11 -13 June, Washington, DC: Convergence in support of eco-prisoners & against toxic prisons

10 February 2016

June 11 – 13, 2016 in Washington D.C.

International Days of Action Everywhere

FOR OVER A DECADE, June 11^th has been a day of action in solidarity with environmentalists and anarchists imprisoned for their actions in defense of the Earth. The day has its origins in an international outcry over the extreme and unprecedented sentencing of Jeffrey Luers to 22 years in prison for damaging several SUV’s at a car dealership. Since its inception in 2004, the June 11^th day of action and other acts of solidarity have been instrumental in winning shorter sentences or early release for eco-prisoners, including Luers himself as well as Eric McDavid, who was entrapped by an informant. Yet committed earth defenders such as Marius Mason, targeted in the FBI’s “Green Scare,” are still serving harsh sentences in maximum security prisons for taking direct action against earth destroying industries.

MEANWHILE IN APPALACHIA, the Bureau of Prisons (BOP) plans to build a massive maximum security prison, on top of a former mountaintop removal coal mine in Letcher County, Eastern Kentucky, surrounded by sludge ponds and coal processing and transport operations. This amounts to an environmental justice nightmare, where prisoners who are disproportionately low-income and people of color face toxic conditions behind bars.

It also happens that this prison site is about a mile as the crow flies from a rare and very biodiverse pocket of Eastern old-growth called the Lilley Cornett Woods. Learn more in the December 2105 issue of the Earth First! Journal.

As of December 2015, the BOP got over $400 million approved for the prison’s construction. The newly-formed Campaign to Fight Toxic Prisons (FTP) is organizing to stop it, and looking to grow a coalition of opposition.

STOPPING ONE PRISON IS NOT A MAGIC BULLET to ending the U.S. police state, the one that gave way to world’s largest prison nation and in turn serves as the apparatus of repression that keeps the planet shackled to industrial capitalism…

But it’s a pretty good place to build from. In particular, it is a powerful place that the environmental movement can express solidarity with the growing rage over the racist criminal justice system.

The goal of gathering in D.C. is to converge for a series of actions that can put dual pressure on both the BOP and the EPA regarding this proposed prison, and environmental justice issues related to prisoners in general, while continuing to fight for the release of eco-prisoners in the spirit of June 11^th. We also hope to see this effort build stronger bonds between the eco-defense movement and the movements against police and mass incarceration.

We envision a gathering June 11^th to 12^th for networking, strategizing and organizing, culminating with a mass action on Monday the 13^th.

FOR THOSE WHO LIKE THE IDEA, but can’t make it to D.C., there are other options. For example, the BOP has regional offices in 5 other locations.

Additionally, the PR company that is contracted to produce the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the BOP’s Letcher prison is called Cardno, and has offices in most every U.S. city, and other cities all over the world. This is the same firm that was contracted by the U.S. State Department to produce an EIS for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

In many ways, the prison experiences of activists like Luers, Mason, McDavid, and others such as Daniel McGowan, Rebecca Rubin and Tim DeChristopher, have provided courage and inspiration rather than the desired effect of intimidation. They also gave the environmental movement an inside look at the prison epidemic in the U.S. With the steady stream of urban uprisings against the police state, there has never been a better time to organize at this intersection of ecology and incarceration. We hope you’ll join us.

Get in touch if you are interested in helping to organize this J11/FTP convergence or if you are part of a group who wants to co-sponsor it. More details are forthcoming. Contact: FightToxicPrisons@gmail.com

Co-sponsoring groups include Earth First! Prisoner Support, Rising Tide North America, Appalachia Resist!, Jericho D.C., Prison Ecology Project and others TBA.

12 February, Global: Call the White House to demand freedom for Mohammed al-Qeeq

10 February 2016

Friday, 12 February
9:00 am – 5:00 pm EST (8:00 am – 4:00 pm CST)
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/523700587807403/
Organized by Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

Call the White House on Mohammed al-Qeeq’s 80th day of hunger strike to demand his immediate release: 001-202-456-1111

After calling, post here about the White House operator’s response.

Israeli forces captured al-Qeeq, a 33-year-old Palestinian journalist and father of two, in a 21 November nighttime raid on his Ramallah home.

On 25 November, al-Qeeq launched a hunger strike to protest torture by his Israeli interrogators. He continued after being placed in administrative detention – imprisonment without charge or trial – on 17 December.

Al-Qeeq has rejected an Israeli Supreme Court decision to “suspend” his administrative detention – until he recovers enough to leave the hospital – and a conditional offer for his release on 1 May, instead demanding immediate freedom and treatment in a Palestinian hospital.

His family, attorneys and an independent physician who visited al-Qeeq in HaEmek hospital have said he appears close to death.

Al-Qeeq is one of 6,800 Palestinian political prisoners held by Israel, including 660 administrative detainees and 18 journalists. Nearly all are tortured during interrogations by Israeli forces.

As Israel’s biggest economic and political supporter, the Obama administration shares responsibility for its crimes against Palestinians, including its administrative detention and torture of al-Qeeq.

Tell the White House:

Mohammed al-Qeeq, a Palestinian journalist, is on his 80th day of a hunger strike protesting his torture and administrative detention without charge or trial by Israel.
The United States must demand al-Qeeq’s immediate release and end all support for Israel’s political imprisonment and other crimes against Palestinians.
Israel’s use of administrative detention and torture, and its attacks on Palestinian journalists and other civilians, are universally-recognized violations of human rights and international law.
US aid to Israel breaks the Leahy Law, which bars assistance to military units known to violate human rights with impunity.
The billions of dollars sent to Israel by the US could be better spent on pressing needs within the country. (Mention any domestic priorities, like health care, job creation or schools, that are particularly important to you.)

13 February, NYC: Palestine: A History of Revolution

10 February 2016

Saturday, 13 February
3:45 pm
Solidarity Center NYC
147 W 24th St, Fl 2nd
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1084200174979193/

Nick Maniace, of FIST – Fight Imperialism, Stand Together and Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, will give a class and lead a discussion on the history of Palestine.

It will include the following topics:

-The creation of the state of Israel (called an-Nakba – “the catastrophe” – by Palestinians).

-The role of the United Sates as the key supporter of the Zionist state.

-The historical stages of the Palestinian resistance struggle: the first Arab-Zionist war, Black September, the October War, the Lebanese Civil War, etc.

-The various Palestinian resistance organizations and their connection to the global anti-imperialist movement and the socialist camp.

12 February, USA: Call in and social media day to free Simon Trinidad

10 February 2016

Friday, February 12: Call in day to free Colombian political prisoner Simon Trinidad from US jails

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1009925899071968/

Change your profile pic to Free Simon Trinidad!

Tweet this event! Tweet the photo!

Share on Instagram! and…don’t forget to CALL-IN!!!

The peace process between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the Colombian government is moving forward and taking place in Havana, Cuba. Recently, President Obama thanked Havana for hosting the peace talks and declared that the US supports the “ implementation of the Colombian accord on the victims of the conflict, justice, and restitution of the lands” This means that the US supports the points where the FARC-EP and the Colombian government came to an agreement. FARC-EP representative Marc Leon called the agreement “nearly irreversible.” Yet President Obama refuses to acknowledge or act on the FARC-EP’s request to have Simon Trinidad, political prisoner & FARC-EP negotiator, present at the bargaining table. We need to demand his release so that the peace process may move forward. This Valentine’s Day we need to express our passion for peace and love for Simon Trinidad and all progressive Colombians by calling for the immediate release of Simon Trinidad so that he may fulfill his role in the negotiations.

Call President Obama at (202) 456-1111

Say: “I want Peace for Colombia and to ask President Obama to free Simon Trinidad for Valentine’s Day! Trinidad belongs at the peace talks, not in solitary confinement at the Florence Colorado Supermax prison. Peace and love for all progressive people in Colombia!”

NYC: #Justice4Rasmea emergency response plan

9 February 2016

5:00 pm
Immigration Court – 26 Federal Plaza, NYC
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/756215261177274/
Organized by NYC Students for Justice in Palestine

Rasmea Odeh has dedicated her life to the cause of a #FreePalestine and to Arab communities across the world, including the past 12 years in Chicago, so we must continue to organize to win #Justice4Rasmea – while she is appealing her unjust conviction for Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization, as well as the cruel sentence of imprisonment AND deportation.

If this worst-case scenario decision comes down BEFORE 12 NOON, and Rasmea is ordered to prison, we are calling for protests the VERY SAME DAY at 5 PM at Federal Plaza – Ny Immigration Court.

If the decision comes down AFTER 12 NOON, we are calling for protests the NEXT DAY at 5 PM. Allies and supporters across the world will also be participating in the emergency response by protesting at U.S. consulates and embassies everywhere.

21 February, NYC: Important area antiwar meeting

9 February 2016

New York City-area Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network activists will join this local meeting of the United National Antiwar Coalition to discuss our recent and ongoing efforts, including campaigns to boycott Israel prison contractor G4S and support hunger-striking Palestinian journalist and administrative detainee Mohammed al-Qeeq and other Palestinian political prisoners, win justice for Palestinian-American community leader Rasmea Odeh, build local events for Israeli Apartheid Week 2016, and mobilize with other supporters of Palestine in Washington, DC on 20 March.

New York City Area UNAC Meeting
Sunday, February 21 at 2 PM
210 Furman Hall at NYU
(245 Sullivan St – near W. 4^th St., Christopher St., Astor Pl and 8^th St. stations)

Please join us for this important meeting. There will be reports on local and national activity and a discussion on how best to build UNAC in the New York City area as well as developing and organizational structure for UNAC in the New York City area. Please come with your ideas and thoughts on fighting against the wars at home and abroad.

During this election period, we are seeing candidates trying to show they are the most hawkish. We have seen attacks on Muslims, immigrants and Black and minority communities. It is important that during this period there is a voice for the victims of the wars at home and abroad.

For more information: UNACpeace@gmail.com or 518-281-1968

Leila Khaled urges freedom for Mohammed al-Qeeq, justice for Omar Nayef Zayed in meetings at European Parliament

9 February 2016

Palestinian resistance icon and political leader Leila Khaled was joined by representatives of Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, the European Coordination of Committees and Associations for Palestine and the Palestinian Youth Organization Europe for a series of meetings in the European Parliament in Brussels on 8 February.

Khaled met with the offices of MEPs Martina Anderson of Ireland and Ana Gomes of Portugal, where she highlighted three key issues: the struggle of Palestinian prisoners and, in particular, the 76-day hunger strike of Palestinian journalist Mohammed al-Qeeq, imprisoned without charge or trial; Palestinian refugees and the right of return, and the recent cuts to UNRWA health services in Lebanon; and the case of Omar Nayef Zayed, former Palestinian prisoner now facing extradition from Bulgaria, an EU member state.

Khaled highlighted the suffering of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and the escalation in the past five months, including the constantly expanding use of administrative detention without charge or trial and the situation of child prisoners. In particular, she highlighted al-Qeeq’s case: his urgent health situation as he daily faces death, his insistence on freedom from administrative detention, and the targeting of Palestinian journalists. “Their role is to show what is going on, and because of that, they are shot, wounded, imprisoned and held in administrative detention,” said Khaled.

Khaled also discussed the case of 14-year-old Ahmad Manasrah, and the imprisonment of political leaders like Khalida Jarrar and Ahmad Sa’adat, as well as the ongoing repression directed against Palestinians: home demolitions, the siege on Qabatiya, and extrajudicial executions in Palestinian streets.

She also emphasized the case of Omar Nayef Zayed, former Palestinian prisoner who escaped Israeli custody in 1990 and has lived in Bulgaria for the past 22 years with his Bulgarian family, noting that he now faces extradition to the Israeli state by the Bulgarian government under an extradition treaty for “criminal matters,” noting that Zayed’s case – like that of all Palestinian prisoners – is a political matter, not criminal, and concerns occupied Jerusalem, territory under occupation where Palestinians face military courts. She warned that this case endangers Palestinians in Europe, especially former prisoners and veterans of struggle, urging that pressure be escalated to prevent an EU member state from extraditing a Palestinian former prisoner to Israel.

Khaled, a member of the Palestinian National Council and chair of the refugees and right of return committee of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, emphasized the centrality of the right of return for Palestinian refugees to the Palestinian cause, noting that it is frequently silenced and marginalized when it is in fact at the center of Palestinian struggle. “Palestinian refugees want to go back home, including myself. I am still a refugee,” Khaled said. She noted that any true solution for Palestine requires the implementation of Palestinian refugees’ right of return, noting that UN Resolution 194, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and well-settled international norms all support the right denied Palestinians forced from their homes for 68 years.

She also noted the budget cuts facing Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, dependent on health services provided by the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA), which deals uniquely with Palestinian refugees; all other refugees’ cases are handled by the UN High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR). UNRWA’s budget is funded by donor countries and is constantly subject to political pressure in an attempt to liquidate the struggle of Palestinian refugees, Khaled noted; now, when it is facing a budget crisis, it is being resolved on the backs of those least able to handle it – Palestinian refugees in Lebanon in the camps, facing cuts to health services funding that have prompted significant protests throughout the country.

She also noted the continuing forced displacement of Palestinian refugees yet again from Syria, often to Europe, while their right of return continues to be denied.

Samidoun representatives in the meeting also discussed the issue of G4S, whose European Parliament contract was dropped in 2011, while it continues to provide security to the European Commission and other European institutions despite its atrocious human rights record, not only in Palestine where it provides control rooms and equipment to Israeli prisons, checkpoints and police training centers but around the world.

The participants in the meeting emphasized the importance of action by concerned MEPs on the case of Al-Qeeq, with particular urgency considering the daily threat to his life, and on Palestinian prisoners more broadly, as well as the case of Omar Nayef Zayed. They also called for action on Palestinian refugees’ right of return, which is consistently excluded from European discussions on Palestine and Palestinian rights, and a real boycott of settlement products in the EU.

Samidoun will be joining Khaled as she continues her meetings with parliamentarians in the coming days, and will be following up alongside ECCP with parliamentarians on the discussions and issues raised.

Hunger-striking journalist Al-Qeeq rejects agreement to free him 1 May; demands unconditional release

8 February 2016

Mohammed al-Qeeq, 33, Palestinian journalist now on hunger strike for 76 days in protest of his imprisonment without charge or trial under Israeli administrative detention, has rejected a proposed agreement to free him by 1 May. Al-Qeeq, suffering from severe health effects related to his hunger strike, including loss of speaking ability, hearing and extreme weight loss and is “threatened with death,” has announced that he will end his strike and accept medical treatment only in a Palestinian hospital. The Palestinian Prisoners Affairs Committee and Al-Qeeq’s lawyers announced on Sunday, 7 February that he rejected any agreement that did not immediately bring to an end his imprisonment without charge or trial.

This announcement came as Palestinian leader and former hunger striker, Khader Adnan, who won his release from administrative detention twice in long-term hunger strikes, conducted a one-day solidarity strike for al-Qeeq, alongside his wife and other activists for the freedom of Palestinian prisoners. Protests throughout Palestine and internationally are demanding al-Qeeq’s immediate release, including an occupation at the International Committee of the Red Cross office in Gaza City that demanded more action to free al-Qeeq, support tents in various West Bank cities and refugee camps, and protests in occupied Palestine ’48.

Al-Qeeq, a journalist with Al-Majd television, has been on hunger strike since 25 November. He initiated the strike in protest of his torture under interrogation and continued it when ordered to six months administrative detention without charge or trial. He has pledged to continue his strike until freedom, and earlier rejected an Israeli Supreme Court decision to “suspend” his detention due to his health condition.

Cartoon: Mohammed Sabaaneh

8 February, USA: National call-in day to end Mohammed al-Qeeq’s administrative detention

8 February 2016

Monday, 8 February
11:00 am – 3:00 pm EST (10:00 am – 2:00 pm CST)
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1055960941127415/
Organized by American Muslims for Palestine

The American Muslims for Palestine, a national education and advocacy organization, today is calling for a national call-in day on behalf of Palestinian journalist Mohammed al-Qeeq, 33. Mr. al-Qeeq is in a “struggle against death,” after more than 75 days on a hunger strike to protest the inhumane conditions under which Israeli occupation authorities have detained him since his arrest on Nov. 21, 2015. He is protesting Israel’s use of administrative detention, or being held without charge or trial and has refused all nourishment, including salts and minerals since Nov. 24.

On Sunday, an Israeli doctor in the hospital where al-Qeeq is being detained told media that al-Qeeq is in critical condition and “each minute marks serious threat to his life.” The father of two has lost his ability to speak, is nearly blind and lapses in and out of consciousness, according to a source close to the family.

Mr. al-Qeeq recently rejected an Israeli offer to release him on May 1, and instead demanded the immediate end of his administrative detention and the ability to be treated in a Palestinian hospital once he is freed, according to media reports.

Israeli occupation forces arrested Mr. al-Qeeq from his home at 2 a.m. on Nov. 21 and subjected him to 25 days of brutal interrogation. He began his hunger strike on Nov. 24 and spent several weeks in solitary confinement before he was transferred to a military hospital on Dec. 30, 2015 due to his deteriorating health.

TAKE ACTION

We must take action now! Israel’s use of administrative detention violates international and American laws.

Call Ambassador Anne W. Patterson, Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, and ask the US State Department to pressure Israel to end Mohammed Al-Qiq’s administrative detention immediately.

TALKING POINTS

Please pressure Israel to release Mohammed al-Qeeq from administrative detention immediately and allow him to seek medical treatment in a Palestinian hospital.
Mr. al-Qeeq is a journalist and as such should enjoy special protections.
A free press is vital to democracy and detaining journalists is not the sign of a democratic society.
Israel currently is holding 6,800 Palestinians, mostly as political prisoners, and 660 of them are being held in administrative detention.
Israel’s use of administrative detention violates the Fourth Geneva Conventions and the US Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.
The United States has a moral obligation to ensure recipients of our aid uphold human rights, and to turn a blind eye to Israel’s imprisonment of nearly 7,000 Palestinians and its use of administrative detention weakens our moral stance throughout the world.
The US must demand Israel release all Palestinian political prisoners immediately and end its use of administrative detention.

CONTACT INFO

Please call Assistant Secretary of State Anne Patterson at 202. 647.3930.

TWEET

Please Tweet at US Secretary of State John Kerry, the State Department, President Barack Obama and the White House with the hashtag #FreeAlQiq.

@John Kerry
@StateDept
@POTUS
@WhiteHouse

Once you call, please post a comment on this Facebook page.

Berlin protesters stand in solidarity with hunger-striking journalist Al-Qeeq, Palestinian prisoners

7 February 2016

The Palestinian National Action Commission in Berlin organized a protest on Friday, 5 February in solidarity with imprisoned hunger-striking Palestinian journalist Mohammed al-Qeeq, on his 73rd day of hunger strike. Protesters gathered at Potsdamer Platz, carrying signs and flags demanding the immediate release of al-Qeeq and the freedom of all Palestinian prisoners.

Al-Qeeq, 33, is a journalist for Al-Majd television. He has been on hunger strike since 25 November 2015; originally in protest of his torture under interrogation and then in protest of his imprisonment without charge or trial under administrative detention. Al-Qeeq announced that he was continuing his hunger strike after an Israeli supreme court decision “suspended” his detention due to his health condition, demanding his immediate freedom. He also rejected a deal that would free him on 1 May, saying that his continued imprisonment without charge or trial was unacceptable.

The protest in Berlin came alongside actions in New York, Montreal and elsewhere in Germany, as well as protests throughout Palestine.

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