Appeal of Palestinian journalist’s administrative detention postponed for 15 days; 23 journalists imprisoned

4 July 2016

Ofer military court postponed the appeal of Palestinian journalist Omar Nazzal against his administrative detention without charge or trial for 15 days on Sunday, 3 July.

Nazzal, a member of the General Secretariat of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, was arrested on 23 April as he attempted to cross the Karameh bridge to Jordan from Palestine’s West Bank to attend the European Federation of Journalists’ annual meeting; he was ordered to four months administrative detention without charge or trial.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate held a sit-in outside the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) headquarters in solidarity with Nazzal and fellow imprisoned Palestinian journalists. There are 23 imprisoned Palestinian journalists, most recently Amjad al-Arafa, arrested in a pre-dawn military raid in his home in Jerusalem on Sunday morning, 3 June.

Youth in Jordan protest for freedom for Bilal Kayed, Palestinian prisoners

4 July 2016

The youth of the Democratic Popular Unity Party (Wihda Party) in Jordan organized a protest on Sunday, 3 July outside the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Amman, Jordan, demanding action on the case of Bilal Kayed, Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike since 15 June against his administrative detention without charge or trial.

Kayed was ordered to administrative detention after completing his 14.5 year sentence in Israeli prisons. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners – and people in Palestine and around the world – have protested in solidarity with Kayed, demanding his immediate release. His case is seen as threatening a dangerous precedent of the indefinite imprisonment of Palestinian prisoners after the completion of lengthy sentences.

At the protest, participants read out a letter which they addressed to the director of the ICRC’s presence in Jordan, before delivering the letter to the ICRC’s media representative.

The letter stated that “We extend to you this letter while Palestinian prisoner Bilal Kayed, continues his open hunger strike in Israeli occupation jails since 15th June 2016, in protest of his administrative detention without charge or trial following the completion of his 14.5 year sentence in Israeli prisons on 13 June.

“This letter comes as the Israeli authorities and its successive governments continue to exercise the policy of arrests, which took the picture of arbitrary and programmed arrests in a desperate attempt to break the steadfastness and will of the Palestinian people to end the occupation perched on for more than half a century.

“On hunger strike for eighteen days now, in isolation in Ahli Kedar prison, Kayed declared that any offers of deportation are unacceptable and his imprisonment is illegitimate, and that he will continue his hunger strike until his detention is ended and he is freed.”

Bilal Kayed rejects offer of deportation in exchange for freedom, continues hunger strike for 18th day

3 July 2016

Palestinian prisoner Bilal Kayed, on hunger strike since 15 June in protest of his administrative detention without charge or trial following the completion of his 14.5 year sentence in Israeli prisons on 13 June, rejected an Israeli offer to deport him in exchange for his release from prison, said the Prisoners’ Affairs Committee on Saturday, 2 July.

On hunger strike for eighteen days now, in isolation in Ahli Kedar prison, Kayed declared that any offers of deportation are unacceptable and his imprisonment is illegitimate, and that he will continue his hunger strike until his detention is ended and he is freed.

Palestinian prisoners affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine are engaged in a series of protest steps demanding Kayed’s release. Prisoners across political lines are protesting in support of Kayed, noting that his case threatens a dangerous precedent of indefinitely detaining Palestinian prisoners after the completion of lengthy sentences.

Protests are taking place in various cities and refugee camps in Palestine in support of Kayed’s strike, demanding his release. At the protest in support of Kayed on Saturday night in Arroub refugee camp, former hunger striker and Palestinian journalist Mohammed al-Qeeq spoke, demanding Kayed’s freedom. Al-Qeeq engaged in a 94-day hunger strike to win his freedom from administrative detention without charge or trial in late 2015 and early 2016.

Kayed is one of over 700 Palestinians imprisoned without charge or trial under administrative detention. Administrative detention orders are issued for one to six months at a time and are indefinitely renewable; they are issued and confirmed without charge or trial, on the basis of secret evidence.

International protests took place around the world on 24 and 25 June demanding Kayed’s freedom, and Samidoun is urging participation in a new week of action on 8-15 July demanding freedom for Kayed and all Palestinian prisoners.

Audio: Interview with Samidoun in New York highlights case of Bilal Kayed, boycott of G4S

3 July 2016

WBAI’s Morning Show attended Samidoun’s protest in New York City on Friday, 24 June, outside the offices of G4S, the British-Danish security corporation that provides security systems, equipment, and control rooms to Israeli prisons, checkpoints, detention centers, and police training centers.

Mitchel Cohen interviewed participants in the protest and representatives of Samidoun, focused on the case of Bilal Kayed, the Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike since 15 June after he was ordered to administrative detention without charge or trial rather than being released after the expiration of his 14.5 year sentence in Israeli jails. The protest in New York was part of global days of action on 24 and 25 June which saw events and actions for the freedom of Bilal Kayed take place in New York, Brussels, Amsterdam, The Hague, Torino, Milan, Berlin, Toulouse, Dublin, Belfast, Galway, London, Paris, Athens, Vancouver and other international cities. Fatima Hassan of Samidoun noted that they received a largely positive response from passers-by who interacted with the protesters.

Joe Catron of Samidoun highlighted the participation of G4S in the repression of Palestinian prisoners, and the global boycott against G4S for “everything from equipping Israeli prisons to running its own private jails in various countries, to operating vans for Immigration and Customs Enforcement that deport migrants across the Mexican border.” G4S – the subject of a boycott call from Palestinian prisoners, as well as Black liberation and anti-prison movements – has pledged to sell off its interests in “reputationally damaging” businesses like its Israeli business. Palestinian organizers have emphasized the importance of continuing to target G4S so long as it remains involved in profiting from the imprisonment and oppression of Palestinians.

Samidoun is organizing another protest for freedom for Bilal Kayed outside the offices of G4S, at 19 W. 44th Street in Manhattan, on Friday, 8 July at 4:00 pm. On 8-15 July, Samidoun is calling for an international week of action for Kayed’s freedom, also marking the anniversary of the assassination of Palestinian revolutionary writer and novelist Ghassan Kanafani.

Listen to the report:

Al-Quds Day protesters in New York City rally for freedom for Palestine

3 July 2016

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network joined with dozens of groups and organizations in New York City – and millions of people around the world – in participation in the Al-Quds Day (Jerusalem Day) protest and related events on Friday, 1 July.

Hundreds of people joined in the central rally at Times Square despite several bursts of driving rain as speakers and participants called for freedom and justice for Palestine. Signs urging the freedom of Palestinian political prisoners – including Palestinian hunger striker Bilal Kayed, on strike since 15 June against his administrative detention without charge or trial – were prominent in the crowd.

An announced counter-rally by the ultra-right, violent “Jewish Defense League” – allegedly responsible for the assassination of Palestinian American leader Alex Odeh in 1985, as well as violent attacks on protesters and activists in France, Toronto and elsewhere – fizzled, as the large rally in support of Palestine greatly outnumbered the small pro-apartheid group.

The International Day of Al-Quds is organized annually in New York by the Al Quds Committee in solidarity with Palestinians. This year the protest focused broadly on supporting the Palestinian struggle, but also on protesting a recent executive order by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo targeting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

The protest was followed by an Al-Quds Day Iftar, organized by New York City Students for Justice in Palestine, where participants broke the Ramadan fast with food, music, discussion, and educational presentations.

Photos by Joe Catron

Video: NYC Students for Justice in Palestine

Interview with Samidoun’s Mohammed Khatib: The failure of the Palestinian Authority to support the prisoners’ cause

2 July 2016

In an Arabic-language interview with Hadf News, Mohammed Khatib, the coordinator of Samidoun in Europe and Palestinian youth activist, spoke about the relationship of efforts to free Palestinian political prisoners with the Palestinian Authority and official institutions.

“The internationalization at popular and official levels of the prisoners’ cause requires that the prisoners’ movement itself is returned to its status as the primary reference for all. This is the duty and the responsibility of everyone,” said Khatib. “Quite frankly, it appears that there are those with power who intentionally prevent the raising of the issue of prisoners in international forums, in the service of U.S. and Zionist policies,” said Khatib. “What we mean by the internationalization of the cause of the prisoners is action on all fronts at the same time – popular, official, legal, political, media, and other levels.”

“Our experience with the official Palestinian embassies over the past years, especially after the involvement in the tragedy of the killing of the struggler Omar Nayef Zayed, has been that the institutions of the Palestinian Authority has moved from a role of silence to that of participating in the crime. Silence itself is a crime,” Khatib said. He noted that “the so-called Palestinian Foreign Ministry has not directed its embassies to move on the issue of Bilal Kayed and his comrades, despite being engaged in a heroic struggle for over two weeks. It seems Mr. Riyad al-Malki does not care about the suffering of the prisoners in Israeli jails – we challenge them to prove the opposite.”

He noted the release of the fifth statement by the striking prisoners, saying that it clearly indicates that the official Prisoners’ Affairs Committee is not playing a role that rises to the level required, and that the prisoners know that this body is tied down and prevented from real action. “Break the chains of the Palestinian authority and the limitations it imposes,” Khatib said.

“It is a shame to see members of the Greek, Irish, South African parliaments, government and political figures raise their voices in solidarity with Bilal Kayed, while the ministers of the Authority, the ambassadors, and even the president are quiet,” said Khatib. “The PLO institutions rightfully belong to the Palestinian people, who have built them with the blood of the martyrs in Palestine and in exile. The millions spent on the embassies are the funds of the Palestinian people, of prisoners and refugees. There should be a Palestinian referendum to answer the question as to whether our national funds should be spent on the cause, or on banquets and concerts that serve the purpose of normalization; to ask about the killing of Omar Nayef Zayed; and of what has happened regarding the scandal of embassies selling passports to refugees and exploiting their suffering?”

In response to a question as to what can be done to repair this situation, Khatib said, “I am afraid that we are past the stage of calling for reform of these institutions. What is first required is to free Palestinian decision-making from the grasp of Oslo, for our people to liberate their institutions from the control of the powerful few who control their destiny, market their rights, and benefit from suffering.”

14 July, Beirut: Free Georges Abdallah Protest on French National Day

2 July 2016

Thursday, 14 July
5:30 pm
Pine Residence
Beirut, Lebanon
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1042378085811876/

On 14 July, French National Day, the International Campaign for the Release of Georges Abdallah calls on all parties, national and leftist forces to gather in front of the Pine Residence in Beirut on Thursday, 14 July 2016, from 6 pm until 8 pm. The event will include speeches from:
Hanna Gharib, General secretary of the Lebanese Communist Party
Najah Wakim, president of the People’s Movement
Marwan Abdel-Al, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in Lebanon
Samah Idriss, Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel in Lebanon

3 July, Amman: Stand for victory for Bilal Kayed

2 July 2016

Sunday, 3 July
5:00 pm
ICRC Headquarters – Amman/Abdoun, Jordan
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1009480242498410/

Gathering in support of Bilal Kayed on an open hunger strike since 14 June in protest of administrative detention after the completion of his 14.5 year sentence in Israeli prisons. The youth of the Popular Unity Party are organizing a vigil in front of the ICRC headquarters on Sunday, 3 July at 5 pm. The Palestinian issue is not the cause of the Palestinian people alone, but of all free people in the world. The Palestinian national movement in the jails of the occupation are leading the confrontation. We are aware of our duties and responsibilities toward the Palestinian people and the oppressed people of the world. Freedom for Bilal Kayed and all Palestinian prisoners!

8-15 July: Call to Action to Free Bilal Kayed and commemorate Ghassan Kanafani

1 July 2016

“The Palestinian cause is not a cause for Palestinians only, but a cause for every revolutionary, wherever they are, as a cause of the exploited and oppressed masses in our era.” – Ghassan Kanafani

Palestinian prisoner Bilal Kayed has now been on hunger strike since the morning of 15 June, demanding his freedom. On 13 June, he was slated for release after 14 and one-half years in Israeli prison. Instead of being released, however, he was ordered by the Israeli occupation military to six months in indefinitely-renewable administrative detention without charge or trial.

On 5 July, Kayed will face a hearing to confirm the administrative detention order against him in an Israeli military court. His previous hearing was postponed when he refused to attend, declaring the military courts and the entire administrative detention law to be illegitimate. Within Israeli prisons, hundreds of fellow Palestinian prisoners – many his comrades in the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – are engaged in protest actions, including hunger strikes, demanding Kayed’s freedom. In early July, Kayed’s comrades have declared that hundreds of Palestinian prisoners will join his open-ended hunger strike if he is not released.

8 July also marks the 44th commemoration of the assassination of Palestinian writer Ghassan Kanafani by the Israeli Mossad via a car bomb at his home in Beirut. Like Bilal Kayed, he was a leader in the Popular Front – and a leading writer, novelist, and political leader of the Palestinian revolution. His innovation, creativity and brilliance continues to inspire generations of Palestinian and international strugglers today, while both his novels and short stories, and his political writings express a clarity of Palestinian vision and a commitment to the Palestinian popular classes.

We urge all organizations, individuals and movements for justice in the world to take action on 8-15 July 2016 to commemorate Ghassan Kanafani and his revolutionary legacy and demand freedom and victory for Bilal Kayed and his comrades. On 24-25 June, people around the world held protests, actions, leafleting days and demonstrations urging freedom for Kayed and his fellow Palestinian prisoners.

On 8-15 July, commemorate Ghassan Kanafani and demand the freedom of Bilal Kayed and his fellow prisoners – and the freedom of Palestine and its people. Call-in days to demand justice and freedom for Palestinian prisoners; protests, demonstrations, literature tables; readings of Kanafani’s work and celebrations of cultural resistance – we must raise our voices around the world, in solidarity movements and in Palestinian communities in exile and diaspora to commemorate the revolutionary legacies of Palestinian history and to struggle for the freedom of today’s leaders behind bars.

Free Bilal Kayed and all Palestinian prisoners!

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

***

Please use the form, email samidoun@samidoun.net or post to Samidoun on Facebook about events on 8-15 July, including existing events, protests, literature distributions or tables incorporating materials about Bilal Kayed and administrative detention.

ACTIONS INCLUDE

8 July, New York City: 8 July, NYC: Protest to free Bilal Kayed and stop G4S

8 July, Arklow, Ireland: 8 July, Arklow: Free Bilal Kayed! Solidarity with Palestine

8 July, Naples: 8 July, Naples: Rally for the Liberation of Bilal Kayed and all Palestinian Prisoners

8 July, London: 8 July, London: End the Siege on Gaza

9 July, Manchester: 9 July, Manchester: Day of Protest & Gaza Two Years on & Free Bilal Kayed and all Palestinian Prisoners!

9 July, Enniscorthy, Ireland: 9 July, Enniscorthy: Protest against arms trade with Israel and to free Bilal Kayed

13 July, Berlin: 13 July, Berlin: Protest to free Bilal Kayed

14 July, Haifa: 14 July, Haifa: Freedom for Bilal Kayed Protest

14 July, Beirut: 14 July, Beirut: Free Georges Abdallah Protest on French National Day

14 July, Milan: 14 July, Milan: Solidarity with the Struggle of the Palestinian Prisoners

15 July, New York City: 15 July, NYC: Imprisoned Resistance: Politics of Incarceration in Palestine & the U.S.

***

ACTION ITEMS:

1. Participate in or Organize a Call-In Day – On 24 June, people across the US called the White House to demand freedom for Bilal Kayed. On 8 July, call your government officials and demand action on Palestinian prisoners and Palestinian rights – and the immediate release of Bilal Kayed.

In the US, Call the White House: 001-202-456-1111
In Australia, Call Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Julie Bishop: + 61 2 6277 7500
In the UK, Call the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Philip Hammond, MP: +44 20 7008 1500
In Canada, Call the Canadian Foreign Minister Stephane Dion: +1-613-996-5789.
In the EU countries, Call the office of EU Commissioner Federica Mogherini at +32 (0) 2 29 53516 or email federica.mogherini@ec.europa.eu

2. Hold a protest, literature distribution, picket or demonstration, or bring this issue to broader social justice protests, including building the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign to internationally isolate Israel, its institutions, and the corporations – like G4S -that profit from imprisonment, occupation, racism, colonialism and injustice. Demand freedom for Bilal Kayed and all Palestinian prisoners.

Use the form to let us know about your event: http://goo.gl/forms/9fD7n9pScNW0X96V2
Download signs and literature at this link: Free Bilal Kayed! Resources and Materials for International Day of Action
See reports from the last days of action: The World Calls for Freedom: Report on first global days of action to free Bilal Kayed
Videos for use in your action: Video on Bilal Kayed, Video by Mahmoud Kayed, Videos by Suha Kayed

***

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

Protesters in Berlin demonstrate to support hunger striking Palestinian prisoner Bilal Kayed

1 July 2016

Palestinian and solidarity activists in Berlin, Germany, gathered at Breitscheidplatz to call for freedom for imprisoned Palestinian Bilal Kayed on Thursday, 30 June. Carrying Palestinian flags and posters of Kayed, they demanded freedom for all Palestinian prisoners and distributed leaflets to passersby urging action on Kayed’s case.

Kayed has been on hunger strike for 16 days, demanding his freedom from administrative detention without charge or trial after the expiration of his 14.5 year sentence in Israeli prisons. Fellow Palestinian prisoners have launched hunger strikes and a series of protest actions inside the prisons, while Palestinians have taken to the street in protest to support Kayed and his fellow 7,000 Palestinian prisoners behind bars.

Kayed is one of over 700 Palestinians jailed under administrative detention without charge or trial, on the basis of secret evidence. Administrative detention orders, issued for one to six months at a time, are indefinitely renewable. His case is seen as threatening a dangerous precedent of indefinite imprisonment of Palestinian prisoners upon the completion of lengthy sentences.

Over 150 international organizations have joined the call to free Bilal Kayed; this is the second protest in Berlin urging his freedom. Protests took place in cities around the world urging his immediate release on 24 and 25 June, and more protests are being organized in the coming days and weeks around the world.