Hundreds gather in Toulouse to support accused BDS activists: trial postponed until 22 September

1 July 2016

On Thursday, 30 July, 4 BDS activists, Yamann, Bernard, Jean-Pierre and Loïc, came before the court in Toulouse on charges of “interfering with economic activity” for distributing leaflets urging the boycott of Israeli goods. Over 200 solidarity protesters gathered outside to express their support for the four targeted organizers and for the Palestinian cause.

The trial of the four was postponed once again, this time until 22 September.

The cases of Palestinian prisoners and prisoners for Palestine were highly visible at the protest. Banners urged the freedom of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, Lebanese Communist struggler for Palestine, who has been imprisoned in French prisons for 32 years, and Palestinian prisoner Bilal Kayed, on hunger strike against the imposition of administrative detetention after completing a 14.5 year sentence in Israeli prison. Abdallah sent a message of support to the activists and the protest, as did numerous organizations and individuals, including Palestinian leader Leila Khaled.

The case itself was postponed once more, as new “civil parties” joined the prosecution, including the CRIF, France-Israel Association, BNVCA as well as LICRA and Lawyers Without Borders, and claimed they did not have time to respond to the arguments of the defense prior to the hearing. However, they now made a new complaint of offense, that of “discrimination linked to a nation,” an attempt to use a law against racist discrimination against people to defend the corporations and products of the Israeli state.

BDS organizations from across France participated in the demonstration, as did Coup Pour Coup 31, Association France-Palestine Solidarite, EuroPalestine, ATTAC, FUIQP (United Front of Immigrants and Popular Neighbourhoods), UJFP (French Jewish Union for Peace), and Mouvement Paix, as well as political organizations and parties like OCML – Voie Proletarienne, NPA, and others.

Police harassed protesters, pushing them fifty meters away from the courthouse, and allowing only one representative of all of the supporters to accompany the four activists to court. Protesters chanted “Palestine vivre, Palestine vaincra” (Palestine lives, Palestine will win), carrying Palestinian flags and speaking about the importance of building the boycott and confronting repression.

Protesters and organizers vowed to be present once more on 22 September to support the accused activists and build the campaign to demand their total acquittal and the dismissal of all charges.

Photos via Comité de Soutien aux inculpéEs BDS toulousains

Dortmund, 2 July: Freedom for Georges Ibrahim Abdallah

1 July 2016

Saturday, 2 July
2:00 pm
UZ-Pressefest
Revierpark
Dortmund, Germany
More information: http://pressefest.unsere-zeit.de/de/_/programm/1865/%E2%80%9EFreiheit-f%C3%BCr-Ibrahim-Georges-Abdallah!%E2%80%9C.htm

Solidarity event with Christian Champiré of the French Communist Party, and the mayor of the town of Grenay, speaking on the case of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, the Lebanese Communist struggler for Palestine imprisoned for 32 years in French prisons. Part of the annual festival of the German Communist Party, UZ-Pressefest. Moderated by Barbel Wiemer.

Irish senator calls for government pressure to release Bilal Kayed, end administrative detention

30 June 2016

Irish Senator Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) highlighted the case of Bilal Kayed today, 30 June, in the Seanad (Irish Senate), urging the government to condemn Israel’s policy of administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial based on secret evidence.

Kayed is one of over 700 Palestinian prisoners held without charge or trial; his 14.5 year sentence in Israeli jails expired on 13 June. Rather than release, he was instead ordered to administrative detention for six months. Administrative detention orders are indefinitely renewable, issued for one to six month periods at a time.

Bilal Kayed has been on hunger strike since 15 June, demanding his immediate release. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are engaged in solidarity protests, noting that Kayed’s case threatens a dangerous precedent of indefinite administrative detention of Palestinian prisoners following the expiration of lengthy sentences. Over 150 Palestinian and international organizations have come together to urge action on Kayed’s case; during international days of action, multiple actions took place in Dublin, Galway, as well as Belfast in the north of Ireland. Irish organizations including the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Irish Republican Prisoners Welfare Association, and Irish republican socialist political party eirigi, have organized actions in support of Kayed’s freedom.

There is a lengthy history in the Irish struggle against British occupation of hunger strikes against political imprisonment and internment; Palestinian and Irish prisoners and movements have expressed solidarity with one another over decades of struggle for freedom.

Senator Gavan said:

“Today, we are calling on the government to demand the release of Bilal Kayed, a 34 year old Palestinian Activist, who is imprisoned by Israel’s military occupation authorities.

“Bilal was imprisoned for being a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine; an organisation banned by Israel and was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

“Earlier this month on June 13th he was set for release; however, the Israeli military occupation authorities have now extended his sentence by a further six months using the “Administrative Detention” policy.

“In protest, Bilal has entered a hunger strike, and over 65 fellow Palestinian prisoners have followed him and declared an open-ended hunger strike in solidarity.

“Right now, over 715 Palestinians are imprisoned under what the Israeli authorities call “Administrative detention”.

“This corrupt policy used by the Israeli authorities to charge and detain Palestinians without trial is a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and International laws that guarantee fair trial standards.

“Israel’s overarching policy in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is to crush and fragment the Palestinian society and drive Palestinians out of their homeland.

“The Israeli authorises are engaging in mass detentions, violating the human rights of Palestinian citizens and constructing new settlements.

“We want the Irish government and the International community to stand up and publicly condemn Israel’s use of the so-called “Administrative Detention”, to demand that the Israeli authorities apply International laws on human rights, and to respect the fundamental rights and dignity of the Palestinian people.”

Bilal Kayed and his comrades continuing hunger strike protest steps, demanding freedom

30 June 2016

Bilal Kayed is on his sixteenth day of open hunger strike in protest of his administrative detention without charge or trial, following the expiration of his 14.5 year sentence in Israeli prisons on 13 June. Kayed and his comrades in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, as well as Palestinian prisoners across political lines, are engaged in an escalating series of protests demanding Kayed’s immediate release. His case is seen as threatening a dangerous precedent of the indefinite administrative detention of Palestinian prisoners following the expiration of lengthy sentences.

Palestinian prisoners have emphasized that they are “continuing their escalating steps in solidarity with the prisoner Bilal Kayed on hunger strike, according to their announced schedule of protest up to an open hunger strike.” Reports that prisoners have “suspended” or “postponed” their protest steps are incorrect and inaccurate; hundreds of prisoners are engaged collectively in a series of limited-term hunger strikes leading up to a planned open hunger strike in early July if Kayed remains imprisoned. Hundreds of prisoners will engage in a three day hunger strike this weekend, 1 July through 3 July, demanding Kayed’s freedom.

He will face an Israeli military court for the confirmation of the administrative detention order against him on 5 July. There are over 700 Palestinians held in administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial on the basis of secret evidence. Administrative detention orders are “confirmed” by an Israeli military court, and are issued for one to six months at a time; they are indefinitely renewable. Kayed refused to attend the previous confirmation hearing, stating his rejection of the military courts as illegitimate.

Kayed’s brother, Mahmoud, and sister, Suha, have released video statements calling on Palestinian, Arab and international forces to act in support of Kayed. Over 150 international organizations – and now 20 Brazilian political parties, unions, and women’s and student organizations – have joined the call for Kayed’s release, and many events have been organized in cities around the world in support of his case.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges continued and escalating solidarity efforts, protests, and organizing to demand Kayed’s freedom. Samidoun also cautions international readers to be skeptical and cautious regarding media reports of “suspensions” or other limitations of the prisoners’ struggle; incorrect reports can discourage and hinder the organizing that is necessary to support the prisoners whose bodies and lives are on the lines behind bars.

Palestinian father, lawyer Mohammed Alayan released after two days of detention and interrogation

30 June 2016

Israeli occupation forces released Mohammed Alayan, Palestinian lawyer and the father of Bahaa Alayan, killed by Israeli forces in Jerusalem on 13 October 2015, on Wednesday, 29 June after two days of interrogation, reported Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association.

Alayan, who is a leader in the movement of families for justice for their extrajudicially executed children, including return of the bodies – including his son’s – who continue to be held captive by the Israeli occupation, and preventing the demolition of family homes. Alayan’s family home, housing 25 people, was demolished by Israeli bulldozers.

Alayan was released following a hearing Tuesday in the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court – he was ordered to 5 days under house arrest, a 15-day ban from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque (where he had organized a protest of the families of the imprisoned bodies), and a fine. Lawyer Mohammed Mahmoud said that Israeli intelligence questioned Alayan about his participation in public protest activities calling for the release of the bodies of Palestinians slain by Israeli occupation forces, as well as about affiliation with a “prohibited organization.” All major Palestinian political parties are considered “prohibited organizations” under Israeli occupation military orders.

UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention slams Israeli human rights breaches in Hares Boy’s case, demands his immediate release

30 June 2016

by Julie Webb-Pullman (Reprinted from Gaza Scoop)

In an opinion released on June 29, 2016 The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention slammed Israel for its treatment of a Palestinian child arbitrarily detained, tortured, and forced to sign a document without first reading it. The Group also noted the discriminatory nature of the arrest based on the nationality of the victim, who was referred to as XXXXX, but acknowledged to be one of the children in the notorious Hares Boys case.

In the advance unedited version of the opinion, the Working Group “recommends the Government Israel to provide full reparations to XXXXX, starting with his immediate release,” and decided to refer the allegations of torture to the Special Rapporteur on torture for appropriate action.

Israeli authorities did not refute that on 16 March 2013 XXXXX was strip searched and locked in a small room for a long time, during which he was obliged to stay nakedly in stressful positions. In an interrogation room he was shackled, by hands and feet to a chair and was questioned for several hours. He was also subjected to verbal abuses and threats and was forced to sign a document that he was prevented from reading beforehand. For 21 days, XXXXX was held in solitary confinement with no access to the outside world and he was deprived of visits from his family and lawyer.

On 5 April 2013, he was transferred to Megiddo prison in northern Israel, where he was again held in solitary confinement for 19 days.

The Working Group noted that XXXXX was deprived of liberty when he was 17 years old, and had the right to be tried by a juvenile justice system in a speedy manner.

“Military Tribunals cannot be competent for civilians in accordance with relevant international human rights law. He was arrested without a warrant, was not informed of the reasons of the arrest and was not allowed to receive visits from his lawyer for several days following the date of his arrest. During interrogation,he was tortured and forced to sign a document without reading it first,” the Group found.

The Working Group concluded that the detention of XXXXX between 15 March 2013 and 9 April 2013 was arbitrary, being without any legal basis, nor any charge or trial.

It was also of the opinion that those acts from Israeli authorities are in violation of articles 9 and 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), as well as articles 9, 10 and 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and that detention of XXXXX was based in his Palestinian origin therefore was discriminatory in nature.

The Working Group has a mandate to investigate allegations of individuals being deprived of their liberty in an arbitrary way or inconsistently with international human rights standards, and to recommend remedies such as release from detention and compensation, when appropriate.

Toulouse BDS activists to face trial as Leila Khaled, Georges Abdallah, French activists urge support

30 June 2016

Four activists in the boycott, divestment, sanctions (BDS) campaign to support the Palestinian people’s struggle through the boycott of Israeli products and institutions are facing a trial today, 30 June, in Toulouse, France. Supporters will rally outside the courthouse at 1 pm to demand the dismissal of all charges against the four activists.

The four activists, Jean-Pierre, Bernard, Yamann, and Loïc, are charged with “obstructing the normal exercise of economic activity” for distributing leaflets in public squares in Toulouse in December 2014 and February 2015 urging the boycott of Israeli products. The prosecution was pursued at the request of two pro-Israeli lobby groups (LICRA and its local affiliate) by the Prosecutor of the Republic.

A wide coalition, the Comité de Soutien aux inculpéEs BDS toulousains, has organized French and international solidarity with the accused activists, garnering wide support from unions, civil society organizations, political parties and human rights organizations to demand the dismissal of the charges.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network’s Mohammed Khatib participated in an event in support of the accused four activists in Toulouse on 31 May; the event had been denied a room at the order of Toulouse’s mayor, but in a significant victory for freedom of expression and the right to engage in BDS activism in France, Toulouse’s tribunal ordered the room to be provided for the event, which went on as scheduled, and damages paid to the organizers.

GIA-Toulouse Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, the Lebanese Communist struggler for Palestine who has been imprisoned in French jails for 32 years, expressed his support for the four activists, as did Leila Khaled, Palestinian resistance icon and member of the Political Bureau of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

They joined figures like Michael Warschawski, Roger Hillel, and Rony Braumann, and organizations like the Party of the Indigenous of the Republic, the Mouvement for Peace, the Union of French Jews for Peace, the Association France-Palestine Solidarite, Coup Pour Coup 31, MRAP, OCML-Voie Proletarienne, the League for Human Rights in Toulouse and many others – including BDS France – to support the four accused activists and demand their acquittal and the dismissal of the charges.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network reiterates its complete support for the four accused Toulouse BDS activists, Jean-Pierre, Bernard, Yamann, and Loïc, and demands their immediate acquittal and the dismissal of all charges and accusations against them.

The case against the four activists comes amid a concerted Israeli state effort backed up by the Zionist movement internationally and imperialist and colonialist states like France and the United States to criminalize support for the Palestinian people through anti-BDS laws and prosecutions. These efforts come hand in hand with the criminalization of Palestinian political parties and resistance movements through so-called “anti-terror” legislation and the use of police and security forces to infiltrate, surveil and prosecute Palestinian community leaders.

The attempts in France to criminalize the boycott of Israel also come alongside the 32-year imprisonment of political prisoner, Lebanese Communist struggler Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, and the French support for the Israeli state and the Zionist project, while the state attempts to position itself as a broker of a new “peace process.” France’s own long history of racism and colonialism are reflected in its ongoing support for the Zionist project and its attempt to criminalize the defense of the Palestinian people and the boycott of the occupier.

Such arrests, trials and prosecutions are an attempt to shut down the growing movement in solidarity with the Palestinian people and the growing BDS campaign to boycott Israeli products and institutions through fear, criminalization and oppression. We demand the end of all charges and attempts to prosecute BDS activists in France and around the world. It is time not only to defend the right to boycott and to stand in solidarity movement, but to expand the boycott movement and the Palestine solidarity movement to struggle in support of the Palestinian people’s liberation movement for return and the liberation of Palestine.

“Free Marwan Barghouthi” banner returns to Paris-area city hall after legal victory

30 June 2016

The Administrative Court of Montreuil in France rejected on Tuesday, 28 June an appeal by the Seine-Saint-Denis prefecture (representing the central French state), demanding the removal of a banner supporting Palestinian prisoner and leader Marwan Barghouthi from the front of the city hall of Stains, in a victory for supporters of Palestinian political prisoners and Stains’ mayor Azzedine Taibi.

The court found that the prefecture’s arguments were inadmissible and invalid, despite an earlier temporary order that the banner must be removed. Azzedine Taibi, the mayor of Stains and a representative of the French Communist Party, said that “This is not a personal victory but a collective victory!…Marwan Barghouthi will remain an honorary citizen of our city and I know that one day, he will be on our side, here in Stains, the city of popular resistance! The struggle and the mobilization will only grow for the liberation of Marwan Barghouti and all Palestinian political prisoners…”

The prefect – representing the government of Prime Minister Manuel Valls, who has urged prosecution of BDS activists and the suppression of the movement to boycott Israel – argued that the banner was “not of local interest” and likely to lead to a “disturbance of public order.” Manuel Valls, as Minister of the Interior, previously intervened in the case of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah – after intervention from US Secretary of State and now presidential candidate Hillary Clinton – to block the release to Lebanon on parole of the Lebanese Communist prisoner and struggler for Palestine who has been imprisoned in French jails for 32 years.

The prefect’s case was dismissed, as was a complaint filed against the mayor by the BNCVA, a pro-Zionist organization that nominally combats anti-Semitism but in practice focuses on attempts to suppress Palestine solidarity and the boycott of Israel, which accused Taibi of “public apology for terrorism” for his support of Barghouti.

Stains is one of a group of 23 French municipalities who have named the imprisoned Fateh leader and Palestinian Legislative Council member an honorary citizen. A delegation of 16 French mayors was prohibited from visiting Barghouthi in Gilboa prison in Palestine by the Israeli occupation on 14 June; the mayors participated later in a press conference in support of the campaign to nominate Marwan Barghouthi for a Nobel Peace Prize, a campaign supported by Belgian parliamentarians, Desmond Tutu, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, and the Tunisian winners of the 2015 Peace Prize.

Taibi hosted a ceremony outside the Stains City Hall on Wednesday night, 29 June, celebrating the victory and the official unveiling and replacement of the “Free Marwan Barghouthi” banner to the front entrance of the Stains city hall.

The Stains victory is one of several in France against attempts to criminalize or suppress the Palestine solidarity movement or the boycott of Israel. A court in Créteil dismissed a prosecution for “incitement to discrimintion” against Jean-Claude Lefort pursued by the Association France-Israel and “Lawyers Without Borders” on 24 June, because he had called for a boycott of Israeli products; the court noted that this was a matter of expression on a “debate of general international interest.” In addition, the municipality of Bondy voted on Thursday, 23 June to refuse to purchase goods made in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Today, 30 June, 4 BDS activists will face a trial in Toulouse; they are accused of “obstructing the normal exercise of economic activity of three stores” for distributing leaflets in public squares in support of the boycott of Israeli goods. The prosecution was initiated by LICRA, a French pro-Israel advocacy organization; activists are mobilizing outside the courthouse at 1 pm in support of the 4 accused organizers.

New Video: Mahmoud Kayed urges action to free imprisoned brother Bilal

30 June 2016

Mahmoud Kayed, the brother of imprisoned Palestinian Bilal Kayed, has released a new video urging action and mobilization in support of his brother’s case.

Bilal Kayed, 35, has been on hunger strike since 14 June in protest of his administrative detention without charge or trial; he was scheduled to be released from Israeli prison on 13 June after completing his 14.5 year sentence, but instead was ordered to detention. He is now imprisoned in isolation in Ahli Kedar prison.

Palestinian prisoners are engaged in a program of protests and actions to demand his freedom, and protests have taken place across Palestine and around the world in support of his case.

9 July, NYC: Elders in Prison: Bringing Them Home & Rebuilding Our Communities

29 June 2016

Join the movement to release our elders from prison & help them connect to the social services in our communities.

Come learn about the unjust barriers Senior Citizens face getting out of prison and how to re-build strong & healthy communities by supporting their release, re-integration, & re-entry into our neighborhoods.

Free Admission includes 9am continental breakfast and lunch.

Speakers, Workshops, Music, Informational Tables, Community Organizations & Social Service Providers, & Engaging Dialogue & Discussion!

Featuring:

Ms. Rose Laborde, mother of Political Prisoner Abdullah Majid
Sekou Odinga, recently released elder & former U.S. Political Prisoner
Farid Mujahid, formerly incarcerated elder & co-founder of RAPP
Dequi Kioni-Sadiki, Malcolm X Commemoration Committee
Al Tony Simon, formerly incarcerated elder & organizer for RAPP
Kelly Sloan, NYC singer/songwriter

Release Aging People in Prison/RAPP
RAPPCampaign.com
Twitter: @RAPPcampaign

In Partnership with:

Queens Community Board 12: Senior Citizen & Health Committee, Youth Committee
Queens Educational Opportunity Center
Southeast Queens Muslim Collective

E, J, or Z trains to Parsons Blvd.-Jamaica Center. F train to Parsons Blvd., 4 blocks south to Archer Avenue. Long Island Bus: N4 or Long Island Railroad (LIRR) to Jamaica Station.

Mark your calendars: On Saturday, July 9 th , the Queens Educational Opportunity Center will be the site of a lively community forum. The gathering, “Elders in Prison: Bringing Them Home & Rebuilding Our Communities,” will bring together neighbors, seniors, and experts on health and housing for workshops, performances, and informal discussions. The entire event, beginning at 9:00 a.m., is free of charge, including breakfast and lunch.

The Queens community forum has been in the planning for a year. In June 2015, Al Tony Simon of Release Aging People in Prison/RAPP spoke at a meeting of Community Board 12-Queens, urging the board to support the efforts of incarcerated elders to win their release and re-join their neighbors, families, and friends in Queens. As Tess McRae reported in the Southeast Queens Press at the time, “When a serious crime is committed and a young individual is sent to prison for decades, it’s hard to imagine them as a senior citizen living behind bars. But more often than not, men and women over the age of 50 sit and eventually die in prison, even if they haven’t posed a threat to society for years.”

Queens Community Board 12’s Senior Citizen & Health Committee and Youth Committee will host the event together with RAPP and the Southeast Queens Muslim Collective. “The Senior Citizen & Health Committee of Community Board 12 in Queens, with the support of the entire Board, is honored to partner with RAPP in presenting a forum to the community on welcoming home older adults who have been incarcerated for many years,” said Carol J. Hunt, Chairperson of the Senior Citizen & Health Committee. “Southeast Queens is privileged to have 10 senior centers which will be the most welcoming environment for them because of the core values of what a senior center stands for,” Hunt added.

René Valdez, an organizer with RAPP, described what will take place on July 9. “We are going to hear from elders who, since their own release from prison, have served as mentors and advocates, providing support and guidance to other formerly incarcerated people—and through that work, to the community as a whole,” he said. “They will be speaking on panels alongside former employees of the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, health care providers, housing experts, and social workers.”

The organizers pointed to the comments Mr. Simon made last June in his appearance at the Community Board meeting, as reported in the Southeast Queens Press:

“I just served 30 years, I came into the prison system in 1981 and was released in 2013, but I made a transition while in prison,” Tony Simon, a former inmate and RAPP advocate, said. “So many young people make mistakes in life, end up with long-term bids and change as they age. They become positive assets to society through making amends and redeeming themselves.”

Those assets can be magnified if other communities follow the example of Queens, not only welcoming returning citizens but also learning from them.

Saturday, 9 July
9:00 am – 3:00 pm
Queens Educational Opportunity Center (QEOC)
158-29 Archer Avenue, Jamaica, Queens
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1015262411903071
Organized by Release Aging People in Prison/RAPP

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