal presented by the committee for Nuran’s early release. The committee said in a statement that Nuran was assaulted by soldiers when they detained her, and adamantly refuted the claim that she had a knife in her possession, saying that she was in fact detained for having an argument with a female soldier while trying to enter Jerusalem with her aunt,” reported Ma’an News.

Nuran’s older brothers, Mahmoud and Mohammed al-Balboul, are on their tenth day of hunger strike in protest of their administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial in Israeli prisons. Mohammed, 25, a dentist, and Mahmoud, 21, a university student, have been imprisoned since 9 June, ordered to administrative detention without charge or trial on the basis of secret evidence. Mohammed was ordered to six months imprisonment and Mahmoud to five months. They were accused of “incitement” for posting on Facebook, but were never charged or tried, and instead ordered detained on the basis of secret evidence. The two brothers have an appeal hearing against their detention on 21 July.

The three are the children of Sanaa al-Balboul and her husband Ahmad, who was assassinated by undercover Israeli occupation forces on 18 March 2008; he was accused of being a leader of the Fateh movement’s military wing, the Al-Aqsa Brigades, in Bethlehem.

After her release, Nuran spoke with Asra Voice, saying that the situation in HaSharon is “very bad…the occupation does not care about the age of girl prisoners or the status of sick and injured women.” She noted that injured prisoners are provided only painkillers. Nuran saluted her striking brothers and all of the women prisoners in HaSharon who supported her throughout her time there.

Meanwhile, the wounded prisoner Yasmine al-Zarou Tamimi, 21, from al-Khalil, was sentenced by Ofer military court to one year’s imprisonment, accused of attempting to stab an Israeli occupation soldier. Zarou was seriously wounded when she was shot by Israeli occupation forces on 13 February 2016; following several operations, she was transferred to HaSharon prison before she had healed, requiring significant support from fellow women prisoners and being placed at risk of infection and further injury. When she was shot, she was left to bleed on the ground for over an hour before receiving medical assistance. During her time in HaSharon prison, she had to be transferred back to the hospital as her hand was infected. Women prisoners in HaSharon and Damon prisons have repeatedly complained of overcrowding and unsanitary conditions of confinement.

Israa Abed, 29, shot by Israeli soldiers on 9 October 2015 in Nazareth, was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment and a fine of NIS 1500; she was seriously injured. Originally, Israeli authorities attempted to accuse her of seeking to stab soldiers, but this claim was disproven via video of the incident in the Afula central bus station. She was held under house imprisonment since 5 November 2015 until the end of the legal procedures, despite the acknowledgement of prosecutors that she posed no threat. In fact, prosecutors acknowledged her psychological condition and previous suicide attempts. However, she was still sentenced to six months’ imprisonment yesterday, 12 July, even after eight months of continuous house arrest.

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