Event: Free all Palestinian Prisoners Friday, April 17, 2015 7:00 pm Franz Mehring Platz 1 10243 Berlin, Germany
On Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, the Committees for a Democratic Palestine in Berlin are organizing a forum and symposium on the struggle of Palestinian prisoners for freedom, focusing on the cases of Ahmad Sa’adat, Marwan Barghouti and Khalida Jarrar.
Speakers will include Khaled Barakat, Palestinian leftist writer and coordinator of the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat, to address the Palestinian struggle, the situation of Palestinian prisoners, and the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions.
58 Members of European Parliament issued a letter to European Union High Representative Federica Mogherina, urging action to free imprisoned Palestinian parliamentarian and political leader Khalida Jarrar. The letter was initiated by MEP Martina Anderson, of the GUE/NGL bloc, of Sinn Fein in Ireland. The text follows below:
High Representative Federica Mogherini
European Commission
Rue de la Loi 200
1049 Brussels Belgium
13th April 2015
Honourable High Representative,
Recalling the European Parliament resolution of the 4th of September 2008 calling for “the immediate release of the imprisoned members of the Palestinian Legislative Council,” we urge the EU and its Member States to take immediate action in response to the arrest of PLC member Khalida Jarrar, and to ensure the release of all sixteen detained members of the PLC.
We express our strongest condemnation of the latest Israeli escalation against Palestinian legislators and the suppression of the Palestinian political leadership, namely the arrest of PLC member Khalida Jarrar after a raid on her family home in Ramallah at approximately 01:00.
Jarrar is a prominent feminist and advocate for the rights of Palestinian political prisoners. She is the Palestinian representative on the Council of Europe and chair of the Prisoners’ Committee of the PLC. Jarrar is also Vice President of the Board of Directors of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, a prominent Palestinian human rights NGO, and its former Executive Director.
The arrest of Jarrar comes approximately seven months after an Israeli military court attempted to forcibly transfer her on August 20, 2014, from her home in Ramallah to Jericho.
Jarrar set up a protest tent in the PLC headquarters and received widespread international and Palestinian support, causing the order to be shortened to one month and therefore quashed on September 16, 2014. This attempt to forcibly transfer a person under occupation is a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and was widely condemned around the world, including by Members of European Parliament.
Jarrar is also a member of the Palestinian national follow-up commission for the International Criminal Court. The arrest of Jarrar is a clearly political attempt to undermine Palestinian leadership and thwart Palestinian attempts to pursue justice in the International Criminal Court.
The arrest of Jarrar and other Members of the Palestinian Parliament and their transfer from occupied territory into Israel are not only in violation of Articles 49 and 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention but also blatantly violate international conventions and practices regarding the immunity of elected officials. Palestinian parliamentarians are frequently held in dministrative detention without charge or trial, or tried in military courts that are mechanisms to produce a political result and in no way meet standards for a fair trial.
We call for the immediate release of Jarrar and all detained Palestinian parliamentarians and an immediate and definitive halt of all measures targeting our Palestinian Parliamentary colleagues, including arrests and expulsions from Jerusalem.
We urge you to use your position to garner support among institutions of the EU and its Member States and work to persuade them to take meaningful action to place significant pressure on Israel to ensure the release of Jarrar and Palestinian political prisoners, including all 16 detained members of the Palestinian Legislative Council.
Yours sincerely,
1. Martina Anderson (GUE/NGL)
2. Lynn Boylan (GUE/NGL)
3. Liadh Ní Riada (GUE/NGL)
4. Matt Carthy (GUE/NGL)
5. Neoklis Sylikiotis (GUE/NGL)
6. Patrick Le Hyaric (GUE/NGL)
7. Angela Vallina (GUE/NGL)
8. Marisa Matias (GUE/NGL)
9. Fabio De Masi (GUE/NGL)
10. Anne-Marie Mineur (GUE/NGL)
11. Malin Bjork (GUE/NGL)
12. Gabi Zimmer (GUE/NGL)
13. Dimitris Papadimoulis (GUE/NGL)
14. Marina Albiol Guzman (GUE/NGL)
15. Iosu Juaristi (GUE/NGL)
16. Barbara Spinelli (GUE/NGL)
17. Kostas Chrysogonos (GUE/NGL)
18. Lidia Sendra (GUE/NGL)
19. Paloma Lopez (GUE/NGL)
20. Joao Ferreira (GUE/NGL)
21. Ines Zuber (GUE/NGL)
22. Miguel Viegas (GUE/NGL)
23. Margrete Auken (Greens/EFA)
24. Ivo Vajgl (ALDE)
25. Josep-Maria Terricabras (Greens/EFA)
26. Javier Couso Permuy (GUE/NGL)
27. Marita Ulvskog (S&D)
28. Tanja Fajon (S&D)
29. Molly Scott Cato (Greens/EFA)
30. Javier Lopez (S&D)
31. Judith Sargentini (Greens/EFA)
32. Manolis Glezos (GUE/NGL)
33. Nessa Childers (S&D)
34. Izaskun Bilbao Barandica (ALDE)
35. Younous Omarjee (GUE/NGL)
36. Bart Staes (Greens/EFA)
37. Eleonora Forenza (GUE/NGL)
38. Takis Hadjigeorgiou (GUE/NGL)
39. Curzio Maltese (GUE/NGL)
0. Maria Dolores Lola Sanchez Caldentey (GUE/NGL)
41. Helmut Scholz (GUE/NGL)
42. Sofia Sakorafa (GUE/NGL)
43. Jordi Sebastia (Greens/EFA)
44. Alfred Sant (S&D)
45. Klaus Buchner (Greens/EFA)
46. Edouard Martin (S&D)
47. Kati Piri (S&D)
48. Kostadinka Kuneva (GUE/NGL)
49. Merja Kyllonen (GUE/NGL)
50. Brando Benifei (S&D)
51. Keith Taylor (Greens/EFA)
52. Martina Michels (GUE/NGL)
53. Jill Evans (Greens/EFA)
54. Norbert Neuser (S&D)
55. Luke Ming Flanagan (GUE/NGL)
56. Miguel Urbán Crespo (GUE/NGL)
57. Alyn Smith (Greens/EFA)
58. Pablo Iglesias (GUE/NGL)
17th April is Palestinian Political Prisoners’ Day, a global day of action for Palestinian prisoners.
There are 5,609 Palestinian political prisoners inside Israeli jails (B’Tselem, Feb 2015). Palestinians, living under occupation and oppression for nearly 67 years, have been targeted for mass imprisonment and detention by the Israeli occupation, and nearly every Palestinian household has been impacted by political imprisonment.
Join London Palestine Action by taking creative action to stand in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons, by remembering these prisoners, and highlighting the complicity of private companies that profit from human rights abuses in detention.
The Israeli military court hearing to confirm the order of 6 months administrative detention for imprisoned Palestinian parliamentarian, feminist and leftist Khalida Jarrar has been postponed by one day, to Wednesday, April 15 at 11:00 am, reported Khalida’s lawyers with Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association.
It is important to keep up the pressure before the hearing and demand Khalida’s freedom! Follow updates at https://samidoun.net/khalidajarrar
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.
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.
International solidarity with Khalida Jarrar and Palestinian prisoners has continued to escalate prior to her administrative detention confirmation hearing on April 15.
The Committees for a Democratic Palestine in Brazil sent urgent messages about the arrest of Palestinian leader and parliamentarian Khalida Jarrar, and her fellow imprisoned members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, to the 81 members of the Brazilian Senate, the 508 deputies of the Brazilian Parliament and the 27 heads of Brazilian state legislative councils, urging them to take a stand against the human rights violations by Israeli occupation, to demand the release of all imprisoned Palestinian parliamentarians and respect for international conventions protecting the rights of Palestinians.
The message text:
“On April 2, the Israeli occupation military raided (with 60 soldiers in a heavily armed force) the home of Mrs. Khalida Jarrar, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council in Ramallah in occupied Palestine. She was taken to an unknown location.
On April 6, the Israeli military ordered her to 6 months administrative detention without charge or trial, a process used on a large scale by Israel. In addition to Khalida Jarrar, there are 15 more Palestinian parliamentarian prisoners, including Ahmad Sa’adat, Marwan Barghouti and PLC speaker Aziz Dweik.
It is worth mentioning that this policy violates the principles of international law, the Geneva Convention, and violates the parliamentary immunity.
We therefore call on Parliament to condemn this Israeli policy and pressure the Israeli state to respect international conventions that protect the rights of Palestinian civilians and to release all of the imprisoned Palestinian parliamentarians in Israeli prisons.”
“On Sunday, April 5, the Israeli military ordered 6 months of detention without trial for Palestinian parliamentarian Khalida Jarrar, member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The PFLP is a formation of the Palestinian Left fighting for a liberated Palestine from Israeli occupation. Khalida Jarrar is an advocate for Palestinian prisoners, and was threatened with expulsion from Ramallah since last September.
According to the Israeli Army, our comrades of the PFLP represent ‘a threat to the security of the region’. In reality, it is clear that it is the actions of the Israeli army which are the primary threat to the security of the region. More than 6,000 prisoners are arbitrarily detained, including one hundred Palestinian children.
The Parti de Gauche calls for France to act for the immediate release of our comrade Khalida Jarrar, and all Palestinian political prisoners, and reaffirms its support to the international campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) to support Palestinian rights and compel Israel to respect international law.”
Human Rights Watch also ran a “Dispatch” on human rights today, focusing on Jarrar’s case:
“We don’t know whether Israel’s detention of the Palestinian lawmaker Khalida Jarrar has anything to do with her passionate advocacy for prisoners’ rights. It could be her membership on a government-appointed committee mandated to follow up Palestine’s recent accession to the International Criminal Court. Israel is not saying. But one thing is quite clear: her case is rife with due process violations.” Read more at the link.
Free all Palestinian political prisoners
Free all Palestinian children
Stop administrative detention
As of February 2015, there were 6,200 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers, including 454 administrative detainees, 23 women and 163 children.
Join the rally this coming Friday in support of all the Palestinian Political Prisoners!
In a press briefing on April 10, the United Nations Human Rights Office (OHCHR) expressed concern about the continued and increasing use of administrative detention by Israeli authorities against Palestinians, who are being held without charge or trial, often on the basis of secret evidence, for periods of up to six months.
Briefing reporters in Geneva, OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said that detainees were also often transferred to prisons inside Israel in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Most recently, Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member Khalida Jarrar was arrested on 2 April 2015 and subsequently detained pursuant to an administrative detention order issued by an Israeli military commander in the West Bank on Sunday 5 April.
Ms. Jarrar remains in administrative detention in a prison in Israel. The order is currently under review by the Ofer Military Court in the West Bank and if confirmed, Ms. Jarrar will be subjected to six months detention, without charge or trial, renewable indefinitely.
This is not the first time Ms. Jarrar had been subject to administrative orders by the Israeli military commander in the West Bank, said Ms. Shamdasani. On 20 August 2014, Ms. Jarrar received a military order giving her 24 hours to move from Ramallah, where she lived, to the district of Jericho where her movements would be restricted for six months. On appeal, an Israeli court reduced the restriction to one month.
According to the press release, the Israeli practice of administrative detention has been condemned on numerous occasions by the UN Human Rights Office and the Human Rights Committee that oversees implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Israel has ratified.
However, as of February this year, there are reportedly 424 Palestinians held under administrative detention orders – more than double the 181 held at the same time last year, said Ms. Shamdasani.
OHCHR reiterates it call on Israel to end its practice of administrative detention and to either release without delay or to promptly charge all administrative detainees and prosecute them with all the judicial guarantees required by international human rights law, she said.
Palestinian former prisoner and student, Jaafar Awad, 22, died Friday, April 10 of severe illness, approximately two months after his release from Israeli prison. His cousin, Ziad Awad, 28, was then killed – shot by Israeli soldiers as he protested Jaafar’s death. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network notes that Awad’s case is one of the most striking and tragic examples – unfortunately, among many such examples – of the medical neglect and mistreatment of Palestinian political prisoners. Take action to demand justice for Jaafar and Ziad and freedom for sick Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.
Jaafar Awad, born on November 8, 1992, was arrested on November 1, 2013 and served 18 months in Eshel prison; previously he had been arrested for 3 years. Each time, he was accused of membership in Islamic Jihad. Awad, an engineering student, fell strikingly ill in Eshel prison. He was not ill prior to his arrest. Suffering from diabetes, Awad was administered incorrect insulin shots in Eshel prison, which his father called the “needle of slow death.”
Following this incident, his diabetes was uncontrollable; his neck swelled, he developed severe hyperthyroidism, heart problems, pancreas problems, and glaucoma in his eyes. He could not walk or speak. Despite this, he remained imprisoned for months, receiving little or inadequate health care until he was finally released on January 21, 2015 in critical condition and with a suspended sentence and a high fine of 40,000 NIS ($10,200). He had not been tried since November 2013, despite his lengthy imprisonment. This release came after he had earlier been denied release on December 30, 2014, when he was already in a severe health crisis. He had been rushed to the hospital on December 22, shackled hand and foot, in a severe medical crisis and with acute pneumonia.
Palestinian hospitals did not have the capacity to treat his illness; his family and the PLO Commission on Detainees’ and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs were seeking treatment for him in Germany, but were struggling with costs and with the refusal of occupation authorities to allow his international travel. On Wednesday, as his situation became more dire, his family sought his admission at the Israeli Hadassah hospital, which was denied, and he was returned to Hebron’s Al-Mizan hospital, where he died early on Friday morning, April 10.
Ziad Awad, killed by Israeli soldiers in Beit Ummar, April 10, as he protested his cousin’s death
Following the mass funeral march in his village of Beit Ummar, his cousin, Ziad Awad, 29, was killed by Israeli soldiers, shot with live ammunition as he protested after the funeral. Three other young people were injured with live ammunition and 10 with rubber coated metal bullets.
The release of very ill Palestinian prisoners only after their illness is extremely critical has been previously remarked upon by Palestinian sources. “Over the last three years Israel has released a number of sick prisoners, some who died a few months later. They include Ashraf Abu Thrai, Zuhair Labbada, Hassan al-Turabi, Mohammad al-Amla and Sultan al-Wali, according to CDEDA. The commission also confirms none of them were ill before their arrest, but they became sick during their imprisonment.” Labbada was arrested, ill, on December 7, 2011, released in May 2012 in a coma, and died a week later. Other severely ill Palestinian prisoners have died in prison after lengthy neglect of their illness – for example, Maysara Abu Hamdiyyeh, who died in 2012 of cancer after being denied cancer treatment for years.
Jaafar Awad’s funeral in Beit Ummar, April 10
Palestinian prisoners – particularly those who are very ill – have repeatedly reported mistreatment and medical neglect in Israeli prisons, including denial of medical tests, denial of access to outside physicians, denial of access to appropriate medications including chemotherapy, denial of specialists, delay of treatment for months or years, errors or accidental mistreatments, denial of appropriate mobility support, and the provision of pain killers or flu shots rather than treatment for illness. There are approximately 1200 ill prisoners, with 80 of those seriously ill and approximately 20 facing very severe health crises, including Yusri al-Masri, Mansour Muwqada, Khalid Shawish, Nahed al-Aqraa, Muatasem Raddad, Muhammad Barash, Alaa al-Hams, Riyad al-Umur, Salah al-Titi, Khader Dabaya, and Fawwas Baara.
Just last Saturday, April 4, the power was cut for more than 12 hours to Ramle Prison Clinic, where the most severely ill Palestinian prisoners are held, including prisoners with cancer and liver failure who require constant medical monitoring. Palestinian lawyer Hanan al-Khatib described the action as a “punitive measure” that was “immoral and inhumane.”
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network joins in the numerous calls from Palestinian organizations for an independent international investigation into the death of Awad and the medical situation for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. The Israeli occupation is fully responsible for the death of Jaafar Awad, given improper treatment, denied release, denied access to hospital after release, slapped with an exorbitant fine – or ransom – to release him as he lay in critical condition, and for the death of his cousin Ziad Awad, shot down in cold blood as he demanded justice for Jaafar. Awad’s father has called for the file on the death of Jaafar to be delivered to the International Criminal Court.
The killing of Jaafar Awad is part and parcel of the systematic mistreatment, neglect and health abuse to which Palestinian prisoners are subject at the hands of the Israeli prison system. It is one more facet of the racism and settler colonialism of the Israeli state, aimed at erasing Palestinian existence. The murder of Ziad Awad as he marched for justice for his cousin reflects that same systematic, militarized racism carried out against Palestinians inside and outside the prisons.
It is critical to demand independent investigation and accountability for the killing of Jaafar Awad and an end to the mistreatment and abuse of sick Palestinian prisoners, and to demand freedom for the sick prisoners.
2. Inform your community: write about and share the story of Jaafar Awad. Contact your local parliamentarians and inform them about the realities of medical neglect and mistreatment for Palestinian prisoners; call for independent investigation of Jaafar’s death.
3. Protest at the Israeli consulate or embassy in your area. Bring posters and flyers about Jaafar’s death and mistreatment of prisoners: 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.
4. 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.
Israel is responsible for Jaafar Awad’s Death: Free Sick Palestinian Prisoners!
To Brigadier General Dani Afroni, Military Judge Advocate General;
I write today to call for the immediate release and the provision of proper medical treatment to the hundreds of sick Palestinian political prisoners being held in Israeli jails. On April 10, Jaafar Awad, a 22-year-old Palestinian youth, died two months after his release from Israeli prison, where he was mistreated and medically neglected, given incorrect and dangerous injections and wound up unable to move or speak, with severe diabetes, glaucoma, and thyroid, pancreas and heart disease.
The death of Jaafar Awad, mistreated by the Israeli prison system, denied early release for a month, and then – two days before his death – denied access to treatment at Israeli hospitals, is the responsibility of the Israel Prison Service. His death, and the ongoing mistreatment, medical neglect and abuse of Palestinian prisoners is an international issue of great concern to me and many others around the world.
Jaafar Awad’s death follows on the deaths of Hassan al-Turabi and Maysara Abuhamdieh. Prisoners are suffering daily in the Ramle prison clinic and receiving only painkillers, denied surgery and treatment for very serious illness. On Saturday, April 4, the power was switched off for 12 hours.
Some prisoners whose cases require immediate action include: Mansour Mowqada, who has cancerous tumors, a “plastic stomach” and uses colostomy bags; Nahed al-Aqra, who has had four parts of his leg amputated; Moatassem Raddad, who suffers from cancer; Yousry al-Masri, who has thyroid cancer; Murad Abu Muliq, who has lost nearly 20 pounds due to intestinal disease; and the others held at Ramle prison clinic.
I write today to demand the immediate release of the sick prisoners. Until their release, these immediate actions are needed:
Immediate independent examination by Palestinian doctors, and outside doctors being allowed into the prisons to examine them
Immediate independent investigation of the death of Jaafar Awad and his medical treatment in custody
Provision of proper medical treatment and medication under independent Palestinian medical supervision to all sick prisoners
End to the policy of denying family visits to Palestinian political prisoners
Palestinian, Arab and international forces expressed their support for imprisoned Palestinian leader Khalida Jarrar, demanding her freedom.
In Ottawa, the capital of Canada, a protest will be held on April 14 – the day of Jarrar’s rescheduled administrative detention confirmation hearing – calling for her release and that of all Palestinian prisoners.
Amnesty International, the large global human rights organization, also issued an urgent appeal for action on Jarrar’s case. (full Amnesty appeal).
“There is a global call from Palestinian parties to build international pressure for her release and that of many other Palestinian prisoners. You can take individual action by signing a petition and / or writing a letter to Benjamin Netanyahu. The most powerful form of action is to work collectively, which you can do by working together with Intal to pressure local politicians to increase general awareness about this matter, and to strengthen the Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions campaign.”
In France, Ensemble!, a movement that is part of the Fronte de Gauche (Left Front), issued a statement in support of Jarrar:
“Ensemble! movement, member of the Left Front, called for everything to be done to ensure her immediate release and that of other Palestinian legislators currently imprisoned.”
“The Israeli government, through its Army, leads a major psychological war on Palestinians – what are the impacts on a child’s life when he has to go through a checkpoint to go to school? on the lives of families who are prohibited from free movement? and many other absurd and harmful daily realities. Our friend and comrade Salah Hamouri, after spending 7 years in prison, today faces a military order in East Jerusalem forbidding him from going to his university, for example. The objective is therefore to suppress the Palestinian resistance through these attacks on people in their daily lives, along with the attacks on the leaders who fight for peace and freedom in Palestine.”
In Sweden, Proletären newspaper, who previously interviewed Jarrar, published a call for action:.
“An important aspect of solidarity with Khalida Jarrar, other prisoners and with the Palestinian people as a whole is to work for a total boycott of Israel. This was also something that Khalida Jarrar highlighted when she was interviewed by Proletären last December: ‘The boycott movement is very important. It is a popular way to put pressure on the occupying power, to make it aware that people around the world know that it is an apartheid system.’
In solidarity with Khalida Jarrar and the Palestinian people’s struggle, we call to:
• Free Khalida Jarrar!
• Boycott Israel!”
In New Zealand, Redline published an action call for Khalida Jarrar and all Palestinian prisoners:
“In New Zealand, we need to expose the repression on the West Bank and demand the release of Khalida Jarrar, Ahmad Sa’adat and all the other Palestinian political prisoners. We need to expose the use of ‘administrative detention’ – ie internment without trial – that is a common practice of the Israeli state. And we need to organise solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for liberation.”
In Argentina, the Marxist-Leninist Revolutionary Party issued a statement of support for Jarrar:
“The PRML (Revolutionary Marxist Leninist Party) condemns the abduction and subsequent arrest of Khalida Jarrar Palestinian leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, parliamentary and human rights activist, produced by a command repressive Israeli forces stormed his house West Bank at dawn on April 2. Has issued an administrative detention of six months imprisonment without charge or trial; This resource is outside the slightest guarantee as standard is maintained and executed since the days of empire English. It adds to the systematic policy of social and political repression in the Palestinian street protest against any exercise and deepens with kidnappings, deportations, targeted killings, torture, murder and permanent imprisonment.
Hundreds of organizations, personalities and parties in Palestine itself and around the world are demanding the immediate release of Khalida .Jarrar. She is now one of the nine members of the Palestinian Legislative Council held without charge or trial under administrative detention orders.
Administrative detention is imprisonment of Palestinians without charge or trial, and on the basis of secret evidence for periods of up to six months, renewable indefinitely by Israeli military courts.
The PRML, adds to this order and opens the events of 10 and 11 April next in the city of Buenos Aires on the occasion of our 50th anniversary to be a forum for reporting, support and call in defense of political prisoners Palestinians .
Immediate Freedom to Khalida Jarrar !!
Freedom to Ahmad Sada’at and all Palestinian prisoners !! End of security cooperation between the “Palestinian Authority” and the repressive forces of the Israeli terrorist state !!
Viva la resistance! For a Free Palestine, Popular and Democratic !!
PRML 05.05.15 Marxist Leninist Revolutionary Party Argentina”
In Portugal, the MPPM (Movimiento pelos direitos do povo palestino e pelo paz de medio oriente), issued a statement demanding the immediate liberation of Jarrar.
Egypt’s General Federation of Egyptian Women called for the immediate freedom of Jarrar, saying:
“The brutal behavior of the occupation forces is a continuation of the siege on Palestinian women, especially leaders like the struggler Khalida, who has been leading popular and women’s movements against the occupation since the 1980s, and who has been active among Palestinian, Arab and international women’s movements.”
“SFP joins the call for international support for the release of Khalida and all Palestinian prisoners, particularly administrative detainees interned by Apartheid Israel. Please sign and share the petition and take action in your State, to call for the release of Khalida and the other prisoners.”
Amnesty International issued the below action alert, urging supporters to take action to advocate for the freedom of Khalida Jarrar, detained Palestinian parliamentarian, feminist and prisoner advocate:
Dear Activists,
The Urgent Action Team is working to make your activism easier by including Urgent Actions in both Word and PDF format. During this improvement process, you will be directed to a PDF version. We appreciate your patience and continued support.
PARLIAMENTARIAN DETAINED WITHOUT CHARGE
Palestinian parliamentarian Khalida Jarrar has been given a six-month administrative detention order. She has chronic health problems, and now faces indefinite detention without charge or trial, after defying an Israeli order to ban her from her city.
Israeli forces arrested 52-year-old Khalida Jarrar at 1.30am on 2 April 2015, at her home in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. They interrogated her for over four hours in Israel’s Ofer detention center in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), before transferring her to HaSharon Prison in Israel. Her lawyer told the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz that her detention order was signed on the day of her arrest, suggesting it had been prepared in advance. Khalida Jarrar has suffered a series of strokes and has high blood cholesterol; she needs medication and blood tests every few days for her condition.
An outspoken and active critic of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, Khalida Jarrar defied a six-month military order to forcibly transfer her from Ramallah to Jericho based on “secret evidence” in August 2014. In February 2015, she was appointed to the Palestinian Higher National Committee to Follow Up with the International Criminal Court (ICC), formed by President Abbas following Palestine’s signature of the Rome Statute of the ICC on 31 December 2014. She is vice chair of the board of Palestinian human rights organization Addameer (which advocates for the rights of Palestinian prisoners), and was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2006.
The Israeli military withhold most evidence against administrative detainees, claiming this is for security reasons. On 8 April a military judge adjourned a review of Khalida Jarrar’s detention until 14 April to allow the defense to see some of the evidence against her, including footage of her at demonstrations. Israeli military law in the OPT allows for the prosecution of Palestinian demonstrators participating in any assembly deemed to be “political” and requires permission from the military commander for gathering of more than 10 people. The prosecution said they would not charge Khalida Jarrar since it would make her eligible for bail, indicating that that her detention is a punishment for her political activism. Her detention order can be renewed indefinitely.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Khalida Jarrar has been subjected to decades of harassment and intimidation by the Israeli authorities, who have declared her a security risk without ever charging her with any criminal offense. In August 2014, the head of the Israeli military’s Central Command gave her a six-month “Special Supervision Order” based on unspecified “serious security reasons that necessitate the … order to protect the security of the area”, requiring her to leave her home in Ramallah and confining her to Jericho unless she received “special permission” from the military authorities. No further details concerning the information against her were made available to enable her to challenge the decision judicially. She defied the order, establishing herself in the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) compound, where she remained until 16 September, when the order was reduced to one month.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Please write immediately in English, Hebrew or your own language:
Calling on the Israeli authorities to release Khalida Jarrar and all other administrative detainees unless they are promptly charged with internationally recognizable criminal offenses and brought to trial in conformity with international fair trial standards, and to end the use of administrative detention, which violates the right to fair trial;
Calling on them to ensure that Khalida Jarrar promptly receives any medical treatment she may require.
Issues: Arbitrary Detention, Health concern, Legal concern
UA: 81/15
Issue Date: 8 April 2015
Country: Israel/ 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 sending appeals after the below date. If you receive a response from a government official, please forward it to us at [email protected] or to the Urgent Action Office address below.
Event: Free all Palestinian Prisoners
