Khalida Jarrar, imprisoned Palestinian parliamentarian and political leader, met on Sunday, April 19 with Palestinian lawyer Hanan al-Khatib of the Prisoners’ Affairs Committee, discussing her administrative detention and conditions of imprisonment with other women prisoners in Hasharon prison.
She noted that the questioning directed at her during interrogation was focused on her political and social activism, and her work as a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. She also noted that the interrogators discussed her previous victory over an attempt to internally displace her to Jericho as a reason for her detention.
Khatib reported that Jarrar said that her arrest “has no legal justification and is politically motivated, violates the rights of an elected Palestinian parliamentarian, and violates all humanitarian and international principles and norms.”
She also highlighted the issue of the use of the “Bosta” – an armored metal van – to transport prisoners from prison to court, urging legal action to end the use of this process. She told Khatib that the transport process from HaSharon to Ofer military court takes 9 hours, beginning at 3 AM, and the prisoners are held the entire time in a closed, steel box, shackled to a chair and under the supervision of “Nachshon” special forces. In addition, Jarrar noted that the waiting room in Ofer prison is unbearably cold and that prisoners arrive in the military courts already exhausted and sick.
Jarrar thanked all the Palestinian, Arab and international lawyers, parliamentarians and activists campaigning for her release.
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.
The Law Society of England and Wales, one of the oldest and largest professional associations of lawyers, representing more than 145,000 solicitors, issued a letter to the President of the Israeli state, copied to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s ambassadors to the UK and the UN, and Juan Mendez, the UN Special Rapporteur on torture, on the case of imprisoned Palestinian human rights attorney Shireen Issawi.
Issawi, who is detained as well as her brothers, Samer and Medhat, was arrested in March 2014. She had earlier been the international spokesperson for the solidarity campaign for her brother Samer, who won his release via a lengthy 270-day hunger strike. (He was later rearrested.)
The Law Society issued the letter below, as well as the following statement:
The Law Society is concerned by reports of the arrest, imprisonment and ill-treatment of the Palestinian human rights lawyer, Ms Shireen Issawi. It is reported that the Israeli Army entered Shireen Issawi’s house on 6 March 2014 and arrested her without warrant, and one of her brothers as well as another individual believed to be a lawyer who was present in her house. The Israeli forces confiscated some of her personal items. According to the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, she has been held for two months in solitary confinement in Al Maskubieh Complex of Jerusalem, with no family visits and severe questioning for more than a month. She has been subsequently transferred to the Hasharon prison.
Flashmob/action: Free Khalida Jarrar and all Political Prisoners Sunday, April 26 1:30 PM Place Communale Molenbeek (Comte de Flandre/Graaf van Vlaanderen metro station), Brussels Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/924805564238546/
On April 2, PFLP member of parliament and advocate for the freedom of political prisoners, Khalida Jarrar, was arrested overnight by the Israeli army. She was ordered to administrative detention, imprisonment for six months, renewable, without charge or trial. Under international pressure, she is now being indicted by a military court and will return on Monday, April 27 on her imprisonment pending trial. Currently, 6,800 Palestinians are in prison for political reasons, including Marwan Barghouti and Ahmad Sa’adat. We demand the unconditional release of Khalida Jarrar and all political prisoners! Joke Callewaert, Belgian lawyer, was present for Khalida Jarrar’s hearing in the Israeli military court, and will explain the latest developments.
In commemoration of the horrific bombing of the MOVE Organization by Philadelphia police 30 years ago, on Saturday, May 16th in Oakland, CA, people will come together at the radical community center Qilombo for the ‘No More Locked Doors’ conference. During the day, groups will be tabling and there will be workshops. In the evening, there will be a panel of former political prisoners. After the panel, revolutionary hip-hop artists will perform.
The conference will highlight the work of supporting political prisoners in a variety of movements for liberation. All struggles – whether they are against colonialism, capitalism, the exploitation of the earth or of animals, the State, prisons, and any and all other repressive apparatus – have a need to practice long-term support for those incarcerated. These practices of solidarity need to be maintained and generalized.
No More Locked Doors invites organizations, groups, and individuals involved with political prisoner support, revolutionary anti-prison organizing, and anti-repression organizing within our struggles to participate in the conference. Tabling by organizations will begin at 11am and go until 6pm and we encourage people who are interested to contact us. Currently we are not charging for tables, but do request that those tabling make a donation to Qilombo to help cover the cost of the space.
We are also soliciting proposals for workshops throughout the day. Potential topics include case updates about specific prisoners, strategies for anti-repression work in current social movements, prisoner struggles, or other topics relevant to the struggle of political prisoners or against prisons. Workshops will take place in the main hall, in the garden (weather permitting), and also in the bookstore. Workshops will happen from 12 PM – 1:45 PM, 2 PM – 3:45 PM, and 4 PM – 5:45 PM. Space may be limited, so please send us your proposals as soon as possible.
At 7 PM, we will have a panel with former political prisoners, representing various social movements. This is a chance to analyze the repressive strategies that have been used against different liberation struggles, to build understanding and communication across movements, to connect revolutionaries across generations and to, most of all, celebrate the spirit of people’s resistance that the prisons cannot extinguish.
For both table and workshop proposals, please send a message to nomorelockeddoors@riseup.net and include your group’s name, a website (if one exists), the nature of your project and/or a description of the workshop that you are proposing.
The Qilombo Collective has graciously opened their doors to this event and we encourage everyone who attends to consider donating to the project and the check out their website at qilombo.org.
Counter-Expo, Counter-Israel, Support Palestinian Prisoners! April 23, 2015 8:30 PM Occupied Marzolo, Via Marzolo 4, Padova, Italy Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/460124240803392/
Discussion and meeting with:
YOUNIS KUTAIBA, comrade of FRONTE PALESTINA, who will present the No Expo/No Israel campaign
REPRESENTATIVE OF SAMIDOUN (via Skype), on the attacks against Rasmea Odeh and Khaida Jarrar, and the situation of Palestinian prisoners
Expo 2015 is a festival of hypocrisy and lies, that showcases major exploitwers who starve the planet and peoples of the world. This includes the Israeli state, whose pavilion is located in a prominent position alongside that of Italy, the host country, in a testament to the “deep bond” between the two states. The theme of Israel’s presentation at the Expo, “the fields of tomorrow,” aims to present Israel as an agricultural model when it is in fact based on the theft of land and water, surrounding occupied lands with walls and imprisoning people in an open-air prison while carrying out a project of ethnic cleansing. The Palestinian people have endured this situation, despite massacres and harsh conditions, for over 66 years, and their heroic resistance is a beacon now for all those who oppose imperialism. We must struggle against those who exploit us and stand with the Palestinian prisoners; historically, prisoners are the seed of every revolution and liberation struggle.
April 25, 1945-April 25, 2015 – with the partisans of yesterday, with struggle today!
Beyond Handala: Editorial Cartooning and Comics in Palestine Wednesday, April 22 7:00 pm Parsons the New School, 2 West 13th St (Bark Room) Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/630525157083577/
A special meeting of the NY Comics & Picture-story Symposium will be held on Wednesday, April 22, 2015 at 7pm at Parsons The New School, 2 West 13th Street, in the Bark Room (off the lobby). Free and open to the public.
Beyond Handala: Editorial Cartooning and Comics in Palestine Mohammad Saba’aneh, editorial cartoonist for the Palestinian daily newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadid, shares his work and the work of his fellow Palestinian cartoonists, and discusses the landscape for cartooning and comics under Israeli occupation and beyond.
Mohammad Saba’aneh is a Palestinian cartoonist, born in the Occupied West Bank town of Qabatiya. He now lives and works in Ramallah, where his work is published in the daily newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadid, in addition to many other places around the Arab world and online. Saba’aneh, 34, has focused much of his work on the plight of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. In 2013 he himself was imprisoned for five months by the Israeli army. In 2015 his work was subject to investigation by the Palestinian Authority. https://nycomicssymposium.wordpress.com/2015/04/08/mohammad-sabaaneh-april-22-2015-at-7pm/
The National Assembly of the Republic (Parliament) of Portugal voted on April 17 – Palestinian Prisoners’ Day – to stand in solidarity with imprisoned Palestinian parliamentarian and leader Khalida Jarrar, calling for her immediate release. This is the first national parliamentary resolution to call for Jarrar’s release. Earlier, 58 Members of European Parliament issued a letter in support of Jarrar.
At events, demonstrations, forums and actions around the world, international solidarity movements and Palestinian communities in exile and diaspora marked Palestinian Prisoners’ Day on April 17, 2015, taking the streets and raising the images and the names of Palestinian political prisoners in cities across the globe.
The following is an incomplete list of actions. All photos by local event organizers and participants. In order to include your own reports, please email samidoun@samidoun.net.
In Toulouse, France, over 150 people took to the streets on April 17 to support Palestinian prisoners and to support local activist Gaëtan, imprisoned for two months for protest activities. Anti-imperialist collective Coup Pour Coup 31 organized the action with BDS France Toulouse, Collectif Palestine Libre, NPA31 and OCML – Voie Proletarienne. Slogans and signs focused on the cases of imprisoned political leader Khalida Jarrar, student activist Lina Khattab, and PFLP General Secretary Ahmad Sa’adat, as well as the case of Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, Arab struggler for Palestine imprisoned in French jails for 31 years. Photos:
In Paris, France, as part of the International Week of Action for Political Prisoners, organizers screened Palestinian films on imprisonment, arrest and detention, and invited Yousef Habash to speak about the situation of Palestinian political prisoners, as well as presenting an exhibition of photos of Palestinian prisoners by Yann Renoult.
In Lille, France, activists held a protest on April 15 for Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, demanding freedom for Georges Abdallah, Ahmad Sa’adat, and all Palestinian prisoners:
In Antwerp, Belgium, Antwerp for Palestine organized a flash mob and street theater action on April 17, in which activists portrayed Palestinian prisoners and Israeli soldiers on the Groenplaats:
In South Africa, BDS South Africa announced the results of their campaign – 20 South African companies dropping G4S contracts worth over 7 million Rand as a result of the exposure of G4S’ involvement in the torture and imprisonment of Palestinian political detainees, while in Portugal, the Assembly of the Republic – the Portuguese national parliament – adopted a solidarity vote officially calling for the immediate release of Khalida Jarrar.
In Italy, activists in Firenze held an action in the Piazza de Ciompi on April 17, followed by a solidarity dinner in support of Palestinian political prisoners. In Padova, activists united their work to counter the Milan Expo 2015 with support for Palestinian prisoners, holding a fundraising dinner to support Addameer and the Palestinian Developmental Women’s Studies Association in Gaza, which works with women former prisoners and a solidarity concert, while organizers in Milano welcomed Palestinian lawyer Fadwa Barghouti for a discussion on the campaign to free Marwan Barghouti and all Palestinian prisoners. Photos from Firenze:
Palestinian activists in Berlin, Germany organized a forum, held by the Committee for a Democratic Palestine – Berlin. The event, which included a number of speakers, including Khaled Barakat of the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat, Charlotte Kates of Samidoun, Doris Ghannam of BDS Berlin, and Majid al-Zeer of the Palestinian Return Centre, among others. Earlier in the day, a sit-in for Palestinian prisoners was also organized by the Palestinian Assembly in Germany in downtown Berlin.
Meanwhile, in Dortmund, Germany, a coalition of Palestinian organizations held an event commemorating Land Day and Palestinian Prisoners’ Day on April 18, including music and presentations by Father Atallah Hanna and Awad Abdel Fattah; performers included singer Buran Saada from Jerusalem. Mohammed Kana’aneh, former Palestinian political prisoner from 1948 occupied Palestine, was prevented by Israeli security actions from traveling to join the event, where he was the keynote speaker. He presented a statement remotely, discussing the situation of 1948 Palestinians and demanding freedom for all Palestinian prisoners:
In Dublin, Ireland, the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign organized a protest on April 16 highlighting the numbers and statistics of Palestinians held inside Israeli jails. Protesters, including many members of the Palestinian community, held signs and banners educating the public about Palestinian prisoners. IPSC distributed a leaflet on prisoners to hundreds of passers-by; to read a PDF of the leaflet IPSC handed out, please click here.Photos:
In Glasgow, Scotland, activists with the Revolutionary Communist Group, Fight Racism Fight Imperialism and Palestine solidarity organizations protested for Palestinian political prisoners. They focused on the cases of the Hares Boys, 5 unjustly imprisoned teens; Khalida Jarrar, Palestinian leftist leader and parliamentarian arrested April 2; and Ahmad Sa’adat, imprisoned PFLP General secretary – and demanded an end to G4S complicity in torture. In addition, protesters demanded an end to the prosecution of activists in Glasgow and Manchester being criminalized for protesting Israel.
On April 18, in Manchester, England, the Manchester Boycott Israeli Group, the Revolutionary Communist Group and Fight Racism Fight Imperialism joined the international day of action to free Palestinian political prisoners and promote the movement to boycott Israel. Protesters also denounced the US attacks on Venezuela and promoted solidarity between Venezuela, Palestine and revolutionary and democratic movements around the world:
In Brighton, England, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign organized an information stall and picket at the Clock Tower on April 17, calling for freedom for Palestinian prisoners and focusing on the case of the five unjustly imprisoned Palestinian teens, the Hares Boys:
In Toronto, Canada, protesters outside the Israeli Embassy on April 17 demanded freedom for all Palestinian prisoners in a demonstration organized by the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid (CAIA). The protesters faced off against Zionist attempts to intimidate and threaten them with counterprotesters identified with the so-called “Jewish Defense League.”
Three days before, in Ottawa, Canada, protesters rallied for the freedom of Khalida Jarrar and all Palestinian prisoners on April 14, with organizers from Independent Jewish Voices, Students Against Israeli Apartheid and other organizations coming together to demand Jarrar’s immediate release:
In Chicago, Illinois, US, activists and the Palestinian community will come together on April 19 for an event and fundraiser with Ahmad Abuznaid and lawyer Michael Deutsch, to support the case of former Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails, torture survivor and Palestinian community leader Rasmea Odeh, now facing yet more criminalization, persecution and imprisonment at the hands of the US government.
The Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC), Art Forces, Eastside Arts Alliance and Critical Resistance in Oakland, California, US, organized an art exhibition and roundtable, “Re-Visions: Black and Brown Confronting State Violence” on April 17, celebrating Black and Brown resistance movements and Palestinian Prisoners Day. Speakers Rachel Herzing; Liz Derias, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement; Sagnicthe Salazar, Xicana Moratorium; Rabab Abdulhadi, AMED/SFSU; Kiwi Illafonte, Mass Bass; Akubundu Amazu-Lott, All-African People’s Revolutionary Party discussed connections between struggles and cultures of resistance to policing and prisons.
At Eastern Mediterranean University, the General Union of Palestinian Students in Turkish-occupied Famagusta, Cyprus held a large event for Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, featuring released prisoners Louay Odeh, Amneh Muna and Tayseer Suleiman, who discussed their experiences inside Israeli prisons and the struggle of Palestinian prisoners in the context of the Palestinian national movement:
In San Jose, Costa Rica, activists protested for Palestinian Prisoners’ Day on April 17, focusing on the case of the Hares Boys and Palestinian child prisoners:
The Global Campaign to Return to Palestine held its first Latin American congress in Caracas, Venezuela on April 15-17, focusing on the struggle of Palestinian refugees to return to Palestine, but also addressing the struggle for freedom for Palestinian political prisoners. The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat and the Brazilian Landless Worker’s Movement participated in the Congress alongside Palestinian and solidarity organizations including the Committees for a Democratic Palestine:
Two events organized by Inminds and by London Palestine Action united in London, England on April 17, protesting G4S, the British/Dutch security firm – largest in the world – that provides security systems and equipment to the Israeli prisons where Palestinian political prisoners are detained, tortured and wrongfully imprisoned. Activists occupied the lobby of G4S, demanding it end its involvement in human rights violations, not only in Palestine, but also in Britain, where G4S has been involved in the mistreatment and death of refugees and asylum seekers. Photos:
Videos:
In Rabat, Morocco, organizers held a protest commemorating Palestinian Prisoners’ Day and also calling for the release of political prisoners in Moroccan prisons, in response to the call by Moroccan human rights organization AMDH:
In Liverpool, England, activists organized a protest and street theatre highlighting the case of the Hares Boys for Palestinian Prisoners Day:
In Barcelona, activists for Palestine held a forum on Palestinian political prisoners as well as the movement to end the blockade of Gaza:
In Buenos Aires, Argentina, activists marked the International Day for Political Prisoners, drawing attention to the struggle not only of Palestinian prisoners, but also Basque and Galician prisoners, Turkish and Kurdish prisoners, Filipino prisoners, Moroccan and Sahrawi prisoners. In particular, the protesters highlighted the cases of Simon Trinidad, Ahmad Sa’adat, Marwan Barghouti, Abdullah Ocalan, Abimael Guzman, Mauricio Norambuena, Alcides Oviedo, Osmar Martinez, Oscar Lopez Rivera, Mumia Abu Jamal, Leonard Peltier, Carlos Ilich Ramirez, and Georges Ibrahim Abdallah:
The Movement for the Palestinian People’s Rights, along with the Portuguese Union of Antifascist Resistance, published the following statement (below in English and Portuguese) marking Palestinian Prisoners’ Day:
English:
PORTUGUESE SOLIDARITY WITH THE PALESTINIAN POLITICAL PRISONERS
April 17, today, marks another Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, celebrated since 1974, and commemorating the release of Mahmoud Hijazi, the first Palestinian prisoner released by Israel as part of a prisoner exchange. On this day, the Palestinian people recall all their children who continue to pay the price in prison of their commitment to fight for freedom and to resist occupation and the constant framework of repression and systematic violation of basic human rights, occupation, land theft, ethnic cleansing and destruction of cultural identity, that the Palestinian people confront daily. It is not easy to determine the exact number of Palestinian men, women and children imprisoned inside Israeli jails at a given moment. Organizations that follow the situation of Palestinian prisoners estimate that there are at this time over six thousand Palestinian prisoners, including 23 women, 163 children, including 13 under the age of 16. Of these six thousand, there are 484 serving sentences of life imprisonment and 30 imprisoned since before the Oslo accords, signed in 1993. Among the Palestinian prisoners, there are 14 Members of the Palestinian Legislative Council. There are 454 prisoners, including 10 PLC members, held in administrative detention without trial or charge, some of them for over two years – the highest number in five years.
The cold reality of the numbers does not sufficiently reveal the gravity of the situation faced by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Under the iron regime of occupation that has lasted for decades, virtually all Palestinian families have a father or a mother, a son or a daughter, a grandson or a granddaughter, a brother or a sister who, at some point in their life, were held in Israeli jails. For patriotic and resistant Palestinians, the daily experience of Israeli jails is marked by torture and ill treatment – accepted, moreover, by the law of the state – including the deprivation of basic rights and needs, including the denial of family visits and disregard for all international conventions regulating international humanitarian law. But this is only one dimension of the problem; the situation of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails is political before it is humanitarian. Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are held under an oppressive system that is occupying their land and which is not, therefore, entitled to condemn them. As is well demonstrated by the recent arrest of MP Khalida Jarrar, chair of the Political Prisoners Committee of the Palestinian Legislative Council, board member of Addameer Association for Prisoner Support and Human Rights and a member of several organizations advancing the rights of women; Palestinian prisoners are convicted solely for defending the dignity of their people and struggling for the liberation of their land.
To all the men and women who, anywhere in the world, in the struggle for the rights, emancipation and liberation of the people, have faced imprisonment, torture and humiliation, the situation of the Palestinian prisoners is familiar. It exposes the lie of Israeli propaganda which seeks to label itself “the only democracy in the Middle East.” For those in Portugal who fought fascism, faced the farce of the plenary courts and their notorious security measures, or who were victims of torture and constant humiliation, the daily repression and arbitrariness to which the Palestinian prisoners and their families are subject are too violent to not evoke the days of chains of led of Peniche, Aljube or Caxias. And it is also why those who resisted and fought with courage the most violent and hideous face of fascism, including those in Portugal, support the heroic struggle of the Palestinian people and know the importance of solidarity, fraternal embrace, and even the simplest gestures that convey encouragement and confidence, and of persistent efforts to break the wall of silence, isolation and libel that Israel and its Zionist supporters seek to impose upon the struggle of the Palestinian people, denouncing the crimes of the occupation and advocating the justice of the Palestinian struggle.
On this 41st Palestinian Prisoners Day, the Movement for the Palestinian People’s Rights and for Peace in the Middle East, and the Portuguese Union of Antifascist Resistance, express their deep and heartfelt solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people and especially with the Palestinian patriots imprisoned in the jails of the Israeli state. We denounce the illegal and illegitimate nature of their arrest, the brutal conditions to which they are subjected by the prisons and repressive system of Israel, and condemn in particular the arrest of children, the practice of torture, ill-treatment and abuse of Palestinian prisoners; as well as the practice of administrative detention – and we call for their immediate and unconditional release. The MPPM and URAP reiterate their firm willingness to work in the specific context of each organization and cooperate with all public expressions and movements in solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian people against the occupation, affirming their inalienable rights to self-determination, independence and the establishment of a free, independent and sovereign state in the territories occupied in 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital, and for a just solution for Palestinian refugees, in accordance with international law and the relevant United Nations resolutions.
Lisbon, April 17, 2015
MPPM- Movement for Palestinian People’s Rights and Peace in the Middle East
URAP – Portuguese Union of Antifascist Resistance
Portuguese:
SOLIDARIEDADE PORTUGUESA COM OS PRESOS POLÍTICOS PALESTINOS
Assinala-se hoje, dia 17 de Abril, mais um Dia do Preso Palestino. Desde que, em 1974, no âmbito de uma troca de prisioneiros, foi libertado Mahmoud Baker Hijazi, o primeiro palestino preso por Israel depois da ocupação dos territórios da Margem Ocidental do Rio Jordão, de Jerusalém Oriental e da Faixa de Gaza, o povo palestino recorda, nesta data, todos os seus filhos que pagam na prisão o preço do seu compromisso com a luta pela liberdade e a resistência à ocupação. Num quadro de repressão constante e sistemática, de violação dos mais elementares direitos humanos, de ocupação, roubo e esbulho, de limpeza étnica e de destruição da identidade cultural, como o que o povo palestino enfrenta diariamente, não é fácil determinar com precisão o número de palestinos, homens, mulheres ou crianças presos em cada momento nas cadeias israelitas. As organizações que acompanham a situação dos presos palestinos calculam que existam, nesta altura, mais de seis mil cidadãos presos, entre os quais se contarão vinte e três mulheres e cento e sessenta e três crianças, dos quais treze com menos de dezasseis anos. Destes cerca de seis mil, existem quatrocentos e oitenta e quatro que cumprem penas de prisão perpétua, e trinta estão presos desde antes dos acordos de Oslo, assinados em 1993. Entre os prisioneiros palestinos, contam-se cerca de dezena e meia de deputados do Conselho Legislativo Palestino (CLP). Existem quatrocentos e cinquenta e quatro prisioneiros, dos quais 10 deputados, na condição de detenção administrativa, quer dizer, sem julgamento nem acusação deduzida, alguns deles há mais de dois anos, o número mais elevados dos últimos cinco anos.
A realidade fria dos números não traduz, ainda assim, a gravidade da situação em que se encontram os palestinos presos nas cadeias israelitas. Sob um regime férreo de ocupação que dura há décadas, virtualmente todas as famílias palestinas têm um pai ou uma mãe, um filho ou uma filha, um neto ou uma neta, um irmão ou uma irmã que, em algum momento da sua vida, conheceu a realidade das prisões israelitas. Para os patriotas e resistentes palestinos, o quotidiano nas cárceres de Israel é marcado pela tortura e os maus-tratos – aceites, aliás, pela própria lei do estado – pela privação dos direitos e necessidades mais elementares, a começar pelo direito a receber visitas dos seus familiares mais próximos, em frontal desrespeito por todas as convenções internacionais que regulam o direito internacional humanitário. Mas essa é apenas uma dimensão do problema. A condição dos presos palestinos nas cadeias israelitas é política, antes de ser humanitária. Os homens e mulheres palestinos encarcerados nas prisões de Israel estão presos por força de um sistema opressivo que ocupa ilegalmente a sua terra e que não tem, por isso, legitimidade para os condenar. Como bem o demonstra a prisão recente de Khalida Jarrar, deputada, presidente da Comissão dos Presos Políticos do Conselho Legislativo Palestino, dirigente da Addameer – Associação de Apoio aos Presos e de Direitos Humanos – e membro de várias organizações de defesa dos direitos das mulheres, os presos palestinos estão condenados pela única razão de defenderem a dignidade do seu povo e lutarem pela libertação da sua terra.
Para todos os homens e mulheres que, em qualquer parte do mundo, na luta pelos direitos dos povos e pela emancipação do povo, tiveram que enfrentar a prisão, a tortura e as humilhações, a situação dos presos palestinos é familiar. De nada vale que a propaganda de Israel insista em qualificar o seu regime como “a única democracia do Médio Oriente”. Para os que, em Portugal, combateram o fascismo, enfrentaram a farsa dos tribunais plenários e as suas famigeradas medidas de segurança, ou foram vítimas da tortura e de humilhações constantes, o quotidiano de repressão e arbitrariedade a que estão sujeitos os presos palestinos e as suas famílias é demasiado violento para não evocar os dias de chumbo nas cadeias de Peniche, do Aljube ou de Caxias. E é também por isso que os que resistiram e enfrentaram com coragem a face mais violenta e hedionda do fascismo, assim como os que, em Portugal, acompanham a luta heróica do povo palestino, sabem bem a importância do valor da solidariedade, do abraço fraterno, dos gestos às vezes os mais singelos que transmitem estímulo e confiança, ou dos esforços persistentes para quebrar o muro de silêncio, isolamento e calúnia que Israel e os seus apoiantes do sionismo erguem sobre a luta do povo palestino, denunciando os crimes da ocupação e divulgando as razões justas da sua luta.
Assim, e por ocasião do 41º aniversário do Dia do Preso Palestino, o Movimento pelos Direitos do Povo Palestino e Pela Paz no Médio Oriente e a União de Resistentes Antifascistas Portugueses, expressam a sua mais viva e sentida solidariedade com a luta do povo palestino e em especial com os patriotas palestinos presos nas cadeias do estado de Israel, denunciam a natureza ilegal e ilegítima da sua prisão e as condições brutais a que são sujeitos pelo sistema prisional e repressivo de Israel, condenam, em particular, a prisão de crianças, assim como a prática da tortura, os maus tratos e as sevícias sobre os presos palestinos, assim como a figura da prisão administrativa, e reclamam a sua imediata e incondicional libertação. O MPPM e a URAP reiteram a sua firme disposição de trabalhar no âmbito específico de cada organização, e na cooperação com todas as expressões do movimento de opinião pública, em prol da solidariedade com a luta do povo palestino contra a ocupação, afirmando o seu direito inalienável à autodeterminação e independência e à constituição de um estado livre, independente e soberano nos territórios ocupados em 1967, com Jerusalém Leste como capital, e com uma solução justa para a questão dos refugiados, conforme com o direito internacional e as resoluções pertinentes das Nações Unidas.
Lisboa, 17 de Abril de 2015
MPPM- Movimento pelos Direitos do Povo Palestino e pela Paz no Médio Oriente
URAP – União de Resistentes Antifascistas Portugueses
The US Campaign to End the Occupation issued the following call to action, connecting campaigns against mass incarceration in the United States and Palestine:
Today, April 17, marks Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, a day of solidarity with the thousands of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, including children, held in Israeli prisons, many of them subjected to torture. Human rights organizations in Palestine/Israel released this joint statement outlining Israel’s ever-worsening abuses. An excerpt:
“As of March 2015, 5,820 Palestinian political prisoners, including women and children, are being held in prisons located inside Israel, in contravention of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Israel’s policies of detention and imprisonment are used in large part as political tools to suppress and maintain control over Palestinian society. These policies are intended to obstruct the daily lives and social fabric of Palestinians, and undermine their ability to oppose the Israeli occupation by criminalizing basic political affiliation and/or activities and employing methods such as torture and ill-treatment to target and intimidate individuals and communities.”
One of the latest of these prisoners is Palestinian parliamentarian, feminist, and leftist political leader Khalida Jarrar, whose case has garnered widespread international support since her arrest on April 2. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network has issued a Call to Action to support Jarrar with 8 actions, including a petition, via this link(scroll to bottom). Please show your support in any way you can!
Jarrar is being held in HaSharon Prison, operated by G4S, a British private security company that runs Israeli prisons. Palestinian civil society has specifically called for international action against G4S. See how you can start or join a G4S or prison divestment campaign: Member group Friends of Sabeel – North America is tracking U.S. G4S contracts to help people like you launch campaigns in your community. Click here to learn how you can take action, as well as find great resources like factsheets and more!
Recently, Durham, North Carolina became the first U.S. municipality to drop G4S — whose contract was worth $1 million! — following an extraordinary interfaith coalition-led campaign, including member group Jewish Voice for Peace. Sign up here to watch a great briefing about how they ran their successful campaign!
Columbia Prison Divest calls for divestment from the private prison industry.
In the United States, G4S operates privatized juvenile detention facilities and works with Homeland Security todetain and deport people across the U.S./Mexico border, and to transport immigrants to detention facilities nationwide. Many divestment campaigns are drawing important connections between corporate complicity in the U.S.’s and Israel’s racist policies of policing and mass incarceration. An example of this is Columbia Prison Divest, which is working to push the university’s board of trustees to divest from the private prison industry. Please follow the campaign — and its many exciting milestones so far — on Facebook and Twitter, and consider sending individual or organizational letters of support. The 2015 National Prison Divestment Week of Engagementis taking place next week, April 19-25! Campus and community organizers will be holding teach-ins, panels, and actions to engage with communities about the interconnected issues of mass incarceration, immigration enforcement, surveillance and policing. Click here for a full schedule of eventshappening online and from coast to coast. There will also be a National Convening in Boca Raton, Florida May 3-5.
Activists worldwide are taking action against prison profiteers like G4S. Over 20 South African businesses recently terminated G4S contracts. Last year on Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, people like you called on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to divest from G4S, and the Foundation divested its entire stake.
Jarrar is being held in HaSharon Prison, operated by G4S, a British private security company that runs Israeli prisons. Palestinian civil society has 
Member group Friends of Sabeel – North America is tracking U.S. G4S contracts to help people like you launch campaigns in your community. 
Recently, Durham, North Carolina became the first U.S. municipality to 
The 2015 National Prison Divestment Week of Engagement is taking place next week, April 19-25! Campus and community organizers will be holding teach-ins, panels, and actions to engage with communities about the interconnected issues of mass incarceration, immigration enforcement, surveillance and policing. 
