Occupation military court charges Palestinian women for popular protest against settlements

9 July 2013

OFER MILITARY COURT (AFP) — An Israeli military court formally charged two Palestinian women on Tuesday for their involvement in a peaceful demonstration in the West Bank last month.

In a hearing at Ofer military court near Ramallah, Nariman Tamimi, 37, and Rana Hamadah, 21, who also holds Canadian nationality, were charged with “entering a closed military zone” during a demonstration in Nabi Saleh, where villagers have been protesting since 2009 over the seizure of their lands by a nearby settlement.

Both pleaded not guilty.

According to Israeli rights group B’Tselem, the two were part of a group of around 25 people who participated in a peaceful demonstration on June 28 which was stopped by a group of Israeli soldiers and border police as they crossed a field near the village.

After a five minute standoff during which the forces informed them the area was a closed military zone, the group turned around and headed back towards the village, said B’Tselem’s Sarit Michaeli, who was videoing the protest.

“A group of five or six of them were just walking back when suddenly they were stopped and three of them were arrested,” she said.

The two women and a Spanish national were then driven around in the back of a jeep for most of the day, and taken to a police station around midnight.

Security forces released the Spanish woman but drove the other two to HaSharon, where they were held until late on Monday night, Michaeli said.

“This particular demonstration did not involve stone throwing,” she told AFP, explaining that despite the peaceful nature of the protest, the military prosecution initially asked for the two to be held until the end of legal proceedings in a step she described as “disproportionate”.

The court rejected the request, but a judge ruled that Tamimi, a mother of four who is married to veteran Nabi Saleh activist Bassem Tamimi, would be placed under house arrest every Friday. She is next due in court on September 3.

Hamadah, who is studying in Canada and is also facing obstruction charges after trying to prevent the forces from handcuffing her, was also barred from entering the village on a Friday. Her next hearing is on July 17.

Almost all demonstrations in Palestine are defined as “illegal” under Israeli military law, which states that any gathering of 10 or more people requires a permit.

Dirar Abu Sisi facing medical neglect, held in isolation for over two years

9 July 2013

The Palestinian Prisoners Society warned about the serious health condition of Palestinian prisoner Dirar Abu Sisi, 42, who is held in isolation. Abu Sisi was the deputy director of the power plant in the Gaza Strip, who was abducted by the Mossad from the Ukraine, where he was visiting the family of his Ukrainian wife, on February 18, 2011. He has been held in solitary confinement since that time.

On July 9, PPS said that Abu Sisi, who is currently held in Eshel prison, is facing a policy of medical neglect as well as poor living conditions. He has been isolated in sections with criminal Israeli prisoners, and suffers from severe pains due to acute inflammation and bleeding in his teeth and he has not been provided with necessary treatment.

Abu Sisi also suffers from stomach ulcers, shortness of breath, kidney problems, high blood pressure and migraine, the PPS added.

Israeli occupation engages in raids, detentions, beatings of Palestinians

9 July 2013

The Palestine Information Centre reported that Israeli occupation forces (IOF) kidnapped during the last 24 hours two Palestinian citizens and raided commercial stores in Jenin.

Local sources reported that the IOF kidnapped on Monday a young man named Adham Abdul Rahman in Al-Aroub refugee camp as he was on his way to attend a court hearing held against his brother.

The IOF also raided last night Al-Aroub refugee camp and ransacked the house of Nawwaf Asharif.

A Palestinian citizen was also taken prisoner after violent raids on commercial stores at dawn in Barta’a village near Jenin.

In another incident, Israeli soldiers brutally beat Issa Amro, coordinator of youth against settlement group, near the Ibrahimi Mosque.

Eyewitnesses said that Amro suffered severe injuries all over his body in the attack.

The Centre also reported that Israeli occupation authorities held Sheikh Falah Nada, a Hamas leader, in administrative detention on Tuesday one day after his arrest from his village Qarawat Bani Hassan to the west of Ramallah on July 7.

Ahmed Al-Beitawi, a researcher with the Tadamun foundation for human rights, said that Nada, 54, was released from IOA jails on 4/12/2012 after 24 months of administrative detention and has now returned to administrative detention without charge or trial.

Family of prisoner Mohamed Abdul Rab reports deteriorating health

9 July 2013

The Palestine Information Centre reported that family of Palestinian prisoner Mohamed Abdul Rab, from Qabatiya town, expressed fears over the deterioration of his health condition as a result of his exposure to medical neglect by the Israeli administration of Eshel jail, on July 9.

Islam, the brother of the prisoner, told the Palestinian information center (PIC) that his brother suffers from severe stomach pains and has already undergone several surgeries without any progress.

Islam noted that his brother, 38, has served 10 years of his 24-year sentence, but during this long period of his detention he has not received any accurate diagnosis of his medical condition.

He appealed to human rights group to intervene to send a specialized doctor to diagnose his condition and provide him with the appropriate medication.

Negev prisoners raided by armed unit

9 July 2013

negev The Palestine Information Centre reported that members of the Israeli prison service’s Rapid Response Unit (Keter) burst into Palestinian prisoners’ rooms in Negev jail on Monday night, June 8.

Riyadh Al-Ashkar, the director of the Palestine prisoners’ center for studies, said that Keter unit members broke into ward 24 and conducted a large-scale search operation in room 3.

He said that he received a phone call from Negev prisoners on Tuesday morning saying that the unit members forced out all 12 administrative detainees held in this room and detained them in the laundry room before searching the room thoroughly damaging prisoners’ belongings in the process.

Ashkar said that the one hour search ended with the confiscation of prisoners’ books and special documents in addition to a small heating device.

The center appealed to international organizations to protect Palestinian prisoners from occupation’s crimes and to stop jailors’ provocations especially with the advent of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

My life at Guantánamo

8 July 2013

A detainee at the US prison explains that hunger striking is the only way left to cry out for life, freedom and dignity. From Al-Jazeera.

by Moath al-Alwi

Moath al-Alwi is a Yemeni national who has been in US custody since 2002. He was one of the very first prisoners moved to Guantanamo, where the US military assigned him the Internment Serial Number 028.

A month ago, the guards here at Guantanamo Bay gave me an orange jumpsuit. After years in white and brown, the colours of compliant prisoners, I am very proud to wear my new clothes. The colour orange is Guantanamo’s banner. Anyone who knows the truth about this place knows that orange is its only true colour.

My name is Moath al-Alwi. I have been a prisoner of the United States at Guantanamo since 2002. I was never charged with any crime and I have not received a fair trial in US courts. To protest this injustice, I began a hunger strike in February. Now, twice a day, the US military straps me down to a chair and pushes a thick tube down my nose to force-feed me.

When I choose to remain in my cell in an act of peaceful protest against the force-feeding, the prison authorities send in a Forced Cell Extraction team: six guards in full riot gear. Those guards are deliberately brutal to punish me for my protest. They pile up on top of me to the point that I feel like my back is about to break. They then carry me out and strap me into the restraint chair, which we hunger strikers call the torture chair.

A new twist to this routine involves the guards restraining me to the chair with my arms cuffed behind my back. The chest strap is then tightened, trapping my arms between my torso and the chair’s backrest. This is done despite the fact that the torture chair features built-in arm restraints. It is extremely painful to remain in this position.

Even after I am tied to the chair, a guard digs his thumbs under my jaw, gripping me at the pressure points and choking me as the tube is inserted down my nose and into my stomach. They always use my right nostril now because my left one is swollen shut after countless feeding sessions. Sometimes, the nurses get it wrong, snaking the tube into my lung instead, and I begin to choke.

The US military medical staff conducting the force-feeding at Guantanamo is basically stuffing us prisoners to bring up our weight – mine had dropped from 168 pounds to 108 pounds, before they began force-feeding me. They even use constipation as a weapon, refusing to give hunger strikers laxatives despite the fact that the feeding solutions inevitably cause severe bloating.

If a prisoner vomits after this ordeal, the guards immediately return him to the restraint chair for another round of force-feeding. I’ve seen this inflicted on people up to three times in a row.

Even vital medications for prisoners have been stopped by military medical personnel as additional pressure to break the hunger strike.

Those military doctors and nurses tell us that they are simply obeying orders from the colonel in charge of detention operations, as though that officer were a doctor or as if doctors had to follow his orders rather than their medical ethics or the law.

But they must know that what they are doing is wrong, else they would not have removed the nametags with their pseudonyms or numbers. They don’t want to be identifiable in any way, for fear of being held accountable someday by their profession or the world.

I spend the rest of my time in my solitary confinement cell, on 22-hour lockdown. The authorities have deprived us of the most basic necessities. No toothbrushes, toothpaste, blankets, soap or towels are allowed in our cells. If you ask to go to the shower, the guards refuse. They bang on our doors at night, depriving us of sleep.

They have also instituted a humiliating genital search policy. I asked a guard why. He answered: “So you don’t come out to your meetings and calls with your lawyers and give them information to use against us.”

But the prisoners’ weights are as low as their spirits are high. Every man I know here is determined to remain on hunger strike until the US government begins releasing prisoners.

Those of you on the outside might find that difficult to comprehend. My family certainly does. If I’m lucky, I’m allowed four calls with them each year. My mother spent most of my most recent call pleading with me to stop my hunger strike. I had only this to say in response: “Mom, I have no choice.” It is the only way I have left to cry out for life, freedom and dignity.

Moath al-Alwi is a Yemeni national who has been in US custody since 2002. He was one of the very first prisoners moved to Guantanamo, where the US military assigned him the Internment Serial Number 028.

This article was translated from Arabic by his attorney, Ramzi Kassem.

Beit Ommar Activist Brutally Arrested While Protecting Daughter-in-law, Granddaughter

7 July 2013

From the Palestine Solidarity Project: 8 JULY 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Mousa Abu Maria (English and Arabic): 0598-139-590

At approximately 2am in Palestine, 15 Jeeps of Israeli forces invaded Beit Ommar, seeking to arrest the son of Ahmed Abu Hashem, an active member of the Beit Ommar Popular Committee and PSP. Just yesterday, at approximately 1pm Palestine time, Ahmed’s daughter-in-law and niece of PSP Co-founder, Yasmin Abu Maria, gave birth to a baby girl. When the Israeli military forced their way into Ahmed’s home, they entered to room of the newly-recuperating mother and her young daughter with weapons drawn, terrifying the young family. When Ahmed tried to intervene to protect his daughter-in-law and new granddaughter he was attacked and violently beaten by Israeli forces. Ahmed and his son Mohammed were arrested and taken away.

PSP will update as more information becomes available.

Mohammed has been arrested several times in his young life, and was a focus of a previous Defense of Children International-Palestine report.

Ahmed’s home has been a continuous target of Israeli aggression, and Ahmed himself has often been targeted because of his commitment to the popular resistance and talent for documenting IOF aggression.

Full report here:

http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/2013/07/08/breaking-news-activist-ahmed-abu-hashem-and-son-mohammed-brutally-beaten-and-arrested-by-israeli-forces/

For Palestinian prisoners, Ramadan is a time of deprivation and struggle

7 July 2013

Former prisoner Rafat Hamdouna, director of the Center for Prisoners’ Studies, said that Ramadan for Palestinian prisoners will take place amid continuous violations of prisoners’ rights. Hamdouna noted that there is a long record of prison administrators’ interference and disruption of worship in the month of Ramadan, denying prisoners’ access to the general prison yard for evening prayers and failing to provide a prison chapel, despite the fact that full religious services and accommodation are provided to all Jewish criminal prisoners in occupation prisons. The prison administration provides irregular mealtimes and they often prevent the introduction of religious books during Ramadan.

In addition, the Palestinian Ministry of Prisoners reported on July 6 that the Israel Prison Services refused the request to increase the amount of money in their canteens that prisoners would be able to receive from their families for the month of Ramadan. The ministry had requested that monthly family contributions be permitted to increase to 500 shekels per prisoner. Canteen products are often necessary purchases because of the low quality and/or absence of essentials provided by Israel Prison Services. The canteen is overpriced, far above the going costs in Palestine ’48 or the West Bank and operated for-profit by an Israeli corporation, Dadash.

Riad Al Ashqar of the Palestine Prisoners Centre for Study said that the occupation has annually engaged in cell and ward raids and inspections during Ramadan, increased the use of isolation and denied isolated prisoners the right to participate in collective religius functions, transferring prisoners from prison to prison. Ashqar pointed out that many prisoners in some detention centres and isolation cells are not informed of iftar and suhoor times, and they cannot see the sun or sunset, or hear calls to prayer. Ashqar noted that Ramadan comes this year as a number of prisoners are opn open hunger strike and facing seriously ill health, as well as ongoing medical neglect and abuse against Palestinian prisoners. Ashqar demanded that the occupation stop obstructing the entry of prisoners’ requests during Ramadan, such as dates and olive oil.

All called for international vigilance and remembering the Palestinian prisoners at Ramadan, taking action to defend them against abuse and denial of their religious rights, and calling for their freedom.

Solidarity with California prisoners on hunger strike!

7 July 2013

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network expresses our solidarity and support with the US prisoners in California prisons who have announced plans to launch their hunger strike on July 8 with a national and international day of action. The prisoners have five key demands for their strike:

1. End Group Punishment & Administrative Abuse.
2. Abolish the Debriefing Policy, and Modify Active/Inactive Gang Status Criteria.
3. Comply with the US Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons 2006. Recommendations Regarding an End to Long-Term Solitary Confinement.
4. Provide Adequate and Nutritious Food.
5. Expand and Provide Constructive Programming and Privileges for those living in the SHU.

Prisoners throughout California launched hunger strikes for these demands, beginning in July 2011 in the Security Housing Unit of California’s Pelican Bay State Prison. The three-week strike expanded to include 6600 prisoners. The strike ended when the California Department of Corrections pledged to review the demands and implement reforms. However, in September of that year, after no action, 12,000 prisoners across California resumed their hunger strike. The Pelican Bay prisoners called off the strike on October 13th, when the CDCR again promised serious reforms and reviews of the use of solitary confinement and isolation.

Now, without progress over almost two years, the prisoners in California are launching their strike again. Prisoners continue to be sentenced to lifetimes in solitary confinement because they are labelled “gang affiliated” over such matters as tattoos, cultural art, or reading material. Youth prisoners in Washington have also announced their intention to join the strike.

Over 2 million people are imprisoned in the US and over 60% of those people are people of colour, subject to a distinctly racialized system that routinely criminalizes youth of colour, in sharp contrast to the crime rate, which has fallen while imprisonment has risen. Mass incarceration is deeply racialized, as 1/3 of young Black men are in the criminal justice system. The US holds 25% of the world’s prisoners with 5% of the world’s population, and prisoner resistance and political action has been sharply repressed.

As we stand against apartheid, racism, and Zionism in Palestine, we stand against racism and oppression in the US and around the world. Solitary confinement is a mechanism of torture, from Palestine to Pelican Bay to Guantanamo, and we stand in solidarity with the courageous prisoners who challenge isolation and oppression. The US is Israel’s key international supporter, ally, and economic/military supplier, and maintains regimes of mass imprisonment for social control both in occupied Palestine and in its own prisons.

For more information on how you can support the California prisoners’ action, please see their blog: http://prisonerhungerstrikesolidarity.wordpress.com/

Take action and sign the Pledge of Resistance with the California Hunger Strikers: http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/o/51040/p/salsa/web/common/public/signup?signup_page_KEY=8133

March in Ramallah stands in solidarity with hunger striking Palestinian prisoners

7 July 2013

Palestinians, including former prisoners, prisoners’ families and activists marched in Ramallah on July 7, 2013, demanding freedom for Palestinian political prisoners and solidarity with the hunger strikers in Israeli prisons. The march was organized by Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, as well as the Higher Follow-Up Committee for Prisoners. For more information and updates on the hunger strikers, please see this update.

Photos by Addameer and Translators for Palestine:

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