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

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

prisoner-daughterDescription 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?

drah41NEGOTIATIONS 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

right_of_return-460x307The 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
Salah Al-Aswad, Hamburg, Germany
Salah Fakhri Khalaf, Hamilton, ON
Salah Hamouri
Salim A.S. Al-Nabahin
Salma Abu Ayyash, Cambridge, MA
Samah Sabawi, Melbourne, Australia
Samar Yunis, Kuwait
Sameh Hammouri, Amman, Jordan
Sameria Ramadan, Oak Lawn, IL
Sami Joseph, Bucks, UK
Sami Musleh, Burnaby, BC, Canada
Sami Zubi, Canada
Samia A. Halaby
Samia Shannan, Jerusalem, Palestine
Samir Khadra, IN, USA
Samir Mohammad
Samira Ahmad, Illinois, US
Sammy Alqasem, Baltimore, MD, USA
Sana Ibrahim, USA
Sana Kassem, Athens, Greece
Sanah Yassin, Chicago, IL
Sarona Abuaker Bedwan, Charlotte, NC
Shahin Shabanian, Williamsport, PA, US
Suhail Shafi, Ozark
Suleiman Hodali, Los Angeles, CA
Sumbal Naz
Susana Khalil, Venezuela
Taher Naser, Oman
Talal A. Kanaan
Tarek Abu-Jbarah, Boston, MA
Tarek Zaher, Terre Haute, IN
Tareq Salameh, Alexandria, USA
Tariq Abuhamdia
Tariq Alardah, Dubai, UAE
Tawfiq Mousa, California
Wafaa Adwan, Palestine
Waqar Mohsin, Manchester
Wesam al-Khatib, Jordan
Wesam Cooley, Calgary, Alberta
Yahya Ghunaim, Los Angeles, CA
Yara Erian, London, Ontario
Yasmeen Daher, Montreal, Canada
Yasmine Atari, Waterloo, Canada
Yasmine Wasfi, Doylestown, PA
Yousef Abudayyeh, San Diego, CA
Ziyad Zaitoun, Seattle

Prisoners launch partial hunger strike in solidarity with Mohammad Rimawi

mohammad-rimawiPalestinian 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.

 

Palestinian prisoner Ahmed Uwaini released to Gaza

ahmed-uwainiPalestinian prisoner Ahmed Ismail Uwaini was released on August 1 after 11 years in Israeli prisons. Uwaini, who was born in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, is affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, whose members and friends welcomed Uwaini at the Beit Hanoun crossing.

He traveled in a caravan of cars from Beit Hanoun to Bureij camp, where a celebration was held for Palestinian refugees in the camp and Uwaini’s comrades and family. A reception tent has been organized outside Uwaini’s home in the camp, which will be open for three days to receive visitors.

Ahmad Qatamesh’s appeal denied in Israeli court ruling based on Shabak input

qatameshThe appeal of Palestinian academic and administrative detainee Ahmad Qatamesh was denied on August 1, 2013, reported the Palestinian Prisoners Society.

Jawad Boulos, of PPS’ legal unit, said that the occupation courts have in facr given license to renew Qatamesh’s administrative detention. He has been held without charge or trial since April 21, 2011, and appealed the last four-month extension of his administrative detention, at a hearing on April 29, 2013. He was told he would be held until at least September 29, 2013.

In the court’s rejection of Qatamesh’s appeal, Boulos said that the judges noted that the director of the Shabak had himself taken up the file of Ahmed Qatamesh and supported his administrative detention, and the court noted that it would support his authority in the matter.

Boulos pointed out that the High Court’s use of the Shabak’s word on this issue nullifies any concept of judicial authority or review, and that the occupation courts are above all a mechanism to implement the policies of security services.

Qatamesh, a political writer and university lecturer, has received international support from Amnesty International among others, demanding his release from ongoing detention without charge or trial.

He was earlier detained for over five years without trial in the 1990s.

 

Israeli Supreme Court rejects petition of Hareebat and Al-Tabeesh

hareebat-atabeeshThe Israeli Supreme Court rejected the petition on behalf of Palestinian administrative detainees Adel Hareebat and Ayman Al-Tabeesh, who have been on hunger strike since May 23.

Jawad Boulous, director of the legal unit of the Palestinian Prisoners Society, said that the three-judge panel rejected the petition without giing any justification, simply saying they rejected the petition after reviewing the secret evidence. The court hearing took place without the presence of Hareebat and Al-Tabeesh, who are currently held in Kaplan hospital.

Hareebat and Al-Tabeesh have engaged from time to time in protests by rejecting water and vitamins. Their doctors at the hospital issued a report that their muscles are atrophying, placing them at an advanced stage of risk. They are held in administrative detention, without charge or trial.

Boulos said that the occupation courts have “proven once again that they are not a space for Palestinians to seek justice or relief from oppression. Their ears are closed to what is said to them on behalf of prisoners arbitrarily detained without charge or trial, but are open widely to the secret statements of the Shabak intelligence behind closed doors.”

Hareebat was previously detained, and released in 2008. Al-Tabeesh was released in 2010 after three years in administrative detention.

Rafah municipality holds day of solidarity with Abdullah Barghouthi as health threatened in 91st day of hunger strike

abdullah-bRafah municipality held a day of solidarity with hunger striking prisoner Abdullah Barghouthi, who has been engaged in a hunger strike for 91 days. Barghouthi is currently held in Afula hospital, shackled to his bed. Osama Abu Zayd of Rafah municipality said that it is a national duty to support all political prisoners and prisoners of war.

The health condition of prisoner Abdullah Al-Barghouthi has seriously deteriorated after 91 days of hunger strike along with four other Jordanian captives.

Meanwhile, Palestinian lawyer Mohammed Al Shayeb, who visited Barghouthi on August 1 in Afula, warned of the serious deterioration of the striker’s health condition due to his continued hunger strike.

The lawyer quoted the prison doctor as saying that Barghouthi risks death at any moment, noting that his medical condition is monitored twice a day to check his heart rate, blood pressure, and glucose levels.

The IPS in Afula has refused the doctors’ demand to conduct the hunger striker physical examination to his nerves under the pretext that his transfer from his room to the clinic causes a security problem, the lawyer added.

Abdullah al-Barghouthi has declared since early May an open hunger strike along with four other Jordanian captives, Mohammad Rimawi, Muneer Mar’i, Hamza al-Dabbas Othman, and Alaa Hammad.

Image: Nidal El-Khairy connects prison struggles from Pelican Bay to Palestine

Nidal El-Khairy’s image marking the connection between Palestinian hunger strikers and California hunger strikers was published at the Electronic Intifada: “In Pelican Bay and other prisons throughout California, approximately 30,000 inmates are nearing their second month of the largest prison hunger strike in US history. Committed to maintaining the strike indefinitely, they are demanding an end to a vast range of abuses, including solitary confinement, long-term isolation, denial of family contact, and absence of legal protections.

Palestinian hunger strikers have expressed their solidarity with inmates in California, urging them to stay strong in their commitment to ending their isolation and to remember that they are not alone. Internationally, as one, we stand — internationally, as one, we resist.” – Nidal El-Khairy

 

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