PFLP prisoners call for unified action to support Jordanian hunger strikers

5 August 2013

rimawii — PFLP poster of hunger striking prisoner, Mohammad Rimawi

The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat reported on August 5 that prisoners affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine are calling for the leadership of the national and Islamic forces to meet urgently to plan actions to support the Jordanian prisoners on hunger strike, including the PFLP leader Mohammad Rimawi. The prisoners, who began refusing food on May 2, have now been striking for over three months. In a statement released from inside occupation prisons, the PFLP prisoners said that “silence on this national and human issue is complicity in the crime, and increases the suffering of the prisoners.”

The statement accused the Jordanian government and the Palestinian Authority of ignoring the issue of the strikers, and called on the masses of the Palestinian and Jordanian people to engage in urgent popular action to pressure them to be compelled to intervene, in order to save the prisoners’ lives from the threat of death.

The prisoners’ statement said that the striking prisoners, Abdullah Barghouthi, Mohammad Rimawi, Hamza Othman al-Dabbas, Muneer Mar’i and Alaa Hammad are suffering from dehydration and persistent headaches, and have lost a significant amount of weight. They have threatened to stop drinking water, if there is no response to their just demands. The five are all Palestinian political prisoners who carry Jordanian citizenship. They have three demands:

1. That they be released from Israeli prisons and serve their sentences in Jordanian prisons according to the Wadi Araba Agreement between Jordan and Israel. This agreement was previously applied to the case of prisoner Sultan Al-Ajouli, who was transferred to Jordanian custody in accordance with the agreement.

2. That the Occupation disclose the whereabouts of missing Jordanian prisoners, of which there are 20.

3. That the Occupation remove martyrs from the ‘numbered graves’, where prisoners who died in custody are currently kept in nameless graves.

The statement from the PFLP prisoners particularly warned against a serious deterioration of the health of Mohammad Rimawi, who is currently at Soroka Hospital. He suffers from many chronic diseases and is at risk of a sudden heart attack if action is not taken. The prisoners criticized the official handling of this issue, saying that it does not meet the level of response that is necessary.

The prisoners warned they are following the status of the strikers on a constant basis and there is a state of emergency in various prisons to launch a series of events. They noted that last Friday and Saturday, prisoners in the south held a partial hunger strike, which will then move to all the occupation prisons, and closed by saying they hoped to see this lead to a mass strike to be considered seriously by all national and Islamic factions.

Hassan Karajah’s letter from inside occupation prison: I will greet you with the single word, “freedom”

4 August 2013

Download poster to raise awareness about Hassan Karajah's case: http://samidoun.net/site/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Hassan-Karajah.pdf — Download poster to raise awareness about Hassan Karajah’s case: http://samidoun.net/site/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Hassan-Karajah.pdf

Hassan Karajah is a Palestinian youth activist, the Youth Coordinator of the Grassroots Campaign to Stop the Wall, and a human rights defender with a long record of organizing and public activism with the Partnership for Development Project, an umbrella group for Tamer Institution, Ma’an Development Centre and Bissan Centre for Research and Development, and the Arab Thought Forum. He gave an interview before his detention in which he saluted political prisoners’ struggle, saying that “their struggle has given us a model of steadfastness and the certainty that if we stand up united, we can win, step by step, our freedom and national self-determination.”

Imprisoned after a late-night raid on his home in January 2013, he is now faced with political charges (of membership in a prohibited organization, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and connections with the Lebanese resistance) based on event attendance and travel to Lebanon.

He worked closely with international solidarity activists as part of Stop the Wall, and called for people of the world to act for Palestine: “We do expect a lot from the people around the world. We know that many understand and support our struggle. We need to work closer together and ensure that our actions are better coordinated and we grow stronger and more effective in pressuring companies and governments around the world to stop their complicit silence and their support to Israel, whether at an economic, political or cultural level.” On July 30, Addameer released his letter, below, addressed to the free world (here, in Arabic):

To all of my friends everywhere in the world….to each person in solidarity… to all who care about the cause of prisoners…to all who believe in the justice of our cause, Palestine, who cherish peace, love, the steadfastness of the prisoners, and the sweet scent of freedom, I say:

“The wheat, when it is spread on the land, some will be crushed by feet and die, some will be eaten by birds, and some makes it to the earth, and then rain comes, and with the first appearance of the sun, the wheat comes as a positive omen of the continuation of life.”

Dear all, know that I miss you and I’m eager to see you all. What prevents me from this is the Zionist occupation’s detention, which it uses against me as it did against the sons and daughters of our people 65 years ago. However, if this is for the freedom of Palestine, our land and our rights, I am prepared to bear this, and I am sure that you are willing to continue in the same way.

In these moments, when I am writing to you and imagine all of your souls around me as my soul greets you, I do not exclude any of you. I cannot say each of your names for one reason – we have a shortage of stationery in the prisons, such as pens and paper. By these shortages, the prison administration intends to besiege the prisoners and deprive us of education. You know that this is a drop in the sea in terms of the practices of oppressing us and attempting to break our steadfastness – which they will never do. I wrote to you special notes in notebooks, but those are confiscated by the prison administration before they reach you, so I send you my smile each day with the sun to welcome it.

If you ask me, I am fine and healthy, despite the denial of proper treatment and medical negligence practiced against all prisoners without exception. But morally, my morale soars above the wind, for which there is one main reason: you have always stood beside me.

I have not forgotten all of my friends everywhere, although I do not see you at this time, but your images have not been erased from my mind. Your principles will not be separated from mine, our convictions are united, and what you believe is what I believe. The walls of the prison have not changed this; they did not and will not be able to stop me from loving you more. I still meet with you in the land of sad oranges*; Um Sa’ad is still our mother**; and I am sure that you will still hear banging on the walls of the tank*** that will not cease until all of the refugees return to their homes, and the homes of their grandfathers. We will not stop pounding on the walls of the tank and other walls – until every friend will be able to visit Palestine, its land, water, air and the entire national soil.

This period will not last long. We will keep this belief, because belief generates hope, hope generates work, and work is the road to freedom – the freedom that has no equivalent but itself.**** This work must be collective, and no matter how small, will have an impact. Small steps, once they are together, become an army, and a noble morning. We have a noble army, an army of an idea, the army that trusts its people as much as I trust in our people and their limitless potential.

We come from inside our cells and the prison walls to the world through books. We read, and become part of the characters that tell those stories and novels, and they make doors that take us out of the darkness of the prison. This is why the occupation attempts, by various practices, means and procedures, to prevent books from being introduced to the prisoners.

When I received the news that many of my ideas and dreams have become reality because you have done the work, I am certain that I have not yet been imprisoned. I see the continuation of my work in your existence. I saw my freedom in your eyes. I heard my voice in yours. They have imprisoned the body, but they could not jail the idea and will not be able to do so.

Here, we draw our energy to continue from you. We, the newly detained prisoners, our hearts are full of happiness when, while being transported from prisons to court, we meet prisoners we have heard about for decades, whose photos and posters we have carried in the streets, prisoners from whom we learned our readiness to struggle since childhood.

In conclusion, I affirm to you that they will never be able to bring about our end. We are stronger than they are able to weaken us. We are higher than they are able to lower us. We are deeper than they are able to reach us. We continue.

I say to you at the end of this message – I will see you soon. I will come out as you have known me and better, and I will greet you with the single word, “Freedom.”

Hassan Karajah – occupied Beersheba Prison

* a reference to Ghassan Kanafani‘s story of this name: http://www.nobleworld.biz/images/sad_orange.pdf

** a reference to Kanafani’s novel, Um Sa’ad

*** a reference to Kanafani’s story, Men in the Sun

**** a quotation from Kanafani

Khader Adnan: Palestinian organizations must make it clear that hunger strikers are not forgotten

4 August 2013

Sheikh Khader Adnan, former prisoner and hunger striker, admonished official Palestinian bodies and institutions in a press conference on Sunday, August 4, saying that they have turned their back on Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike.

He urged Palestinians in Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, occupied Palestine ’48 and diaspora to play their role in the battle of dignity, across party and factional lines. He also urged Palestinian media to play a responsible role and publicize and mobilize the people around the prisoners’ struggle. Adnan particularly concentrated on the responsibility of the official Palestine TV, as the Israeli authorities do not allow other satellite channels to be broadcast inside the prison.

The press conference, held at Wattan Media Center under the slogan “The banner of the hunger strikers shall not fall,” highlighted former prisoners and the family members of current prisoners. He emphasized that the strikers and prisoners must know that they have support on the outside and that they have not been forgotten.

Adnan emphasized the role of the Palestinian resistance organizations, saying that “I call on the Palestinian resistance to take a role in the defense of its people against the jailer, and that the resistance should mobilize and take action to the occupation how valuable are the lives and freedom of our prisoners.”

Adnan described the suffering experienced by the prisoners, focusing on the cases of Dirar Abu Sisi and Mahmoud Zahran, held in isolation; Moatassam Raddad and Lena Jarbouni, suffering from serious illness; and Ayman Hamdan, now approaching 100 days of hunger strike.

He saluted Mohammad Tabeesh, who has been on hunger strike for 65 days in solidarity with his brother Ayman al-Tabeesh, standing against administrative detention, and noted that there are prisoners in the Israeli jails whose strikes we are unaware of, saying that we learned about the strikes of Mahmoud and Omar Tallahma only after they were on strike for 20 days. He urged all to pray for the prisoners on the night of Laylat al-Qadr (Night of Power), and saluted the 14 strikers: Ayman Hamdan, Abdullah Barghouthi, Muneer Mar’i, Alaa Hammad, Mohammad Rimawi, Hamza al-Dabbas, Imad Batran, Adel Hareebat, Ayman al-Tabeesh, Hussam Matar, Mohammad al-Tabeesh, Abdul Majid Khuderat, Omar Tallahma and Mahmoud Tallahma.

Al-Taj denied medical treatment abroad, refusing visits and medical care

4 August 2013

Former prisoner Mohammad al-Taj has refused visitors and medical personnel entry into his hospital room at Palestine Medical Center, reported Quds News Network on August 4, 2013.

Al-Taj is a former prisoner who was released shortly after the death of Maysara Abuhamdieh in Israeli prisons, a death attributed to medical neglect. He has been diagnosed as needing a lung transplant and other treatment not available in Palestine. On July 13, after threatening a hunger strike, Al-Taj was told by the Palestinian Authority that treatment would be provided for him in Austria.

Today, QNN reported, the promise of treatment abroad has been broken, without explanation to al-Taj. Linah Alsaafin has written an extensive article on his case for Electronic Intifada: http://electronicintifada.net/content/released-prisoner-secures-treatment-lung-disease-after-announcing-hunger-strike/12623

14 Palestinian prisoners now on hunger strike as Tallahma brothers join hunger strikers

4 August 2013

Carlos Latuff - 2012 — Carlos Latuff – 2012

Two Palestinian brothers held in Israeli prisons have joined the prisoners on hunger strike, raising the number of Palestinian political prisoners on hunger strike to 14, Addameer reported on August 4.

Omar Tallahma, 22, and Mahmoud Tallahma, 19, have launched an open-ended hunger strike in protest of the abuse of their interrogators and against their continued arrest, demanding their freedom. The Tallahma brothers are from Dura in al-Khalil district.

Omar was arrested on June 30, 2013, and Mahmoud on July 10.

—

Addameer also provided the following update on the ongoing conditions of Palestinian hunger strikers:

Ramallah, 31 July 2013 – Despite the mounting pressure on the hunger strikers and the Israel Prison Service (IPS) attempts to isolate them, Addameer lawyers were able to gain access to two of the twelve prisoners who have reported that all of the hunger strikers detained in Ramleh clinic have stopped taking vitamin supplements and are threatening to boycott water if their demands are not met. They are currently also refusing medical examinations.

231570_345x230 This most recent development is in light of the harsh conditions they are subjected to in the prison clinic, including denial of medical treatment, lack of humane treatment and isolation in dirty cells.

It should be emphasized that Addameer and other human rights organizations are consistently being denied access to the hunger striking prisoners, both from denied applications and by indirect means, such as transferring the prisoner to another location on the date of an approved visit. This week, Addameer had five approved visits to hunger strikers but was ultimately only allowed access to Ayman al-Tabeesh and Husam Matar. The other prisoners were transferred without notice on the day of Addameer’s visit, thereby denying them their right to legal counsel and further isolating them from the outside world.

Ayman al-Tabeesh, who has been on hunger strike for 70 days in protest of his administrative detention, is currently being held in desolate conditions in Ramleh clinic in a ward for infectious diseases. For over five weeks, he has been isolated in a soundproof 2×2 windowless cell with a mattress on the floor. According to Ayman, fellow hunger strikers Adel Hareebat, Mohammad al-Tabeesh, Mohammad Rimawi, Husam Matar and Abdul Majeed Khdeirat were also held in similar conditions before their recent transfer. Ayman also confirmed that three of the Jordanian prisoners are held in another ward of the prison clinic, which houses prisoners with mental disorders.

The prisoners are subjected to increased pressure and threats by the IPS to end their hunger strikes. They have reported that they are continuously transferred to different cells, subjected to night inspections, not allowed clothing, sheets, family visits and any contact with others except for a one hour recreation period in the yard. Those who are on hunger strike in protest of administrative detention have been promised verbally that they will not receive a renewal order, but the IPS refuses to document the agreement in writing.

Husam Matar, who has been on hunger strike for 61 days was held briefly with Mohammad Rimawi before his transfer to an unknown location last week. Husam reported that Mohammad’s health is critical and his life is in danger. He is currently taking medicine for a lung infection and fungal infection resulting from his hunger strike as well as suffering from mineral deficiency.

Husam is also being held in appalling conditions; he is in a small, dirty cell filled with sewage water. The conditions are so filthy that he is unable to pray during the holy month of Ramadan. Husam suffers from previous medical issues such as neurological problems, and bone issues, and currently suffers from facial hair loss, bodily pains and dehydration as a result of his hunger strike.

The hunger strikers also confirmed to Addameer that Adel Hareebat is in critical condition, his pancreas and liver are failing and he has a lack of basic minerals in his blood, decreased heart rate, blood sugar and blood pressure. Addameer was denied visitation rights for Adel despite his dangerous and life-threatening health condition.

Addameer again calls for immediate intervention from the international community including the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
and the European Union, to pressure Israel in the strongest manner possible to save the lives of all twelve hunger strikes.

—

Palestinian prisoner’s name	Date of Hunger Strike
Ayman Issa Hamdan	04/28/2013
Muneer Mari	05/02/2013
Abdullah Barghouti	05/02/2013
Alaa Hammad	05/02/2013
Mohammad Rimawi	05/02/2013
Hamza Othman Al-Dabbas	05/07/2013
Imad Batran	05/07/2013
Adel Hareebat	05/23/2013
Ayman Al-Tabeesh	05/23/2013
Hossam Mattar	06/01/2013
Mohammed Al-Tabeesh	06/12/2013
Abdul Majed Khuderat	07/01/2013
Omar Tallahma	07/15/2013
Mahmoud Tallahma	07/15/2013

Former prisoner Yousry Joulani seized by occupation forces in late night raid

4 August 2013

Yousry Ibrahim Joulani, 30, a former prisoner freed in the October 18, 2011 prisoner exchange, was seized last night in his home in al-Khalil (Hebron), as was his brother, Anas Joulani. He is the latest in a series of former prisoners to be re-arrested by Israeli occupation forces.

Yousry Joulani had spent the previous 10 years in Israeli prisons. The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society in al-Khalil reported that occupation forces raided the family home late at night on Saturday, August 3, smashing open the main door of the house, confiscating computers and phones, ransacking the home, and seizing their father’s car.

Montreal, August 7: Political Prisoners Struggles in Palestine

4 August 2013

Description Veuillez diffuser/ Please forward widely!

(French to follow)

Political Prisoners Struggles in Palestine

Wednesday August 7, 2013
6:30pm-8:30pm
Graduate Students Association (GSA) Lounge
Concordia University
2030 Mackay
(Metro Guy-Concordia)
Montréal
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/309944479149255/

Join Tadamon! for a workshop exploring the struggles of political prisoners in Palestine. The historical context of political imprisonment in Palestine will be charted, the realities faced by prisoners will be reviewed, and administrative detention discussed. The workshop will also highlight resistance to political imprisonment both inside and outside of prisons, including the recent hunger strikes and mass demonstration. Discussion will then turn to the global BDS campaign against G4S and its complicity in securing Israeli apartheid. This workshop will be presented in English, with whisper translation available.

For more information:

* Montreal Week Against Prisons
contrelesprisons.blogspot.com

* Tadamon!
www.tadamon.ca

Tadamon!
Tel: 514-664-1036
E-mail: info@tadamon.ca
Website: www.tadamon.ca

Les luttes des prisonniers et prisonnières politiques en Palestine
Le mercredi 7 août 2013
18 h 30 – 20 h 30
Graduate Students Association (GSA) Lounge
Université Concordia
2030 Mackay
(Metro Guy-Concordia)

Joignez-vous à Tadamon! pour un atelier interactif portant sur les luttes des
prisonniers et prisonnières politiques en Palestine. Le contexte
historique de l’incarcération politique sera examiné ainsi que les
réalités vécues par les prisonniers et prisonnières et la détention
administrative. Cet atelier traitera également de la résistance à
l’emprisonnement politique à l’intérieur et à l’extérieur des prisons, par exemple les grèves de la faim et manifestations de masse récentes.

Nous aborderons aussi la campagne internationale de
Boycott/Désinvestissement/Sanctions contre G4S et sa complicité avec l’apartheid israélien. Cet atelier aura lieu en anglais, avec traduction chuchotée vers le français disponible.

Pour plus d’information:

* La Semaine Contre les Prisons- Montréal

contrelesprisons.blogspot.com

* Tadamon!
www.tadamon.ca

—

Vancouver, Aug. 15: Negotiations in Palestine: Why are they happening? What do they mean?

3 August 2013

NEGOTIATIONS IN PALESTINE: What do they mean? Why are they happening?
Presentation and Discussion
Thursday, August 15, 2013
7:00 pm
Room 1530, SFU Harbour Centre
515 W. Hastings St, Vancouver

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/201894786643479/

News reports are coming in about the resumption of negotiations between Palestinian Authority leadership and the Israeli government, at the behest of US Secretary of State, John Kerry, in Washington, DC. Do these negotiations offer new hope for peace for Palestinians, suffering from siege, settlement building and ongoing human rights violations – or are they just the latest step in an ongoing project to deny fundamental Palestinian rights and protect Israeli occupation and apartheid?

Palestinians have taken to the streets to protest the negotiations, and issued numerous statements of condemnation – so why are Palestinian leaders travelling to Washington, DC to meet with Tzipi Livni, who presided over the infamous Operation Cast Lead assault on Gaza in 2008-2009?

We have also heard about Palestinian prisoners being released because of these negotiations. What has been the history of Palestinian prisoner releases and the relationship of negotiations to the mass imprisonment of thousands of Palestinians?

Come to discuss all of these things and more with Palestinian activist and writer Khaled Barakat on Thursday, May 15. While John Baird is asking for a seat at the negotiations table – what can people here do to support real justice?

Sponsored by Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign – Vancouver
Questions? samidoun@samidoun.net
Web: http://samidoun.net

Statement: Palestinians in Shatat say “No” to Resumption of Negotiations

3 August 2013

The following statement was initiated by Palestinian activists in North America. Samidoun is one of the initiating signatories:

SIGN ON: Email NoToNegotiations@gmail.com or use the form: http://bit.ly/NoToNegotiations

We, the undersigned Palestinians and Palestinian organizations in shatat and exile, write today to express our firm opposition to the resumption of bilateral Israeli/Palestinian negotiations under U.S. auspices in Washington DC, today, July 29.

For twenty years, the negotiations have not served Palestinian interests. Through countless sessions of futile negotiations, Israeli settlement construction has escalated, thousands of Palestinian political prisoners are held behind bars and Palestinian rights – including Palestinian refugees’ right to return – are no closer to implementation. While the Netanyahu government is planning the massive dispossession of Palestinians in the Naqab via the Prawer Plan, the negotiations serve only to provide a thin veneer of legitimacy to the aggressive policies of Israeli occupation and apartheid.

Our rights – the rights of the Palestinian people – and our land – the entire land of Palestine – are not for sale or bartering at the negotiations table. That this process is presided over by the United States government, which provides $3 billion annually in military aid to Israel, and specifically by Martin Indyk, former research director at infamous Israel lobby organization the America Israel Public Affairs Committee, only adds insult to injury and makes clear that these negotiations will bring nothing of value or benefit to the Palestinian people.

Today, we say: PA President Mahmoud Abbas does not represent us! Our rights cannot and will not be bargained away at a negotiating table in Washington, DC.

Instead, we affirm that the Palestinian people are one people and our cause is one cause. Our people have struggled for 65 years in order to achieve the liberation of the land and people of Palestine and the implementation of the right of Palestinian refugees to return their homes.

As Palestinians in shatat/diaspora, we are not being represented here, and we demand to reclaim our voice and role. We do not accept these negotiations, and our rights, our people and our land are not for sale!

SIGN ON: Email NoToNegotiations@gmail.com or use the form: http://bit.ly/NoToNegotiations

Signatories

Signatories
Al-Awda NY – Palestine Right to Return Coalition
Al-Awda FL – Palestine Right to Return Coalition
Al-Jisser Group
Al-Nakba Awareness Project
Austin Coalition for Palestine
Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign – Vancouver
Bristol Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Canadian Students’ Coalition for Palestine
Canaan Association from Venezuela: Palestinian Diaspora
Divestment Resource Center
Labor for Palestine
Merton Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Palestine Aid Society of America
Palestine Solidarity Group – Chicago
The Palestine Telegraph
Palestinian American Society – Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights at McMaster University
Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights at University of Calgary
Students for Justice in Palestine at Florida Atlantic University
Students for Justice in Palestine at Brooklyn College
Students for Justice in Palestine at Hunter College
Students for Justice in Palestine at College of Staten Island
Students for Justice in Palestine at John Jay College
Students for Justice in Palestine – University of Nebraska at Omaha
Students for Justice in Palestine – Ryerson University
Students for Justice in Palestine – Rutgers, New Brunswick
Students for Justice in Palestine – Rutgers – Newark
Toronto Students for Justice in Palestine
US Palestinian Community Network
Voice of Palestine
Women for Palestine
1948 Lest We Forget

Abdullah Khalifeh, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Abe Deeb, Dublin, Ireland
Abeer Fadda, Heidelberg, Germany
Ahmad Ali Bawab, Amman, Jordan
Ahmad Kawash
Akram Shaban, Vancouver
Ala Ramahi, Bloomington, IL
Alaa Milbes, Los Angeles, CA
Alladin Albawab, Jordan
Ali Salama, London
Ali Yassir, Montreal
Amani Barakat, Moorpark, California
Amar Husain, USA
Amer Shurrab, Monterey, CA
Amer Taha, Houston, Texas
Amin Arar, Amman
Amin Husain, New York City
Anas Amireh, Coral Springs, FL
Aya Dama, London
Ayham Salameh, Windsor, ON, Canada
Ayman Al-Atwani, Toronto, Canada
Bader Takriti, Montreal, QC
Bargas Hatem
Bashar Lubbad, Malmo, Sweden
Bianca Shana’a, Paris
Burhan Ghanayem, Bahama, NC
Cynthia George Taha, Bellingham
Daleen Elshaer, Washington, DC
Dana Olwan, Syracuse, NY
Deena Duwaik, Aurora, CO
Diana A Shuman, Chicago, IL
Dina Elmuti
Dina Omar, New Haven, CT
Dina Shana’a, Washington, DC
Dr. Anita Shanley, Edinburgh
Dr. C. Nureddin Awad, Cuba
Dr. Ismail Zayid, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Dr. Jamal Abu-Attiyeh, Oxford, Ohio
Dr. Samir Abed-Rabbo, Texas
Edgar Tawfiq Zarifeh, Toronto
Ehab A. Alrmoony, Amman, Jordan
Ehab Shqair, Pacifica, CA
Eid Masri, Alta Loma, CA
Elias Harb, editor, intifada-palestine.com
Eyas Alhomouz, Denver, CO
Ezdihar Shalabi, Oak Forest
Fadi Saba, San Jose, USA
Fadi Shbita, Montreal, Canada
Falastine As-Saleh, Palestine
Farah S., Canada
Farid Bitar, New Jersey
Farouq Shafie, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Faten Dabis, Chicago, IL
Faten Toubasi, Toronto, Canada
Fayez Abdel-Fattah, Poland
Feras Al-Hefnawi, USA
Fuad Abboud, Calgary, Canada
G. Nijim, Indiana, USA
Gale Khoury, Connecticut
Ghada Talhami, Evanston, Illinois, US
Ghasan Taha, Bellingham
Ghassan Alami, VA
Ghassan Al-Sahli
Gihad Ali, Chicago, IL
Haitham Salawdeh, Wauwatisa, WI
Haithem El-Zabri, Austin, TX
Hala George, Scotland
Hamed Khalil Awad Ahmad, Amman, Jordan
Hanaa Yosef, Lebanon
Hani Al-Qasem, UK
Hanna Gamal Eldin, Philadelphia, PA
Hanna Kawas, chairperson, Canada Palestine Association and co-host, Voice of Palestine
Hatem Abudayyeh, Chicago, IL
Hazem Ghanam, Coquitlam, BC, Canada
Helmy Mostafa, Jackson, PA
Hicham Harati
Ibrahim Quadan, Australia
Ida Audeh, Colorado
Imad Hatu, Chicago
Imad Shalbak, Bayshore, NY, USA
Inas Abbas, Berlin, Germany
Isam Nubani, Canada
Issam Al-Yamani, Toronto, Canada
Iyad Arar, Edmonton, Canada
Iyas AlQasem, London, UK
Jadallah Safa, Brazil
Jafar Ramini, London
James Abourezk, South Dakota
Prof. Jamil Fayez, MD, Vienna, VA
Jawad Jaser Abukhalaf, NJ, US
Jilnar Ramahi, Amman
Joseph Bedri, El Dorado Hills
Kamal Boullata, France
Kamal Hassan, Grants Pass, Oregon, USA
Karmel al-Ramahi, Jordan
Khaled Abulaban, Fairfax, VA
Khaled Barakat, Vancouver, Canada
Khaled Mouammar, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada
Laith Marouf, Montreal, Canada
Lamis J. Deek, J.D., NY/ Huwarra Nablus Palestine
Lamis Kayali-Sakr, Rockville, Maryland
Loai Najjar, San Jose, CA
Lutuf Ghantous, Wilmette, IL
Maher Alrai, Minnesota
Mahmoud Abdulal, Sweden
Majdi Rabah, Bahrain
Mariam Abu Thallam, Amman
Marsilio Salem
Mary Abukhudeir, Chicago, IL
May Abboud, Bethesda, MD, USA
Mazin Al Nahawi
Mohamed Salah El Ramahi, Algiers
Mohammad Abd-Elsalam
Mohammad Awadallah, North Bergen, NJ
Mohammad Dalbah, Journalist
Mohammad Ghbari, Jordan
Mohammad Horreya, Toronto
Mohammad S. Al-Hreebat
Monadel Herzallah, California
Monira Kitmitto, Toronto, Canada
Moussa H Kassis, Girard, Ohio
Muaffaq Askar, New York
Muath Abualqumssan, Yellowknife, NT, Canada
Muayad Qasem, NYC
Munir Atall, Boston, MA
Murad Din, Vancouver, Canada
Nabil Ayad, California
Nabil Keilani, San Diego, CA, USA
Nabila Mango, San Mateo, California
Nadia Arouri, Austria
Nadia Shoufani, Toronto, Canada
Nadine Kallas, Vancouver, Canada
Nahla Abdo, Canada
Nasser Mashni, Australia
Nicola Abu-Khalil, Germany
Nicolas A. Sayegh, Laval, Quebec, Canada
Nidal A. Barakat, Los Angeles, California
Nidal Elkhairy, Amman, Jordan
Noor Fawzy, Coral Springs, FL
Nour Abed, Detroit, Michigan
Noura Khouri, Oakland
Rabab Abdulhadi, California
Rabia Shafie, Ann Arbor, MI
Rabiah Nezar, Lansing
Rafe Abdulla, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Rafik Neme, Colombia
Rajai Ghattas, Vernon, BC, Canada
Raji Abuzalaf, Hawaii
Rami Alsaqqa, Vancouver, Canada
Rami Bisher, Amman, Jordan
Rami Mohammed, Cliffside Park, NJ
Ramy Abdeljabbar, Paterson, NJ
Ramzi Issa, North Bergen, NJ
Ramzy Baroud, author and journalist
Rana Hamadeh, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Randa Jazairi, Conway, NH
Randa Kamal, San Francisco, California
Rania Lafi, Amman, Jordan
Rania Laswi, Amman, Jordan
Rania Madi, Geneva, Switzerland
Remi Kanazi, New York, NY
Rena Zuabi, Palestine
Rima Hijazi, Vancouver
Rima Najjar, Bloomington, IN
Rob Moubarak, Ontario, Canada
Sabha Salman, Jerusalem
Sabrina Azraq, Toronto, Canada
Said Belabed, Jackson Heights, NY
Said Shehadeh, California
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Prisoners launch partial hunger strike in solidarity with Mohammad Rimawi

3 August 2013

Palestinian prisoners affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the southern prisons – Eshel, Nafha, Ramon and Negev – held a partial hunger strike on Friday and Saturday, August 2 and 3, in solidarity with the imprisoned PFLP leader, Mohammad Rimawi, who is one of five Palestinian prisoners holding Jordanian citizenship who has been on hunger strike for 91 days.

Rimawi, held in Soroka Hospital, is suffering from poor health and heart disease, and is at risk of a serious heart attack, in particular as he suffers from other chronic diseases.

In a leaked letter, the prison branch of the PFLP said that this step is the first of a series of efforts, and will be followed by a partial hunger strike by PFLP prisoners in northern prisons, and by the comprehensive participation of all prisoners from the national and Islamic forces, at a time and with a program agreed upon by all forces.

The letter from the PFLP prison branch urged international institutions, human rights organizations, and the United Nations to act urgently to save Rimawi’s life. It also urged the Palestinian masses and national organizations to act to stand beside Rimawi and his fellow prisoners engaged in an open hunger strike.

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