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New theatrical play featuring the struggle of Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat to premiere in Edinburgh

Photo by Laleh Sherkat – Art27 Scotland

The story of Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat, the Palestinian-Scottish doctor and Palestinian community organizer subjected to political imprisonment, surveillance, and repression by British authorities, is coming to the stage in Edinburgh, Scotland. “From the Heart of the Incident” will premiere at ZOO Southside at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival on August 8 and 9, 2022. Tickets are now available online: https://zoofestival.co.uk/programme/art27s-from-the-heart-of-the-incident—/#show-details

The play was created by Art27 Scotland, an art project that examines Article 27 of the Human Rights Act, which discusses the right to participate in cultural life. Robert Rae, the BAFTA award-winning director of the film, worked with Palestinian poet and performer Ghazi Hussein and Irish actress to bring the story of Dr. Issam’s struggle for justice to the stage. The play will be performed in Arabic with English subtitles.

Rae, the Irish Times reported, was inspired to create the play after meeting with Dr. Issam and learning about his story of being entrapped by an MI5 agent, held as a political prisoner in Maghaberry prison in the north of Ireland for 16 months, and finally released on bail — subjected to heavy and restrictive conditions — after suffering a heart attack inside British prison. He and his fellow defendants have still not been brought to trial.

The play is expected to tour through the north of Ireland and elsewhere after the Edinburgh premiere.

Get your tickets here: https://zoofestival.co.uk/programme/art27s-from-the-heart-of-the-incident—/#show-details

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network reiterate our solidarity with Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat and demand the dropping of all charges against him and the reinstatement of his medical license.

Who is Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat?

Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat is a Palestinian Scottish doctor facing persecution by the British state. He has been targeted for his commitment to international solidarity and as a political means of repressing both the Palestinian and Irish movements. He was held in British prisons for nearly 16 months and was released on bail, under heavy conditions, on 13 December 2021 after suffering a heart attack behind bars.

Alongside his fellow detainees, the Saoradh 9, he was detained in “Operation Arbacia,” a series of political arrests carried out by British authorities.

He was targeted by an MI5 infiltrator, Dennis McFadden, to attend a bugged meeting with members of Saoradh, an Irish republican socialist political party that advocates for an end to British colonialism and a united Ireland. He was detained on 22 August at Heathrow Airport on the same day that nine members of Saoradh were also arrested by British forces. His bail applications were repeatedly denied before his December 2021 release, despite serious health issues and the damaging effects of incarceration on his and his fellow detainees’ well-being.

Dr. Hijjawi Bassalat, 64, came to the UK in 1995 to work as a doctor, and he is a well-known, respected member of the Palestinian community in Scotland and the father of four. He previously served as chair of the Association of Palestinian Communities in Scotland (today, the Scottish Palestinian Society) and has been active throughout Europe in advocating for Palestinian rights to return, freedom and justice, speaking frequently at meetings, conferences and events.

Infiltration and MI5 Attacks

“Operation Arbacia” sprang from the decades-long infiltration of Irish republican movements by MI5 agent Dennis McFadden, detailed in a Channel 4 News report. Issam was entrapped into a meeting with McFadden on false pretenses after he was told by British officials that he had to pick up his daughter’s passport renewal in Belfast instead of Glasgow. There, he was invited to what was presented to him as a Saoradh meeting to discuss international solidarity and the Palestinian cause; he had previously spoken to a Saoradh Ard Fheis (annual meeting) about Palestine, an open, public event.

Under the emergency laws still in effect in the north of Ireland, his case will be heard by a judge without a jury.

He is charged with “preparatory acts of terrorism” under the 2006 Terrorism Act, based on his attendance at this meeting engineered by MI5. Issam’s solicitor, Gavin Booth, has seen the transcript of the meeting Issam was compelled to attend, noting that “Everything that’s contained within the transcripts and the recordings is about Palestine, is about peaceful and democratic change. There’s nothing in the transcripts from Dr Bassalat that would support violence in any way.” Despite these facts and the presumption of innocence that is supposed to apply, he was held on remand for nearly 16 months as his health deteriorated and his medical license was suspened.

Dr. Issam’s Health Crisis

Dr. Issam Hijjawi Bassalat, Palestinian political prisoner in British jails and a medical doctor, suffered a heart attack inside Maghaberry prison on 9 October. The first judge to hear his renewed bail application after the heart attack said it was not an indication of “changed circumstances,” despite the risk to his life and well-being. It was not until months later that he finally won release.

These delays have added yet more time behind bars to a process in which Dr. Bassalat’s lawyer already declared that the evidence will take him at least 63 weeks to review before a trial could be possible. He already experienced surgery while imprisoned after a hunger strike and repeated protests to spur medical treatment for his injured spine. He did not receive adequate space and time for exercise and physical therapy after his surgery, due to his continued imprisonment.

As he appealed for human rights groups to address his case, Dr. Bassalat said in a statement that “all the might of the British Government” has been used against him, “a single individual [who] dared to challenge the British historic role in creating the Palestinian plight through the Balfour Declaration and the 30 years of the British Mandate in Palestine ending in al Nakba – the catastrophe of the Palestinians in 1948.”

Targeting Issam’s Bank Account and Medical License

In addition to his unjust imprisonment, Dr. Hijjawi Bassalat has suffered further injustice. During his detention, his medical care was initially delayed, and then after he finally received necessary surgery, he was denied pain relief and proper therapy. Despite his condition, he continued to be denied bail.

His bank account was frozen, denying him access to funds and creating even more inconvenience and trauma for his family — again, all while he ostensibly retains the presumption of innocence. Issam’s licence to practise medicine was suspended by the General Medical Council (GMC) on 26 October 2020 after the charges filed against him, despite the fact that he has been convicted of nothing and that the charges in no way relate to his fitness to practise medicine or his treatment of his patients. As of July 2022, he is appealing against the GMC’s action in Scottish courts.

Issam is being targeted as a Palestinian in an attempt to justify the MI5 infiltration of public political parties and to smear both the Palestinian and Irish struggles through entrapment and misrepresentation.

Solidarity with Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh: Leading Palestinian prisoner transferred to interrogation

Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh, imprisoned Palestinian leader, was suddenly transferred to interrogation at the Petah Tikvah interrogation center of the occupation one week ago, on Thursday, 21 July.

On Thursday, 28 July, Palestinian lawyer Ghaid Qassem reported that she had finally visited Abu Ghoulmeh, who was now being held in Megiddo prison, after repeated prohibitions of legal visits over the course of the previous week. Abu Ghoulmeh’s family, his comrades in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Palestinian prisoners’ associations have called for urgent action and attention to shine a light on Abu Ghoulmeh’s case and protect him from the attacks of the occupation.

The lawyer reported that she was allowed to visit him for only 15 minutes and that Abu Ghoulmeh appeared physically exhausted after being transferred on multiple occasions from interrogation center to prison and again in the so-called “bosta,” the all-metal vehicle used to transport Palestinian prisoners, typically without air conditioning in the extreme summer heat. She affirmed that despite attempts to block his communication and the frequent transfers, his spirits are high and his will is solid.

On 21 July, occupation forces suddenly transferred Abu Ghoulmeh from the Ramon desert prison to the Petah Tikva interrogation center. His family and fellow prisoners were not informed of his location, and the transfer comes after two of his nephews were recently seized by occupation forces invading his hometown of Beit Furik. He was held in the interrogation center until Wednesday, 27 July, when he was transferred first to HaSharon prison and then to Megiddo prison.

Wafa’ Abu Ghoulmeh, Palestinian activist and Abu Ghoulmeh’s wife, reported that numerous lawyers and human rights organizations had called to inquire about Abu Ghoulmeh’s condition with the occupation authorities, who insisted that he was in Ramon prison even though he had been moved to interrogation. She told Palestinian media that, “the occupation refuses to acknowledge that Ahed is being held under interrogation, and we as a family see that this poses a great danger to Ahed’s life.” She urged “everyone to act immediately, before it is too late, becaue what is happening is dangerous, and it is possible to repeat the same scenario that happened with the prisoners Samer Arbeed and Walid Hanatsheh during their interrogation.” Both Arbeed and Hanatsheh were subjected to severe physical torture under interrogation in 2019, to the extent that Arbeed was beaten so badly that 11 of his ribs were broken and he was in a coma.

In a statement, the PFLP said that the transfer of Abu Ghoulmeh to interrogation is part of a systematic attack against the prisoners and a policy of revenge that aims to harm the prisoners, especially leaders of the movement, especially as dozens of Palestinian prisoners joined a collective hunger strike in support of long-term hunger strikers Khalil Awawdeh and Raed Rayan, striking to end their imprisonment without charge or trial under administrative detention. (Rayan ended his hunger strike on 28 July with an agreement for his release in November.) They further saluted Abu Ghoulmeh’s reputation for steadfastness under interrogation and in solitary confinement on many past occasions, affirming that he would again defeat the jailer.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society declared that the occupation is fully responsible for the life of Abu Ghoulmeh, especially after lawyer visits were repeatedly obstructed, noting that he is a national leader of the prisoners’ movment.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network expresses our firm solidarity with Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh, a leader of the prisoners’ movement and a renowned example of resistance and steadfastness behind the bars of the occupation.

The interrogation of Abu Ghoulmeh comes alongside the refusal to transfer hunger strikers like Khalil Awawdeh to civilian hospitals, the repeated transfers and isolation imposed on the heroes of the Freedom Tunnel who liberated themselves from occupation prisons last September, the isolation of French-Palestinian lawyer Salah Hamouri after he appealed to the French government to end his detention, the isolation of Shadi Maali in an attempt to pressure his son, and the solitary confinement of Ahmad Manasra, imprisoned since he was a child.

We urge all Palestinians, Arabs and supporters of Palestine to join in action to support Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh and all Palestinian prisoners resisting behind bars, for their own freedom and for the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea.

Who is Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh?

Wafa’ and Ahed have two children, Qais and Rita. He was born in 1968 in Beit Furik, near Nablus, and was elected as the head of the prison branch of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in June of this year. He is serving a life sentence plus 5 years after being jailed by an occupation military court, accused of directing the assassination of the notoriously racist tourism minister of the occupation, Rehavam Ze’evi, in October 2001, in retaliation for the Israeli assassination of PFLP General Secretary Abu Ali Mustafa in August 2001.

As a high school student, he founded the Union of Secondary Student Committees in his village in 1982 and was first arrested in 1984 for organizing demonstrations to commemorate the anniversary of the PFLP’s launch. In 1986, he began to attend Bir Zeit University, but his education was repeatedly disrupted due to repeated arrests and detention. He was heavily involved in the great popular intifada, organizing popular committees and action groups in the Nablus area. After being arrested in 1990, he was transferred to administrative detention for a year. When he returned to university, he became a leader of the Progressive Student Action Front.

As a leader of the Popular Front throughout the 1990s, he was repeatedly pursued by the Israeli occupation, even as he completed his university degree, married and had two children. He was particularly active in defense of the Palestinian prisoners, representing the PFLP in the committee of National and Islamic Forces on prisoners and detainees.

He was repeatedly imprisoned and arrested by the Palestinian Authority under “security coordination” with Israeli occupation, in both January and December 1996, when he was jailed for five months, and again in May 2000. With the outbreak of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000, Abu Ghoulmeh played a leading role and he was publicly announced as a target for Israeli assassination in April 2001. After the assassination of Abu Ali Mustafa and the response of the PFLP in assassinating Ze’evi, he, along with Majdi Rimawi, Hamdi Qur’an and Basil al-Asmar — and then, PFLP General Secretary Ahmad Sa’adat — was imprisoned by the Palestinian Authority in Jericho prison in a security coordination agreement, where he was held under U.S., British, Canadian and Turkish guards.

During this time, Wafa’, his wife, was subjected to house arrest four times in a row for six month periods in an effort to prevent her and their children from visiting Abu Ghoulmeh in Jericho prison. On 13 March 2006, the occupation forces attacked Jericho prison after the withdrawal of the US and British guards, kidnapping Sa’adat, Abu Ghoulmeh, Qur’an, al-Asmar, Rimawi and fellow political prisoner Fouad al-Shoubaki, today one of the oldest political prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons.

He was subjected to military interrogation for over two months, during which he was subjected to extensive physical and psychological torture as he refused to confess, and on 1 January 2008, he was sentenced by the occupation military court to a life sentence plus 5 years. He has remained a major leader of the prisoners’ movement and has been repeatedly subjected to isolation and solitary confinement, and his family have been banned on numerous occasions from visiting him. He was held in solitary confinement until 2012, when he and 19 fellow leaders of the prisoners’ movement, including Ahmad Sa’adat and Marwan Barghouti, were returned to the general population after the mass Karameh hunger strike.

His wife Wafa’ continued to be denied visits, and she saw him for the first time in 10 years in 2018.

In June 2022, the PFLP announced that he had been elected the leader of its prison branch, following decades of his leadership.

Towards freedom: Palestinian prisoner Raed Rayan suspends hunger strike after 113 days of struggle with agreement for his release

After 113 days of struggle and sacrifice to win his freedom, Palestinian prisoner Raed Rayan — jailed without charge or trial under Israeli “administrative detention” — has suspended his hunger strike with an agreement for his release. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes Rayan and his fellow prisoners on their unceasing dedication to put their bodies and lives on the line, confronting the Zionist occupation on a daily basis on the front lines of struggle behind bars.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society saluting Rayan’s will and determination to confront the crime of administrative detention with true steadfastness at all levels. Reports indicate that Raed Rayan will be released in November 2022, after the final renewal of the administrative detention order against him.

Raed Rayan, 27, from Beit Duqqu northwest of occupied Jerusalem, has been on hunger strike since April 2022, when his administrative detention was last renewed. He has been imprisoned without charge or trial under administrative detention since 3 November 2021. He had been released from his last period of detention without charge or trial only months before, in April 2021. Throughout his hunger strike, he has suffered from severe threats to his life and health, and has been held in the notorious Ramle prison clinic, as both he and fellow hunger striker Khalil Awawdeh have largely been denied access to civilian hospitals even as their lives have been at greater risk on a daily basis.

In the past week, dozens of Palestinian prisoners from different organizations, including Islamic Jihad and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, have engaged in collective solidarity with Rayan and Awawdeh, emphasizing that this struggle is not solely that of the individual but is a collective struggle of all prisoners and the Palestinian people as a whole, with the prisoners’ movement in the forefront to uphold Palestinian rights and liberation. The struggle of Raed Rayan and Khalil Awawdeh has been echoed around the world in demonstrations and mobilizations urging their immediate release and an end to administrative detention.

We celebrate with Raed Rayan, his comrades, loved ones and the Palestinian people, for his determination, steadfastness and commitment to achieve victory. At the same time, we must emphasize that is essential to keep up the pressure and pay close attention to Raed Rayan and his fellow prisoners. The occupation regime repeatedly and systematically has violated release agreements with hunger strikers, most recently that of Khalil Awawdeh, using various pretexts to undermine the agreements reached through months and weeks of painful yet steadfast struggle. We must not allow them to do this again, and we look forward to celebrating the release of Raed Rayan alongside all those who seek justice and liberation.

Fellow Palestinian prisoner Khalil Awawdeh is continuing his strike for the 148th day and is currently facing severe health deterioration. Muhja al-Quds Foundation stated that he had been transferred yesterday, 27 July, to the Assaf Harofeh hospital and then returned to the Ramle prison clinic after he refused to receive treatment or supplements. They warned that according to the report of the examining physicians, he is at risk of death at any time, emphasizing the sole responsibility of the occupation for the life, health and safety of Khalil Awawdeh.

Awawdeh, 40, had originally been on hunger strike for 111 days when he suspended his strike. Even though his detention order expired a few days later, it was renewed instead of him being released, and he resumed his strike on 2 July. Throughout this time, he has consistently been denied contact with his family and frequently with his lawyer.

Administrative detention was first used in Palestine by the British colonial mandate and then adopted by the Zionist regime; it is now used routinely to target Palestinians, especially community leaders, activists, and influential people in their towns, camps and villages.

There are currently approximately 682 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention, out of 4,700 Palestinian political prisoners. These orders are issued by the military and approved by military courts on the basis of “secret evidence”, denied to both Palestinian detainees and their attorneys. Issued for up to six months at a time, they are indefinitely renewable, and Palestinians — including minor children — can spend years jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes Raed Rayan and the Palestinian people and liberation movement as a whole on the accomplishments of their great steadfastness and commitment to struggle in the most difficult of conditions.

The occupation prison authorities are escalating their attacks on Palestinian prisoners and their movement, from the interrogation of Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh to the isolation of the heroes of the Freedom Tunnel who liberated themselves from Gilboa prison, to the transfer of lawyer Salah Hamouri to isolation in revenge for his public statements to the French government calling for action, to the isolation of Shadi Maali in an attempt to coerce his son. We urge all supporters of Palestine to continue and escalate their actions of solidarity to free Khalil Awawdeh and all Palestinian prisoners — and for the liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea!

Paris demonstrators denounce “Israel Apartheid Tech” team in Tour de France despite repression

On Sunday 24 July, the final stage of world-famous cycling race, the Tour de France 2022 took place near Paris. Once again, the Tour de France was marked by the participation of a team in the colors of apartheid, with the sole aim of whitewashing the colonialist, racist and murderous policy of the Zionist state.

The Boycott Apartheid Israel Collective, EuroPalestine, AFPS, UJFP and Samidoun Région Parisienne were present along the route to show the support of the inhabitants of Île-de-France for the Palestinian people and their resistance.

As they gathered to demonstrate, about fifteen police officers prevented the supporters of justice in Palestine from reaching their planned site on the sidelines of the Tour. They were stopped and confined, subjected to identity checks, pressured to leave… for more than 2 hours, they were kept away from other spectators.

All of this repression is an admission of weakness on the part of the supporters of the Israeli occupation! A dozen Palestinian flags and bunches of balloons are enough to make them panic. At the same time, many people did not hesitate to show their support, coming to talk with us, shouting supportive slogans for Palestine or greeting the demonstrators even as they were being corralled by cops.

On the same day, two other groups managed to position themselves on the course and raise the Palestinian colors high. The first in Puteaux by the AFPS and their supporters, and a second in front of La Sorbonne.

Mobilization of the AFPS in Puteaux.

The day before, messages of solidarity with the Palestinian people and for the boycott of Israel were seen in Nanterre on the route of the Tour. The slogans remained visible for several days.

Throughout the route of the Tour de France, many waved the Palestinian flag high and also held up the many portraits of the prisoners of the Palestinian cause currently imprisoned in Israeli occupation prisons — or in France —  such as Ahmad Sa’adat, Salah Hamouri, Georges Abdallah , Raed Rayan and Khalil Awawdeh. Everywhere, the supporters of Palestine, the Palestinian people and their resistance, mobilized to oppose the sportswashing of the Zionist state.

We salute all the organizations, collectives and individuals who have made all these acts of solidarity flourish all over France. From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!

Sunday July 24 in Paris.

Mobilization against “Israel Premier Tech” cycling team continues in Belgium

After being present on July 7 at the sixth stage of the Tour de France in Cerfontaine, members of Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine (a member organization of the Samidoun Network) were present once more on Wednesday, 27 July for the fifth stage of the Tour de Wallonie in Courcelles, Belgium, in order to protest against the presence of the Israeli propaganda cycling team, “Israel Premier Tech.”

This team was founded and is funded by Canadian billionaire Sylvan Adams. The objectives of this Israeli team are above all political, as he said himself in an interview in the newspaper Le Monde: “The members of the team are ambassadors of the country of Israel, which is the base of the crew. We use sport to create ties and promote the country’s image.”

Demonstrators explained exactly this to passers-by and residents of the neighborhood, distributing flyers in support of a boycott of the team and “Israeli” sports. We cannot allow sport to be used to whitewash Israeli colonialism and its war crimes!

Activists set up flags and banners not far from the main square of Courcelles, where they were met with great support from spectators and local residents. One woman even came to help the demonstrators hang up the banners and flags. On several occasions, car drivers, seeing the Palestinian flags, honked their horns as they passed.

The various sections of PJPO (Paix juste au Proche Orient) Coordination also demonstrated against “Israel Premier Tech” in the Tour de Wallonie, in Roeulx, Ecaussines, Ittre and Céroux-Mousty.

Below is the video of their action in Ittre:

The PJPO near Écaussinnes also mobilized with flags and banners:

We will be there again in the spring! 

The “Israel Premier Tech” team is also planned to be present in other cycling races in Belgium. Let’s organize ourselves everywhere in Belgium to be present in March and April at the Flèche wallonne, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Flèche brabançonne, Ghent-Wevelgem, the Grand Prix de l’Escaut, the Tour de Flandre and Bruges -De Panne.

Source : Charleroi-Palestine

30 July, NYC: Ghassan Lives! Palestine Lives! A community event honoring Ghassan Kanafani

Saturday, 30 July
4 pm
Shore Road Park
Brooklyn, NY
(Between 99th and Third Ave)
RSVP here: bit.ly/KanafaniNYC

Samidoun NY/NJ will be joining PYM New York City for a community event in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Ghassan Kanafani, revolutionary writer and political icon of the Palestinian resistance. Please join us for an afternoon of community building and political education to celebrate and reflect on Kanafani’s legacy. There will be a group reading, light refreshments, and fun activities for the whole family. We’ll see you there!

#GhassanLives #PalestineLives #GhassanKanafani #NYC #FreePalestine

Free Shadi Ma’ali: Palestinian refugee jailed in solitary confinement without charge or trial

Palestinian prisoner Shadi Ma’ali is being held without charge or trial under administrative detention in Israeli occupation prisons. Now, Ma’ali, 46, is being held in isolation in the Naqab desert prison in an attempt to force him to reveal information about his 19-year-old son, Jad Shadi Maali, who is being targeted by occupation forces in Dheisheh refugee camp.

The Ma’ali family said that occupation forces have been targeting Jad for around two months, seeking to arrest him on allegations that like his father, he is an activist and community leader in the Dheisheh refugee camp. In early July, occupation forces moved Shadi Ma’ali to a solitary confinement cell in the Naqab desert prion, and on 21 July, they extended his isolation for an additional three months in an attempt to impose collective punishment on Jad and the Ma’ali family to force them to give up Jad. The Ma’ali family are Palestinian refugees from al-Jorah village near occupied Jerusalem, forced from their homes and lands by Zionist invading forces during the Nakba in 1948.

In fact, Jad’s grandfather and several of his uncles were already detained for several days and one remains detained in another attempt to force the young man to surrender himself to the occupation forces. The family also noted to the Palestinian Refugees Portal that the extension of Shadi’s isolation is a prior indication of the renewal of his administrative detention.

Ma’ali has spent around 16 years in Israeli occupation prisons, much without charge or trial in administrative detention, and previously charged with membership in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He was last seized by occupation forces on 6 December 2020 and his detention has been repeatedly renewed since that time. He had only been released in March of 2020 after being held for another two years in administrative detention, repeatedly renewed since March 2018. The father of five children, he was also arrested by Palestinian Authority security forces on several occasions as part of their “security coordination” with the Israeli occupation and was held for around 2 years in PA prisons.

Ma’ali was subjected to torture on multiple occasions by both occupation forces and PA forces in an attempt to extract confessions from him. Solitary confinement is another form of torture currently being used against him in an attempt to coerce both him and his son into “confessions.”

In his previous administrative detention in 2015, he engaged in a 40-day hunger strike with a group of his comrades, the Battle of Breaking the Chains, to demand an end to administrative detention. He was finally released in August of 2016. During his various times imprisoned by the occupation forces, he participated in the mass 2012 Karameh hunger strike, a 2013 hunger strike in solidarity with Samer Issawi and a 2016 strike in solidarity with Bilal Kayed. Both Kayed and Issawi were engaged in long-term hunger strikes to end their detention, just as today, Khalil Awawdeh and Raed Rayan continue their hunger strikes to end their administrative detention. In 2004, occupation forces demolished his and his brother Mohammed’s home in Dheisheh camp.

Administrative detention was first used in Palestine by the British colonial mandate and then adopted by the Zionist regime; it is now used routinely to target Palestinians, especially community leaders, activists, and influential people in their towns, camps and villages.

There are currently approximately 682 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention, out of 4,700 Palestinian political prisoners. These orders are issued by the military and approved by military courts on the basis of “secret evidence”, denied to both Palestinian detainees and their attorneys. Issued for up to six months at a time, they are indefinitely renewable, and Palestinians — including minor children — can spend years jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention.

Administrative detainees have been engaged in a collective boycott of the military courts since 1 January 2022 and are currently planning to assess their next steps of struggle collectively.

The isolation of Shadi Ma’ali is clearly a form of collective punishment of entire Palestinian families as well as an attempt to coerce a Palestinian youth into political imprisonment. Palestinian youth in Dheisheh camp have been repeatedly targeted for threats, mass incarceration, targeted shootings and extrajudicial executions. Jad Ma’ali, in particular, has seen his father repeatedly stripped away from his life and his loved ones by occupation forces throughout his life.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network stands in solidarity with Shadi Ma’ali and all Palestinian prisoners continuing to lead the struggle for liberation, resisting behind bars with their bodies and their lives despite the severe personal and collective costs extracted from them.

The isolation of Shadi and pursuit of Jad reflect Israeli attempts to remove and isolate the most effective, popular and trusted leaders of Palestinian movements through the use of mass imprisonment. Despite years of imprisonment, the occupation has failed to break their steadfastness and commitment to Palestinian liberation. International solidarity and action is critical to support Shadi Ma’ali and his fellow prisoners and demand freedom for all Palestinian prisoners – and the liberation of Palestine and its people, from the river to the sea.

Free Khalil Awawdeh and Raed Rayan: 115 prisoners joining collective strike to release long-term hunger strikers

Palestinian prisoners Khalil Awawdeh and Raed Rayan are continuing their long-term hunger strikes, even as Awawdeh’s administrative detention was renewed on 20 July after 142 days of hunger strike. Rayan has been on hunger strike for _107 days. Both are demanding their freedom from administrative detention, Israeli imprisonment without charge or trial. Now, over 115 Palestinian prisoners are joining them in a collective battle to bring their imprisonment to an end.

On the evening of Thursday, 21 July, 40 prisoners of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement in Ofer prison launched an open-ended hunger strike in solidarity with Awawdeh after the news that his administrative detention had been extended until 2 October 2022 despite his severe health conditions.

In addition, the prison organization of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine announced that 75 prisoners of the Front would launch a solidarity hunger strike on Sunday, joining the collective battle throughout the prisons in support of Raed Rayan and Khalil Awawdeh. In the statement announcing the strike, the PFLP prisoners also drew attention to the cases of Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh, who was suddenly taken from their rooms in recent days to interrogation by occupation forces, and Shadi Maali, also jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention, who has been thrown into isolation for three months in an attempt to extract information from him about his son, Jad, 19, or force Jad to turn himself into the occupation forces.

Khalil Awawdeh, 40, from Ithna, near al-Khalil, is the father of four daughters. His health is in severe deterioration, and he has been repeatedly transferred back and forth between the notoriously negligent Ramle prison clinic and various civilian hospitals during his lengthy hunger strike. On the 111th day of his hunger strike, he briefly suspended his strike as he had been notified that the occupation forces had agreed to his release. Instead, two days later, he was informed that his administrative detention order had been reimposed, prompting him to continue the strike. Throughout this time, he has consistently been denied contact with his family and frequently with his lawyer.

Awawdeh originally intended to pursue medical school abroad but enrolled in an engineering course in al-Khalil at Palestine Polytechnic University before his studies were interrupted in 2002. Jailed for five years by the Israeli occupation, he was released in 2007. Later that year, he was once again seized and held without charge or trial under administrative detention for nearly three years. He has since been repeatedly detained. He launched studies at economics at Al-Quds Open University, which were again interrupted on 27 December 2021, when he was thrown in administrative detention without charge or trial once again.

He is severely emaciated, must use in a wheelchair, vomits water when he consumes it and can barely speak, with severe pain throughout his body. Nevertheless, he has continued the battle, even when the false claims of the occupation led to a dissipation of interest and attention to his case.

Raed Rayan, 27, from Beit Duqqu northwest of occupied Jerusalem, has een on hunger strike for 107 days. He has been imprisoned without charge or trial under administrative detention since 3 November 2021. He had been released from his last period of detention without charge or trial only months before, in April 2021. He launched his hunger strike afer his detention was extended for another four months in April 2022. He also must move in a wheelchair and suffers from severe head, stomach and eye pain through his extensive hunger strike.

What Is Administrative Detention?

Administrative detention was first used in Palestine by the British colonial mandate and then adopted by the Zionist regime; it is now used routinely to target Palestinians, especially community leaders, activists, and influential people in their towns, camps and villages.

There are currently approximately 682 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention, out of 4,700 Palestinian political prisoners. These orders are issued by the military and approved by military courts on the basis of “secret evidence”, denied to both Palestinian detainees and their attorneys. Issued for up to six months at a time, they are indefinitely renewable, and Palestinians — including minor children — can spend years jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention.

Administrative detainees have been engaged in a collective boycott of the military courts since 1 January 2022 and are currently planning to assess their next steps of struggle collectively, amid the growing movement for Awawdeh and Rayan’s freedom.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all supporters of Palestine to take action to support Khalil Awawdeh and Raed Rayan, confronting the Zionist occupation forces with their bodies and lives on the line, and all Palestinian prisoners struggling for freedom, for their own lives and for the Palestinian people. Awawdeh and Rayan’s fellow prisoners are standing hand in hand with them in battle,  confronting the system of Israeli oppression on the front lines, with their bodies and their lives, to bring the system of administrative detention to an end.

Take these actions below to stand with the hunger strikers and the struggle for the liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea!

TAKE ACTION: 

Join the Social Media Campaign!

There is a growing social media campaign to #FreeRaed and #FreeKhalil. Use these hashtags and to post on Twitter and Instagram. Post in all languages!  Take action and join the social media outrage and break the isolation imposed upon Raed and Khalil by the Israeli occupation! Follow the Instagram accounts of their campaigns to Free Khalil and Free Raed

Protest in your city or country!

Join the many protests taking place around the world — confront, isolate and besiege the Israeli embassy or consulate in your city or country of residence. Or take to the streets in your neighborhood, on your campus or at a government building in your area. Make it clear that the people are with Palestine! Send us your events at samidoun@samidoun.net. Demonstrations have already been organized in Montreal, London, Manchester, Paris, Toulouse, Berlin and elsewhere.

Boycott Israel!

The international, Arab and Palestinian campaign to boycott Israel can play an important role at this critical time. Local boycott groups can protest and label Israeli produce and groceries, while many complicit corporations – including HP, G4S, Puma, Teva and others, profit from their role in support Zionist colonialism throughout occupied Palestine. By participating in the boycott of Israel, you can directly help to throw a wrench in the economy of settler colonialism.

Use these Posters and Signs:

Spread awareness by posting these signs and posters in your community or carrying them during your demonstrations:

https://samidoun.net/site/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/FREE-ALL-PALESTINIAN-PRISONERS.pdf

Abbas-Macron meeting: talk of “peace” to normalize colonialism

On Wednesday, 20 July 2022 in Paris, a meeting took place between French president Emmanuel Macron and Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority. This is Abbas’ first visit to France since 2018 and takes place a few weeks following the visit of Israeli prime minister Yair Lapid with the French president, which produced multiple pledges of friendship and strategic cooperation.

Unsurprisingly, this meeting is yet another attempt on the part of France to market the “two-state solution” cheaply. That is to say, it is another effort to legitimize settler colonialism and the dispossession of the Palestinian people throughout the vast majority of the land of Palestine, from the river to the sea. As Khaled Barakat, Palestinian writer and co-founder of the Masar Badil (the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement) pointed out in a discussion with the Collectif Palestine Vaincra, “This is nothing more than another cheap attempt to market illusions about the so-called ‘peace process,’ including one of the most damaging economic outcomes of that ‘process’, the Paris Protocols. The so-called ‘two-state solution’ is dead, and offers nothing but apartheid as a solution for the Palestinian people.”

In his declaration, French president Macron specifies that his proposed solution “begins with the end of unilateral measures on the ground. I am thinking in particular of the evictions of Palestinian families, home demolitions, and the settlement policy, which are contrary to international law and which rule out the possibility of a Palestinian state living in peace alongside Israel.” At the same time, he rejects any form of Palestinian resistance and multiples declarations and agreements in support of the Israeli regime. In addition to betraying all of the national rights of the Palestinian people, the defense of the “two-state solution” is a precious tool for Israeli colonialism, which has continued to accelerate since the Oslo Accords of 1993, with the number of settlers in the occupied West Bank of Palestine multiplying.

As Khaled Barakat noted, “France is not a friend of the Palestinian people. On the contrary, it is obvious that France is Israel’s ally and partner. This is not only the past history of France but its current reality. For example, the Macron government’s attempt to ban Palestine solidarity organizations and progressive voices working for Palestine, as well as the imprisonment of Georges Abdallah for 38 years for fighting for the liberation of Palestine. French-Palestinian lawyer Salah Hamouri remains imprisoned without charge or trial by Israel and almost nothing has been done by the French government.” On this matter, Mahmoud Abbas had no words to say for the prisoners of the Palestinian liberation movement held behind bars, yet another illustration that he represents the corrupt Palestinian bourgeoisie tied directly to the Oslo accords and, as Barakat points out, “not the Palestinian people and their continued resistance for return and liberation.”

Macron further stated, “I was discussing the war in Ukraine, I would like to conclude by recalling the food insecurity it is causing all over the world, especially in the Palestinian territories and I am thinking in particular of the people of Gaza.” This is scandalous! Who can believe that the situation in Gaza is mainly linked to the war in Ukraine? The blockade imposed by the Zionist state for the past 15 years is responsible for the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with the complicity of the Sisi regime in Egypt and the Western powers, including France.

For his part, Abbas affirmed his “gratitude to the EU and its Member States for their important and persistent role in creating stability and peace and in improving the economic conditions of the Palestinian people.” Here, it must be noted that France is one of the main providers of European aid to the Palestinian Authority.

Macron, as did his predecessors, presents himself as a “balanced” authority, but that should deceive no one. This is only a means of maintaining his regional influence and of attempting to peddle mirages in an effort to neutralize those who revolt against the barbarism of the Israeli occupation. In fact, the humanitarian aid provided by the United States and the European Union, including France, is used as a tool of pressure on the Palestinian people, which is granted only by the imperialist powers in exchange for a commitment to docility in the part of the PA. It is in this context that we must understand the multiple expressions of gratitude and thanks from Abbas.

The PA president also spoke about the murder of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Aqleh, without clearly identifying those responsible, Israeli occupation forces. On this occasion, a further bewildering scene took place, where the translator in the press conference laughed and Macron smiled, just as Abbas discussed the assassination. This says a great deal about the lack of consideration for Palestinian victims of Israeli crimes on the part of the French authorities.

This diplomatic charade, like the other “international summits” and “peace processes” (Oslo, Camp David, etc.) only aim to reinforce the Israeli occupation and attack the Palestinian resistance. We will not be fooled by Macron’s intentions or Abbas’s complicity: they are part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Source: Collectif Palestine Vaincra

Mobilization at the Tour de France in Foix confronts “Israel Premier Tech” team with boycott call

On Tuesday, 19 July, several dozen members and supporters of the Collectif Palestine Vaincra and Couserans Palestine came out, with the support of Solidarité Palestine Toulouse, as the end of the 16th stage of the Tour de France, the international cycling race, passed through Foix. As in many cities in Denmark, France and Belgium along the route of the Tour, supporters of justice in Palestine are denouncing the participation of the “Israel Premier Tech” team, a team explicitly devoted to a political mission of whitewashing Israeli crimes through sport.

Amid the scorching heatwave, participants distributed flyers to many onlookers who came to watch the cyclists race. Many people were outraged to learn about this Israeli sportswashing campaign, and several even joined in, holding Palestinian flags and chanting slogans in support of the Palestinian people.

The demonstrators unfurled a massive “Israel out of the Tour de France” banner with high visibility for several hours. Police stationed in the area attempted to intimidate the demonstrators and the deputy prefect of Ariège even intervened in person in an attempt to pressure the participants into putting away the banner. The demonstrators reminded him of the recent decision of the European Court of Human Rights in June 2020, once again upholding the legality of the boycott of Israel in France, noting that it is a legal tool in the battle against racism. Furthermore, they spoke out against the hypocrisy of professional cycling excluding Russian teams from competition while finding nothing wrong with the inclusion of a team explicitly promoting Israeli apartheid. In the end, the action continued without disruption and the banner remained in place.

As the peloton passed, the demonstrators chanted “Boycott Israel” loudly, emphasizing their commitment to the international campaign againt colonialism and racism and in support of the Palestinian resistance, fighting for the Palestinian people’s rights and liberation. These actions will continue to multiply until the conclusion of the Tour de France this Sunday in Paris, with people everywhere denouncing Israel for what it is: a settler colonial project that has oppressed and dispossessed the Palestinian people for over 70 years.

In fact, on Wednesday, 20 July, on the route of the Tour de France to Labarthe-de-Neste, activists and supporters of the Collectif 65 for the Libeation of Georges Abdallah joined with the Collectif Palestine Vaincra to mobilize against the Israel Premier Tech team once again.

Source: Collectif Palestine Vaincra

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