15 October, San Francisco: Call to Action – Emergency Protest for Palestine!

7 October 2015

Thursday, 15 October
6:00 pm
Israeli Consulate
456 Montgomery Street, San Francisco
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/868315913288847/

We, the General Union of Palestine Students, declare Palestine in a state of emergency and urge all of our community organizers and leaders to come forth as we rise with the uprisings, as we rise with Palestine! Thursday, October 15, 2015 at 6:00pm in front of the Israeli Consulate (456 Montgomery St, San Francisco).

As you may have heard recently, the situation in Palestine has been deteriorating. Within the past few weeks, Zionist forces have shut down Al-Aqsa and Al-Aqsa compound, forbidding all Palestinian and Muslim worshippers from their homes of prayer and restricting their rights to practice their religion in safety. Hundreds of Zionist settlers have stormed into Al-Aqsa, plunging Jerusalem and the greater West Bank into chaos. Zionist forces continue to violate and damage Al-Aqsa by burning down doors, setting fire to the rugs, and breaking the glass windows, flexing their control in complete provocation against Palestinians…leading to the murder of four Palestinian youth within the past few days and over 200 injured by snipers, rubber bullets, and gas inhalation. Our people of Palestine are frustrated, enraged, and resisting these constant acts of terror throughout the country. From Ramallah, to Nablus, to Jenin, and Al-Khalil, the Palestinian people are rising against the oppressive Zionist regime and defending Jerusalem. Along with the murder of our youth, Zionist forces have also demanded the demolition of their family homes in Ramallah, Surda and Nablus. Palestinian men and women have been surrounding each and every city day and night to protect the homes of their fellow people and to protect their cities from Zionist invasion.

We stand together in support of the Palestinian resistance against the oppressive Zionist regime and ask you all to stand with us. We need to stand united in front of the face of settler colonialism and echo the rage of our Palestinian people!

Flags, posters, and noise are encouraged.

Co-Sponsorers:
Palestine Youth Movement-PYM
The Freedom Archives
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network

9 October, Minneapolis: Protest for Justice in Palestine, Say No to Israeli Killings of Palestinian Youth

7 October 2015

Friday, October 9
5:00 PM
44th Ave NE and Central Ave NE, Columbia Heights, Minnesota
Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/877078292387804/

In the just 48 hours, four Palestinian youth have been shot and killed in clashes with Israeli occupation forces.

These clashes have come in response to weeks of escalating attacks, where the Israeli military and settlers in the West Bank have injured hundreds of Palestinians with live ammunition, rubber-coated steel bullets and beatings. Hundreds more people have been injured by tear gas, and scores have been arrested. Israeli soldiers have also reportedly shot at more than a dozen Palestinian ambulances and assaulted paramedics. Under Israeli police protection, settlers have set fire to countless Palestinian homes and fields, while the Old City of Jerusalem is on lock-down and Muslim men under 50 are barred entry to attend prayer at holy sites. According to the Palestinian Prisoners Society, “Israeli soldiers kidnapped 562 Palestinians, including dozens of children, mainly in occupied Jerusalem, in September,” and the mass arrests are ongoing.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to use an “iron fist” against Palestinians, saying, “There are no limits on the activities of security forces.” He plans to speed up the demolitions of Palestinian homes and expand the use of administrative detention. These attacks on basic human rights aim to deliver collective punishment to the Palestinian people, and extend the military occupation of Palestinian land.

International law recognizes the right of Palestinians, like any occupied people, to resist. Stand with us as we stand up for justice in Palestine and say no to the killings of Huthaifa Sulaiman (18), Fadi Alloun (19), Abdul-Rahman Shadi Mustafa (13), and Mohannad Shafiq al-Halabi (19).

8 October, London: Emergency Protest – Freedom for Palestinian Hunger Striker Suleiman Skafi

7 October 2015

ALERT: 8TH OCT 2015 – EMERGENCY PROTEST TO DEMAND FREEDOM FOR PALESTINIAN HUNGER STRIKER SULEIMAN SKAFI

Date: Thursday 8th October 2015 3pm-5pm
Location: G4S HQ, 105 Victoria Street (Closest public transport: Victoria Tube/Rail station)
Web: http://www.inminds.com/article.php?id=10689

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/911356998931999/

Assalaamu Alaikum

Suleiman Skafi has been caged without charge or trial for 11 months (since 12th Nov 2014) as part of Israel’s illegal policy of punitive administrative detention where Palestinians are caged indefinitely on rolling 6 month detention orders. Israel is threatening Skafi with another 6 months detention when his current order expires next month. To protest his imprisonment without charge or trial, Skafi has been on hunger strike 38 days (since 1st September 2015) .

Without food Slafi has lost nearly a third of his body weight (23Kg) and he can no longer walk. He is suffering extreme pain in his stomach, head and joints, dizziness and has difficulty in speaking. As punishment for hunger striking he was moved to Israel’s remote G4S secured Negev prison in dessert. Caged in solitary confinement, he was denied personal possessions and adequate cloths and his family were denied permission to visit him. His health rapidly deteriorated and he has now been moved to Soroka hospital in Ber Sheeba (4th Oct 2015).

30 years old Skafi is from Al Khalil in the occupied West Bank. He has been imprisoned on five occasions having been caged for over 6 year in total. He has been on hunger strike several times, including the mass “Karameh” hunger strike in 2012. Skafi was tortured during interrogation and as a result suffers chronic pain in his joints and legs. Israel has denied him medical treatment for the wounds inflicted on him during torture.

Skafi has rejected Israel’s offer of release after 6 month renewed administrative detention. His demand is that his administrative detention not be renewed when it expires next month on 12th November, so its imperative that pressure be put on Israel now to release him before the next six month administrative detention order kicks in.

Please join us on Thursday 3pm outside G4S HQ to demand freedom for Suleiman Skafi; an end to Israel’s illegal practice of Administrative Detention; and to demand G4S end its complicity in Israel’s crimes against the prisoners.

LIVE UPDATES DURING PROTEST

We will, inshAllah, be tweeting live from the protest with live photos being uploaded to our twitter and facebook page. So if you can’t join us on the day, please help us by sharing the photos as they get uploaded.

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If you support this activity please share this alert widely, thank you.

JazakAllah,

Abbas Ali

Palestinian Prisoners Campaign
www.inminds.com/caged

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The Palestinian Prisoners Campaign aims to raise awareness for the plight of Palestinian prisoners and build solidarity for their struggle and work towards their freedom. The campaign was launched by Innovative Minds (inminds.com) and the Islamic Human Rights Commission (ihrc.org) on the occasion of Al Quds Day 2012 (on 17th August 2012), since then we have held actions every fortnight in support of Palestinian prisoners, if you can spare two hours twice a month then please join the campaign by coming to the next action.

6 October, NYC: Rally in solidarity with Palestine’s “Day of Rage”

6 October 2015

Palestinian forces have called for a “Day of Rage” on Tuesday, October 6th, in response to the recent killings of Palestinian youth. We will march from:

The Israeli Consulate
800 2nd Ave, New York, NY 10017
(between E 42nd and E 43rd on 2nd Ave)

Tuesday, October 6th at 5:00 pm

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/1472059443101299/

Hosted by NY4Palestine

Co-sponsored by:

Al-Awda NY: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition
American Muslims for Palestine
NYC Students for Justice in Palestine
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return
Existence Is Resistance
Labor for Palestine
MENA Solidarity Network-US
NYC Solidarity with Palestine
Direct Action Front for Palestine
Muslim American Society – MAS NY
International Action Center

Protest in Rome demands liberation for Palestinian prisoners

3 October 2015

Dozens of activists and supporters of Palestine demonstrated at the Piazza di Montecitorio in Rome, Italy on 3 October in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners, demanding their freedom. Organized by the Arab Palestinian Democratic Union (UDAP), the protest was addressed by Dalya Abu Aker, activist and the daughter of Nidal Abu Aker, imprisoned Palestinian jouranlist held without charge or trial, who recently ended a 40-day hunger strike against administrative detention.

Protesters demanded freedom for all Palestinian prisoners, carrying Palestinian flags and posters of imprisoned Palestinian leaders, including Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Secretary Ahmad Sa’adat and imprisoned Palestinian leftist parliamentarian Khalida Jarrar.

Salah Hamouri – French-Palestinian former prisoner – banned again from West Bank

3 October 2015

Salah Hamouri, former Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails and Palestinian-French dual citizen, has been prohibited from entering the West Bank for an additional 6 months by an Israeli military order. Hamouri, who was released in the 2011 Wafa al-Ahrar prisoner exchange between the Israeli occupation and the Palestinian resistance, was summoned to the “Russian Compound” by Israeli intelligence and given the decision. A Jerusalemite, Hamouri is now banned from entering the West Bank until 22 March 2016.

This is the second such order against Hamouri; the first was issued in March 2015 by Israeli military order. The order had expired on 22 September, but Hamouri was surprised on Tuesday, 29 September by a new ban on his entry into the West Bank. The renewed order was justified on vague grounds of him posing a “threat to the security of the area;” Hamouri said that in practice, the objective of the occupation is to put ever more pressure on the Palestinians in general and Jerusalem in particular, especially at this time of growing uprising in Jerusalem.

In response to the current Israeli attacks on Jerusalem, Hamouri said that what is happening there now is a harbinger of the outbreak of a third intifada. “What is happening in Jerusalem is the resistance of the people of the city in response to a constant state of escalation of Zionist crimes. It is a natural response to years of accumulation of political, social and economic pressure exercised by the occupation forces against the people of Jerusalem. These responses or intifadas of Jerusalem will not truly develop, however, into a massive popular intifada if a revolutionary uprising does not occur in all parts of the country, and especially in the West Bank and Gaza,” said Hamouri.

Ayman Al-Tabeesh released after 30 months of detention, multiple hunger strikes

3 October 2015

Ayman Al-Tabeesh, former administrative detainee and long-term hunger striker, was released from Israeli occupation prisons after 30 months of imprisonment without charge or trial on Thursday, 1 October. He returned to his family in Dura village near al-Khalil.

Al-Tabeesh, 35, went on hunger strike five times. He was repeatedly promised release at the end of his detention period, only to have his detention renewed again without trial on the basis of secret evidence. He has been imprisoned for a total of 11 years over multiple arrests.

He launched a hunger strike on 23 May 2013, protesting his detention without charge or trial following his arrest on 9 May. After 105 days, he suspended his strike after a promise to not renew his detention. However, after the renewal of his detention in violation of the agreement, he launched a hunger strike on 28 February 2014, which ended on 30 June 2014, with an agreement for his release on 5 January 2015. Again, the occupation reneged on the agreement, extending his detention. He has been participating in the boycott of the military courts by administrative detainees, held without chatge or trial. During a previous imprisonment in 2012, he also participated in the collective Karameh hunger strike with thousands of Palestinian prisoners, as well as solidarity strikes with Khader Adnan and Hana Shalabi.

Suleiman Skafi remains on open hunger strike: 33 days demanding end of detention

3 October 2015

Palestinian administrative detainee held in Israeli jails without charge or trial, Suleiman Skafi, remains on hunger strike after 33 days. He rejected an offer by the Israeli state to end his strike in exchange for six more months of administrative detention with a release following that time.

Skafi was arrested by Israeli military forces on 12 November 2014 and his administrative detention has been renewed since; he has been arrested five times and spent a total of six years in Israeli prisons. Under administrative detention, Israel holds Palestinians without charge or trial on the basis of secret evidence. 16 other prisoners held under administrative detention just ended their hunger strike following an agreement on their cases; however, Skafi remains striking. He has lost 23 kilos (47 lbs.) and is being held in Asqelan prison in solitary confinement.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network calls for Skafi’s immediate release and reiterates the call for the end of administrative detention, and the freedom of all 5,500+ Palestinian political prisoners in Zionist jails.

Solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in Milano

2 October 2015

In Milano, Italy on 30 September, protesters called for freedom for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, including Ahmad Sa’adat and Khalida Jarrar. They expressed their solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike, and also called for freedom for Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, imprisoned in French prisons for 30 years, and an end to the persecution of Rasmea Odeh in the United States. Event organized by Fronte Palestina.

Berlin protest calls for freedom for Palestinian political prisoners

2 October 2015

The Palestinian National Action Committee (Palästinensische Nationale Arbeitskomitee) in Berlin, Germany, organized a protest in front of the headquarters of the German Foreign Office, in support of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, demanding their freedom.

Participants in the event carried posters of Palestinian prisoners, including those who had been on an open hunger strike for 40 days demanding an end to administrative detention in the “Battle of Breaking the Chains,” as well as Palestinian imprisoned leaders like Ahmad Sa’adat, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine; Marwan Barghouti and Khalida Jarrar, as well as the imprisoned internationalist in French jails, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah. They also carried posters for the “Battle of Breaking the Chains” and the imprisoned strugglers Nidal Abu Aker, Ghassan Zawahreh, Shadi Ma’ali, Badr al-Ruzza, Munir Abu Sharar, and others.

One of the participans in the protest said, “The Palestinian prisoners’ movement is a revolutionary core of the Palestinian national movement and the resistance. The Palestinian and Arab communities and institutions in the diaspora, and in Europe in particular, must unite their efforts to support the struggles of prisoners as part of the liberation struggle, in order to achieve the freedom of the Palestinian people and their national rights, and particularly to exercise their right to return and self-determination over all of Palestine.”

BDS Berlin participated in the protest, calling for economic, political and cultural boycott of the Israeli state and of security corporations that are involved in Israeli imprisonment of Palestinians.

The members of the Palestinian National Action Committee also presented a political memo to a representative of the German Foreign Office, calling on the German government to end its silence and put pressure on the Israeli occupation to end administrative detention against Palestinian prisoners, a colonialist, racist law that has been in place since the colonial British mandate in occupied Palestine, and contrary to international law and conventions.

The Committee stated that it intends to continue activities in Berlin in support of the prisoners.

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