Palestinian prisoners’ defender Ayman Nasser free after one year in administrative detention

13 September 2015

Palestinian activist, human rights defender, and coordinator of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association‘s Legal Unit Ayman Nasser was released from Israeli prison today, 13 September, after 1 year in administrative detention without charge or trial. Nasser has been repeatedly detained and imprisoned on multiple occasions, targeted for his advocacy for Palestinian prisoners.

He had been released from prison for less than one year at the time of his arrest, having been imprisoned for over a year in 2012 and 2013, sentenced by an Israeli military court for his activities in support of Palestinian political prisoners. . When addressing the military court, he said,“I believe that every human being has opinions and positions and if it’s not violating the law he can freely think and speak these opinions. I am a human rights defender who supports the Palestinian prisoners and I represent my opinions in the public media. My thoughts are not secret, they are public, and everyone knows them.”

His administrative detention was initially for a period of three months and was renewed several times during the past year. Addameer lawyer Sahar Francis was not informed of the so-called “secret evidence” against him, but that it was “similar to the material for his previous arrest,” which concerned his participation in public events, rallies and activities calling for the freedom of Palestinian political prisoners.

Ayman Nasser has worked at Addameer since 2008 on the issue of Palestinian prisoners; he is a former prisoner, having served a six-year sentence in Israeli jails, from 1992 to 1997. He is a prominent human rights defender, and his freedom was demanded by people around the world.

He is married to Halima and has four sons; during his detention, his family members were repeatedly denied permits to visit him in prison.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes Ayman Nasser, dedicated struggler for Palestinian prisoners and for the Palestinian people, and calls for all of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners behind bars to join him in freedom. Samidoun urges ongoing and sustained action to free all Palestinian prisoners, and to prevent the repeated arrest of leading activists and strugglers like Ayman Nasser.

Video of Ayman discussing his 2012 arrest:

Attica Uprising: Anniversary of State-Sponsored Murder, Prisoners’ Revolutionary Leadership

13 September 2015

On 13 September 1971, 39 people – 29 prisoners and 10 guards – were killed by bullets shot by the State of New York, fired from State Police guns, murdered by the state in order to suppress the Attica Revolt, the prisoners’ upsurge in New York in the United States.

The Attica Revolt of 1971 came amid escalating prison organizing and US government repression, as the Black Liberation movement grew throughout the United States and disproportionately Black prisoners – alongside revolutionary prisoners of all national and racial identities – organized against the racist oppression inside US prisons.

The Attica Revolt was sparked after the unjust and repressive segregation/isolation of two prisoners, after decades of injustice inside the prison. From 9 to 13 September 1971, the prisoners took control of Attica prison, holding 40 hostages and making a series of demands for changed conditions inside the prison; on 13 September, the state’s bloody attack shot the rebellion down.

The Attica Revolt came out of ongoing demands by the Attica Liberation Faction, whose five founders, Frank Lott, Herbert X. Blyden, Carl Jones-EL, Donald Noble and Peter Butler, were activists and revolutionaries. “We started teaching political ideology to ourselves. We read Marx, Lenin, Trotsky, Malcolm X, du Bois, Frederick Douglass and a lot of others. We tried a reform program on ourselves first before we started making petitions and so forth. We would hold political classes on weekends and point out that certain conditions were taking place and the money that was being made even though we weren’t getting the benefits,” wrote Carl Jones-EL.

They worked to provide political education to their fellow prisoners as well as addressing demands for reform and changed conditions to the state.

Today, the United States continues – as it has for centuries – its racist mass incarceration, particularly targeting Black and other oppressed communities, as it continues its imperial war on the peoples of the world, felt brutally in Palestine where the Zionist state is a key strategic partner of US imperialism.

The Attica prisoners’ Declaration echoes today as a call from the oppressed and systematically incarcerated as a means of colonial, economic and racial domination and control, from the United States to Palestine:

“The entire prison populace, that means each and every one of us here, have set forth to change forever the ruthless brutalization and disregard for the lives of the prisoners here and throughout the United States. What has happened here is but the sound before the fury of those who are oppressed. We will not compromise on any terms except those terms that are agreeable to us. We’ve called upon all the conscientious citizens of America to assist us in putting an end to this situation that threatens the lives of not only us, but of each and every one of you, as well. We have set forth demands that will bring us closer to the reality of the demise of these prison institutions that serve no useful purpose to the people…but to those who would enslave and exploit the people.”

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes the valiant prisoners who struggled not only in Attica, but in countless prisons then and now for revolutionary change and radical action, for freedom and liberation, and mourns the victims of state-sponsored mass murder. We echo the demands of the prisoners of Attica, of the prisoners of Palestine, who turned the cells of the oppressor into revolutionary schools for struggle, and who continue to do so today, educating and leading movements to end racist, colonialist, capitalist and imperialist oppression and exploitation.

For more information on the Attica Uprising, and key source for the above, please see Project NIA‘s Attica Prison Uprising 101: A Short Primer, by Mariame Kaba, available for download: https://niastories.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/attica_primerfinal.pdf

Muhammad Allan threatens to resume hunger strike if denied transfer to Nablus hospital

13 September 2015

Muhammad Allan has threatened to resume his hunger strike if the Israeli military occupation does not release him from Barzilai Hospital and transfer him to Al-Najah hospital in Nablus, reported the Palestine Information Center.

Nasruddin Allan, Muhammad’s father, told PIC that his son told the Israeli administration of Barzilai hospital last Wednesday of his decision not to respond to doctors’ instructions or take any medication until the Israeli military occupation authorities stopped ignoring his request to transfer him to Nablus.

The father added that his son would also restart his hunger strike if the prosecution persisted in procrastinating over his transfer to Nablus. Allan, 31, is a Palestinian lawyer who was held in administrative detention without charge or trial since June 2014. He launched an open hunger strike in June 2015 following the extension of his detention without charge or trial and waged the strike for 65 days, suspending his strike after an Israeli supreme court decision that suspended his detention because of his severe health situation – including neurological damage – but failed to challenge administrative detention as a practice or policy. Allan was promised transfer to a Palestinian hospital after his medical crisis was alleviated yet remains in Barzilai hospital.

There are currently seven Palestinian administrative detainees engaged in an open hunger strike, the Battle of Breaking the Chains, demanding an end to administrative detention as a policy as well as their own detention. The five detainees who launched the strike, Nidal Abu Aker, Shadi Ma’ali, Ghassan Zawahreh, Badr al-Ruzza and Munir Abu Sharar, have now been on strike for 25 days, consuming only salt and water.

Sami Abu Diak and other Palestinian prisoners confront medical crises and neglect

13 September 2015

Palestinian prisoner Sami Abu Diak, 33, of Jenin, has been moved to Assaf Harofe hospital on Sunday, 13 September after a severe deterioration of his health in the Ramle prison clinic. Abu Diak, who recently underwent surgery to remove a large portion of his colon, is suffering from colon cancer. He is currently in intensive care and suffering inflammation of the liver, gallbladder and pancreas. Abu Diak is not alone in facing a medical crisis in Israeli prisons. Yousri Al-Masri, 31, was transferred on 12 September from Eshel prison to Nafha prison. Al-Masri suffers from lymphoma, which has spread to his liver and elsewhere in his body. He has blurry vision, eye pain and chronic insomnia. He has been repeatedly denied and delayedt treatment for his cancer and related conditions. Fathi Abu Hamid, 30, is now scheduled to have a tonsillectomy on 21 September after several years of severe tonsil infections; after a serious decline in his health, doctors at Soroka Hospital ordered the surgery. However, the Israeli prison administration ordered its delay on several occasions. He was to receive the surgery on Saturday before yet another delay. Salah Al-Titi, a resident of Al-Aroub refugee camp, is suffering from kidney and bladder problems, has a urostomy, is suffering from dizziness, pain and blurred vision and is receiving only painkillers in the Ramle prison clinic, reported Palestinian lawyer Hanan al-Khatib on Sunday. He has appealed for medical release three times and been rejected three times. Murad Saad, a resident of Al-Amari refugee camp, is a cancer patient held in Ramle prison clinic. Suffering from colon cancer, his entire large intestine was removed and he has a colostomy. He continues to experience severe pain and is receiving little or delayed treatment, said al-Khatib. Meanwhile, Abdel Fattah Houshia, 23, who has completed three of his four year sentence, is suffering from frequent blackouts and has a potential diagnosis of epilepsy or potential meningitis. However, rather than receiving hospital care, Houshia has been transferred via “Bosta” from Eshel to Gilboa prison. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network emphasizes the full responsibility of the Israeli occupation for the health and life of these and all Palestinian prisoners, noting that Palestinian prisoners are subject to continuous medical neglect, dangerous delays in surgery and treatment and mistreatement of serious medical conditions with painkillers only. We urge international action and solidarity to save the lives of these Palestinian prisoners and demand the freedom of all of the patient prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Battle of Breaking the Chains: 25 days of hunger strike for Palestinian prisoners

13 September 2015

Palestinian prisoners in Israeli administrative detention are continuing their hunger strike to demand an end to imprisonment without charge or trial. Nidal Abu Aker, Ghassan Zawahreh, Shadi Ma’ali, Munir Abu Sharar, Badr al-Ruzza, Bilal Daoud Saifi and Suleiman Eskafi are all isolated by the Israeli prison administration in an attempt to break their strike, the “Battle of Breaking the Chains.”

Bilal Daoud Saifi, 26, is being denied medication for his chronic medical condition in retaliation for his participation in the hunger strike. He has been held in administrative detention since 28 February 2015 and his detention was renewed on 28 August 2015. He has been repeatedly arrested and detained for a total of five years. All of the strikers are being held in solitary confinement in prisons and not provided with hospital care despite the 5 original strikers now having been on hunger strike for 25 days.

Organizing and events in Palestine in solidarity with the strikers have escalated. In Dheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem, where four of the strikers – Palestinian refugees denied their right to return – are residents, a permanent solidarity tent has been set up at the entrance to the camp. Every day the tent is full of supporters, including youth performing street theatre and leading a night march through the camp.

In Nablus and Al-Khalil, large rallies were held in solidarity with the striking prisoners and rallies are planned in Tulkarem and Gaza City for Monday and Tuesday. The Progressive Student Action Front at Bethlehem University organized a vigil to support the prisoners’ strike, distributing salt and water to students to inform them about the strike and the situation of the prisoners. Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike consume only salt and water. The PSAF at An-Najah University in Nablus also held an event to support the prisoners, distributing water and salt to students and speaking about the prisoners and their struggle.

There are approximately 480 Palestinian prisoners currently held without trial under administrative detention, in which Israeli military court orders detention periods of one to six months on the basis of “secret files,” not accessible by detainees or their lawyers. These detention periods are indefinitely renewable. Administrative detention was initially introduced in Palestine by the British colonial mandate. Its use as a policy by the Israeli state contravenes the Geneva Conventions and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Palestinian prisoners like Khader Adnan and Mohammed Allan have gone on lengthy hunger strikes to win their release from administrative detention, and ending it is a long-time demand of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network expresses its strongest solidarity with the striking prisoners, and calls for international actions, mobilizations and events to demand their freedom. Samidoun emphasizes that the Israeli occupation is fully responsible for the lives and health of the strikers. We cannot wait until these brave strugglers are facing death to act and demand not only their freedom as individuals, but the abolition of administrative detention – on the road to freeing every Palestinian prisoner held in Israeli occupation jails. It is not the case that Israeli military courts are any more legitimate, fair or acceptable than administrative detention – they are just as arbitrary, racist and illegitimate. But administrative detention is a weapon of mass terror used against the Palestinian people, and it is critical to bring this practice to an end. These Palestinian prisoners have put their bodies on the line in order to end administrative detention – and it is imperative that we act to support them. These prisoners’ struggle is not only about their individual freedom – it is part of their struggle for return and liberation for Palestine.

Take Action!

1. Sign on to this statement in support of the prisoners’ demand to End Administrative Detention. Organizational and individual endorsements are welcome – and organizational endorsements particularly critical – in support of the prisoners’ demands and their actions. Click here to sign or sign below:http://bit.ly/EndAdministrativeDetention

2. Send a solidarity statement. The support of people around the world helps to inform people about the struggle of Palestinian prisoners. It is a morale booster and helps to build political solidarity. Please send your solidarity statements to samidoun@samidoun.net. They will be published and sent directly to the prisoners.

3. Hold a solidarity one-day hunger strike in your area. Gather in a tent or central area, bring materials about Palestinian prisoners and hold a one-day solidarity strike to raise awareness and provide support for the struggle of the prisoners and the Palestinian cause. Please email us at samidoun@samidoun.net to inform us of your action – we will publicize and share news with the prisoners.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

Palestinian teen Dima Sawahreh released from prison, held under house arrest

13 September 2015

Palestinian prisoner Dima Sawahreh, 18, from Jabal al-Mukaber neighborhood in Jerusalem, was released after 20 months imprisonment on 11 September, but will spend the next four months under house arrest.

Sawahreh was arrested on 3 January 2014 at the age of 16. She was held for six months in a juvenile detention center in Akka because of her young age, then transferred to Ramla prison for 19 days in isolation, after which she was transferred to Hasharon prison with the other women prisoners. During her captivity, her brother died; she was denied permission to phone her parents.

She is prohibited from leaving her home between 8 pm and 6 am and must visit the Israeli occupation forces every two weeks to prove she has not left the borders of Jerusalem.

There are 25 women prisoners remaining in Hasharon prison, to which global security corporation G4S provides a central control room and security system. There is a global call for boycott of G4S, who are complicit not only in the torture and political imprisonment of Palestinians but in the abuse of migrants and refugees, Indigenous people and workers in countries around the world, including the US, Canada, the UK and Australia.

Palestinian activists: Beit Hanoun/Erez crossing a “trap” of Israeli occupation

13 September 2015

The Erez/Beit Hanoun crossing to Gaza is becoming a trap by the Israeli occupation to imprison Palestinians from Gaza, said Riyad Al-Ashqar of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Center for Studies, noting that arrests at the crossing are escalating once again.

In the beginning of 2015, 19 merchants seeking to trade and do business through the crossing were arrested; while the arrests then declined from May to July, said Ashqar, in August, 6 merchants, 2 international organization staff members, 2 patients traveling for treatment and one teacher were arrested at the crossing. With the ongoing siege on Gaza and the closure of Rafah crossing the vast majority of the time, Palestinians in Gaza are forced to seek treatment and trade through this crossing.

In order to pass through the crossing, Palestinians from Gaza must receive pre-approved permits from the Israeli occupation forces. In all of these cases, people traveled through the crossing with permits, only to be arrested after crossing and taken to interrogation and imprisonment.

Rabie Mustafa Almalakha works for Mercy Corps International; he was arrested without charge. Alaa Abdelkader Mohammed Bashir, 28, from Deir al-Balah, works in the United Nations Development Program. Travelling with colleagues to Ramallah for a UN training program, he was taken, interrogated for hours and then returned to Gaza without being allowed to pass.

Kamal Zaqout, 46, from Sheikh Radwan, had permits to travel for business (he sells electrical products) and was arrested after passing through the crossing. Tamer Boraim, 36, from Bani Suhaila east of Khan Younis; Sami Tabash, 52; Wael Odeh; Ziad Qatanana, all from Shujaiya neighborhood, were also arrested after receiving permits to travel for business, as was Muhammad Lutfi Shalfouh.

Ibrahim Adel Shaer, 20, a Palestinian throat cancer patient from Rafah in the Gaza Strip, was arrested at the crossing where he had received a permit to travel to Al-Khalil in the West Bank for further treatment. However, he was arrested by Israeli occupation, his father – who accompanied him – sent back to Gaza, while he was imprisoned in Asqelan prison. Fawzi Jaoudat Abdel-Al, 22, was similarly arrested as he traveled for medical treatment to occupied Jerusalem.

Teacher Ihab Abu Nahala, 27, from Gaza City, was traveling to Qatar where he had a contract to work as a teacher. He was arrested and accused of participation in the Palestinian resistance.

Ashqar said that the occupation forces are using the Beit Hanoun/Erez crossing as a trap to capture those it has declared “wanted,” urging international action and advocacy against these arrests but also to end the siege on Gaza and open Rafah crossing so that Palestinians from Gaza will be freed from this trap

Alert for Mumia Abu-Jamal: Mumia Faces Retaliatory Transfer, Denied Hepatitis C Cure

12 September 2015

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Movement urges action to support Mumia Abu-Jamal, US political prisoner of the Black Liberation Movement. Abu-Jamal is a revolutionary journalist and former Minister of Information for the Philadelphia Black Panthers; he has been wrongfully imprisoned for over 32 years, 30 of them on Death Row. Throughout that time, he has continued to write and share his voice and vision with revolutionary movements in the US and around the world. He is one of the signatories of the “Black For Palestine” statement, with 10 other Black Liberation political prisoners in US jails.

Mumia is now facing retaliatory transfer – also a common method of punishment against Palestinian leaders and strugglers in Israeli jails. He is also being denied medical care – again, an experience of Palestinian political prisoners that has led to death on multiple occasions. The US and the State of Pennsylvania are responsible for Mumia’s life and health, which is currently in severe danger. As Johanna Fernandes notes, “The denial of the Hepatitis C cure to Mumia –while his medical condition remains precarious and while his disfiguring skin condition continues to cause him unthinkable suffering –is cruel and unusual punishment, and torture through medical neglect.”

Free Mumia Abu-Jamal! Stop Retaliatory Transfer, Full Medical Treatment Now!

MUMIA FACES RETALIATORY TRANSFER

September 7, 2015. Two days ago, prison staff boxed-up all Mumia’s personal effects from his cell while he was in the prison infirmary trying to recover from the prison’s medical malfeasance and neglect that nearly killed him. The handling of prison property in the absence of a prisoner is a violation of prison procedures. After signing the forms required when prisoner property is placed in storage, Mumia asked if he was about to be moved to a different facility, since the boxing up of a prisoner’s property usually precedes a transfer. An officer assured him that he would not be transferred; but this all seemed really strange to Mumia.

A retaliatory transfer to some other prison would be a new blow against Mumia’s health, and would steep him and his family in greater fear and uncertainty.

Why do we sense retaliation? Because Mumia’s attorneys have filed a lawsuit charging the PA Department of Corrections with medical neglect, i.e. with failure to diagnose his disease in a timely way and with continuing to deny him adequate treatment of his debilitating and life-threatening Hepatitis C condition. The PA Department of Corrections was set to respond to the lawsuit this Thursday in court. A transfer to another prison, without giving him fully professional healthcare, would be retaliatory. Indeed it would be an attack Mumia, another way for his enemies to see him dead.We must stop any retaliatory transfer. No transfer of Mumia should take place that does not take him to a quality medical center for cure of his very serious, but treatable, Hepatitis C condition. Keep up the fight for Mumia’s life!

CALL the PA Department of Corrections and Mumia’s prison – starting now. Here’s the message:

Stop Any Retaliatory Transfer!

Treat-to-Cure Mumia’s Hepatitis C Now!

Phone in both of these demands to –

John Wetzel, Secretary of Corrections, Pennsylvania

Phone: (717) 728-2573

John Kerestes, Superintendent, SCI-Mahanoy prison

Phone: (570) 773-2158

Mumia’s lawyers on the denial of medical care:

http://www.globalresearch.ca/medical-crisis-of-political-prisoner-mumia-abu-jamal/5475205

The following is a summary of the medical issues currently confronting Mumia Abu-Jamal, now a prisoner at SCI Mahanoy in Pennsylvania. A detailed presentation of his issues is contained in the papers filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in the case of Abu-Jamal v. Kerestes and will be made available upon request.

Mumia Abu Jamal is suffering from “active” hepatitis C, a serious liver disease. Tests performed over the last several months show that Mr. Abu-Jamal’s liver likely has “significant fibrosis” (scarring) and deteriorated function. The disease has also manifested itself in other ways. He has a persistent, painful skin rash over most of his body.

Our consulting physician, who visited Mr. Abu-Jamal has concluded that it is likely a disease known as necrolytic acral erythma, a condition that is almost always associated with an untreated hepatitis C infection. Mr. Abu-Jamal has been diagnosed with “anemia of chronic disease”, another common consequence of hepatitis C. He has sudden-onset adult diabetes, a complication that led to an episode of diabetic shock on March 30, 2015. Most recently, he has begun to lose weight again.

Mr. Abu Jamal’s hepatitis C can be cured – and the painful and dangerous consequences alleviated– if the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (DOC) would administer the direct acting anti-viral medication that has now become the standard for treatment for hepatitis C infections.

According to the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD), this hepatitis C treatment “results in sustained virologic response (SVR) which is tantamount to virologic cure”. The AASLD protocol has been adopted by the United States Bureau of Prisons.

Under that protocol, Mr. Abu-Jamal is a candidate for immediate treatment

The DOC has known of Mr. Abu-Jamal’s hepatitis C infection since 2012- but never conducted a complete hepatitis C workup until recently. His skin condition, which had been intermittent for several years, worsened and became constant in August 2014. His health had deteriorated to such an extent that he was admitted to the hospital in May 2015. Over those eight days numerous tests were conducted that ruled out many conditions, including some cancers.

Those tests led the doctors to conclude that the symptoms were likely caused by the hepatitis C. In June 2015, after Mr. Abu-Jamal’s release from the hospital, his attorneys demanded that a complete hepatitis C workup be conducted and treatment administered. But it took several weeks for those simple blood tests to be taken.

They concluded that Mr. Abu-Jamal does, in fact, have an active hepatitis C infection. Notwithstanding that determination, and Mr. Abu-Jamal’s continued suffering and deteriorated health, he has not been given the anti-viral drugs.

As our consulting expert had concluded, “failure to treat Mr. Abu-Jamal’s hepatitis C will result in serious harm to his health, as his current-hepatic symptoms will not be cured, and he faces an increasingly serious risk of suffering from fibrosis and cirrhosis, liver cancer, complications of his diabetes, and eventual death.”

A motion for an injunction seeking treatment is pending in federal court.

However, the treatment, as our medical expert has stated, should begin “immediately”.

Given the overwhelming and undisputed evidence that Mr. Abu-Jamal is suffering from an active infection, treatment should not await a determination by the court. It must begin now.

http://bringmumiahome.com

AN URGENT MESSAGE:

Competent Medical Care, Not Transfer

Administer the Hepatitis C cure to Mumia & the 10,000 PA Prisoners with the disease, NOW!

September 7, 2015

At the urging of Pam Africa, I visited Mumia yesterday, Sunday, September 6. Pam got word from inside that Mumia’s cell had been raided by prison authorities.

As you know, after a series of hospitalizations in March and April 2015, Mumia has remained in the prison infirmary. During this time, most of his property has remained in his old cell. According to Mumia, on Friday, September 4, officers rushed him out of his regularly-scheduled medical bath to inform him that all the belongings in his cell had been packed up and placed in storage. The handling of prison property in the absence of a prisoner is a violation of prison procedures. After signing the forms required when prisoner property is placed in storage, Mumia asked if he was about to be moved to a different facility, since the boxing up of a prisoner’s property usually precedes a transfer. An officer assured him that he would not be transferred; but this all seemed really strange to Mumia.

These developments follow the immediate aftermath of a medical lawsuit filed by Mumia charging the DOC with medical neglect. Coming at this moment, a prison transfer would not be in Mumia’s best interest as it would disrupt contact with his attorneys and isolate him from his family and supporters. In addition, a move would put Mumia’s at risk; it would further compromise his physical and mental health and interrupt his medical care. The only transfer acceptable would be safe transit to a professional facility that would guarantee the medical attention he needs for a cure of his “active” Hepatitis C condition, for which there is a cure.

As you know, Mumia has been in an acute health crisis for over 9 months, since January 2015. In March 2015, prison infirmary physicians allowed Mumia to fall into diabetic shock and come close to death.

Please urge the PA Department of Corrections (DOC) to act in Mumia’s best interests and refrain from transferring him. Please also urge the DOC to give Mumia, and the 10,000 PA Prisoners with Hepatitis C, the cure he needs.

Recently, Mumia has lost approximately 25lbs in two months. Although his spirits are high and his cognitive abilities have improved, he still sleeps all day and is suffering extreme lethargy, a bi-product of untreated, “active” Hepatitis C, a liver disease. The skin around his face is clearer than before and although his leg wounds have closed, they have left crater-like scars, which can erupt at any moment. The skin throughout his body remains jet-black, raw, extremely wrinkled, and rough, like elephant hide. Nails on his hands and feet are falling off and the palms of his hands are blackened. These conditions are also symptoms of his untreated, “active” Hepatitis C.

The denial of the Hepatitis C cure to Mumia –while his medical condition remains precarious and while his disfiguring skin condition continues to cause him unthinkable suffering –is cruel and unusual punishment, and torture through medical neglect.

Demand the Hepatitis C cure for Mumia and for the 10,000 PA Prisoners with the disease, NOW!

John Wetzel, Secretary of Corrections, Pennsylvania Phone: (717) 728-2573

John Kerestes, Superintendent, SCI-Mahanoy prison: Phone: (570) 773-2158

love and solidarity,

Johanna Fernandez

for Pam Africa and the Movement to Free Mumia &

the Campaign to Bring Mumia Home

71st birthday of US Indigenous political prisoner Leonard Peltier: Freedom Now!

12 September 2015

Leonard Peltier, an Indigenous elder, has been held as a political prisoner in U.S. jails for 40 years; September 12 is his 71st birthday. A leading member of the American Indian Movement at the time, in 1977, Leonard Peltier was wrongfully convicted for the murders of 2 FBI Agents on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The occupation of Wounded Knee and the US government’s “reign of terror” over the reservation led to an incident on June 26, 1975, in which three men were killed: two F.B.I. Agents; Jack Coler and Ron Williams as well as a young Indigenous man, Joe Stuntz Killsight. “The use of constitutional violations, witness coercions, evidence tampering, and a myriad other violations of justice put Leonard in prison and have kept him there for almost 40 years,” said his defense committee.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network stands in solidarity with and calls for freedom for Leonard Peltier and all political prisoners in US jails. We particularly note the struggle of Leonard Peltier and his resistance to settler colonialism on Indigenous land, a just struggle which is reflected as well in Palestinian resistance today, and the ongoing and unceasing resistance of Indigenous people to Canadian, US, Australian, New Zealander and other settler colonial projects. Free Leonard Peltier!

We salute Leonard Peltier and his fellow Indigenous strugglers on his 71st birthday and encourage all to participate in events and activities marking this anniversary. We redistribute the following alert from the International Leonard Peltier Defense Committee.

Month of Global Action

September 2015 is the Month of Global Action for ‪Leonard Peltier‬! Take part. Anything you do in September will be amplified and every day counts!

Call President Obama for Leonard Peltier: 202-456-1111; email President Obama:http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments; send a tweet to President Obama: @POTUS @WhiteHouse; AND write a letter: President Barack Obama, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20500.

Birthday Greetings

Don’t forget to send a birthday card or letter to Leonard Peltier before September 12th:

Leonard Peltier #89637-132
USP Coleman I
P.O. Box 1033
Coleman, FL 33521

Calendar of Events

Portland, OR: Leonard Peltier B-Day Bash. 12 Sep 2015
Carson City, NV: Birthday Round Dance for Leonard Peltier. 12 Sep 2015
NYC: “Warrior, the Life of Leonard Peltier.” 12 Sep 2015
San Jose: Honoring Leonard Peltier on His 71st Birthday. 12 Sep 2015
San Francisco, CA: 71st Birthday Party for Leonard Peltier

Are you hosting an event? Let us know. Share press, photos, social network posts, etc., with us (contact@whoisleonardpeltier.info). Calendar updates will be posted to www.whoisleonardpeltier.info.

Not everyone can host an event, but there are easy things you can do in your home or community. Here are some ideas.

The “Battle of Breaking the Chains”: Towards the Freedom of Palestine and Palestinians by Reham Alhelsi

10 September 2015

The following article, by Palestinian writer Reham Alhelsi, is republished here from her blog, A Voice from Palestine. The original article may be found here: https://avoicefrompalestine.wordpress.com/2015/09/06/the-battle-of-breaking-the-chains-towards-the-freedom-of-palestine-and-palestinians/

Nidal, Shadi, Ghassan, Bader, Munir, Sleiman, Bilal, Amer and Kayed

9 Palestinian political prisoners on hunger strike, refusing to eat, refusing to surrender. 9 Palestinian heroes held captive in Zionist dungeons, breaking the walls of captivity, defying their jailor, protesting their illegal and inhumane detention. 9 Palestinian freedom fighters; their only weapon their strong will and the belief in their just cause, their only weapon their empty stomachs steadfast in the face of torture, intimidation and force-feeding. Hunger strikes have always been a legitimate and effective weapon of protest and struggle used by Palestinian political prisoners and detainees in the face of injustice. Whether mass hunger strikes that sweep Israeli jails or single hunger strikes that last for months; Palestinian freedom fighters continue to resist the occupation from behind Zionist bars and isolation cells. Their battle against their jailors, against the policy of administrative detention, against the sham courts of the occupation, is the “Battle of Breaking the Chains”; an on-going battle till all Zionist jails are empty, an on-going battle till Palestine is free from the River to the Sea. It is a battle to break the chains of all Palestinians held in Zionist captivity; those held captive in small jails and those held captive in the bigger jails defined by the infamous Oslo Accords, it is a battle against injustice, a battle towards the freedom of all of us.

Nidal, Shadi, Ghassan, Bader, Munir, Sleiman, Bilal, Amer and Kayed

9 Palestinian political prisoners held captive by the Zionist entity along with the around 500 Palestinian political prisoners currently detained without charge or trial; The Israeli occupation resorts to administrative detention and so-called secret files, prepared by the Israeli intelligence and used against Palestinian prisoners when Israeli interrogators fail to force confessions out of Palestinians detainees and when the prosecution is unable to prove the charge on the detainee. Administrative detention is a procedure that allows the Israeli military to hold prisoners indefinitely on secret evidence without charging them or allowing them to stand trial. The Israeli Prison Service (IPS) uses administrative detention as prolonged detention, and in some cases Palestinian detainees are held captive without charge or trial for 5 or even 10 years. On 20.08.2015, Nidal, Shadi, Ghassan, Bader, Munir started an open hunger strike to protest the renewal of their captivity without charge or trial and to protest the policy of administrative detention. They stopped consuming food, and are facing the brutality and illegality of their detention with their empty stomachs. Additionally, they announced their boycott of all Israeli occupation courts, being nothing but sham courts, along with another 50 administrative detainees, and in protest of the so-called secret files. As a punishment, the IPS transferred the hunger strikers to isolation cells. The detainees gave the IPS an ultimatum till 01.09.2015 to end their administrative detention, otherwise they will stop consuming liquids and medicines.

Since 1967, the Zionist entity held more than 850,000 Palestinian men, women and children captive, including thousands of Palestinians held in administrative detention, for periods ranging from months to years. According to the latest statistics from Palestinian human rights organizations and prisoner support sites, there are currently over 6000 Palestinian political prisoners held captive in 22 Israeli jails and detention centres, including 160 children, 26 women, and more than 1600 prisoners suffering from various diseases, and 30 prisoners detained since before the Oslo agreement. Additionally, around 500 Palestinians are held in administrative detention in several Israeli prisons, including Ofer, Megiddo and Al-Naqab. These detainees are held without charge or trial, and often their detention is extended in the final minutes of their captivity, which increases their suffering and that of their families. Among the around 500 administrative detainees, there are 3 PLC members. Alone in August 2015, 390 cases of detention were registered in comparison to 330 in July 2015. Among the 390 detained in August, 85 were children – mostly from occupied Jerusalem, 15 were women, and geographically; 155 from occupied Jerusalem, 70 from occupied Hebron, 50 from occupied Bethlehem and 15 from besieged Gaza. Additionally, in August 2015, 94 new administrative detention orders were issued in comparison to 63 in July 2015.

Currently, the following Palestinian detainees are on hunger strike protesting their detention without charge or trial:

1. Nidal Abu Aker: 47 years old from Ras Abu Ammar, temporarily resident of Dheisheh refugee camp, on day 18 of an open hunger strike.
Nidal was born on 10.05.1968 in Dheisheh refugee camp to a family expelled from Ras Abu Ammar village in occupied Jerusalem by Zionist terrorist gangs in 1948. He is a father of 3 children, and has a BA in Sociology from Bethlehem University. Nidal works as a journalist and hosts a program titled “In their Cells” on Sawt al Wihdeh Radio station in Bethlehem, which tackles the issues of Palestinian political prisoners. He also works as a Hebrew translator, and is among the founders of the “Families of Prisoners Association” in Dheisheh. Since a young age, Nidal, as the rest of his family members, resisted the occupation. From a total of 15 years in Israeli captivity, he spent 9 years in administrative detention. Nidal was detained for the first time in 1984, still a child at the age of 13, and was accused of throwing stones. His home was raided by Israeli occupation soldiers on the dawn of 28.06.2014; he and his son Mohammad were beaten, and his home ransacked. Since then, he’d been held in administrative detention without any charge or trial, whereby his administrative detention order was renewed several times: in a hearing on 14.01.2015, his administrative detention order was confirmed under the pretext of being “a threat to security” without the prosecutor presenting any substantial evidence. On 20.08.2015, Nidal and his comrades started an open hunger strike to protest their administrative detention and their captivity on the basis on so-called secret files. As punishment, the IPS transferred him to isolation cells in ‘Asqalan prison to pressure him to end his strike. It is worth noting that Nidal suffers from various health problems, including blood pressure, weakness of the heart muscle, ulcer, acute rheumatic and haemorrhoids.

2. Shadi Ma’ali: 39 years old from Al-Jorah, temporarily resident of Dheisheh refugee camp, on day 18 of an open hunger strike.
Shadi was born in Dheisheh refugee camp to a family expelled from Al-Jorah village in occupied Jerusalem by Zionist terrorist gangs in 1948. He is a father of 5 children. A long-time activist against the occupation, he was held captive several times for resisting the occupation by both the Israeli occupation forces and the “PA security forces”, spending a total of 12 years in Israeli captivity and around 2 years in “PA” jails. He was tortured by both during interrogation. During the First Intifada, Shadi was only 16 years old when he was detained for the first time by the occupation and was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment. Shadi was released from Israeli captivity in February 2014 after spending 22 months in jails. On 28.06.2014, Israeli occupation forces raided and ransacked his home before detaining him. He has been since held in administrative detention, which was renewed 3 consecutive times for 6 months each. On 20.08.2015, Shadi and his comrades started an open hunger strike to protest their administrative detention and their captivity on the basis on so-called secret files. As punishment, the IPS transferred him to isolation cells in Ela prison to pressure him to end his strike. Shadi participated in various hunger strike while in Israeli captivity, including the Karameh mass hunger strike in 2012 and the 2013 hunger strike. Shadi suffers from chronic ulcer in addition to the weakness of the cornea.

3. Ghassan Zawahreh: 34 years, temporarily resident of Dheisheh refugee camp, on day 18 of an open hunger strike.
Ghassan was born in Dheisheh refugee camp to a family expelled from its original village by Zionist terrorist gangs in 1948. Ghassan is a former prisoner and was detained several times by the Israeli occupation forces, spending a total of 10 years in Israeli captivity, including 3 years in administration detention. He was beaten during his various arrests, leading to injuries in his right hand, his left leg and knee, for which he was denied treatment. In 2008, Ghassan was a student of Social Work in his final year at Al-Quds Open University when he was detailed by the Israeli occupation forces, after which he was prevented from completing his studies due to his multiple arrests. Ghassan is a long-time activists and works as a taxi driver. He was detained on 08.04.2015 at a flying checkpoint in Bethlehem, and has since been held in administrative detention, which was renewed 3 times for 4 months each. On 20.08.2015, Ghassan and his comrades started an open hunger strike to protest their administrative detention and their captivity on the basis on so-called secret files. As punishment, the IPS transferred him to isolation cells in Eshel prison to pressure him to end his strike. On 04.09.2015, Ghassan stopped consuming any liquids or medicine. Ghassan suffers from ulcers and arthritis

4. Munir Abu Sharar: 31 years old from Dura, Hebron, on day 18 of an open hunger strike.
Munir was born in Dura, Hebron. He is the only son to his parents. Munir is an activist, a former prisoner and was detained several times by the Israeli occupation forces. Munir is an employee at the Hebron municipality. On 24.07.2014, Israeli occupation forces detained Munir, and since then he’s been held in administrative detention without charge or trial. His detention order was renewed several times, totalling 14 months. On 20.08.2015, Munir and his comrades started an open hunger strike to protest their administrative detention and their captivity on the basis on so-called secret files. As punishment, the IPS transferred him to isolation cells in Naqab prison to pressure him to end his strike.

5. Bader Al-Ruzzeh: 26 years old from Nablus, on day 18 of an open hunger strike.
Bader was born in Al-Yasminah neighborhood in Nablus. He is the nephew of martyred leader Ayman Al-Ruzzeh. Bader was detained on 13.05.2014 by Israeli occupation forces, and after interrogation was send to administrative detention without charge or trial. His administrative detention order has been since renewed twice. On 20.08.2015, Badir and his comrades started an open hunger strike to protest their administrative detention and their captivity on the basis on so-called secret files. As punishment, the IPS transferred him to isolation cells in Naqab prison to pressure him to end his hunger strike. It is worth mentioning that Bader suffers from asthma.

6. Bilal As-Seifi: 26 years old, temporarily resident of Dheisheh refugee camp, on day 11 of an open hunger strike.
Bilal was born in Dheisheh refugee camp to a family expelled from its original village by Zionist terrorist gangs in 1948. He has been held captive in administrative detention since 01.03.2015, which was renewed twice for six months. On 27.08.2015, Bilal started an open hunger strike to protest his administrative detention and his captivity on the basis on so-called secret files. As punishment, the IPS transferred him to isolation cells in Naqab prison to pressure him to end his strike.

7. Sleiman Skafi: 30 years old from Hebron, on day 6 of an open hunger strike.
Sleiman was born in Hebron. He is a former prisoner, and was detained 5 times. Sleiman spent a total of 6 years in Israeli captivity. During interrogation, Sleiman was subjected to torture, which resulted in chronic pains in his back and legs, in addition to other health issues. He was denied the needed medical follow-up and treatment. Sleiman has been held captive without charge or trial since 12.11.2014 on the pretext of a secret file that claims he is “a security threat”. Sleiman’s appeal against his administrative detention was refusal by Israeli military courts. In August 2015, Sleiman went on a 2-day warning hunger strike to pressure the IPS to consider the issue of the systematic medical negligence against him and the continuation of his administrative detention without charge. He ended his strike after promises from the IPS to look into his demands and respond to them within days. When the IPS did not reply to his demands, Sleiman started an open hunger strike on 01.09.2015 to protest the renewal of his administrative detention. As punishment, the IPS transferred him from Al-Naqab prison to isolation cells in Ofer prison to pressure him to end his strike. It is worth mentioning that Sleiman participated in the general hunger strike of 2012.

8. Kayed Abu Al-Reesh: 42 years old, temporarily resident of Al-Ein refugee camp, on day 5 of an open hunger strike.
Kayed was born in Ein Beit Al-Ma’ refugee camp in Nablus. He is a father of three children, and was detained 10 times by Israeli occupation forces, spending a total of 16 jails in Zionist captivity. On 14.12.2014, Kayed was detained by Israeli occupation forces yet again, and has since been held in administrative detention, which was renewed twice for 6 months each. Kayed started an open hunger strike on 04.08.2015 to protest his renewed hunger strike. As punishment, the IPS transferred him to isolation cells in Majido prison to pressure him to end his strike. During the first days of his hunger strike, Kayed’s mother received a telephone call from the Israeli intelligence asking her to convince her son to end his hunger strike in return to releasing him at the end of his detention period, but the family refused as he was held without charge or trial. After 23 days, Kayed suspended his hunger strike following promises from the IPS to review his case and hold a special court hearing to consider the possibility of his release. But at usual, the IPS did not comply with its promise. Days afterwards, Kayed was transferred to the so-called Ramleh clinic due to severe migraine as a result of his hunger strike. On 02.09.2015, Kayed’s family reported that he resumed his hunger strike.

9. Amer Shammas: 24 years old from Hebron, on day 4 of an open hunger strike.
Amer was born in Hebron. In 2014, Amer went on an open hunger strike for 3 months to protest his detention without charge or trial, but suspended his hunger strike after the IPS promised to release him, nonetheless his administrative detention was renewed more than once. Amer started an open hunger strike on 03.09.2015 to protest his administrative detention. As punishment, the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) transferred him to isolation cells in Naqab prison to pressure him to end his strike.

In addition to the 9 administrative detainees on hunger strike, a 10th prisoner is currently on hunger strike:

10. Nour Jaber: 42 years old from Hebron, on day 5 of an open hunger strike.
Nour Jaber was born in Hebron. He was charged with resisting the Israeli occupation and was sentenced to 17 times life imprisonment, and has been in Zionist captivity since 17 years. He was injured in the leg by the Israeli occupation forces during his arrest, and was tortured during the interrogation, including the use of staplers on his body more than 50 times by the Israeli interrogators, placing salt on his wounds and beating him severly on his injured leg. Since his imprisonment, Nour has been subjected to medical neglect by the IPS. On 02.09.2015, Nour started an open hunger strike to protest his arbitrary transfer from Rimon jail to Jilboa jail and to protest the policy of medical negligence he was subjected to. As punishment, the IPS transferred him to isolation cells in Nafha prison to pressure him to end his hunger strike.

In a statement issued by five of the hunger strikers, they stressed that the goals of their hunger strike include the rejection of the policy of administrative detention against our people and freedom fighters, the refusal of the law of forced feeding, demanding the immediate freedom and breaking the stalemate and internal division, and the unification of the Palestinian national forces on the basis of joint national action inside the prisons and culmination of true national unity.

Freedom for ALL Palestinian and Arab political prisoners and detainees held captive in Zionist dungeons.

Sources:
http://pflp.ps
http://www.ahrarwledna.com
http://alasra.ps
http://samidoun.net/
http://addameer.org

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