27 May, NYC: Protest to Free Hunger Strikers and All Palestinian Prisoners

22 May 2016

Friday, 27 May
4:00 pm
G4S Office – NYC (17 W 44th St)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1602700516710963/

Four Palestinian political prisoners – Fouad Assi, Adib Mafarjah, Sami Janazreh and Mansour Mawqadeh – are on extended hunger strikes against their “administrative detention,” or indefinite internment, without charge or trial, under Israeli military orders or against their mistreatment and medical neglect in Israeli jails.

Assi, Mafarjah and Janazreh are among 750 “administrative detainees” out of 7,000 Palestinian political prisoners incarcerated by Israel.

G4S, the world’s largest firm company and second-biggest private employer, equips Israeli prisons and detention centers where Palestinian political prisoners are held and tortured, as well as the occupation forces and infrastructure that routinely massacre Palestinians while holding millions under military rule.

Join us to answer a united appeal by Palestinian prisoners for escalated boycotts of G4S.

Demand G4S immediately end its contracts with Israeli prisons and detention centers, occupation and security forces and checkpoints, and that Israel release Assi, Mafarjah, Janazreh and Mawqadeh, other administrative detainees and ill prisoners and all Palestinian political prisoners.

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

New Yorkers demand freedom for Mafarjah and Assi, celebrate release of Al-Qeeq

21 May 2016

New York City protesters demonstrated on Friday, 20 May outside the local office of British-Danish security conglomerate G4S, a contractor with Israeli Prison Service, to demand that Israel release Adib Mafarjah and Fouad Assi, two Palestinian prisoners on their 48th day of hunger strike against Israeli administrative detention – incarceration without charge or trial under Israeli military orders. They also demanded that G4S end its Israeli contracts, under which the corporation provides security systems, equipment and control rooms to Israeli prisons, checkpoints, police training centers, and even the Erez/Beit Hanoun crossing where the siege of Gaza is enforced.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network’s weekly New York protest also celebrated the 19 May release of Mohammed al-Qeeq, a Palestinian journalist who conducted a 94-day hunger strike demanding his freedom from administrative detention without charge or trial.

One passerby from Ireland spoke with demonstrators, recalling the 1980-81 hunger strikes by Irish republicans and in particular, Bobby Sands and the 9 other Irish strikers who gave their lives on hunger strike, in light of the ongoing Palestinian hunger strikes against colonial incarceration. Among those who discussed the situation with demonstrators were several women from the Netherlands, who discussed Palestine activism and organizing – including the campaign against G4S – in their country.

Mafarjah and Assi have been on hunger strike since 3 April to demand their release from imprisonment without charge or trial. Mafarjah and Assi’s health has deteriorated significantly; both are now hospitalized, but were held in solitary confinement from the beginning of their strikes in an attempt to pressure them to end their protest.

Also striking is Sami Janazrah, 43, who resumed his hunger strike on Wednesday, 18 May after a week of consuming only liquids, after his administrative detention continued despite an Israeli Supreme Court hearing and a date for prosecutors to continue investigation.

On Thursday, 19 May, the Palestinian Prisoners Society said that Janazrah’s administrative detention would be ended – but that he would then be accused in the Israeli military courts, which convict over 99% of the Palestinians brought before them, of “incitement.” Incitement is a vague charge that has been used to arrest over 150 Palestinians for Facebook posts and many more for public speeches and other political activity and expressions of opinion.

G4S is the target of an international boycott campaign – including a call from Palestinian prisoners – for its involvement in profiting from the imprisonment of Palestinians. G4S is also boycotted for its involvement in youth incarceration and migrant detention in the US, UK and Australia; it has lost several contracts at universities in the US, at UN institutions in Jordan, and at various corporations and public institutions around the world because of its involvement in human rights violations in Palestine and around the world. The corporation has pledged to end its involvement in “reputationally damaging” businesses, including selling off its Israeli subsidiary – but after ongoing G4S promises but little action, Palestinian activists have urged the continuation and escalation of the campaign against G4S.

BDS Egypt recently launched a local campaign against G4S, following in the footsteps of growing projects confronting G4S’ presence in Jordan, Morocco, Kuwait and Lebanon. UK trade unions are also pressing G4S regarding its claimed plans to end its contract with the Israeli Prison Service.

Samidoun protests weekly in New York City on Fridays at 4 pm outside the G4S office in Manhattan, at 19 W. 44th Street, highlighting G4S’ profiteering from the imprisonment of Palestinians and demanding freedom for all Palestinian prisoners.

Photos by Joe Catron

Palestinian student Kifah Quzmar freed on bail from PA detention

21 May 2016

Palestinian student activist Kifah Quzmar was freed from Palestinian Authority detention on Thursday, 19 May; he was arrested on 11 May and ordered to remain jailed for 15 days for investigation of his facebook post in which he denounced the Palestinian Authority for its detention of friend and fellow youth activist Seif al-Idrissi.

Quzmar was released on Thursday after his brother retained a lawyer and sued in Palestinian court for his release; his brother paid $7000 in bail, and Quzmar must return to court next week. Quzmar missed two exams in his Bir Zeit University studies while imprisoned, reported Mondoweiss in an interview with Quzmar upon his release.

Quzmar, who has met many international activists at conferences and events, organizes with the Progressive Democratic Student Pole at Bir Zeit University, the leftist student bloc in campus politics. He is not alone in being targeted for Facebook posts by the PA; dozens of people are annually arrested for “insulting” PA officials, including a number of Palestinian students. Leftist students like Quzmar and members of the Islamic Bloc have been detained by PA forces.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Palestinian leftist political party, demanded Quzmar’s “immediate and unconditional release as well as that of all political detainees and prisoners of security coordination in PA jails.”

“First off, Quzmar was not held in a traditional jail cell. He was remanded to an intelligence center without proper facilities guaranteed to incarcerated persons. Quzmar’s brothers dropped off a few changes of clothes and a towel, but he was not provided with these items…Quzmar’s attorney was in court where a judge ordered his release. However, the Palestinian intelligence service refused to let him go free. Quzmar remained in custody for an additional eight-hours before he was abruptly told he could go home,” reported Mondoweiss.

These events come in the framework of Palestinian Authority security forces’ “security coordination” with Israeli occupation forces, including the sharing of intelligence information, and the arrest of over 150 Palestinians by Israeli occupation forces for posts on Facebook and other social media sites.

Photo: Facebook, Quzmar at a Progressive Democratic Student Pole rally at Bir Zeit

Samidoun salutes freed youth Majd Atwan, Bashar Da’na, urges freedom for all Palestinian prisoners

20 May 2016

Majd Atwan, 22, was released on Thursday, 19 May after spending over a month in Israeli prison for alleged “Facebook incitement.” Atwan, a makeup artist and recent beauty school graduate, was welcomed to her home in Al-Khader near Bethlehem by friends and family. She was arrested in April in a 2:00 am armed Israeli occupation raid on her home.

Atwan is one of over 150 Palestinians, including 28 women, imprisoned by the Israeli military courts or administrative detention regime for postings on Facebook expressing support for Palestinian resistance, mourning Palestinians killed by Israeli forces, or expressing support for the intifada.

Also released on Thursday, 19 May was Bashar Da’na, Palestinian youth activist and organizer, released from administrative detention after 26 months imprisonment without charge or trial.

Da’na is the son of Palestinian professor and leader in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Abdul-Alim Da’na, who was imprisoned with his son in administrative detention without charge or trial in 2014-15.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes these freed Palestinian youth and notes the hundreds of Palestinian youth and students who remain behind Israeli bars, targeted for persecution. We salute the struggles of Palestinian youth for freedom and liberation, from Israeli prisons and from occupation, apartheid, Zionism and settler colonialism. Welcome home, Majd and Bashar; we soon hope to see a true homecoming for all 7,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Mohammed al-Qeeq, former hunger striker and Palestinian journalist, released from Israeli prison

20 May 2016

Palestinian journalist and former hunger striker Mohammed al-Qeeq was freed from Israeli prison on Thursday, 19 May. Al-Qeeq had been held in administrative detention without charge or trial, and engaged in a 94-day hunger strike demanding his release. His strike drew widespread Palestinian and international attention, and highlighted the issue of administrative detention and the imprisonment of Palestinian journalists.

Al-Qeeq, 33, was welcomed back to Ramallah by his wife, Fayha Shalash – a fellow Palestinian journalist who was an international spokesperson for his case – and children. A rally celebrating Al-Qeeq’s release included greetings from former prisoners and long-term hunger strikers Khader Adnan and Ayman al-Tabeesh, as well as freed 12-year-old former child prisoner Dima al-Wawi.

Al-Qeeq’s imprisonment, which lasted for six months, highlighted the detention of Palestinian journalists by the Israeli occupation. Currently detained Palestinian journalists include Omar Nazzal, member of the general secretariat of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, Sami al-Saee, and Samah Dweik. Al-Saee and Dweik were both targeted for their social media postings.

There are currently approximately 750 Palestinians imprisoned without charge or trial under administrative detention. Sami Janazrah, Fouad Assi and Adib Mafarjah, three Palestinian administrative detainees, are currently engaged in long-term hunger strikes demanding their freedom.

Samidoun congratulates Mohammed al-Qeeq on his release, salutes him for his steadfastness, and urges an immediate end to the policy of administrative detention, an end to the imprisonment of Palestinian journalists, and freedom for Sami Janazrah, Fouad Assi, Adib Mafarjah, and all Palestinian prisoners.

20 May, NYC: Protest to free Adib Mafarjah and Fouad Assi and stop G4S

19 May 2016

Friday, 20 May
4:00 pm
G4S Office – 19 W. 44th St
New York City
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1783681461865809/

On Friday, Palestinian political prisoners Adib Mafarjah and Fouad Assi will reach the 48th day of hunger strikes protesting their “administrative detention,” military internment by Israeli occupation forces without charge or trial.

They are now being held in Barzilai Hospital in the same room, reported Palestinian lawyer Ashraf Abu Sneineh. This is the first time throughout the strike that Mafarjah and Assi, who launched their strike on 3 April, have been held in the same place.

Mafarjah has been imprisoned without charge or trial since 10 December 2014, while Assi has been imprisoned since 9 August 2015. Both are demanding their freedom and an end to the system of administrative detention in which 750 Palestinians are currently held. Previous prominent hunger strikers, like Mohammed al-Qeeq, Khader Adnan, Muhammad Allan, Nidal Abu Aker and Ghassan Zawahra have also been imprisoned without charge or trial under administrative detention. The practice violates international law and has been widely internationally condemned, most recently by the United Nations Committee Against Torture.

Abu Sneineh also reported that an Israeli Supreme Court hearing will consider Mafarjah’s appeal on 1 June. Both Assi and Mafarjah are from Beit Liqiya near Ramallah.

G4S, the world’s largest firm company and second-biggest private employer, equips Israeli prisons and detention centers where Palestinian political prisoners are held and tortured, as well as the occupation forces and infrastructure that routinely massacre Palestinians while holding millions under military rule.

Join us to answer a united appeal by Palestinian prisoners for escalated boycotts of G4S.

Demand G4S immediately end its contracts with Israeli prisons and detention centers, occupation and security forces and checkpoints, and that Israel release administrative detainees and all Palestinian political prisoners.

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

Belgian parliamentarians nominate Marwan Barghouthi for Nobel Peace Prize

19 May 2016

Reprinted from Palestine News Network: Leading Belgian Members of Parliament from across the political spectrum in both the House of Representatives and the Senate have announced their nomination of Marwan Barghouthi for the Nobel Peace Prize.

This is the first European nomination of Marwan for the Prize. The signatories of the letter of nomination include Gwenaëlle Grovonius (PS), President of the bilateral section Belgium-Palestine of the Belgian group to the Inter-Parliamentary Union and federal parliamentary deputy, Dirk Vandermaelen (sp.a.), President of the External Relations Committee, Vincent Van Quickenborne (Open-VLD), President of the Social Affairs Committee, Jean-Marc Delizée (PS), President of the Economy Committee, Benoit Hellings (Ecolo), Vice-President of the National Defence Committee, and Senators Piet De Bruyn (N-VA) and Nadia El Yousfi (PS).

The letter of nomination states “Marwan is an elected representative of the Palestinian nation, and was the first parliamentarian to be arrested…He is a democrat defending Human rights, notably women rights. He was actively engaged in the promotion of political and religious pluralism, and as such he is an important actor for the future of a region more fragmented than ever…Peace requires the freedom of Marwan Barghouthi and of the political prisoners, and more generally the freedom of the Palestinian people living for decades under occupation. By granting the Nobel Peace Prize to the one who embodies the Palestinian people’s struggle for freedom, but also their aspiration to achieve peace, a leader that can unite Palestinians around a political project that clearly includes a two-state solution on 1967 borders, more threatened than ever by colonisation and the absence of a political horizon, the Committee for the Nobel Prize would help resurrect the indispensable hope to go out of the current impasse.”

The International Campaign to Free Marwan Barghouthi and all Palestinian prisoners was launched from the cell of Nelson Mandela in October 2013 by anti-Apartheid icon Ahmed Kathrada, who launched the Free Mandela campaign before spending 26 years in Apartheid jails. The Campaign has since received the support of 8 Nobel Peace Prize Laureates (Jimmy Carter, Adolfo Perez Esquivel, José Ramos Horta, Desmond Tutu, Mairead Maguire, Jody Williams, Sherin Ebadi, Rigoberta Menchú Tum), 115 Governments around the world, 15 former Heads of States and Governments, hundreds of parliamentarians, artists, intellectuals, academics, and thousands of citizens, making it the biggest international campaign in the history of the Palestinian struggle.

The nomination by leading Belgian parliamentarians is the third nomination of Marwan Barghouthi to the Nobel Peace Prize this year. Adolfo Perez Esquivel was the first to nominate Marwan in January 2016. Esquivel is an Argentinian artist and was a leading figure and icon of the struggle against dictatorships in Latin America, notably in Argentina, where he was arrested and tortured under the dictatorship. He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1980. The second nomination came as a result of a unanimous decision of the Arab Parliament.

There are today 7000 Palestinian prisoners, including 7 parliamentarians, 400 children, 30 pre-Oslo prisoners, 67 women, 20 journalists, 750 administrative detainees, hundreds of sick prisoners.

Press release: UN Committee Against Torture recommends 50+ measures to Israel to end its use of torture

19 May 2016

The following press release was issued jointly by Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, Adalah, and Physicians for Human Rights Israel regarding the UN Committee Against Torture concluding observations on Israel:

The Committee calls on Israel to end administrative detention, repeal the Unlawful Combatants Law, and prohibit the solitary confinement of children; emphasizes that forced feeding of hunger strikers may be torture or ill-treatment.

The Committee raised concerns about Israel’s extrajudicial executions of Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem and in the access-restricted areas of Gaza; and called for the immediate release of the bodies of deceased Palestinians.

On 13 May 2016, the UN Committee Against Torture issued its extensive concluding observations on Israel. Spanning over 50 items, these recommendations follow from the Committee’s 3 and 4 May 2016 review of Israel’s compliance with the UN Convention against Torture (CAT). Israel ratified the CAT in 1991, and as other state parties, is reviewed regularly by the Committee Against Torture.

Adalah, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel submitted a joint NGO report to the Committee, and attended the review session in Geneva. The Committee raised numerous issues highlighted by the human rights organizations in its report in the concluding observations as matters of grave concern. Included among the principal subjects of concern and recommendations are the following:

Scope of the Convention’s applicability: Despite Israel’s contention otherwise, the Committee reaffirmed that the Convention applies to the Occupied Territories (para. 9)
Definition and criminalization of torture, removal of necessity defense: The Committee remained “concerned that a specific offence of torture” based on the Convention has not yet been adopted. While the Committee noted that the Justice Ministry is drafting a new bill in this regard, the Committee called on Israel “to speed up the process”. It also urged Israel again “to completely remove necessity as a possible justification for torture.” (para. 12-15) In the partners’ view, Israel is in non-compliance with the Convention 25 years after ratification, as Israeli law contains no crime of torture and includes the “necessity defense”.
Access to a lawyer and arraignment before a judge: The Committee recommended that Israel “ensure, in law and in practice, that all persons deprived of liberty, irrespective of the charges brought against them, the law applicable to them or wherever they may be located, are afforded all legal safeguards from the very outset of the deprivation of liberty, including the rights to be assisted by a lawyer and to be brought before a judge without delay.” (para. 16, 17)
Audio-visual documentation of interrogations: The Committee recommended that Israel “ensure the compulsory audio-visual recording” of all suspects’ interrogations … and that “Audio-visual footage should be monitored by an independent body and kept for a period sufficient for it to be used as evidence in courts.” (para. 18, 19)
Independent medical examinations of persons deprived of liberty: Israel should to guarantee that all physicians and medical staff dealing with imprisoned persons “duly document all signs and allegations of torture or ill-treatment and report them without delay to the appropriate authorities.” Further, it should consider “transferring responsibility for all types of healthcare of persons deprived of liberty to the Ministry of Health in order to ensure that medical staff can operate fully independently from the custodial authorities.” (para. 20, 21)
Administrative detention and Incarceration of Unlawful Combatants Law: Israel should take urgent measures to “end the practice of administrative detention” and ensure that all persons who are currently held in administrative detention are “afforded all basic legal safeguards; and to “repeal the Incarceration of Unlawful Combatants Law.” (para. 22, 23)
Solitary confinement: Israel should “(a) ensure that solitary confinement and [isolation] are used only in exceptional cases as a measure of last resort, for as short a time as possible and subject to independent review, in line with international standards; (b) put an immediate end and prohibit the use of solitary confinement … for juveniles and persons with intellectual or psychosocial disabilities; and (c) … regularly publish comprehensive disaggregated data on the use of solitary confinement and equivalent measures.” (para. 24, 25)
Hunger strikes/forced feeding: Israel should guarantee that hunger strikers “are never subjected to ill-treatment or punished for engaging in a hunger strike, and are provided with necessary medical care in accordance with their wishes.” Further, that hunger strikers, who are competent to take informed decisions, “are never subjected to feeding or other medical treatment against their will, as these are practices that may amount to torture or ill-treatment.” (para. 26, 27)
Excessive use of force: The Committee raised concerns at allegations of excessive use of force, including lethal force, by security forces, mostly against Palestinians in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the access-restricted areas (ARAs) of the Gaza Strip, particularly in the context of demonstrations, in response to attacks or alleged attacks against Israeli civilians or security forces, and to enforce the ARAs of the Gaza Strip. Notably the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that, “some of these responses strongly suggest unlawful killings, including possible extrajudicial executions” (A/HRC/31/40, para. 10). Thus, Israel should ensure that “the rules of engagement or regulations on opening fire are fully consistent with the Convention and other relevant international standards” and that “all instances and allegations of excessive use of force are investigated promptly, effectively and impartially by an independent body, that alleged perpetrators are duly prosecuted and, if found guilty, adequately sanctioned.” (para. 32, 33)
Return of bodies: While noting Israel’s new agreement to initiate the return of the bodies, the Committee urged Israel “to return the bodies of the Palestinians that have not yet been returned to their relatives as soon as possible so they can be buried in accordance with their traditions and religious customs, and to avoid that similar situations are repeated in the future.” (para. 42, 43)

For more information:

> Contact Tom Mehager, Adalah’s Media Director: tom@adalah.org, +972 (0) 52-436-6355

24 May, NYC: US Out of the Philippines Now! Rally for Food, Land and Justice in Mindanao

19 May 2016

Join BAYAN USA Northeast on the last day of Lakbay Lumad USA to commemorate the anniversary of the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) and to demand: U.S. OUT OF THE PHILIPPINES NOW! FIGHT FOR FOOD, LAND & JUSTICE IN MINDANAO!

TIME – 5:30 PM assembly

DATE – Tuesday, May 24

WHEN – Times Square Armed Forces Recruiting Station, 43rd and 7th (200 W 43rd St, New York, NY 10036)

RSVP to the Facebook event here

#LakbayLumadUSA, a delegation of indigenous Lumad leaders from Mindanao the southernmost island of the Philippines, has been traveling throughout the United States since April and is culminating its historical speaking tour in New York City. The delegates have been calling public attention to the violent repression against the Lumad committed by President Noynoy Aquino’s military, police and paramilitary forces; demanding accountability; and challenging the Mindanao-native and President-elect Rodrigo Duterte to end the impunity.

Now, in the same week as the 17th anniversary of the VFA signing, the Lumad delegates will be joining Filipinos and allies in the Northeast to protest the unrestricted U.S. military aid flowing to the Philippine military and the continued U.S. military and economic intervention in the Philippines. The controversial (VFA) has served as the basis for U.S. intervention in the Philippines and paved the way for the indefinite permanent presence of at least 660 U.S. Special Operations Forces in Mindanao, dozens of annual war games with thousands of foreign troops on Philippine soil and in Philippine waters, and unlimited docking and travel of U.S. warships in Philippine ports and through Philippine land and airspace. This year, the United States increased its military aid to the Philippines from $50 million to $79 million. BAYAN USA Northeast condemns this foreign military financing as a tool of imperialism, which is wrongly justified as a way to “assist” the Philippines in the midst of rising tensions with China.

By funding the AFP, the U.S. is strengthening counterinsurgency initiatives of the government, namely Oplan Bayanihan, and the continued human rights violations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) against community leaders and activists, especially the Lumad. The Philippine military and paramilitary forces are occupying and destroying schools and communities of the Lumad who are defending their right to education and protecting their indigenous culture and livelihood from devastation by corporate mining and logging.

We urge you to join us in ensuring that U.S. tax dollars are not used to perpetuate blatant human rights violations under the administration of President Benigno S. Aquino and the incoming administration of Rodrigo Duterte. We call on the prosecution and jailing of the President Benigno S. Aquino, whose administration was the primary actor responsible for the human rights violations against the Lumad. We also celebrate the victories of the Lumad people in the midst of adversity and their relentless struggle towards peace with justice!

Let us bid our Lumad brothers and sisters farewell and safe travels as they end their historic speaking tour in the U.S in the best way we know how — JOIN THEM IN THEIR JUST & RIGHTEOUS DEMANDS FOR JUSTICE!!

U.S. out of the Philippines NOW!

End Militarization! Junk VFA!

Stop Lumad Killings! Save Our Schools!

Fight for Food, Land & Justice in Mindanao!

#StopLumadKillings #SaveOurSchools
#JunkVFA #USOutofPH
#FoodLandJustice #RiceNotBullets #BigasHindiBala

Samidoun joins over 300 European organizations defending the right to boycott

19 May 2016

Originally published by the European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine (ECCP):

More than 300 human rights and aid organisations, church groups, trade unions and political parties from across Europe have called on the EU to uphold its legal responsibilities and hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law and to defend the right of individuals and institutions to take part in the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for justice and equality.

Signatories to the letter called on the EU commission to “introduce the human rights guidelines guaranteeing freedom of speech and right to boycott and to use all other means you have in your disposal to support European citizens in their struggle to uphold basic human rights.”

Having failed to stop the growth of the BDS movement, Israel has launched an unprecedented attack against the BDS movement for Palestinian freedom, justice and equality.

The 354 strong list of signatories includes: Transform! Europe – a european network of 28 European organizations from 19 countries, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, The Norwegian United Federation of Trade Unions, Parti de Gauche in France, Podemos in Spain, Norwegian Church Aid, the Flemish branch of Oxfam in Belgium, major Belgian NGO coalition CNCD 11.11.11, Defence for Children in Belgium, Greenpeace in Germany, the international catholic peace movement Pax Christi International in Belgium and major French Catholic NGO Terre Solidaire. See here for letter and full list of signatories.

At Israel’s request, European governments including the UK and France are introducing anti-democratic legislation and taking other repressive measures to undermine the BDS movement. In France, one activist was arrested simply for wearing a BDS t-shirt.

The EU envoy to Israel was criticised recently for participating in an anti-BDS conference in Jerusalem at which Israeli government ministers threatened BDS activists.

Israel has also imposed an effective travel ban on BDS movement co-founder Omar Barghouti, following thinly-veiled threats of physical violence against him by Israeli government ministers that prompted Amnesty International to express concern “for the safety and liberty of Palestinian human rights defender Omar Barghouti”.

Israeli state repression against human rights defenders and the BDS movement is designed to shield it from being held accountable for its violations of international law. Israel has openly boasted that it is spying on international BDS activists.

Riya Hassan, Europe Campaigns Officer for the Palestinian BDS National Committee, the broadest coalition of Palestinian organisations that leads and supports the BDS movement, said:

“Rather than helping Israel to repress the BDS movement, it is time for the EU to meet its obligations under international law and hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law. The EU must uphold the right of European, Palestinian and Israeli citizens to uphold human rights and take part in the nonviolent BDS movement.”

Aneta Jerska, the coordinator of the European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine (ECCP), one of the organisations that has signed the statement, said:

“It is empowering to see so many European civil society organisations and representative bodies publicly declaring their support for the right to participate in the BDS movement that aims to hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law and human rights.

“This is a powerful sign that European public opinion is increasingly viewing BDS as an act of free speech. We will continue to fight to bring an end to Israel’s unjust system of oppression over the Palestinian people.”

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