British members of Parliament call for freedom for Marwan Barghouthi

16 April 2016

British Members of Parliament from diverse political parties have signed on to a parliamentary motion calling on the Israeli occupation to release imprisoned Palestinian political leader and parliamentarian, Marwan Barghouthi, who has been jailed for the past 14 years, reported the campaign to Free Marwan Barghouthi and All Political Prisoners on Friday, 15 April.

The statement calls for his release so that he can “play a part in the process of reconciliation, unification and negotiation that will be needed before Palestine achieves its independence,” and cites the precedent of South Africa, where Nelson Mandela was released from prison so he could take part in negotiations for majority rule, and India, where Gandhi and Nehru were released by the British so they could take part in negotiations for independence.

The parliamentary motion was tabled by Tommy Sheppard of the Scottish National Party and its signatories include the Conservative chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Crispin Blunt, and the current Father of the House of Commons Sir Gerald Kaufman.

Barghouthi, a prominent Fateh leader, has spent a total of 20 years inside Israeli prisons and he has been for many years now in Cell 28 in Hadarim prison. He has regular visits from his wife Fadwa, but is allowed very little other contact with the outside world.

Eight winners of the Nobel peace prize have signed the “Robben Island declaration” calling for his release, including President Jimmy Carter and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and the Argentinian Nobel laureate Adolfo Esquivel has nominated him for the Nobel peace prize this year.

Like other prominent imprisoned Palestinian political leaders such as Ahmad Sa’adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Barghouthi refused to recognize the legitimacy of Israeli military courts. Despite Barghouthi’s insistence outside the military courts that his role in Fateh is political in nature, he was imprisoned for armed resistance actions taken by Fateh’s armed wing in the second Intifada.

18 April, Gennevilliers: Press Conference and Public Meeting on Marwan Barghouti

15 April 2016

Monday, 18 April
3:30 pm and 6:30 pm
Hotel de Ville
177 avenue Gabriel Peri
Gennevilliers, France

Via Association France Palestine Solidarite

At 3:30 pm, Press Conference with Qassam Barghouthi, former Palestinian prisoner and the son of imprisoned Palestinian Fateh leader Marwan Barghouthi, and Majed Bamya, Palestinian diplomat responsible for the question of prisoners. Also participating are the representatives of the French cities and towns participating in the French Mayors’ delegation to Palestine seeking to visit Marwan Barghouthi imprisoned in Israeli jails, from the cities of Gennevilliers, Stains, Limay, Avion, Allones, Valenton, Bezons and Bondy, as well as Patric Le Hyaric, Member of European Parliament.

Claude Léostic, coordinator of the French national campaign to free Marwan Barghouthi and Palestinian prisoners will also speak at the event.

In addition, there will be a public forum at 6:30 pm, in the Municipal Council room, on Palestinian political prisoners, with Salman al-Herfi, the Palestinian ambassador in France.

Délégation de visite à Marwan Barghouthi : conférence de presse du 18 avril 2016 à Gennevilliers

Lundi 18 avril 2016 à 15h30, 18ème étage à l’Hôtel de Ville 177 avenue Gabriel Péri

Cette conférence de presse se fera en présence de Qassam Barghouthi, ancien prisonnier et fils de Marwan Barghouthi, ainsi que Majed Bamya, diplomate palestinien en charge de la question des prisonniers. Des représentants des villes participant à la délégation seront également présents (Gennevilliers, Stains, Limay, Avion, Allonnes, Valenton, Bezons, Bondy) ainsi que Patrick Le Hyaric, député européen.

Claude Léostic, chargée de la campagne nationale pour la libération de Marwan Barghouthi et de tous les prisonniers palestiniens est également partie prenante de l’événement.

Par ailleurs, une initiative publique est prévue le même soir, à 18h30, dans la salle du Conseil municipal, sur le thème des prisonniers politiques palestiniens, en présence de son Excellence Salman Al Herfi, Ambassadeur de Palestine en France .

17 April, Madrid: Palestinian Prisoners’ Day Rally

15 April 2016

Sunday, 17 April
6:00 pm
Puerta del Sol
Madrid, Spain
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1785692188317010/

The Palestinian people commemorate Prisoners’ Day on 17 April each year. There are over 7,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, including over 700 children, subject to torture and abuse.

Hundreds of them are held in “administrative detention” in Israeli jails. In just 15 years, from 2000 to 2015, Israel issued more than 23,000 administrative detention orders.

The initial period of detention is up to six months. At this time, detention can be renewed, at times for years and years, without charge or trial or the ability to defend oneself.

Administrative detention is a violation of human rights. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights requires that an arrested person be informed of the reasons for their detention. The Fourth Geneva Convention requires that administrative detention is an extraordinary measure, however, the occupation authorities use it constantly and consistently as a matter of policy.

El pueblo palestino conmemora cada 17 de abril el Día de l@s pres@s.

Israel mantien prisioneros a más de 7.000 hombres y mujeres palestinas, de entre ellos más de 700 menores que son torturados y abusados.

Cientos de ellos bajo “detención administrativa” en las prisiones israelíes. En sólo 15 años, de 2000 a 2015, Israel emitió más de 23.000 órdenes de detención administrativa.

El período inicial de la detención gira en torno a los seis meses. Terminado ese tiempo, la detención se renueva, manteniendo a los palestinos presos por años y años, sin que ellos sepan de qué se les acusa y sin posibilidad de defenderse, ya que no se instauran procesos ni se realizan juicios.

La detención administrativa es una violación de los derechos humanos. El Pacto Internacional sobre los Derechos Civiles y Políticos establece, en su artículo 9-2, la obligatoriedad de informar a toda persona detenida y en el momento de la detención los motivos de su privación de libertad.

La IV Convención de Ginebra aclara que la detención administrativa es una medida extremadamente dura que las autoridades de ocupación aplican contra civiles que no responden a procesos criminales ni enfrentan procesos penales. La detención administrativa sólo puede ser usada cuando un ciudadano representa una verdadera amenaza a la seguridad, en los términos del artículo 78 de la Convención, que prevé la instauración de un proceso, una apelación y el derecho a la defensa del preso.

Palestinian Prisoners’ Day: Resources, Factsheets, Posters and more

15 April 2016

Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, marked since 1974, is an international day of action, solidarity and support for over 7,000 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails. Events and actions will take place in cities and on campuses around the world, in solidarity with the struggle of Palestinian prisoners.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is providing the following materials to help support events for Palestinian Prisoners’ Day and beyond. Please feel free to download, print, and re-circulate these materials!

Please share your Palestinian Prisoners’ Day event with us – send us a link to your upcoming event, or send us pictures or reports of previous events. Email us at samidoun@samidoun.net

Web resources on Palestinian Prisoners:

Social Media campaign for Palestinian Prisoners: Change your profile picture for Palestinian Prisoners Day!

Call to Action and List of International Events for Palestinian Prisoners Day: Call to Action – Palestinian Prisoners Day 2016

For the posters and signs below, it’s easy to turn these A4/8.5×11 signs into large posters for rallies – just follow the steps below:

1.) Print sign at A4/8.5 x 11 and place face down on a copier that prints A3/11×17.

2.) Using A3/11″ x 17″ paper, enlarge the layout to 200% of the original.

3.) After you make your copies of the top portion of the sign, turn it around on the copier. (You may have folded the layout in two, although this isn’t necessary. I find it easier just to turn the sign around.)

4.) Copy the bottom half of the sign on 11″ x 17″ paper to 200% of the original.

5.) You now have two 11″ x 17″ ledger-sized sheets of paper which when glued, taped or stapled, one above the other, will make a 17″ x 22″ sized sign.

Factsheets:

Download: Factsheet on Palestinian Prisoners

Download: G4S – Securing Apartheid Flyer

Download: Flyer – Apartheid in Israeli Prisons

Posters:

Download: Poster Sign: End Administrative Detention

[scribd id=308798415 key=key-fzAtoI2FJ3qCZAhiq6lQ mode=scroll]

Download: Poster/Sign: Stop G4S – Boycott Zionism

[scribd id=308803808 key=key-Qvyl50VOSIrCywzGo60h mode=scroll]

Download: Poster – Free Georges Abdallah

[scribd id=308817924 key=key-jYmAIY0JKNILdjZaWvJa mode=scroll]

Download: Poster/Sign – Free All Palestinian Prisoners

[scribd id=308802473 key=key-zWKzzu00wsJo6gyfNzHA mode=scroll]

Download: Poster/Sign: Free Hunger Strikers and All Prisoners

[scribd id=308803188 key=key-NqXpk0fcdnOXZbD0pgVV mode=scroll]

Download: Poster: Free Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian Prisoners

[scribd id=308798527 key=key-PtICKdgQGNLUSvOSBLGT mode=scroll]

Download: Poster: Freedom for Palestinian Political Prisoners

[scribd id=308798600 key=key-1Bn5JwXbLaxixI8i4gVQ mode=scroll]

Demonstration in New York calls for justice for victim of NYPD entrapment after suicide attempt

15 April 2016

Community members in New York City gathered outside One Police Plaza on Tuesday, 12 April in support of Ahmed Ferhani, whose suicide attempt in Attica prison in upstate New York sparked outrage and renewed determination to challenge his conviction.

Ferhani, a young Algerian American man with a lengthy history of mental illness, including involuntary commitment in a psychiatric hospital, was targeted by an undercover NYPD officer, known under the pseudonym “Ilter Ayturk,” in a “terrorism case” built on entrapment. “Ayturk” had previously infiltrated Palestinian community and solidarity activist group Al-Awda New York, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, attending internal meetings, befriending members, and even traveling to the US Social Forum with Al-Awda, joining a closed BDS planning meeting.

After apparently failing to build any form of case against Al-Awda members, “Ayturk” extended his efforts to entrapping vulnerable individuals like Ferhani. “The case against him was flimsy enough that the FBI removed itself from the investigation in its early stages. The NYPD continued to pursue Ferhani, despite its knowledge of his history of mental illness and self-harm,” reported journalist John Knefel in The Nation.

Ferhani’s lawyer Lamis Deek said, “The NYPD themselves targeted him for this very lengthy and embarrassing intelligence and surveillance operation. They themselves had been picking him up from his home since he was 16 years old and taking him to Bellevue and Elmhurst – these are mental health hospitals – to be institutionalized. So, they knew that he had mental health issues even before they infiltrated his life.”

Following his imprisonment in 2012, Ferhani repeatedly reported abuse at the hands of prison guards, including physical and sexual abuse and harassment, denial of food and water, and access to prison services. In a letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Ferhani wrote, “I want everyone to know that the next time I am violated by correction officers or their supervisors I will take my own life. If taking my own life is the only way to expose the evils that are practiced daily by corrections officers then I will be glad to do it.”

Following Ferhani’s suicide attempt, he remains in a coma; his lawyer and Al-Awda co-chair Lamis Deek stated that his chances of survival are 50%.

Video: Lamis Deek on the case of Ahmed Ferhani:

The protest demanded accountability from the Department of Corrections and Department of Justice for the abuse Ferhani suffered in prison, and from the NYPD for its policies of surveillance and targeting of communities that continue to harm not only Ferhani, but entire communities.

Participants in the rally included Ferhani’s lawyers and legal team, families impacted by surveillance and NYPD repression, migrant rights organizations, Palestinian and Palestine solidarity activists including members of Al-Awda, anti-police brutality and other social justice movements.

Photos: DRUM (Desis Rising Up and Moving) and Suzanne Adely

Palestinian prisoners in Nafha prison violently attacked, collective Friday prayers prohibited

14 April 2016

Palestinian prisoners in Nafha prison have been forbidden from Friday prayers on 15 April following a violent attack by Israeli prison guards and special forces on several units inside the prison on Wednesday, 13 April. Israeli armed units stormed section 14 in the prison on Wednesday, an area where 80 Palestinian prisoners affiliated with the PFLP, Islamic Jihad and Fateh are held, with tear gas and pepper spray. On Wednesday morning they also stormed the prison’s sections 13 and 11.

Ma’an reported that “the warden informed prisoners of the decision and threatened that every cell of the prison will be raided if the decision is violated.” Collective Friday prayers have never been prohibited in Nafha before, reported the Palestinian Prisoners’ Center for Studies. Prisoners’ representative Ahmed al-Khatib was isolated after being attacked; four Palestinian prisoners were transferred to solitary confinement in Ramon prison. The entire prison has been placed under lockdown by the Israeli prison administration.

Al-Muhja Foundation reported that prisoners in section 14 began protesting after over two months of strict security conditions, including repeated denials of family visits; on Wednesday, 13 April, a prison guard refused for 40 minutes to allow one Palestinian prisoner, Akram Siyam, to visit the toilet. Siyam was assaulted by prison guards and when other prisoners came to his defense, the section was attacked by special forces wielding dogs, tear gas and pepper spray. The attack on the section continued for six hours, in which the attacking forces deliberately poured out food supplies, oil and cola, ransacked and destroyed books, and flooded the cells with large amounts of water, including mattresses. Section 14 consists of 10 rooms, including three rooms of prisoners of the Popular Front, two rooms of prisoners of Islamic Jihad, and five rooms of Fateh prisoners.

Several prisoners were hospitalized due to pepper spray injuries and injuries from beatings; at least one was critically injured. Palestinian prisoners in Ramon and Ketziot have announced protests in support of fellow prisoners in Nafha. There is also a movement for a general one-day hunger strike in all prisons on 17 April, Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, in protest of the attack on Nafha prisoner.

Photo: Ira Machefsky/Flickr

Hunger strikes continue against isolation and administrative detention; 55 prisoners strike for Khawaja

14 April 2016

Palestinian prisoner Shukri Khawaja, who has been held in solitary confinement for the past sixteen months, continued his hunger strike against isolation. 55 Palestinian prisoners have also continued hunger strikes in solidarity with Khawaja, demanding an end to long-term solitary confinement, while other prisoners are engaged in open hunger strikes against their imprisonment without charge or trial under Israeli administrative detention. These include Sami Janazrah, now on his 44th day of hunger strike.

Despite earlier reports that Khawaja had ended his strike, representatives of Asra Media denied those reports and confirmed that he was continuing his hunger strike. In addition, Asra Media reported that there are now 55 prisoners on solidarity strikes in support of Khawaja, including 20 prisoners from Gilboa and Megiddo who joined the strike on Thursday. 15 of the strikers, in Ofer prison, are Muhammad Nasser, Muhammad Adawin, Muhammad Kifaya, Islam Hamed, Rajab Mteir, Muhammad Mteir, Hamed Abdo, Amjad Abu Alya, Numan Makhtub, Sharhabil Atta, Hasan Hamdan, Amir Saad, Ali Yaqoub, Jad Yaqoub, and Mreiteh Shreiteh.

Janazrah, now on his 44th day of hunger strike, remains held in solitary confinement in the Naqab desert prison; he has difficulty walking and serious weight loss, yet he remains held in the regular prison area and not hospitalized. He is held under administrative detention without charge or trial following his arrest by Israeli occupation forces on 15 November 2015; all of his appeals against his arbitrary detention have been rejected. He is scheduled to have a hearing before the Israeli high court on 16 May.

Eyad Fawaghra is continuing his hunger strike for the 32nd day against the denial of family visits. Adib Mafarjah and Fouad Assi, also held under administrative detention without charge or trial, are on their 13th day of hunger strike. Mafarjah was moved to solitary confinement in Ela prison in Beersheva under very harsh conditions. His wife told the Palestinian Prisoners’ Center for Studies that Mafarjah is denied pillows and has insufficient protection from cold, but that he is determined to continue his strike because “food is not more precious than freedom.” Meanwhile, Assi’s wife said that she has been denied any kind of contact or information about the situation of her husband, reaffirming that “freedom is his only demand.”

Two more Palestinian prisoners, Abdel-Rahim Sawayfeh and Mohammed Daoud, ended their hunger strikes on Thursday, 14 April, following agreements in their cases; Sawayfeh was striking against administrative detention without charge or trial, while Daoud protested the reimposition of his earlier sentence after an arbitrary re-arrest.

Beirut, 17 April: Protest against G4S on Palestinian Prisoners’ Day

14 April 2016

Sunday, 17 April
6:00 pm
Crowne Plaza Beirut
Hamra Main Street, Beirut, Lebanon
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1708486796065199/

Join the Campaign to Boycott Supporters of Israel in Lebanon, the boycott movement of the camps, the International Campaign for the release of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah and the Palestinian Cultural Club at the American University of Beirut to protest against the complicity of the G4S security corporation with the Zionist security establishment. This protest on Palestinian Prisoners’ Day is part of a global action against G4S.

This protest, at 6 pm on Sunday 17 April in front of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Hamra follows on last week’s protest in front of UNICEF for contracting with G4S. We will continue these protests against organizations and companies that contract with G4S to demand they end their contracts with G4S and exclude it from future bids until it fully withdraws from its business in Israel and its engagement with Israeli security systems.

20 April, San Francisco: From Oakland to Palestine – Prisons, Repression and Resistance

14 April 2016

Wednesday, 20 April
6:00 pm
San Francisco State University
LIB 121
San Francisco, CA
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1054226211282472/

A Report Back by Members of the US Prisoner, Labor, and Academic Delegation to Palestine:

Emory Douglas, Former Minister of Culture, Black Panthers Party

Diana Block, California Coalition for Women Prisoners

Anna Henry, California Coaliition for Women Prisoners

Rachel Herzing, Co-Founder, Critical Resistance

Manuel La Fontaine, All of Us or None

Claude Marks, Freedom Archives

Isaac Ontiveros, Member, Critical Resistance

Jaime Veve, Labor for Palestine

Moderared by Professor Rabab Abdulhadi

15 April, Rome: Evening of Solidarity with the Palestinian Prisoners

14 April 2016

Friday, 15 April
6:30 pm
Sala Della Chiesa Valdese
Via Firenze 38, Rome, Italy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1015948721792919/

On the occasion of the international day of solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, on the fifth anniversary of the killing of Vittorio Arrigoni, and the 28th anniversary of the assassination of the leader Abu Jihad, we organize an evening of discussion, film, presentations and a dinner (12 EUR) to support the Fares Odeh Center for psychological support for the children of Gaza.

In occasione della giornata internazionale di solidarieta’ con i prigionieri palestinesi nelle carceri israeliane,
del 5° anniversario dell’assassinio di Vittorio Arrigoni e
del 28° anniversario dell’assassinio del Comandante Abu Jihad,
organizzano,
una serata di discussione, proiezione di filmati, letture e cena (€ 12) a sostegno del Centro Fares Odeh per il sopstegno psicologico dei bambini di Gaza

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