Action Alert: Muhammed Allan on ventilator in coma; Palestinian prisoners under Israeli lockdown

14 August 2015

Muhammed Allan is attached to a ventilator at Barzilai Hospital to preserve his respiration after he lost consciousness and entered a coma last night, reported Ma’an News. On his 59th day of hunger strike, he has entered a severely critical medical phase. – losing consciousness, having lost lung function, unable to walk, and suffering blurred vision and hearing loss. Take Action to demand Allan’s immediate release.

As Allan struggles to stay alive and win his freedom – he is held without charge or trial under administrative detention – the Israeli Prison Administration has imposed a lockdown on the prisons holding Palestinian prisoners, closing sections and banning recreation and group prayer, seeking to squelch protests and uprisings in response to Allan’s medical crisis. Armed troops are deployed on the roofs of Ramon prison sections, reported Palestinian Authority Prisoners Affairs Minister Issa Qaraqe.

Barzilai Hospital said that Allan received intravenous salts; he was visited by a doctor from the International Committee for the Red Cross and his lawyer, Jamal al-Khatib. Members of Knesset Osama al-Saadi and Ahmad Tibi visited Allan yesterday in the hospital, where the 31-year-old lawyer from Einabous near Nablus is held. Al-Saadi reported in a press conference that Allan wrote a four-page will, shackled hand and foot to his hospital bed.

Allan has been held under administrative detention since November 2014 and the renewal of the detention order against him prompted his hunger strike, demanding his freedom. He has consumed nothing but water for the duration of the strike.

Palestinian human rights organizations have urged international action to save Allan, who is also threatened with force-feeding by the Israeli military. A new law passed in July, the “Law to Prevent Harm Caused by Hunger Strikers,” permits the force-feeding of hunger striking prisoners; force-feeding is a cruel, inhumane and degrading practice amounting to torture. The law has been condemned by the ICRC, UN and World Health Organization officials; to date, doctors have abided by the Israeli Medical Association’s prohibition of the practice, in line with international health covenants.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network reiterates its call for the broadest international action to free Muhammed Allan and his fellow Palestinian prisoners and prevent his torture through force-feeding. Events are upcoming in London, Berlin, Vancouver and other cities and it is critical that people around the world make their voices heard to hold the Israeli state accountable for the life of Muhammed Allan and release him instantly.

The imprisonment and torture of Allan is part and parcel of the Israeli colonial policy of the mass imprisonment of Palestinians, the attack on the rights of Palestinian prisoners won by long struggle of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, and the attack on Palestinian existence everywhere in Palestine: the denial of Palestinian refugees’ right to return, land confiscation, home demolitions, ethnic cleansing, siege, apartheid, occupation and settler-colonialism.

Muhammed Allan’s situation is an emergency that requires mobilization and action by all, including the escalation of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel on all levels: economic, military, cultural, academic, as urged by the Palestinian prisoners’ movement.

Take Action: Demand freedom – not force feeding – for Muhammad Allan!

1. Sign on: Send a letter demanding Allan’s freedom, and that he not be force-fed. Israeli officials must hear the voice of the world demanding that this threat of torture be stopped, and that Allan, imprisoned without charge or trial, be freed.

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

3. 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.

Amnesty International renews Urgent Action for Khalida Jarrar

14 August 2015

The following Action Alert was released by Amnesty International on 11 August on the case of Khalida Jarrar, imprisoned Palestinian leftist parliamentarian, feminist and prisoners’ advocate, following the repeated postponement of her military court trial after the Israeli military prosecution has failed to produce witnesses or evidence against her three times in a row.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges the broadest support for Khalida Jarrar in her campaign for justice. Take action to support Khalida and demand her release!

1. Click here: Send a message to the Israeli Occupation Forces and demand the immediate release of Khalida Jarrar.It is important that the occupation learns that Khalida has supporters around the world who will not be silent in the face of this injustice.

2. Sign the petition! Sign and share this petition, demanding freedom for Khalida Jarrar immediately.

3. Contact your Member of Parliament, Representative, or Member of European Parliament. The attack on Khalida is an attack on Palestinian parliamentary legitimacy and political expression. Parliamentarians have a responsibility to pressure Israel to cancel this order.

4. Send a letter to Khalida Jarrar – help support her and show her jailers that the world is with her!

5. Use the Campaign Resources to inform your community, parliamentarians and others about Khalida’s case.

6. Protest at the Israeli consulate or embassy for Khalida Jarrar. Bring posters and flyers about Khalida’s case and hold a protest, or join a protest with this important information. Hold a community event or discussion, or include Khalida’s case in your next event about Palestine and social justice.

7. 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. Learn more at bdsmovement.net.

The Amnesty International urgent alert follows below:

KHALIDA JARRAR’S TRIAL POSTPONED AGAIN

An Israeli military court has postponed Khalida Jarrar’s trial again, because the prosecution had failed to produce witnesses for the third time. The judge rejected a request to have her released on bail until the end of legal proceedings.

Click here to view the full Urgent Action in Word or PDF format, including case information, addresses and sample messages.

Palestinian parliamentarian Khalida Jarrar had her trial postponed by a military court for a third time on 10 August, because the prosecution had failed to produce witnesses, for a third time. She has been detained since April 2015 on the basis of secret evidence withheld from her and her defense team. She is facing an unfair trial on charges including membership of an illegal organization, carrying out services for an illegal organization, participation in protests and incitement to violence.

An Israeli military judge had overturned a previous decision to release her on bail, on 21 May. Since then, her case has been adjourned three times when the prosecution failed to bring witnesses from the prison where they were held. The judge also rejected a second request from her lawyer to release her on bail. This violated Khalida Jarrar’s right to have proceedings against her conducted with particular speed and promptness.

The prosecution said during the 21 May hearing that they would ensure Khalida Jarrar remained in prison even if bail was granted by putting her under an administrative detention order, which would allow them to hold her without charge or prospect of trial. The Israeli authorities had held Khalida Jarrar in administrative detention after her arrest.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Khalida Jarrar is held in HaSharon prison, Israel, facing unfair trial before an Israeli military court, whose proceedings fall short of international standards for fair trial. Judges and prosecutors are recruited from the Israeli military. Judges are appointed by the Regional Commander on the Military Advocate General’s recommendation and promoted almost exclusively from the ranks of prosecutors. Once appointed, judges have no right of tenure and can be removed by the Regional Commander at any time. Serious doubts have been expressed about their impartiality. Trials are often based on confessions from witnesses who have been known to withdraw them later, saying they were made under duress. Defendants regularly resort to plea bargains even when they are innocent because they do not believe they will have a fair trial and feel they have no choice other than to accept a guilty plea which will lead to a reduced sentence.

Click here to view the full Urgent Action in Word or PDF format.

Name: Khalida Jarrar (f)

Issues: Unfair trial, Legal concern, Unjust imprisonment

Further information on UA: 81/15

Issue Date: 12 August 2015

Country: Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories

Please let us know if you took action so that we can track our impact!

EITHER send a short email to [email protected] with “UA 81/15” in the subject line, and include in the body of the email the number of letters and/or emails you sent,

OR fill out this short online form to let us know how you took action.

Thank you for taking action! Please check with the AIUSA Urgent Action Office if taking action after the appeals date. This is the fifth update of UA 81/15. Further information:https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/1773/2015/en/. If you receive a response from a government official, please forward it to us at [email protected] or to the Urgent Action Office.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Please write immediately in English, Hebrew or your own language:

Expressing concern that the continual and unnecessary delays in Khalida Jarrar’s trial are punitive, and urging the authorities to bring her to trial promptly in proceedings that meet international fair trial standards;
Expressing concern that it was contrary to international law and standards to deny Khalida Jarrar bail on the basis of evidence that she and her defense counsel were not allowed to see, preventing her from effectively challenging her continued detention.

PLEASE SEND APPEALS BEFORE 23 SEPTEMBER 2015 TO:

Military Judge Advocate General

Brigadier General Danny Efroni

Hakirya, Tel Aviv, Israel

Fax: 011 972 3 569 4526

Email: [email protected]

Salutation: Dear Judge Advocate General

Minister of Defense

Moshe Ya’alon

Ministry of Defense

Tel Aviv 61909, Israel

Email: [email protected]

[email protected]

Fax: 011 972 3 691 6940

Salutation: Dear Minister

Commander of the IDF – West Bank

Major-General Roni Numa

GOC Central Command

Military Post 01149, Battalion 877

Israel Defense Forces, Israel

Fax: 011 972 2 530 5741, 011 972 2 530 5724

Salutation: Dear Major-General Roni Numa

Also send copies to:

Ambassador Ron Dermer, Embassy of Israel

3514 International Dr. NW, Washington DC 20008

Fax: 1 202 364 5607 I Phone: 1 202 364 5500 I Email: [email protected] -OR- [email protected]

Please share widely with your networks: http://bit.ly/1ILSyMV

We encourage you to share Urgent Actions with your friends and colleagues! When you share with your networks, instead of forwarding the original email, please use the “Forward this email to a friend” link found at the very bottom of this email. Thank you for your activism!

14 August, London: Emergency Protest: Demand Freedom for Dying Hunger Striker Muhammed Allan

13 August 2015

14TH AUG 2015 – EMERGENCY PROTEST – DEMAND FREEDOM FOR DYING HUNGER STRIKER MUHAMMED ALLAN – NO TO FORCE FEEDING

Date: Friday 14th August 2015 3pm-5pm
Location: G4S HQ, 105 Victoria Street (Closest public transport: Victoria Tube/Rail station)
Web: http://www.inminds.com/article.php?id=10681
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/475207992656609/

Palestinian lawyer Muhammed Allan is approaching death after nearly two month of complete hunger strike. Muhammed launched his hunger strike on 15 June 2015 to protest Israel’s illegal practice of Administrative detention – of caging Palestinians indefinitely without charge or trial. He has been caged by Israel without charge since 6th Nov 2014 on never ending rolling detention orders.

Muhammad Allan has in total suffered 3 years in occupation prisons with several administrative orders having been issued against him. He went on hunger strike after the occupation again renewed his administrative detention. As punishment for refusing food he was locked up in isolation confinement at Ayala prison near Tel Aviv until his condition deteriorated, forcing them to transfer him to hospital.

Friday will mark the 60th day of hunger strike without any food or nutrients apart from water. He is suffering loss of motor skills and he is unable to rise from his bed – the protein from his muscles having long been consumed for cell metabolism. He is nearly blind and is losing his hearing – signs that he body has run out of essential vitamins. His whole body is in pain and numbness and he has started vomiting blood. There is a high risk of organ failure, and death from heart failure.

In this weak condition Israel mercilessly keeps Muhammed chained with his hand and foot shackled to the hospital bed. He is surrounded by three Israeli prison guards who hurt him, causing him injuries.

The Israeli government has made it clear that it intends to force feed Muhammed. The World Medical Association has described force-feeding of hunger-strikers as ‘tantamount to torture’. In the past five Palestinian prisoners have been killed through being force-fed. Two Israeli hospitals have so far refused government orders to force-feed Muhammed Allan. Any doctor involved in such torture, which is against the Geneva Conventions, would be open to prosecution by the International Criminal Court.

Please join us on friday outside G4S HQ as we demand freedom for Muhammed Allan, an end to Administrative detention, and no to force-feeding. The British security firm G4S secures many of the prisons where Palestinian political prisoners are caged and tortured, including children as young as 12 years old. We will also be demanding that G4S end their complicity in Israel’s war crimes.

As with previous protests for Muhammed Allan, this protest is being organised in co-ordination with our friends at the ‘Prisoner’s Center for Studies’ in Gaza as part of a joint protest with ones they are holding in Gaza to show global united solidarity with the hunger strikers.

BACKGROUND – ADMINISTRATIVE DETENTION

Muhammad Allan is on hunger strike to protest against Israel’s practice of Administrative detention. Administrative detention is a practice used by Israel to imprison Palestinians indefinitely without charge or trial. Prisoners are given rolling detention orders which can be anything from 1-6 months, renewable indefinitely. Such practice is against international law.

For example administrative detainee Mazen Natsheh has been locked up cumulatively for nearly 10 years without charge or trial. Muhammad Allan has in total been caged for 3 years under different administrative detention orders without charge or trial.

Detention orders are based on so called “secret information” which never needs to be produced, either to the detainee nor their lawyer. Administrative detention is often used to arbitrarily jail Palestinians where there is no evidence for a trial. It is also used for punishment as in the case of 8 Palestinian MPs who are currently caged in Israeli dungeons to punish them for their political stance.

Palestinian prisoners rights group Addameer have documented “many cases where the detainees themselves will say that administrative detention is actually far worse than a fixed sentence, be that five years, ten years, 20 years, or whatever and why. With a fixed sentence, you know when you’re going home, a prisoner knows when he goes home. It could be ten years or 15 years down the line, but they know when they’re going home. Not with an administrative detention..” They have documented “many cases where prisoners or detainees have been literally leaving the prison, walking out of the prison with their bags in their hand after their administrative detention order has expired [with their family waiting on the other side] and the Israelis have handed that detainee another administrative detention order and they have to go back into the cell to recommence another administrative detention order. Now, this is a form of psychological torture for not only the detainee [but also] their families.”

Israel has on average issued over 2000 detention orders every year (between 2007 and 2011). Today there are around 450 administrative detainees. Most of them, like Muhammad Allan, having been transferred from the West Bank into Israel in contravention of Article 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, with their families being prevented from visiting them.

BACKGROUND – FORCE-FEEDING HUNGER STRIKERS

On 30th July 2015 the Israeli parliament approved a law permitting the force-feeding of Palestinian hunger strikers in Israeli prisons. Israel’s Internal Security Minister Gilad Erdan who led the bill, justified it by writing “Alongside attempts to boycott and delegitimize Israel, hunger strikes of terrorists in prisons have become a means to threaten Israel”.

The World Medical Association has described force-feeding of hunger-strikers as ‘tantamount to torture’. Physicians for Human Rights says the bill ‘legalises torture and gross violations of medical ethics and international conventions’, noting that between 1970 and 1992 (when Israel permitted such force-feeding) five Palestinian prisoners died while being force-fed.

Abdulrahim Nubani, a Palestinian political prisoner who survived being force fed in an Israeli prison 35 years ago recalls “the pain was larger than words”. Although he spent 20 years in Israeli prison between 1974 and 1994, he says that he can’t think of a day worse than that when his name was called and he was accompanied to the prison clinic on July 21, 1980. Until then Nubani says he had only heard of force-feeding.

“It was used to break spirits, not to feed prisoners – it was torture,” he says.

“There was a pot of boiling water and a plate of rice pudding,” Nubani recalled. “I sat on the chair, an officer asked me to eat. I refused – I told him I was hunger-striking.”

Trembling, he described how he was tied down to a chair, stripped off his clothes.

“They tied me down and brought a tube, shoved it down my nose and pushed – I felt my head exploding, down to my stomach,” Nubani said recreating the scene. “I felt my stomach burn… I was bleeding and powerless.”

In that hunger strike of 80 prisoners two Palestinian prisoners – Rasem Halaweh and Ali Ja’fari, died due to forced-feeding and two others died later of medical complications.

Maz’zuza, the 65 years old mother of Palestinian political prisoner Muhammad Allan who has been on hunger strike nearly two months, when interviewed could hardly complete a sentence without crying. She said “I’m a mother; I’ve spent nights up looking after him… I’m so scared.. I didn’t sleep since he started his strike, now that this law was introduced I feel I’m a 100 years old,” she says. “I’m terrified.”

So far two Israeli hospitals have refused government orders to force-feed Muhammed Allan. Any doctor involved in such torture, which is against the Geneva Conventions, would be open to prosecution by the International Criminal Court. Muhammed Allan was transferred on 10th Aug 2015 to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon from Soroka University Medical Center in Beersheba after it didn’t comply with orders to force-feed Muhammed Allan. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to build a special unit in Barzilai to force-feed hunger-striking detainees but so far Barzilai Hospital has also refused to participate in torture through force-feeding.

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.

https://www.facebook.com/inmindscom

https://twitter.com/InmindsCom

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

JazakAllah,

Abbas Ali

Palestinian Prisoners Campaign

Take Action: Palestinian human rights organizations urge action as Allan enters critical condition

13 August 2015

Muhammad Allan, the Palestinian lawyer held under administrative detention without charge or trial who has been on hunger strike for nearly two months, is in a critical medical condition. Allan, held in Barzilai hospital, is being threatened with force feeding under the new law passed by the Knesset last month, which has been widely condemned internationally. He is demanding his release from arbitrary administrative detention and pledging to continue his hunger strike until release.

Jawad Boulos, Palestinian lawyer, visited Allan noting that he is unable to rise from bed ans is nearly unable to see. Boulos also said that he was injured by the three guards surrounding Allan who are, he said “acting as if they were inside the prison, without the slightest concern for their presence in a hospital.”

Allan is in intensive care, consuming only water. Addameer lawyer Samer Sama’an reported that he is suffering blurred vision, hearing loss, fatigue, pain and numbness throughout his body. “Despite his very fragile and critical situation of, the Israeli Prison Service still insists to keep Mr. Allan shackled by foot and arm to what could potentially become his deathbed in a very inhumane treatment and gesture,” wrote Addameer.

Lawyer Abeer Baker has filed urgently for medical release for Allan following the Red Cross’s description of Allan as in critical condition at this time.

Take Action: Demand freedom – not force feeding – for Muhammad Allan!

***

A statement from Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, the Arab Association for Human Rights, the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council, Adalah and Physicians for Human Rights is below, urging action to free Allan:

Call for Urgent Action
Palestinian Administrative Detainee on Hunger Strike in Critical Condition

The Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council, the Arab Association for Human Rights, Adalah and Physicians for Human Rights – Israel call for urgent action to save the life of Palestinian administrative detainee and attorney Mohammad Allan, who has been on hunger strike for 57 days in protest of his administrative detention without charge or trial since 6 November 2014. Mohammad Allan is currently detained in Barzilai hospital in Askalan. The Israeli Prison Services transferred Allan from Soroka hospital on 10 August after informing Allan’s lawyer of their intention to seek authorization to force-feed him, which was met by the refusal of the medical staff at Soroka hospital to carry out any forced examinations or treatment or Mr. Allan. Mahmoud Allan is currently in a dire physical state and in a very critical condition.

Adv. Samer Sama’an from Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association visited Mr. Allan in Barizlai hospital on 12 August 2015. Mr. Allan confirmed that he seeks to live, but a life of dignity and freedom. He also reported to adv. Sama’an that he suffers from blurred vision, strong pressure in his ears, fatigue, general pain in the body, and numbness in the hands and feet. He experiences difficulty in movement and in signing papers. He also suffers from weakness in the hands and legs, difficulty in balance, and inability to stand. He also complains of the lack of ability to sleep in Barzilai hospital for extended hours. He continues to refuse to take medical examinations and is only taking water. Despite his very fragile and critical situation of, the Israeli Prison Service still insists to keep Mr. Allan shackled by foot and arm to what could potentially become his deathbed in a very inhumane treatment and gesture.

Mohammad Allan was arrested by the Israeli occupation forces on 6 November 2014 and has been under administrative detention since then. A six-month administrative detention order was issued following his arrest and was subsequently renewed in May 2015. After extending his administrative detention, Mohammad embarked on an open-ended hunger strike on the 16th of June 2015 in protest of his continued detention without trial.

The undersigned organizations warn that Mohammad Allan has reached a critically advanced medical condition and now may be nearing death. The continued arbitrary detention of Mohammad Allan under administrative detention violates international norms and standards as enshrined under the Fourth Geneva Convention which prohibits the systematic use of administrative detention by the occupying power against protected persons and limits its use for imperative security reasons and according to legal procedures which guarantee the right of a fair trial. The continued detention of Mohammad Allan endangers his life and violates his most basic rights to fair trial and human dignity.

The undersigned organizations further stress that any forced treatment, coercion or feeding of hunger striker Mohammad Allan while he is conscious and mentally competent constitute violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. Any medical coercion on Allan despite his refusal may cause the opposite effect and result in severe health problems and even potentially jeopardize Allan’s life, as evident in Israel’s previous attempts to force-feed Palestinian hunger strikers during the 1980s, which resulted in several deaths. Force-feeding violates medical ethics as it administers forceful treatment to a patient against his will, and is considered a form of torture. The World Medical Association addressed the Prime Minister of Israel, stating the following: “Force-feeding is violent, very painful and absolutely in opposition to the principle of individual autonomy. It is a degrading, inhumane treatment, amounting to torture. But worse, it can be dangerous and is the most unsuitable approach to save lives.” Article 7 of the 1975 World Medical Association Declaration of Tokyo explicitly states that doctors are not allowed to force-feed hunger strikers.

The undersigned organizations condemn Israel’s policy to allow the deterioration in the health condition of Mohammad Allan and refusing to negotiate his release in an attempt to escalate the current situation so as to proceed with force-feeding Mr. Allan and to undermine the use of hunger strikes as a non-violent form of protest by Palestinian prisoners and detainees who have no other means to protest and bring attention to the flagrant human rights violations they face in Israeli prisons. Depriving Palestinian detainees and prisoners from their fundamental right to peaceful protest by the means of hunger strikes is a major setback to the just demands of Palestinian detainees and prisoners in Israeli prisons who are demanding justice, dignity and basic rights.

We hereby urge immediate action including writing to relevant authorities, decision-makers, international bodies, diplomatic missions, and United Nations representative offices and agencies to pressure Israeli authorities to stop the use of administrative detention, to dismiss their plans to force-feed Mr. Allan and to put an end to his arbitrary detention in blatant violation of international human rights and humanitarian law guarantees and standards– in order to save his life.

– See more at: http://www.addameer.org/news/palestinian-administrative-detainee-hunger-strike-critical-condition-1#sthash.tTibOAZs.dpuf

Repression in Jordan to Protect Israel: The Trial and Sentencing of Amer Jubran by Noah Cohen

13 August 2015

by Noah Cohen / August 11th, 2015. Originally published at Dissident Voice: http://dissidentvoice.org/2015/08/repression-in-jordan-to-protect-israel/

On July 29, 2015, the trial of Palestinian activist Amer Jubran in Jordan reached its predictable conclusion: 10 years with hard labor for phony “terrorism” offenses, based at least in part on laws manufactured after his arrest.

Last year I wrote an article about the circumstances of Amer’s arrest and detention. At that time he was being held without charges, after being seized from his home in the middle of the night and held incommunicado at an undisclosed location for over 2 months.

In August of 2014, he was finally given a list of charges against him. These included the charge of threatening to “harm relations with a foreign government,” part of a new set of “anti-terrorism” laws enacted in Jordan in June of 2014 (a month after Amer’s arrest in May). The law is a codification of Jordan’s existing practice of arresting dissidents who call attention to the regime’s traitorous collaboration with the main political enemies of its own people: Israel and the United States. A pertinent example would be Mwaffaq Mahadin, tried in 2010 for “endangering relations with a foreign state” for speaking on Al-Jazeera about Jordan’s security cooperation with the US. Under the new legislation, this “crime” became a “terrorism” offense, punishable before the State Security Court.

In a statement about his trial and sentencing recorded from prison (recording here, transcript here), Amer recounts a moment in his interrogation by the GID (General Intelligence Directorate, Jordan’s infamous secret police) which leaves no doubt about the real decision-makers behind his arrest and imprisonment:

During the interrogation period, I was told by the GID that any decision made about me is involving (quote) ‘our American and Israeli friends’ (end-quote). All started when I refused to be a sell-out and work against the Lebanese resistance. I was told then that I will be sent behind the sun for such a refusal. And frankly it is very easy for me to disappear behind the sun rather than to be well outside, but a sell-out and traitor.

The involvement of the US in Amer’s detention and trial comes as no surprise. As I recounted in my earlier article, the US had already detained Amer while he was living in the United States for his political activism on behalf of Palestine and against the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. While living here as a green-card holder, he committed the inexcusable crime of refusing to be intimidated by the wave of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim repression that immediately followed September 11. In 2002, he stood on a stage in Washington DC, before an anti-war gathering of more than 75,000 people, and spoke against US support for Israel and against the invasion of Iraq.

Amer has clarified in conversation that his refusal “to be a sell-out and work against the Lebanese resistance” was a refusal to act as an infiltrator and informant for the GID. He was thus charged with supporting Hezbollah.

In a similar trial that reached its conclusion a day earlier, another 12 people were sentenced for periods of up to 15 years for supporting Hamas. As one commentator asked in the Jordan Times: “[I]n whose interest is it to try those who support the Palestinian Hamas movement?”

“Anti-terrorism” laws that criminalize support for armed movements of national liberation in Palestine and national self-defense in Lebanon have nothing to do with protecting Jordan or its people. Neither Hamas nor Hezbollah has ever threatened the security of Jordan. Such laws are designed purely to protect the interests of Israel and the US in their ongoing violations of the national sovereignty of Arab lands.

Likewise, Jordan’s General Intelligence Directorate and its State Security Court function as arms of foreign powers. They are not protecting the security of Jordanians, but rather the security of Jordan’s most violent and militarily aggressive neighbor (Israel), and US soldiers who use Jordan as a base for attacking other Arab countries. Most recently, the US has been using Jordan as a base for training military forces involved in the destabilization of Syria–a conflict that threatens to engulf the entire region in violence.

To do their work effectively, these agencies must necessarily suppress the human and political rights of Jordanians. Journalists, activists, professors, religious leaders and all of Jordan’s ordinary citizens live under the constant threat of Jordan’s secret police and its judicial security apparatus. Trials before the State Security Court lack even the outward semblance of judicial independence, with judges recruited from the military and the GID itself.

In the campaign to free Amer Jubran, we are calling for letters on Amer’s behalf to be directed to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al Hussein, a Jordanian. We have no illusions about the UN or its High-Commissioner for Human Rights. The value of such a campaign is to show that people around the world are watching, and to strip away the sham of “human rights” and “democracy” in Jordan.

Jordan is the most valuable regional asset for both Israel and the US. Its GID is one of the most powerful intelligence agencies in the world, active throughout the region, and does much of the dirty work of suppressing the rights of people in the Arab world. It’s time to expose its crimes, and disrupt the political arrangement behind them.

Noah Cohen is active with the Amer Jubran Defense Campaign and can be reached through the campaign at defense (at ) amerjubrandefense.org.

8-14 September: Week of Action for Rasmea Odeh

13 August 2015

Mobilize for Cincinnati this fall and stand with Rasmea Odeh at her appeal

We are calling on you to join the Week of Justice for Rasmea Odeh between Tuesday, September 8 and Monday, September 14, 2015. We need you to organize support for this 68-year-old Palestinian women, a victim of Israeli torture and U.S. government injustice.

When Rasmea Odeh is under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!

The outrageous arrest, trial, and sentencing of Rasmea Odeh is a political attack on Arab Americans and Palestinians, on Muslims, and on anti-war and international solidarity activists. While the charges being appealed deal with minor problems on her immigration application, the truth is this is a political trial about U.S. Empire. The U.S. government is acting viciously, spending millions of tax dollars targeting a victim of Israeli military torture.

Despite the unfairness, with you we can continue to beat back this political attack, and prevent an icon of the Palestinian freedom struggle from going to prison or being deported.

Living in Chicago for 20 years now, Rasmea Odeh is surrounded by friends, family and community. For her work serving Arab American women and their families in need, she won many awards and public recognition. The U.S. government began targeting Rasmea Odeh after the FBI raids and grand jury investigation on the Antiwar 23!

Angela Davis, who recently spoke to 500 people at a Chicago rally, said in her solidarity statement, “As a person with first-hand knowledge of the devastation wrought by politically motivated prosecutions — during the era of COINTELPRO, I was falsely charged with three capital offenses — I see Rasmea Odeh’s case as a continuation of the embarrassing history of decades of suppression of social justice activists in the U.S.”

Solidarity! Solidarity! Solidarity!

Rasmea Odeh’s fight is not a one sided battle with predetermined outcomes. Solidarity makes a big difference! It was solidarity that forced Judge Borman, with financial, political and family ties to Israel, to step down from the case last year. It was solidarity that made reporters show up to cover the 200 people protests in front of the Detroit courts. It was solidarity that found out Rasmea Odeh was being held in solitary confinement and got her out again.

If you care about peace and justice, if you oppose political repression, then you need to act. If you support Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions that target the U.S. government and corporations propping up Israel Apartheid, then this is for you! You can join the Week of Justice for Rasmea and help overturn this judicial travesty by the U.S. government.

What: Week of Justice for Rasmea Odeh
When: September 8 thru September 14, 2015, pick your day and time
Where: Around your city, on your campus, at your holy place, in your community
Who: People of good will with great determination, in other words you and your friends

Activities you can plan for where you live:

Postering and leafleting campaign amongst anti-war and community groups, with students on campus, and in progressive places: Here’s a link to the poster.
Speak out rallies on campus with a banner, a bullhorn, and the Rasmea Odeh leaflet
Forums or education events, using the Rasmea Odeh and defense attorney Michael Deutsch video update at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lW7YOGSiPeU&feature=youtu.be
Rasmea Odeh fundraisers in the form of dinners, parties, or get-togethers with speakers.
Banner drops in student centers or public places with leafleting.
Art showings or an exhibition on political movements and torture.
Group prayers for Rasmea Odeh and her victory
Street corner outreach at busy intersections, at events, or where politicians are speaking
Social media promotion of the Rasmea Odeh week of action activities on Twitter, Facebook, etc.

Mobilize to Cincinnati, Ohio in the Fall for the Rasmea Odeh Appeal

The September 8 week of activity will build and help mobilize us for Rasmea Odeh’s court appeal in Cincinnati, Ohio in the fall. We are making travel and hotel plans now for a weekday in the fall when the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in session. We need to gather activists willing to drive or fly to Cincinnati, and to wake early for a morning rally and witnessing of the appeals arguments.
Rallying location:
Court of Appeals
(540 Potter Stewart U.S. Courthouse)
100 East Fifth Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45202

For more info on the appeal, check out this article.

Or go to: http://justice4rasmea.org/

Fathiya Khanfar suffering medical problems, calls for release

12 August 2015

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, (PIC)— 60-year-old Palestinian detainee Fathiya Khanfer, from Jenin, has been subjected to excruciating detention circumstances in the Israeli solitary lock-down of Neve Tirza, a human rights group reported Tuesday.

“Prisoner Khanfer is suffering from many diseases, most notably hypertension, and has undergone several surgeries right before her arrest,” a lawyer from the Palestinian Prisoner Society said.

The lawyer further quoted the female detainee as launching a cry for help over the unbearable detention circumstances she has been subjected to at the Neve Tirza lock-up, where neither ventilation, nor water, nor the sanitary conditions meet the least of her basic needs as a human being.

Earlier, in 2013, inmate Khanfer had spent 18 days in Israeli custody before she was sentenced to house arrest for a period of nine months and a 30-thousand-shekel fine. A round of court hearings culminated in a verdict sentencing the detainee to 11 months in jail.

Khanfer has appealed to the human rights institutions to immediately step in and save her life before it is too late, for neither her age nor health status can endure the psycho-physical torture perpetrated in the Israeli occupation jails.

Prisoners continue hunger strikes and protest actions for justice

12 August 2015

Palestinian prisoners are continuing their protests and resistance inside prison, including Muhammad Allan, the 31-year-old lawyer on hunger strike for 57 days to protest his administrative detention without charge or trial.

About 560 prisoners in Ramon and Nafha prisons are currently taking part in protests against recent violent raids, transfers and other conditions in the prisons; the prisoners intend to collectively escalate their protests over the next month. Their current protest actions include boycotting domestic work in the cells, refusing to answer to security checks or roll call, refusing to distribute meals and refusing to meet or deal with wardens.

The prisoners are demanding an end on the invasions and violent raids on cells; improvement of medical care for prisoners, including closing the Ramle clinic; cancellation of sanctions against hunger striking and protesting prisoners; the end of isolation and solitary confinement; restoration of family visits to all prisoners denied them; an end to arbitrary transfers; and the reactivation of Arabic television channels that were removed from prisoners.

These protests come alongside five ongoing individual hunger strikes, including the strike of Muhammad Allan, who is now in Barzilai hospital, shackled hand and foot to his hospital bed and threatened with force feeding. Allan is at severe medical risk and requires action to demand his freedom. Click here to take action.

Musa Sufan of Tulkarem, has been on hunger strike since 18 July in protest against his isolation and demanding adequate and appropriate medical care. He has a diagnosis of cancer and has been denied family visits.

Fathi al-Khatib, 56, of Tulkaren, has been on hunger strike for 22 days in Ramleh prison clinic, demanding to see his grandchildren. He has been denied family visits regularly.

Abdul Majid Khdeirat is on hunger strike since 1 August, protesting his detention and attempts to reimpose his original sentence; he is a former prisoner released in the Wafa al-Ahrar prisoner exchange in October 2011 and since re-arrested.

Othman Abu Aram of al-Khalil has been on hunger strike since 29 July in protest against his transfer from Ramon to Gilboa prison, demanding that the transfer be revoked.

Boycott and Divest from G4$! – Call from BDS Vancouver, Canada Palestine Association

11 August 2015

BDS Vancouver – Coast Salish Territories is joining the global campaign to Stop G4$. In response to the broad Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against institutions complicit in the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners whose human rights are regularly violated in G4$ contracted Israeli prisons, we will actively participate in an international boycott of the company. In joining the boycott, we also raise our opposition to the role of G4$ within the borders of Canada where their Canadian subsidiary provides security to pipeline and mining projects on stolen Indigenous lands, environmentally destructive tar sands mega-projects and the racist mass incarceration of migrant people.

British based G4$ which operates in 125 countries, is the largest security company in the world and the third largest private sector employer globally. In Canada, G4$ claims over one thousand customers including a $400 million contract for security at 20 airports through the Canadian Air Transportation Security Authority (CATSA).

In 2007, G4$ was awarded a contract by the Israeli Prison Authority to provide security systems and services to all Israeli prisons. Since then, G4$ has profited and participated in prisons which are directly implicated in torture of Palestinian prisoners, ‘administrative detention’ of Palestinian activists and political leaders, and maintaining the whole rotten system of occupation and Apartheid through providing security at occupation checkpoints and at the Apartheid Wall. (Addameer fact sheet here) This includes the imprisonment of hundreds of Palestinian children who are also subject to torture and other violations of their human rights. In 2012, while thousands of Palestinian prisoners were on a hunger strike, Palestinian organizations called for actions to hold G4$ accountable for its complicity in Israeli war crimes and occupation. This was the beginning of an international grassroots campaign that has had considerable success in pressuring a wide variety of institutions to boycott and divest from G4S:

● In June 2014, the Gates Foundation divested its entire $170m holding in the company as a result of an international campaign.
● Universities in Oslo and Bergen refused to give G4$ contracts over its role in Israel’s prison system following student campaigns. In the UK, at least 5 student unions voted to cancel contracts with G4$, and students successfully pressured 2 other universities not to renew contracts with the company.
● Major charities in South Africa, the Netherlands and elsewhere terminated contracts with G4$.
● The US Methodist Church, the largest Protestant church in the US, divested from G4$ after coalition campaigning brought the issue to a vote.
● The Scottish Trade Union Congress, and the Dutch trade union Abuvakabo have voted to support the campaign for boycott and divestment from G4$
– See more at: http://www.bdsmovement.net/activecamps/g4s#sthash.VTYJN45B.dpuf

While G4$ has felt the pressure, even suggesting they might not renew their contract with the Israeli Prison Authority in 2017, they continue to collaborate with the Israeli occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people, and to operate profitably around the world. It is important to intensify the boycott and to expose and oppose G4$’s profiteering from occupation, exploitation and oppression.

In Canada, G4$’s wholly-owned subsidiary provides ‘security services’ to some of the most environmentally and socially destructive projects in the country:

● Security for Tar Sands oil production with 120 employees at the Shell/Chevron Albia facility and 150 at the Imperial Oil Kearl facility

● Contracts from the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) to run migrant detention facilities in Ontario including a $22 million contract to run the Greater Toronto Enforcement Centre and a separate $14 million contract to run the Immigration Holding Centre in Rexdale. In effect G4$ secures Canada’s temporary foreign workers programs and other immigration policies that drive the super-exploitation of immigrant and migrant workers for the benefit of big business.

● Active pursuit of the ‘emerging opportunity’ to provide security to new pipeline projects which cross stolen and occupied Indigenous territories

● Claiming to be ‘Canada’s leader in mining security’, G4$ provides security at mining sites around the world many of which are targets of popular resistance because of their violations of people’s environmental, economic and human rights, for example the Tampakan mine in the Philippines which has been vigorously resisted by local Indigenous peoples

G4$ profits daily from the Israeli occupation, war crimes and human rights violations against Palestinians. Globally, the G4$ business model is based on increasing inequality and exploitation, necessitating the securitization of every aspect of the economy and social life – from campuses to hospitals and from pipelines to prisons. More specifically G4$ specializes in ‘securing’ the plunder of the natural resources of the world for the benefit of a few rich corporations, nations and individuals. Within Canada G4$ is profiting from the most socially and environmentally destructive projects – tar sands, pipelines and mass incarceration of migrants. We therefore call for a complete boycott of G4$ and for all institutions – unions, student and faculty associations, religious, faith based organizations, pension funds and government bodies – to divest from G4$!

To support the campaign:

1. Contact BDS Vancouver – Coast Salish Territories to endorse the call: [email protected]
2. Let us know about G4$ operations in your city, community, university campus or any other institution you belong to. We need more information about G4$ operations in Canada to organize effective actions.
3. Organize educational activities and actions to expose and oppose G4$’s anti-people practices in Palestine, Canada and around the world.
4. Bring a motion for boycott and divestment from G4$ in your union, student association or faith organization.
5. If you are currently employed by G4$ we urge you to join the campaign! We also recognize that the call for solidarity and justice for Palestine is linked to a broader vision of a just and liberated world that doesn’t create ‘jobs’ based on occupying, containing and oppressing other people. This is a future worth fighting for!

This call to carry and intensify the campaign for boycott and divestment from G4$ within Canada is initiated by BDS Vancouver – Coast Salish Territories, a committee of the Canada Palestine Association.

17 August, Vancouver: 24 Hour Fast and Day of Action in Solidarity with Palestinian Prisoners

11 August 2015

Responding to the urgent call of Palestinian prisoners for support in the face of an escalation of violence and repression by the Occupation and the Israeli Prison Authority, solidarity activists in Vancouver – Coast Salish Territories will be engaging in a 24 hour fast and day of action.

There are currently 5750 Palestinian prisoners in the Occupation Jails, including 401 administrative detainees, 25 women and 164 children. All of these Palestinians are jailed for resisting the occupation!

Participate in the Fast! Pledge to fast from 9pm Monday August 17 to 9m Tuesday August 18 and collect donations for Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network from family and friends. Contact aiyanas[email protected] if you want to join the fast.

Pledge a faster or make a donation! You can make a donation directly to Samidoun (https://samidoun.net/) or make a cash donation to a faster. All funds will be used for educational and advocacy work in solidarity with Palestinian Prisoners.

Join us between 12pm and 5pm on Tuesday, August 18 at Broadway Skytrain Station to help raise consciousness of the situation of Palestinian prisoners by leafleting, gathering signatures and talking to the public. This will include gathering support for the recently launched BDS Vancouver campaign for boycott and divestment from security firm G4$ (http://www.cpavancouver.org/index.php/2015/08/10/boycott-and-divest-from-g4/)

Organized by: Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network with Canada Palestine Association, BDS Vancouver – Coast Salish Territories, and Alliance for People’s Health

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When Rasmea Odeh is under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!

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Mobilize to Cincinnati, Ohio in the Fall for the Rasmea Odeh Appeal

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