Tenth anniversary of the attack on Jericho prison and the kidnapping of Ahmad Sa’adat by Israeli occupation

14 March 2016

14 March marks the tenth anniversary of the attack on Jericho prison and the abduction of Palestinian leader Ahmad Sa’adat, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and of several Palestinian strugglers: Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh, Hamdi Qur’an, Majdi Rimawi and Basil al-Asmar, as well as veteran Palestinian struggler Fouad al-Shoubaki.

Israeli forces attacked the Palestinian Authority prison where the Palestinians were held, under U.S. and British guard; the attack came following Palestinian Legislative Council elections in which opposition candidates had pledged to end the imprisonment of honored Palestinian leaders and fighters at the behest of the Israeli occupation. Indicating the complicity of U.S. and British forces – some of which had served as prison guards in the occupied North of Ireland – in not only the imprisonment of these Palestinian leaders but in the brutal Israeli attack, they left their posts minutes before the assault on the prison with heavy weaponry, tanks and bulldozers. Two Palestinians were killed and scores injured in the attack by over 80 military vehicles and hundreds of soldiers.

The Palestinian High Court had ordered Sa’adat’s release; he never was charged or tried by any Palestinian body. However, at the behest of Israel, the United States and the United Kingdom, he remained imprisoned within the Palestinian Authority’s Jericho prison, even as he was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council himself in the 2006 elections; the raid came days before he was scheduled to begin his term.

In a statement released today, the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat linked the attack on Jericho to the killing of Omar Nayef Zayed inside the Palestinian embassy in Bulgaria, noting the convergence of Palestinian Authority security coordination and Israeli interests and attacks, as well as the complicity of Western governments in the imprisonment and execution of Palestinians.

The statement follows below:

On this day in 2006, ten years ago, heavily armed Zionist forces, stormed Jericho prison with tanks and various types of weaponry in a premeditated plan, with the full complicity of British and U.S. forces. They attacked the prison and kidnapped Ahmad Sa’adat, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and his comrades who carried out the assassination of Zionist official Rehavam Ze’evi in response to the assassination of PFLP General Secretary Abu Ali Mustafa, Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh, Majdi Rimawi, Hamdi Qur’an and Basil al-Asmar.

Ten years after this crime, the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat reaffirms once more that this crime, in addition to being one more chapter in the Zionist crimes against the Palestinian people and the targeting of Palestinian leaders, was also a treacherous action by the Palestinian Authority. The PA’s pursuit, entrapment and persecution of Ahmad Sa’adat and his comrades, its detention and imprisonment of them in Jericho prison under U.S. and British guard, all led up to the storming of the prison and the kidnapping of the comrades by the occupation forces.

The leadership of the Authority and its security forces played a major role in this crime and yet continue the crime on a daily basis by continuing security coordination with the occupation forces. These security forces at an institutional level serve a functional role that has never been the defense of the Palestinian people or the protection of the resistance, but instead acting in the interests of the occupation and the service of its goals and plans.

The circumstances of the attack on Jericho prison are similar to the assassination of the martyred struggler, Omar Nayef Zayed, inside the Palestinian embassy in Bulgaria, and demonstrate the clear complicity of the Authority and demonstrate that it has done nothing to change its practices in the interests of the Palestinian people.

We affirm today that we have not forgotten this crime, and that its impact has not lessened by the passage of time, and are certain that the Palestinian people and their revolutionary courts will hold all those complicit with these crimes accountable.

Omar Nayef Zayed case: Family calls for justice and accountability

14 March 2016

Seventeen days after the death of Omar Nayef Zayed inside the Palestinian embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria, his family reiterated their call for a professional and independent investigation into the killing of the former Palestinian prisoner, who had taken refuge inside the embassy from an Israeli extradition request being carried out by Bulgarian security forces.

Nayef Zayed, 52, had lived in Bulgaria for 22 years after escaping Israeli imprisonment following a 40-day hunger strike in 1990. He is married to a Bulgarian woman and has three children, all of whom are Bulgarian citizens. He spent 70 days inside the embassy seeking refuge from an Israeli demand for his extradition following a raid on his home by Bulgarian police.

Large protests in Jenin, his hometown, and in Gaza were held on Friday and Saturday, 11 March and 12 March, calling for justice in his case and accountability for the three responsible parties in his death: the Israeli state and its intelligence agencies; the Bulgarian state; and the Palestinian Authority.

Ahmad Nayef, Omar’s brother, spoke at the march in Jenin, warned of attempts to manipulate the medical and criminal report on Omar’s case, saying that it has been delayed repeatedly, and demanded that the Palestinian side appoint a committee of medical, legal and investigative experts rather than of PA officials to engage in a real investigation of the case.

Khader Adnan, former Palestinian prisoner and long-term hunger striker, said that “Omar’s case revealed the shortcomings and the truths about our institutions, embasssies and diplomacy abroad.” He called on the PA Foreign Minister to resign, saying that “The responsibility falls to the ambassador and the security team, and those who fall short must step aside. The first thing that should happen is to resign before our people, and then a thorough investigation at all Palestinian levels.”

Nayef Zayed’s comrades in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued a statement on Sunday, 13 March, saying that throughout his time in the embassy, he was subject to continual pressure from the Ambassador, Ahmad al-Madhbouh and various members of the embassy staff. He was denied visits from doctors, lawyers, solidarity delegations and Palestinian community delegations, and was repeatedly threatened with denial of visits from his wife.

Samidoun representatives, including international coordinator Charlotte Kates, were among those prohibited by the ambassador from meeting with Nayef Zayed within the Palestinian embassy.

The PFLP endorsed the family’s call for a professional and specialized independent investigation committee, including an independent autopsy by Palestinian pathologists, and demanded that the case be raised on international levels for holding those responsible accountable. It stated that “the Zionist enemy and its security forces are responsible for the killing of the martyred comrade.” It also demanded that the Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki be dismissed, along with the ambassador Ahmad al-Madhbouh, with the summoning of Madhbouh and other security staff at the embassy for direct questioning and investigation in their role in the killing of Nayef Zayed.

Take Action: Support Palestinians on Hunger Strike for Freedom

14 March 2016

UPDATE, 15 March: Mahmoud al Fasfous, Karam Amro and Alaa Rayyan have ended their hunger strike. Please continue to take action in support of Yazan Zaid Hanani, Dawoud Habboub and Sami Janazrah.

Six Palestinian prisoners are currently on hunger strike inside Israeli jails, demanding their freedom and an end to the policy of administrative detention without charge or trial. Click here to support the strikers and take action to support their struggle.

Mahmoud al-Fasfous, 26, from Dura near al-Khalil, launched his hunger strike on 20 February to protest the extension of his administrative detention without charge or trial for the third time for four months. The extention of al-Fasfous’ administrative detention was confirmed on Sunday, 13 March by an Israeli military court. Meanwhile, Khaled al-Fasfous, Mahmoud’s brother, was arrested and his home ransacked by invading Israeli occupation forces in an early-morning raid on his home in al-Khalil on Sunday.

Yazan Zaid Hanani, 24, from Beit Furik outside Nablus, has been on hunger strike for at least fourteen – and up to 26 days in protest of his administrative detention without charge or trial since 28 October 2015. He has been prevented from meeting with his lawyer for several months.

Dawoud Habboub, from al-Amari refugee camp in Ramallah, launched his hunger strike on 1 March in protest of his imprisonment without charge or trial under administrative detention.

Sami Janazrah, 43, from al-Fawwar refugee camp in al-Khalil, has been on hunger strike since early March in protest of administrative detention. His own imprisonment without charge or trial was extended by an Israeli military court for four additional months on Sunday, 13 March. He has been held in administrative detention since 15 November 2015.

Alaa Rayan and Karam Amro also have joined the hunger strike against administrative detention in support of their fellow detainees.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges people of conscience around the world, Palestine solidarity organizations and supporters of justice to take action in support of these Palestinian prisoners on the front lines in the struggle against occupation and apartheid. It must not take two and three months of starvation for the calls of Palestinian prisoners for freedom to be heard and heeded; it is necessary to mobilize now and build support for not only the hunger strikers, but for all over 7,000 Palestinian prisoners, imprisoned in Israeli jails for seeking the freedom of their people.

Take Action

1. Sign on: Send a letter to Israeli officials demanding the immediate release of the hunger strikers and an end to the policy of administrative detention. Make sure that your voice is heard and that is clear that these Palestinian prisoners are not alone in their struggle.

2. Protest at the Israeli consulate or embassy in your area. Bring posters and flyers about administrative detention and Palestinian hunger strikers and hold a protest, or join a protest with this important information. Hold a community event or discussion, or include this issue in your next event about Palestine and social justice. Please email us at samidoun@samidoun.net to inform us of your action – we will publicize and share news with the prisoners.

3. Contact political officials in your country – members of Parliament or Congress, or the Ministry/Department of Foreign Affairs or State – and demand that they cut aid and relations with Israel on the basis of its apartheid practices, its practice of colonialism, and its numerous violations of Palestinian rights including the systematic practice of administrative detention. Demand they pressure Israel to free the hunger strikers and end administrative detention.

4. Boycott, Divest and Sanction. Hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law. Don’t buy Israeli goods, and campaign to end investments in corporations that profit from the occupation. G4S, a global security corporation, is heavily involved in providing services to Israeli prisons that jail Palestinian political prisoners – there is a global call to boycott it. Palestinian political prisoners have issued a specific call urging action on G4S. Learn more about BDS at bdsmovement.net.

Letter Text:
To Brigadier General Dani Afroni, Military Judge Advocate General and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu;

I write today to demand the immediate release of Palestinian hunger strikers Dawoud Habboub, Yazan Zaid Hanani, and Sami Janazrah, refusing food in protest of administrative detention – imprisonment without charge or trial. Several of the strikers’ detention periods were recently renewed – with no evidence, no charges and no trial.

I also demand the end of the use of administrative detention. Imprisonment without charge or trial on the basis of secret evidence is shameful – and Israel’s practice is a policy of repression aimed at the Palestinian people under occupation.

The life and health of all of the hunger strikers is precious to me and to people around the world. The eyes of the world are on these cases, and the government of Israel is fully responsible for the hunger strikers’ health and lives.

Administrative detention violates the right to a fair trial as recognized in the International Covenant of Civil and Political Rights. It is a practice that is used to silence Palestinians without ever exposing the reality of such actions to the light of day – even in the rigged military court systems.

The strikers must be released immediately, as must their fellow Palestinian prisoners.

Sincerely,

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Palestinian freedom of expression under attack: 150 arrested for Facebook posts, journalists imprisoned, TV stations closed

14 March 2016

Palestinian freedom of expression continues under sustained attack by Israel; while over 16 Palestinian journalists are imprisoned, 150 Palestinians have been arrested over Facebook posts, reported the Palestinian Prisoners’ Commission.

The Commission reported that a special unit of the Israeli security regime has been formed specifically to surveil and target Palestinian social media, noting that Palestinian Jerusalemites have been especially targeted and that numerous Palestinians from occupied Palestine ’48 have been fired from their jobs over Facebook posts against the occupation.

This comes amid the raid on Palestine Today television station and the imprisonment of three of its staff members on Friday, 11 March. In addition, on Thursday, 10 March, Palestinian journalist Sami al-Sa’ie‘s detention was extended for eight more days for interrogation – al-Sa’ie, a journalist, was accused of incitement on his personal facebook page; he is a news editor for al-Fajr al-Jadeed TV channel in Tulkarem.

Imprisoned journalists include three administrative detainees, including Mohammed Kaddoumi, Ali Oweiwi and Mohammed al-Qeeq, who ensured his freedom with a 94-day hunger strike.

New York City protest calls for freedom for Aafia Siddiqui

14 March 2016

New York City activists marched on Friday, 11 March for freedom for U.S. prisoner Aafia Siddiqui, calling for her repatriation to Pakistan.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network joined the protest, which was one of four across the United States, calling for medical care and independent examination of Siddiqui, as well as her repatriation to Pakistan. Siddiqui has not had a prison visit with a family member or lawyer for over a year; she is held in US federal prison in Fort Worth.

“Although Aafia was kidnapped in Pakistan, is a Pakistani citizen and was shot in Afghanistan, she was brought to New York City for a sensational show trial. Despite her serious injuries, she was held in solitary confinement. While no one was injured except her, and while the forensic and testimonial evidence pointed to her innocence, Dr. Siddiqui was found guilty in 2010 and sentenced to 86 years in prison,” said Shahid Comrade of the Pakistan USA Freedom Forum, pointing out that Pakistani political parties across the political spectrum have demanded her return.

Speakers at the demonstration included Joe Catron of Samidoun; Lynne Stewart, U.S. lawyer and former political prisoner; Mauri Salaakhan of the Aafia Movement; Sara Flounders of the International Action Center and others.

Rally endorsers included the International Action Center; the Islamic Leadership Council of New York; the Lynne Stewart Defense Committee; Jericho-National; Masjid At-Taqwa; the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood; the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms; the New Abolitionist Movement; NY4Palestine; the Pakistan USA Freedom Forum; Project Salam; the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network; the South Asian Fund for Education, Scholarship and Training; and the United National Antiwar Coalition.

Additional protests will take place in Washington, DC, on 19 March at 12 noon at the US Department of Justice, 950 Penn Ave NW; and in Fort Worth, Texas, where Siddiqui is imprisoned, on 30 March at 6 pm.

All photos by Bud Korotzer of Desertpeace.

Palestinian land defender’s imprisonment without charge or trial extended by Israeli military occupation

14 March 2016

Palestinian agricultural workers’ advocate Samer Arbeed, the financial director of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees in the West Bank, was ordered to an additional three months’ administrative detention – imprisonment without charge or trial – by the Israeli military on 12 March 2016.

Arbeed, a father of two, was arrested in his home in Ramallah on 14 December and ordered to administrative detention for three months on 24 December. Scheduled for release on 12 March, instead, he was handed an additional three months of extended administrative detention – again with no charge, no trial, and no evidence.

The Union of Agricultural Work Committees has been repeatedly targeted. UAWC is a Palestinian agricultural and land defense organization that won the United Nations’ 2014 Equator Prize for its work on food sustainability. For over 28 years, UAWC has been in the forefront of defending Palestinian land and connecting with movements of agricultural workers around the world as a member organization of Via Campesina and a partner of the Landless Workers’ Movement (MST) in Brazil.

Administrative director Abdul Razaq Farraj, released last year, was held under administrative detention for five consecutive orders; UAWC board members and office coordinators have repeatedly been imprisoned, often under administrative detention without charge or trial.

Arbeed was previously the accountant for Addameer, the prisoner support and human rights association, where he was also targeted for imprisonment without charge or trial; this is his fourth administrative detention, having been imprisoned without charge or trial from 2003-2006, 2007-2008 and again in 2013.

He is among approximately 750 Palestinians held without charge or trial under administrative detention. The following video features his testimony about his experience:

The Union of Agricultural Work Committees issued a call for urgent action on the case of Arbeed and his fellow Palestinian prisoners:

“UAWC urgently calls to raise the voices and denounce the ongoing crimes against Palestinian people, arrange international and national social movements and activities in solidarity with the Palestinian detainees in the Israeli prisons, in addition, the UAWC calls the international community to put pressure on the Israeli occupation to comply with the basis for administrative detention in international law, which ensure the right of anyone who is arrested to be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his arrest and any charges against him, and ensure his right for fair trial.”

London protest demands freedom for imprisoned Palestinian women and girls

12 March 2016

On Friday, 11 March, activists with Inminds protested outside Westminster Palace in London, demanding freedom for Palestinian women prisoners at the seat of the British Government and projecting large images on the building highlighting the cases of imprisoned Palestinian women such as Khalida Jarrar, Lina Jerbouni, and Shireen Issawi and girls like Dima al-Wawi and Marah Bakir. Their report follows:

On Friday 11th March 2016, in a week that marked International Womens Day, activists from Inminds gathered outside Westminster Palace, the seat of the British Government, to draw attention to the plight of Palestinian women political prisoners, in particular the 61 Palestinian women and girls who are currently caged in Israeli occupation dungeons.

They projected messages and images of the women prisoners on the walls of the Parliament. The projection garnered a wide audience, one person having seen the projection from the London Eye, walked all the way to Westminster to thank the activists for the projection.

Speeches were made on how three of the 13 imprisoned young girls – aged 14-16 years old, were brutally tortured during their interrogation. Also the case of 12 years old Dima Wawi was highlighted. She was abducted on her way to school, then interrogated illegally without the presence of her parents or her lawyer, before being locked up – possibly the youngest political prisoner in the world.

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Wonderful news was announced during the protest that Mona Qa’adan, a Palestinian university lecturer who was locked up for her activism – one of the women prisoners we have been campaigning for for several years, has just been released.

Several hundred leaflets were handed out on Lena Jarbouni, the longest serving Palestinian woman political prisoners – caged for 14 years now, which also highlighted the conditions women prisoners have to suffer at Israel’s notorious HaSharon womens prison.

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The British security company G4S secures HaSharon prison, along with many other Israeli prisons and interrogation centres, for Israel. They provide the entire security system for the prison including the central command room from where the whole prison is controlled. This week G4S announced its intention to sell its Israel operation within the next 12-24 months. This is not the first time G4S had made similar promises, and in the past it has not kept them. Activists from Inminds, who have held regular protests, every week or every other week, outside the global headquarters of G4S in London for nearly 4 years had a clear message for G4S – we dont want promises, we want action, and we want it now! Inminds sustained campaign against G4S continues.

Milan International Women’s Day event highlights cases of Palestinian prisoners

11 March 2016

Activists with Fronte Palestina joined the International Women’s Day event in Milan on 8 March. The event, which focused on international struggles of revolutionary women, highlighted in particular the cases of Palestinian, Kurdish, Venezuelan and Filipina women.

Activists discussed the struggles of imprisoned Palestinian women and in particular the cases of Khalida Jarrar, Shireen Issawi and Rasmea Odeh.

The event included a Palestinian and Kurdish dinner.

Two prominent Palestinian women freed from Israeli prison, highlight struggles of imprisoned girls and injured women

11 March 2016

Manal Tamimi, prominent Palestinian activist in the village of Nabi Saleh against settlement expansion on her village’s land, was freed late Thursday, 10 March from Israeli jail after 2 days of detention.

Tamimi, 43, paid a fine of 4,000 NIS (approximately $1,000 USD) and agreed to not publish any Facebook posts or photos of Israeli border guard, Yousef Nasser Eddin, who “complained that she shared a video of him violently attacking Palestinian paramedics and journalists, during clashes near Beit El checkpoint, to the north of Ramallah, back in October of 2015.”

Earlier, the Israeli military court at Ofer had extended her arrest until 11 March. Tamimi was arrested in the early morning hours of Tuesday, 8 March, in a raid on her home by Israeli occupation forces. She and her family in Nabi Saleh village are internationally known for their popular, grassroots struggle and protests against the confiscation of their agricultural land by an illegal Israeli settlement.

In addition, Mona Qa’adan – who earlier had been reported scheduled for release next month – was also released on Thursday night, 11 March to her home village of Arraba near Jenin, after 41 months of imprisonment. Qa’adan’s sentence had been revised from 70 months to 41 months on Wednesday, 9 March by the Ofer military court. Qa’adan, 44, was prohibited from family visits for over three years in prison on the grounds of “security”.

In interviews immediately after her release, Qa’adan urged attention to imprisoned Palestinian women and especially minor girls, the youngest of whom, Dima al-Wawi is only 12 years old, and injured prisoners.

She noted that wounded prisoners need a public campaign in their defense, as their health and lives are at risk on a constant basis due to the poor conditions inside the prison. In particular, she highlighted the cases of Israa Djaabis, who is suffering from significant burns over a large part of her body and Yasmin Zarou, who suffered a serious abdominal injury. She also urged intensified efforts for the release of Lena Jerbouni, the longest-serving woman prisoner in Israeli jails.

As Qa’adan highlighted the cases of Zarou and the situation of imprisoned Palestinian girls, three of the minor girls, Rama Jaabis, 14; Malak Salman, 16; and Sajida Hassan, 16; revealed in their first visit with a Palestinian lawyer from the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society that they were denied access to their parents during interrogation, during which they were forced to lie on the floor, handcuffed for lengthy periods of time, insulted and degraded, and physically hit by Israeli interrogators. Denial of access to parents during interrogation was also reported by B’Tselem in the case of 12-year-old Dima al-Wawi.

Brussels protest demands end to attacks on Palestinian youth, freedom for child prisoners

11 March 2016

The Palestinian Community in Belgium and Luxembourg rallied against the “field executions” of Palestinian youth by Israeli occupation forces outside the offices of the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium on Friday, March 11.

Carrying signs, banners and a massive Palestinian flag, Palestinian and solidarity protesters demanded an end to Israeli attacks on Palestinians and freedom for the Palestinian people. In addition to focusing on the killings of Palestinians, and particularly youth – 191 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli occupation forces since 14 September 2015 – the protest also called for freedom for 14-year-old Ahmad Manasrah and child prisoners.

There are currently over 400 child prisoners imprisoned by Israel, including very young prisoners such as Manasrah and 12-year-old Dima al-Wawi, whose case is detailed here by B’Tselem. (Please note that B’Tselem here appropriately refers to Dima, a minor, here as “D.”, but that we use her name because it is publicized by Dima’s family and the Palestinian prisoners’ movement.)

Protesters pointed to the targeting of Palestinian children and youth for Israeli violence, demanding that the European Union end its support for Israel, including the EU/Israel Association free-trade agreement, and take action instead to support boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel and the implementation of Palestinian rights.

Photos by Mahmoud Alsaadi and Tahsin Zaki

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