Thursday, 17 November 5:30 pm VH214, New York University NYC
LSJP and @nyu_epic are co-hosting a panel titled Free Them All: Abolition Across Borders. The event will take place on Thursday, November 17 at 5:30 PM in VH214 at New York University and on Zoom.
Last year’s historic escape by 6 Palestinian freedom fighters from an occupation prison brought attention to this long-standing history of solidarity as Palestinian organizers drew connections to the Attica Prison Riot of 1971, which inspired a Palestinian uprising in the Ashkelon prison.
Speakers will include Dylan Saba from @pal_legal and Hussein from the NY/NJ chapter of Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network @samidounnynj, as well as other U.S.-based abolitionist organizers. Byul Yoon, co-founder of Dissenters (https://wearedissenters.org/) and a 1L at NYU Law, will facilitate. We will discuss the connected histories and common struggles of folks organizing for liberation in Palestine and the United States.
“The Holy Land Five” Documentary Screening & Community Call to Action When: Saturday November 19th at 7:00 pm Where: New York University Organized by Within Our Lifetime – United for Palestine
Join Within Our Lifetime – United for Palestine next Saturday 11/19 at NYU for a screening of the Al Jazeera documentary “The Holy Land Five” as part of the call to action to #FreeTheHLF5 who were unjustly convicted and imprisoned in the U.S. fourteen years ago this month for the crime of sending and food and medicine to orphans in Palestine. Fourteen years later, three of the five remain in prison: Shukri Abu Baker, Ghassan Elashi and Mufid Abdulqader. It’s time to bring them home.
While this event is limited capacity, we will continue to hold events and educate and build towards the campaign to #FreeTheHLF5 both online and offline, from our campuses to our communities.
We encourage student and activist organizations around the world to host their own screening of the documentary which is available in two parts on YouTube (here and here) and to advocate for the freedom of Shukri Abu-Baker, Ghassan Elashi and Mufid Abdelqader.
In addition, WOL is fundraising for the Coalition for Civil Freedoms who have spearheaded efforts calling on the Biden Administration to release the Holy Land Foundation 5. You can donate to our fundraiser via Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/linking/fundraiser?fundraiser_id=489828713113075
Join Samidoun Vancouver for an evening of discussion, learning and strategy for the Palestine liberation movement, locally and globally.
Learn about how you can get involved in challenging the ABC City Council’s attempt to impose the so-called “IHRA Definition of Anti-Semitism” in Vancouver in order to silence criticism of Israel and support for Palestine.
Hear a reportback from the recent mass March for Return and Liberation in Brussels, as well as updates on the latest news and developments in Palestine.
Learn about and honour the life and contributions of Samah Idriss, Arab intellectual and struggler for Palestine.
Join our speaker panel to discuss the next steps here toward liberation — from Vancouver to Palestine.
This event is taking place on the unceded and occupied territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) peoples. The organizers stand in full solidarity and support of Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination and with the ongoing movements to defend land, water and Indigenous peoples from plunder and settler colonialism.
A virtual panel Co-hosted by May First Movement Technology and Media Justice
Ongoing apartheid violence in occupied Palestine, brutal anti-worker retaliation against organizing warehouse workers, and criminalization and violence against communities of color globally all depend on surveillance capitalism’s infrastructure – largely fueled by Amazon’s and Google’s military and police contracts. Join us for a panel bringing together movement voices who are turning up the heat on the unapologetic role of Google, Amazon, Zoom, Facebook and others in upholding and expanding the reach of state violence.
The speakers will feature Matyos Kidane (Stop LAPD Spying), Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi, and Jonathan Bailey of Amazon International.
Interpretation between english and spanish, ASL and captions will be provided. Please register to receive a link to attend.
La violencia del apartheid en los Territorios Ocupados Palestinos, las brutales represalias contra los trabajadores de los almacenes, la criminalización y la violencia contra las comunidades racializadas en todo el mundo dependen de la infraestructura del capitalismo de vigilancia, en gran parte alimentada por los contratos militares y policiales de Google y Amazon. Acompáñanos en un panel que reunirá a las voces del movimiento que están denunciando el papel de Google, Amazon, Zoom, Facebook y otros en el mantenimiento y la expansión de la violencia estatal.
Los ponentes serán Matyos Kidane (Stop LAPD Spying), el Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi y Jonathan Bailey (Amazon International).
Se proporcionará interpretación del inglés al español. Por favor, regístrese para recibir el enlace para asistir.
Despite vowing that its candidates were concerned about the housing crisis and an alleged street crime problem, the newly elected ABC majority on the Vancouver City Council has set as one of its first items of business passing the so-called “IHRA definition of anti-Semitism.” Rather than any meaningful attempt to address anti-Semitism — let alone anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism and ongoing settler colonialism — the purpose of the IHRA definition is to stigmatize anti-Zionism and repress Palestinian and Palestine solidarity organizing and expression.
In the motion introduced by Councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung — who attempted and failed to pass IHRA in Vancouver in 2019 — she specifically calls for the definition, while “non-legally binding” to be shared with the Vancouver Police Board, Vancouver Public Library, Vancouver Park Board and Vancouver School Board. This appears to be a clear attempt to silence events, demonstrations and actions for Palestine in these public civic spaces, as well as to create an atmosphere of intimidation and silencing for Palestinian and Arab students.
We urge all supporters of justice in Vancouver to take action.
1. Register to speak at the City Council meeting on Tuesday, November 15. The meeting will begin at 9:30 am, although there is a full agenda. All requests to speak must be received before 8:30 am on Tuesday, November 15. You can speak via telephone or in person. Use this link to register to speak at the meeting. You can also register by sending n email to speaker.request@vancouver.ca. Indicate that your comment pertains to item B2, the IHRA motion. You can have 5 minutes to speak at the meeting.
2. Send Mayor Ken Sim and all members of Vancouver City Council an email. Use this form prepared by Independent Jewish Voices to urge all members of Council to vote NO on the IHRA definition.
The Union of BC Indian Chiefs, the BC Civil Liberties Association and the Canadian Association of University Teachers have already spoken up about the harms caused by the IHRA definition. As the Union of BC Indian Chiefs notes, “We do not condone protecting Israel from criticism in relation to its settler colonial policies and mistreatment of Palestinians. We call on you Mayor-Elect Sim and incoming Vancouver City Council members, to live up to Vancouver’s commitment to the UN declaration, its recent adoption of a ground-breaking UNDRIP Strategy and Task Force, and its designation as a City of Reconciliation. Adoption of the IHRA definition stands in direct opposition to these commitments.”
We are republishing the statement below from the Canada Palestine Association. It’s time to make it clear: Vancouver says #NoIHRA!
CPA Statement:
Three and a half years ago, Vancouver city councillor Sarah Kirby-Yung introduced a motion to adopt the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism. That motion in July 2019 was not passed; however, the same councillor recently gave notice to reintroduce a similar motion this month to the new Vancouver city council. She is now representing the ABC “A Better City” party that even included adoption of the IHRA definition in their platform. And since they won a majority in the recent civic elections, they seem to be rushing to vindicate themselves this time around.
Back in 2019, Vancouver was one of the first city councils where the pro-Israel lobby attempted to have the IHRA definition formally accepted. Many segments of the progressive and anti-racist community in Vancouver responded quickly and as already noted, the result was that the motion was not adopted. And all the reasons that were valid in 2019 are still valid in 2022, as evidence increases of how the IHRA definition is being used to silence Palestinian voices and criticism of Israel.
The IHRA definition was wrong then and it is wrong now. Passing it now at Vancouver city council will not change that nor will it change our determination as Palestinian Canadians to raise our voices against our oppression, and against anti-Palestinian racism and all those who maintain it. We will continue to speak out forcefully and reject the concept that our narrative must be constricted and restrained. If other communities are granted the right during discussions of discrimination to say: “Nothing about us without us”, then so are Palestinian Canadians. Or are we to be treated differently, like lesser beings?
Passing this anti-Palestinian definition will not deter us, but it will tarnish the reputation of the city of Vancouver. No longer can Vancouver promote itself as diverse and tolerant. Rather, it will be presented internationally as a city that callously engages in racism against vulnerable minorities (in this case the Palestinian, Arab and Moslem communities), a policy that could have negative implications on tourism and investment.
We join hands with many allies, from progressive Jews to anti-racist and human rights groups to church and union organizations, to say #NoIHRA. Adopting this dangerous and vague definition of anti-Semitism will only serve to harm the reputation of Vancouver as a welcoming city for all people.
Monday, Nov. 14 7 PM Eastern time (4 pm Pacific, 1 am central Europe, 2 am Palestine) Register to join: https://bit.ly/3T9BNFS Organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement – Detroit
In the month of October we uplifted the call for a Global Week of Action in honor of our Palestinian political prisoners and the hunger strike they waged against the illegitimate Zionist entity. In 19 days of steadfastness, 50 prisoners successfully united free people around the world to send a clear message to the occupation; resistance until liberation!
Please join the Palestinian Youth Movement – Detroit on Mon, Nov 14th at 7pm for a virtual panel to learn more about their actions, what the next chapter of resistances holds and the history and role of political prisoners in the struggle for liberation from Detroit to Palestine.
We are honored to be hosting special guests from Samidounand Detroit Shakur Squad to speak to their direct work with political prisoners and their collective struggles for liberation.
The rising resistance, particularly led by Palestinian youth in the occupied West Bank of Palestine, has drawn the attention of people around the world. Movements like the Jenin Brigade and the Lions’ Den have shown that Palestinian resistance continues to thrive and develop new and creative mechanisms to refuse colonialism and occupation.
In this interview with BreakThrough News, Hadeel Shatara, coordinator of Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network in Palestine, speaks about the popularity of this resistance, how it developed, and its prospects for the future — including confronting the occupation and its partner, the PA.
On Saturday, 29 October, 2022, Mohammed Khatib, the Europe coordinator of Samidoun and member of the central follow-up committee of the Masar Badil, Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement, delivered the main speech of the movement at the March for Return and Liberation in Brussels. See and hear his speech in this video (full text below):
Also, make sure not to miss this video with highlights from the March:
Full text of Mohammed’s speech below:
Hello comrades:
We stand here in front of this colonial institution that committed genocide after genocide not only against the Palestinians, but also against all the people of the Global South.
So we stand in solidarity as Palestinians with all of you who are present, and also with all the people of the world who are oppressed and paid the big heavy price of this heavy colonial machine that stands based on our blood and suffering.
We stand here as Palestinians today representing the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path. We are not an alternative to the resistance.
We call on you to join Samidoun, join Al Karama, join any local organization with a clear politics on Palestine.
We will not accept anymore, as Palestinians, this rhetoric of “two-state solution,” as a way, to support Palestine. Only one free Palestine
from the river to the sea.
If you want to support the Palestinians, you have to listen to the Palestinian refugees. You have to listen to the Palestinian resistance. And you have to follow their path. This is Palestine for us.
Our free Palestine, where everyone, every human to live in equal basis in dignity. This is how we struggle and this is what we struggle for.
So we have to declare from here, as Palestinians, first and second and third generation of the diaspora. Half of us we are today European citizens as well.
We will not give up on practicing our right of being part, an essential part, of our people’s struggle. We are not in solidarity with the Palestinians. We are all here the Palestinians, Arabs and internationals and Jewish.
Being Palestinian is not about the blood. Being Palestinian is about believing in the liberation identity.
We are not fascists. We are not extremists, we believe in a human dignity. So being a Palestinian, it’s a matter of believing in the rights of the Palestinian people to be liberated. And this is not only because the Palestinian people are special.
Defeating Israel means defeating the US. Defeating Israel means defeating Canada, these settlements that exist on the backs of the Indigenous people and Black people.
Defeating Israel means defeating this colonial institution, means payback for all Africans, Algerians, Moroccans, Sahraoui, second and third generations who are in Brussels. We’ve built this city and we still face fascism and racism.
So we will say no to this not only in Palestine, but here in Europe, there in the United States and in all Arab countries.
Together, as comrade Georges Abdallah said, we must gather together and we will win only together.
We have a comrade. His name is Samah Idriss. He’s one of the co-founders of the Palestinian Alternative Path and he passed away in Beirut. We commemorate him here. We don’t forget our comrades and martyrs, we don’t forget our leaders who gave money and blood and effort for building the movement.
Comrade Samah Idriss used to say in Arabic, “If we give up Palestine, we give up ourselves.” We will not give up Palestine!
On Thursday, 3 November, Palestinian struggler and liberated prisoner, Fatima Bernawi, the first Palestinian woman prisoner of the modern Palestinian revolutionary era and a prominent Afro-Palestinian figure, passed away in the Palestine Hospital in Cairo, Egypt at the age of 83. Bernawi was renowned as a symbol of Palestinian women’s participation and the participation of Palestinians of African descent in the armed struggle and the Palestinian prisoners’ movement.
Bernawi was born in Jerusalem in 1939 to her Nigerian father and Palestinian mother. In 1948, she was forced to a refugee camp near Amman with her mother before returning to Jerusalem, where her father had remained, in 1960; they lived in the African quarter of Jerusalem. At the age of 9, Bernawi had earlier smuggled herself into Jerusalem to reunite with her father. Bernawi’s father had been an active participant in the 1936-39 revolution in Palestine and in the defense of Palestine during al-Nakba, and she became an early member of the newly formed Fateh movement.
Bernawi worked as an UNRWA nurse in Qalqilya during the 1967 occupation and saw firsthand the impacts of the Zionist onslaught on the West Bank of Palestine. She would later declare that she undertook armed struggle “because you destroyed Qalqilya,” in a statement to the interrogators who held her.
She was one of the first women to plan an armed operation in Palestine, the attempted bombing of a cinema screening a film celebrating the occupation of 1967 in Jerusalem; she and a fellow woman freedom fighter left behind a handbag containing an explosive. Although it was found before being detonated, she was seized by occupation forces on 19 October 1967 and became the first Palestinian woman political prisoner of the contemporary Palestinian revolution.
She was sentenced to 30 years in prison and was released on 11 November 1977 in a prisoner release agreement. She was exiled to Jordan and then Lebanon under the exchange terms, where she returned to the Palestinian revolution as a member of social organizations. She later returned to Gaza in 1994 and lived with her husband, fellow liberated prisoner Fawzi al-Nimr, who died last year. She and al-Nimr have lived in Cairo for the past several years. Al-Nimr, who had been a fighter with the Akkawi group that targeted specific Zionist military installations, served over 15 years in occupation prisons with his comrades, and he was freed in an exchange with the Palestinian resistance in May 1985.
Her sister, Enaam Bernawi, was jailed for one year alongside her sister. During Fatima Bernawi’s time in the occupation prisons, she was jailed with fellow Palestinian woman freedom fighter Zakia Shammout, who was pregnant and gave birth in her prison cell accompanied by her fellow women prisoners. As a trained nurse, Bernawi cut the umbilical cord and ensured the life and health of Shammout and her daughter, Nadia.
While Bernawi was the first Palestinian woman prisoner of the contemporary (post-1967) Palestinian revolution, she was always certain to cite fellow Palestinian women who had been jailed in the two decades of occupation prior, including many women detained, held in forced labour camps and subjected to harsh violence by occupation soldiers during the Nakba, as well as notable Palestinians like Ikhlas Ali, jailed for teaching children revolutionary songs in Palestine ’48, and Nayfeh Akilah, a member of Al-Ard group — one of the first Palestinian revolutionary organizations formed following the Nakba — accused of sharing military information about Zionist forces with the Syrian army in 1956.
One journalist who interviewed Bernawi recalled that she discussed a memorable interation with Omar al-Qasim, the imprisoned leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine who is renowned for his role in sparking Palestinian armed resistance inside the occupied West Bank of Palestine as well as for his later leading role in the prisoners’ movement. Both she and al-Qasim were brought by occupation soldiers where several Palestinian resistance fighters were holding Zionist military trainees hostage, while prison guards demanded they use a megaphone to call on the fighters to let the soldiers go. Bernawi refused to speak through the megaphone at all, while al-Qasim took up the megaphone and instead called on the fighters to carry through with the orders of their leadership. Al-Qasim was beaten and dragged away by occupation forces; later, in 1989, he died in Israeli occupation prisons after lengthy medical neglect and following weeks of appeals by his family for his freedom.
Along with Dalal al-Mughrabi, Shadia Abu Ghazaleh, and Leila Khaled, Bernawi remained a symbol of Palestinian women’s steadfastness and commitment by all means to liberate their homeland from the river to the sea. In fact, Bernawi met Dalal al-Mughrabi before she led her commando operation to occupied Palestine, although she was not aware of the operation planned; al-Mughrabi told Bernawi, “I am going to the place you came from.” Bernawi understood the full meaning of al-Mughrabi’s words when she received news of the commando operation and her martyrdom.
Fellow freed prisoner Aisha Odeh saluted Bernawi in a Facebook post: “Goodbye Fatima Bernawi, daughter of Jerusalem and great fighter, the first to seek freedom and dignity and refuse defeat…she became a beacon for us, guiding us to the path of struggle,” Odeh wrote.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes the life and struggle of Fatima Bernawi, who lived for the liberation of Palestine and who inspired generations of Palestinian women and men to join the liberation movement. A symbol of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, her life and story once again remind us of the centrality of the Palestinian prisoners of today in continuing to lead the resistance for the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea.
Israeli occupation officials have once again violated an agreement with a Palestinian prisoner, renewing the detention of Raed Rayan for another 6 months without charge or trial. Rayan had concluded a 113-day hunger strike in July 2022 with an agreement for his release on Thursday, 3 November, after the expiration of his administrative detention order. Now, tensions inside the occupation prisons are escalating as Palestinian prisoners are acting to demand Rayan’s immediate release.
Approximately 40 Palestinian prisoners from the Fateh movement, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine in Ofer prison and the Negev desert prison have announced that they are planning to launch an open hunger strike if Rayan is not released. The extension of Rayan’s detention not only directly violates the agreement that concluded his 113-day hunger strike but also follows the 19-day hunger strike of administrative detainees to put an end to the repeated renewal of detention.
Raed Rayan, 28, from Beit Duqqu northwest of occupied Jerusalem, has been on hunger strike since April 2022, when his administrative detention was last renewed. He has been imprisoned without charge or trial under administrative detention since 3 November 2021. He had been released from his last period of detention without charge or trial only months before, in April 2021.
Administrative detention was first used in Palestine by the British colonial mandate and then adopted by the Zionist regime; it is now used routinely to target Palestinians, especially community leaders, activists, and influential people in their towns, camps and villages.
There are currently approximately 800 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention, out of 4,650 Palestinian political prisoners. These orders are issued by the military and approved by military courts on the basis of “secret evidence”, denied to both Palestinian detainees and their attorneys. Issued for up to six months at a time, they are indefinitely renewable, and Palestinians — including minor children — can spend years jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention.
Israeli occupation authorities repeatedly violate the agreements for release obtained by Palestinian prisoners through lengthy hunger strikes. Most recently, Khalil Awawdeh won his release after 182 days of hunger strike; while his administrative detention was not renewed, Zionist forces have now accused him of trying to bring a mobile phone back to the Ramle prison clinic and have detained him for weeks past his scheduled release date.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network joins the Palestinian prisoners’ movement in demanding the immediate liberation of Raed Rayan, Khalil Awawdeh and all Palestinian prisoners. All of the governments — such as those of the United States, Canada and European states — that continue to support the Israeli colonization of Palestine are implicated in these ongoing crimes. We urge supporters of Palestine to take action to free Raed, all Palestinian prisoners, and Palestine, from the river to the sea!
Protest in your city or country!
Join the many protests taking place around the world — confront, isolate and besiege the Israeli embassy or consulate in your city or country of residence. Or take to the streets in your neighborhood, on your campus or at a government building in your area. Make it clear that the people are with Palestine! Send us your events at samidoun@samidoun.net.
Boycott Israel!
The international, Arab and Palestinian campaign to boycott Israel can play an important role at this critical time. Local boycott groups can protest and label Israeli produce and groceries, while many complicit corporations – including HP, G4S, Puma, Teva and others, profit from their role in support Zionist colonialism throughout occupied Palestine. By participating in the boycott of Israel, you can directly help to throw a wrench in the economy of settler colonialism.
Use these Posters and Signs:
Spread awareness by posting these signs and posters in your community or carrying them during your demonstrations:
Monday, 21 November
Israeli occupation officials have once again violated an agreement with a Palestinian prisoner, renewing the detention of Raed Rayan for another 6 months without charge or trial. 