The Tunisian Solidarity Committee to Free Georges Ibrahim Abdallah will protest outside the French embassy in Tunis on February 7 at noon, to coincide with the visit of the President of France, Francois Hollande, to Tunisia.
The protest will call for the freedom of Lebanese activist George Ibrahim Abdallah, held in French prisons for 30 years now as a political prisoner.
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/593753637371345/?ref=22
Six Palestinian prisoners are currently engaging in open-ended hunger strikes in protest of actions by the occupation prison authorities:
Musa Soufan of Tulkarem, sentenced to life imprisonment plus five years, launched a hunger strike on January 25, 2014, protesting against medical neglect and delay in treatment; he has a tumor under his left ear and needs an operation to remove the tumor but has received only painkillers and has been isolated rather than moved to the hospital.
Palestinian child prisoner Ubaida Asaid ended his hunger strike on February 1, after occupation authorities agreed to transfer him from the Ofek criminal youth Israeli prison to HaSharon prison with Palestinian political prisoners.
Asaid, 15, was abducted by ocupation forces on November 13, 2013, and then abducted again with his 13-year-old brother Osman two weeks later. Osman was released after paying a $3000 fine and is now under house arrest and prohibited from even going to school.
Ubaida was transferred to Ofek where he was in danger and was denied family visits. He began a hunger strike on January 27. Inminds reported that the transfer to HaSharon will take place within 10 days. They protested in London at infamous prison contractor G4S headquarters raising awareness about Ubaida’s case on January 31.
Palestinian ill prisoners continue to suffer from medical neglect and mistreatment, report Palestinian prisoners and their families.
The Palestine Center for Prisoners Studies reported that Abdullah Mahmoud Abu Latifa, 30, of Bethlehem, has seen a serious decline in his health. He has been imprisoned since 2005 and is sentenced to 15 years in occupation prisons. Abu Latifa has suffered for 3 years with severe head pains and initial examinations have indicated that he has a tumor. He is unaware of the nature or cause of the tumor, and fears that it is cancerous. Abu Latifa does not know what the prison doctors are doing with the results of his tests, he has received no treatment except painkillers, and his health has declined, he has lost weight and he is very tired. Abu Latifa told his lawyer that a prison doctor told him during transport to a hospital for a test that he has cancer, but the prison officials have refused to turn over medical reports to his lawyer, claiming that security reasons prevent them from doing so.
Abu Latifa’s family are calling for urgent attention to his case and are asking to be allowed to send a private doctor into the prisons to examine him, and determine the cause of his illness. They stated that the occupation bears full responsibility for his life and that his health has deteriorated significantly since his imprisonment. The Center said that many prisoners are anxious after revelations of other prisoners’ diagnoses of cancer after years or months of neglect, making their cancer much more difficult or even impossible to treat.
Moatassem Raddad, 31, will undergo surgery to remove his large intestine inside the prison hospital, after the failure of other treatments. Raddad suffers from colon cancer; he is one of the most severely ill prisoners. Despite the severity of his case, Israeli military courts have denied application for his early release on medical grounds. He thanked all who have stood in solidarity with him in his struggle for adequate medical treatment. He will have another hearing on early release on February 12, after two years of postponements and denials and severely deteriorating health. He is sentenced to 20 years and has served 9 years of his sentence; he is held in Ramle prison hospital awaiting surgery.
Ibrahim Bitar’s family and supporters continue to organize for his release, calling for his freedom to save his life. He has lost nearly 30 kg in weight, is losing his sight due to an untreated injury, and suffers from blood diseases. He is 33, from Khan Younis, and serving a 17-year sentence, of which he has served 10 years. His brother Mamdouh Bitar noted that he is faced with slow death through medical neglect. Dozens of Palestinians joined in a rally on January 20 in Gaza calling for his release.
The branch of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the occupation prisons reported that the Zionist prison authorities are engaged in a series of transfers of PFLP leaders within the prisons, beginning with imprisoned PFLP general secretary Ahmad Sa’adat, who was transferred from Shata prison to Gilboa prison on January 25.
The PFLP said that this action was intended to obstruct the efforts of Sa’adat as a leader in the prisons to unify the national prisoners’ movement and build the struggle within the prisons, and that Sa’adat and other leaders of the prisoners’ movement are always subject to vindictive measures and are closely monitored by the Zionist prison authorities in attempts to obstruct their leadership and influence within the prisons.
On February 2, the PFLP prison branch announced that another leader, Wael Jaghoub, had been transferred from Ramon prison to Shata prison, linking Jaghoub’s transfer to Sa’adat’s, and saying that “this action is part of an ongoing campaign by the occupation Prison authority against the prisoners’ leadership in various Israeli jails, including the leadership of the PFLP, so as to sabotage efforts to build the unity and activity of the prisoners’ movement and undermine activities to re-activate the protest movements inside the prison against the abuses of the prison authorities.”
Sa’adat, the PFLP’s leader, is serving a 30-year sentence since he was kidnapped from a Palestinian Authority prison in 2006 with his comrades; Jaghoub is serving a life sentence and has been held in Israeli prisons since 2001.
Palestinian prisoners in Nafha prison stated through the Palestine Prisoners Society that they will begin to take protest steps that may escalate to a hunger strike in April 2014 if their demands are not recognized.
The prisoners are demanding:
1. The provision of professional and quick medical treatment to all patients in the prisons, particularly those held in the Ramle prison clinic.
2. Full implementation of the visiting agreement for the families of prisoners from Gaza. Following the April-May 2012 Karameh hunger strike, prison authorities committed to allow regular visits every two weeks, but the prison authorities have repeatedly failed to adhere to this agreement.
3. A full conclusion to the issue of solitary confinement, which was agreed to be ended following the strike; however, Dirar Abu Sisi’s isolation was not ended and other prisoners have since been held in isolation.
4. End the use of the “Bosta”, with iron chairs and shackles, particularly for the transportation of sick prisoners to hospitals.
5. Waiting rooms for prisoners’ families for visitation, and the waiting room for treatment at Ramle prison clinic, are dirty and not properly maintained; they are also too small and must be enlarged.
6. End the prohibition of family visits to prisoners under the pretext of “security” to exclude relatives from the prisons.
7. End the exploitation of prisoners through the high prices in the canteen, in the hands of the private corporation which has a monopoly on the canteen and providing prisoners with food.
From Fight Back News Service:
Saint Paul, MN – Activists from the anti-war and the Palestine solidarity movement gathered here, Jan. 24 to demand the release of all Palestinian political prisoners and an end to Palestinian Authority (PA) security cooperation with Israeli occupation forces. The group rallied for an hour in the midst of a snowstorm. The vigil was held in response to a call from the Campaign to Free Ahmed Sa’adat for Freedom Weeks to commemorate the 12th anniversary of Sa’adat’s abduction by PA forces.
Observed by hundreds of drivers at one of St. Paul’s busiest rush hour intersections, the group included members of the Minneapolis-based Anti-War Committee, the Minnesota Cuba Committee, students from nearby Macalester College and regular attendees of the long-running weekly Palestine solidarity vigil held in the same location.
According to the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network Samidoun, “Ahmad Sa’adat, General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, is one of over 5200 Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli jails. These political prisoners – men, women and children – are activists, organizers and political leaders of the Palestinian people.”
At the conclusion of Friday’s vigil, Anti-War Committee member Sophia Hansen-Day shared the following words, “We are here today to demand the release of all Palestinian political prisoners and for an end to Palestinian Authority security cooperation with Israeli occupation forces. We are here today to commemorate the 12th anniversary of Ahmed Sa’adat’s abduction by PA security forces and to call attention to his ongoing imprisonment by Israeli occupiers.
“We are here today to acknowledge the power of solidarity. In the words of heroic freedom fighter Samer Issawi prior to his release, ‘Your solidarity gives me the power to continue my hunger strike until I achieve my demand for freedom. It strengthens my steadfastness because it makes me realize that I’m not alone in the battle for freedom and dignity.’ Today we celebrate the release of Samer Issawi whose determination galvanized the Palestinian resistance, and we acknowledge the work yet to be done.
“We are here today on land stolen from the Dakota people to mark the ongoing occupation of Indigenous territory both in the U.S. and Palestine, to recognize the crimson blood on all our hands and to adamantly refuse silent complicity with settler colonialism and its ongoing violence.
“So, today, we raise our voices to the power of resistance, to the power of solidarity, to the power of demanding dignity and justice for all! Another world is necessary, another world is possible, another world is on her way. Long live Palestine!”
For more information, please go to www.freeahmadsaadat.org or attend an Anti-War Committee meeting held 7-9pm Thursday evenings at 4200 Cedar Ave in Minneapolis.
The Israeli Supreme Court rejected a petition filed by imprisoned Palestinian journalist Mohammad Mona of Quds Press, from Nablus, demanding his release. Mona has been imprisoned since August 7, 2013.
He is being held in administrative detention without charge or trial since that time and his first detention period is scheduled to expire soon. Ahmed al-Betawi of Solidarity Association said that the Supreme Court generally refuses to hear these petitions from prisoners in their first period of administrative detention. Palestinians may be held for indefinitely renewable periods, each being up to six months, under administrative detention, without charge or trial.
Mona was arrested after a raid on his home east of Nablus. On August 15 he was sentenced to a six-month term in administrative detention; no charges were raised against him. His term should end in early February, unless occupation officials extend his administrative detention for an additional period.
Who Profits released the following report on the involvement of Israeli and multinational corporations in the Israeli prison system:
On December 2013, the Israel Prison Service (IPS) responded to a freedom of information request by Who Profits, which was submitted three months earlier, regarding twenty-two corporations that provide services to Israeli prisons.
These companies mainly provide security equipment and services to incarceration facilities that hold Palestinian prisoners and detainees inside Israel and in the occupied West Bank. These incarceration facilities hold Palestinian political prisoners in violation of international law, and torture and systematic violations of human rights take place within their walls. According to Addameer’s latest monthly detention report (December 2013), there are 5033 Palestinian political prisoners in the Israeli prisons, 173 of whom are minors and 145 are administrative detainees.
The following table is an English translation of information provided by the Israel Prison Service to Who Profits, regarding twenty-two corporations that provide services to Israeli prisons and detention facilities.
| Company Name | Characteristics of Contract | End of Contract | Comments | Financial Scope |
| G4S | Maintaining supporting management systems, magnetometer gates, scanning machines and ankle monitors | During the fiscal year 2015 | According to an IPS tender | Tens of millions of shekels |
| 3M | Based on occasional bids | |||
| MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS ISRAEL
|
Maintaining wireless systems and lighting bridges
Repairing wireless devices |
During the fiscal year 2016 | According to an IPS tender | Tens of millions of shekels |
| HEWLETT- PACKARD (HP)
|
Printers
Maintaining HP systems and central servers |
During the fiscal year 2016 | Tenders by the Accountant General + tenders by the IPS
|
Tens of millions of shekels |
| MERKAVIM TRANSPORTATION TECHNOLOGIES
|
Based on occasional bids | |||
| MAYER’S CARS AND TRUCKS
|
Based on occasional bids | |||
| VOLVO GROUP | Based on occasional bids | |||
| Biosense | Supplying and maintaining a dog-bark identification system | During the fiscal year 2014 | According to an IPS tender | Hundreds of thousands of shekels |
| Myform | Based on occasional bids | |||
| MIRS COMMUNICATIONS
|
Purchase of battery services
Providing wireless services
|
During the fiscal year 2016 | Tenders by the Accountant General + Tenders by the IPS | Hundreds of thousands of shekels |
| AFCON HOLDINGS
|
Installing, providing year-round service and maintaining fire detection systems | During the fiscal year 2015 | According to an IPS tender | Tens of millions of shekels |
| Contact | Based on occasional bids | |||
| SHAMRAD ELECTRONICS
|
Relocating communication infrastructureSupplying electronic equipment
Repairing sound system |
During the fiscal year 2015 | According to an IPS tender
|
Tens of millions of shekels |
| B.G. ILANIT GATES AND URBAN ELEMENTS
|
Based on occasional bids | |||
| Dadash Hadarom Distribution | Purchase of canteen products | 31/07/14 | According to a tender | |
| Shekem | Based on occasional bids | |||
| Shiran | Based on occasional bids | |||
| S.I.R.N. | Based on occasional bids | |||
| Shekel | Based on occasional bids | |||
| ASHTROM GROUP | Based on occasional bids | |||
| Lymtech | Based on occasional bids |
Who Profits also provides documentation and research on several of these companies at the links below:
On the first anniversary of the passing of Ashraf Abu Tharee’, another critical story of the impacts of medical neglect on seriously ill Palestinian political prisoners in occupation prisons:
On Jan 22nd 2013, the former prisoner Ashraf Abu Tharee’ (27 years old), passed away after entering a coma and being hospitalized at the Augusta Victoria hospital in Jerusalem.
His death was a cause of deliberate medical neglect by the occupation’s prison administration against the Palestinian prisoners. Ashraf spent more than six years in captivity in his wheelchair at the hospital of the Ramle prison following his arrest. He was released on Nov 15, 2012 after he had suffered medical negligence for years which lead to the deterioration of his health.
It only took two months after his release for his body to finally give in to death.
The occupation prisons are full of prisoners who are victims of medical negligence and suffer major threats to their lives. Currently, more than 1400 prisoners are suffering the lack of basic medical care, 75 of them with severe illnesses.
