July 5: Protest in London in solidarity with Jordanian hunger strikers

2 July 2013

The Inminds Palestinian Prisoners Campaign announced a protest in solidarity with the Jordanian hunger strikers in Israeli jails. “Following on from last Sundays protest we are again protesting outside the Jordanian Embassy this Friday 5th July in solidarity with Jordanian hunger strikers in Israeli dungeons, shamefully abandoned by the Jordanian government.”

Friday 5th July 2013
2pm outside Jordanian Embassy
6 Upper Phillimore Gardens,
London W8 7HA
(3 mins from High Street Kensington tube station)

Facebook Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/176428555864806

Video of June 30 protest:

Friday 5th July will mark 65 days of hunger strike for 5 Palestinian political prisoners with Jordanian citizenship in Israeli occupation jails. The prisoners families are asking for the immediate release of all Palestinian political prisoners, and in the very least Israel be made to abide by its side of the shameful Wadi Araba normalisation agreement which King Hussein signed with Israel in 1994, under which Jordanian prisoners in Israeli jails should be transferred to Jordan to serve their sentences where at least the families of the prisoners can visit – Israel is at present preventing families of the prisoners from visiting them. The prisoners are also demanding Israel disclose the where about of 20 Jordanian prisoners who are missing, and to return the bodies of the prisoners who have died in Israel custody, which Israel has dumped in numbered graves, back to their families.

It should be noted that Jordanians have consistently demanded their government tear up the treacherous Wadi Araba peace agreement in which King Hussein sold out the Palestinians, and in return gained nothing other than shame for Jordan. Needless to say Israel has been a serial violator of the treaty from day one.. its assassination attempt of Khaled Meshaal in 1997 to its Judaisation of Jerusalem, and its restrictions on access to holy places in Jerusalem..

The five hunger strikers: Abdullah Al-Barghothi, Hamzah Al-Dabbas, Muneer Merei, Alaa Hammad and Mohammad Al-Rimawi have each lost over 18kg in weight. Some of the prisoners have lost their ability to walk and are confined to wheel chairs. Mohammad Al-Rimawi, who suffers from a heart disorder where sometimes his heart beat is 125 and sometimes it drops to 50 beats per minute, is being denied his medicine by the Israeli Prison Service until he agrees to stop his hunger strike. Prisoners are being pressured to stop their hunger strikes with their cells being raided and attack dogs being used in order to intimidate them. As the strike persists the methods employed by Israel are getting more violent. On 26th June 2013 Israeli guards attacked Abdullah Al-Barghouti in the hospital, they dragged him from his hospital bed to the concrete floor and kicked him in the face, causing bleeding.

There have been over 85 demonstrations in Jordan by the families of the prisoners – elderly mothers standing in the burning sun, at several protests each day! Even a 22km solidarity march from one city to another.. All of this falling on deaf ears with the Jordanian government shamefully abandoning the prisoners and according to some accounts even pressuring the prisoners to give up their hunger strike.

Terrified by the iron will of the families and friends of the hunger strikes to relentlessly carry on protesting everyday and the support and respect they garner in wider society and the resulting momentum building up to end the states total submission to every whim of the Zionist enemy, the Jordanian security services have come down very hard on the protesting families. Family members have been threatened with arrest if they persist to champion their loved ones in Israeli dungeons. They dragged away a 16 year old boy, a nephew of one of the hunger strikes, to prison and locked him up for 3 days – his crime was to hand out a leaflet about his uncles’ imprisonment in an Israeli prison. On another occasion, wearing military camouflage uniforms that have never seen service on the enemy front line, the security forces with batons drawn, attacked a peaceful protest with plain cloths security service personnel cowardly targeting hunger striker Muneer Meree’s brother, assaulting him before disappearing back behind the uniform lines.

Its with this backdrop of intimidation, that we made contact with activists in Jordan. The families and campaigners in Jordan courageously, at great personal risk to themselves, asked us to help internationalise the campaign by protesting in solidarity with them in London outside the Jordanian Embassy in a joint protest, with them protesting in Jordan outside the Royal Court (Central Government buildings) on the same day at the same time. That was last Sundays protest, this Friday we build on that success with another protest outside the Jordanian Embassy.

We are asking activists in other countries to similarly show your solidarity on Friday and hold a vigil outside the Jordanian Embassy in your country. If you require print ready PDF’s for leaflets, placards and posters please let us know and we can email them to you.

Live Updates
We will, inshAllah, be tweeting live (hash tag #ShameOnJordan ) from the protest with live photos being uploaded to our twitter and facebook page. So if you can’t join us on the day, please help us by sharing the photos as they get uploaded.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Inmindscom-Boycott-Israel/365007213584914
https://twitter.com/InmindsCom

Rana Nazzal recounts arrest experience, lives of women political prisoners in Israeli jails

2 July 2013

Rana Nazzal, Palestinian activist, was arrested alongside Nariman Tamimi on Friday, June 28 at Nabi Saleh village’s weekly protests against illegal settlements on Palestinian land. Both were accused of entering a “closed military zone”, and were held for four days until their release prior to trial on Monday, July 1. Rana Nazzal is a Palestinian Canadian who organizes with SAIA (Students Against Israeli Apartheid) at Carleton University in Ottawa. She blogs at http://zaytouni.wordpress.com/ and tweets at @zaytouni_rana, from which she shared her experiences of arrest, imprisonment, and connection with the 16 Palestinian women prisoners held in occupation prisons:

The following quotes are from Nazzal’s Twitter account on July 2 of her arrest and imprisonment at the hands of the Israeli Occupation Forces: “Was arrested Friday at the #NabiSaleh protest without any provocation. When I asked the soldier why, she replied ‘because I feel like it’. Nariman, myself, & a Spanish man were blindfolded, transported, & isolated from one another for some 8-9 hours before being brought to police.”

Nazzal reported that “Nariman and I were then kept handcuffed in a car with two male soldiers for 7 hours before finally being admitted to Hasharon prison [where all 16 Palestinian women prisoners are currently held]. . .Hasharon prison put us in a cell with cameras the first night. Only after we threatened to hunger strike they moved us to a regular cell.” She had been arrested previously by occupation soldiers while protesting, and comparing the experiences, wrote “Last year was worse. I was alone, confused, recovering from a beating, & arrest was a bit longer. Neither time was the spirit broken though, especially when you are faced with the ferocious spirits of the women prisoners.”

She related that “We met the 16 other Palestinian women political prisoners who welcomed us warmly. On Sunday they cooked mloukhieh & sent it to our cell. Lina Jarbouni and Alaa Joudeh I met when I was imprisoned last year. Lina has 6 years left on a 17 year sentence & Alaa was arrested at 17.

Sireen Khudiri, who was arrested for ‘Internet activism’ is teaching the 16 women prisoners English. Lina Jarbouni is teaching Hebrew. Tahrir Mansour told us soldiers broke everything in her house-fridge, washer- cut open sofas, even stole money, when they arrested her.”

Nazzal said that her case, and Tamimi’s, is not over. “At our trial Monday we were released on bail but the case isn’t over. We just had a trial now. Today at a follow up trial prosecutor pushed for jail time, but judge decided bail & house arrest. Tomorrow we’re appealing that decision!” noting that the “prosecutor said as part of his case for worse punishment on us, that Nariman and I aren’t afraid of the soldiers. Thanks for the compliment.”

“Lots of soldiers try to ease their consciences on us, perhaps by offering us water (wow) or telling us they don’t even like their job. It is much worse to me when a soldier knows what they’re doing is wrong but are too weak to stop doing it. I’m tired of weakness,” she wrote.

Thirteen Palestinians, including nephew of released prisoner Jaafar Abu Salah, seized in West Bank by Israeli forces

2 July 2013

Palestinian media sources, including IMEMC and Ma’an, reported widespread arrest raids across the West Bank of occupied Palestine on July 2, 2013, with 13 Palestinians seized by Israeli occupation forces and numerous homes raided. Among the arrestees are Palestinian Legislative Council member Muhammad Abu Teir and Fawzi Abu Salah, the nephew of former prisoner Jaafar Abu Salah, released from occupation prisons on June 17.

Abu Salah, 23, was seized in the town of Arraba, near Jenin, by what Israeli army described as a “special force.” Three computers were taken from his home in the violent raid. Ma’an reported that Israeli troops also stormed home of Fawzi’s uncle, Jaafar Abu Salah, who was released from Israeli prisons on June 17. He is also a senior leader within the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He was interrogated in his own home for an hour.

Local sources in Doura town, south of the southern West Bank city of Hebron, have reported that the army kidnapped at least two Palestinians after breaking into their homes, and that one of them has been identified as Mousa Daraweesh.

Dozens of soldiers also invaded the Al-Jalazoun refugee camp, in the central West Bank city of Ramallah, and kidnapped four Palestinians identified as Talha Mustafa, 26, Abdul-Rahim Ghanem, 26, Shihada Dar Khalil, 23, and Ziad Al-Jamzawy, 26.

Army also invaded Al-Janiya village, west of Ramallah, and kidnapped Omran Mathloum, former leader of the Islamic Bloc at the Birzeit University.

Furthermore, soldiers invaded Awarta village, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, and kidnapped four Palestinians; three of them have been identified as Sami Rafat, Monadel Awwad and Morad Al-Qady. They also raided the homes of Falah Qawariq, Khalid al-Qadi, Mahmoud Abu Zeid, Ahmad Sharab, Rifaat Abdat, and Talal Awwad, and launched a series of raids in Beit Furik, near Nablus. Dozens of Israeli military jeeps also invaded Nablus, especially areas east of the city, fired concussion grenades, and gas bombs, and violently broke into homes causing damage.

Dozens of Israeli military jeeps also invaded Nablus, especially areas east of the city, fired concussion grenades, and gas bombs, and violently broke into homes causing damage.

In the Bethlehem district, soldiers invaded Beit Fajjar and the al-Khader towns, and handed two residents military warrants ordering them to head to the Etzion military and security base for interrogation.

Local sources have reported that the dozens of soldiers broke into the home of Sobhi Thawabta, and handed his son, Fadi, 21, an order to head to the Etzion base for interrogation. They also handed a similar order to Aws Majed Thawabta, 24, after breaking into his home.

Furthermore, resident Bilal Mahmoud Al-Wahsh, 19, from Al-Kader town, near Bethlehem, was stopped at roadblock #300, and was handed an order to head to Etzion base for interrogation. It is worth mentioning that three of his brothers are currently imprisoned by Israel.

Earlier on Tuesday, the army invaded the home of legislator Mohammad Abu Teir, in Kufur Aqeb village, near Jerusalem, and kidnapped him. Abu Teir was repeatedly kidnapped by Israel, and spent decades.

Palestinian Legislative Council member Abu Teir seized again by Israeli forces

2 July 2013

Israeli occupation forces detained Palestinian Legislative Council member Muhammad Abu Teir on July 2 after a raid on his home in the Ramallah neighbourhood of Kafr Aqab, reported Ahrar centre for prisoners’ rights.

Abu Teir, a member of the PLC representing the Change and Reform Bloc elected in 2006, has been repeatedly detained by occupation forces, often without charge or trial. He was arrested in 2006 after his election and imprisoned for four years. Upon his release in 2010, Abu Teir, a Jerusalemite Palestinian, was stripped of his Jerusalem ID and exiled from Jerusalem to the West Bank.

He was again seized and held under administrative detention for six months as he and three other Palestinian legislators refused to accept their forcible deportation from their land. Israel’s illegal actions against the elected Palestinian officials in occupied Jerusalem led to the expulsion of Abu Teir along with Jerusalem legislators Ahmad Attoun, Mohammad Totah, and former Jerusalem Minister, Khaled Abu Arafa. They were kidnapped at their protest tend in front of the Red Cross in Jerusalem.

In September 2011, he was once again seized by occupation forces and held without charge or trial for one year, and released in September 2012. He has served a total of over 30 years in Israeli prisons.

Brussels protest demands an end to European contracts with G4S

2 July 2013

On June 27, 2013, European activists took to the streets of Brussels, Belgium, protesting the continued awarding of EU institution contracts to G4S for security services despite the company’s extensively documented involvement with the detention of Palestinian political prisoners, including numerous Palestinian children, often subject to torture and abuse, by providing security services for Israeli prisons holding Palestinian political prisoners.

The European Coordination Committee for Palestine issued the following report:

Dozens of activists took to the streets on June 26 to inform people in the area around the European institutions about G4S’ complicity in the detention of Palestinian children.

The activists denounced the fact that G4S is still being awarded contracts even when its complicity in the detention and torture of children by Israel has been documented extensively.

MEP’s came out in support of the demonstration at which Addameer, a renowned Palestinian human rights organisation was represented by Sahar Francis – to stress the urgency of the matter.

Paul Murphy – Irish MEP said: “I’m here to support the protest against an ongoing contracting services to group for security G4S in European Parliament and in Luxembourg in particular. G4S is involved in management and running of many prisons in Israel where Palestinian prisoners are held”

“G4S is involved actively in the oppression of Palestinians. We need to build a big movement within Europe opposing those who profits from the occupation” – he added

G4S is the world’s largest private military and security company. One of the issues receiving worldwide media attention is G4S’ provision of services to the Israeli police, Ministry of Defence, Prison Service, army, as well as to businesses in settlements.

G4S also provides security services to the detention and interrogation facilities of the “Russian Compound” in Jerusalem and the “al-Jalameh” detention centre next to Haifa where Palestinian teens are interrogated.

In their latest report UN Committee on the Rights of the Child confirms that “ Palestinian children arrested by (Israeli) military and police are systematically subject to degrading treatment, and often to acts of torture, are interrogated in Hebrew, a language they did not understand, and sign confessions in Hebrew in order to be released,”

In March 2013 the European Parliament issued a resolution condemning Israel for using torture and calling for a fact-finding mission to investigate Israeli prisons. But at the same time the EU is in fact condoning G4S’ policy to profit from human rights abuses against Palestinians by continuing to award contracts to G4S. G4S renewed its contract with the European Parliament for its Luxembourg properties, in a deal worth 48 million euros- 15.9 million euros more than the 2008-2012 tender.In January last year – just before the third armed hold-up in the parliament – the European Commission awarded its security work to G4S for 237.8 million euros, ending its previous arrangement with Securitas.

They therefore called the EU institutions to end their cooperation with G4S and actually start an independent investigation towards this corporation.

Rana Nazzal and Nariman Tamimi released from Ofer after 4-day detention

1 July 2013

Palestinian activists Nariman Tamimi and Rana Nazzal were released today, July 1, from Ofer Military Court, after 4 days in detention. They were seized at Nabi Saleh’s weekly march against settlements on Friday, June 28, and held, accused of entering a “closed military zone,” Palestinian land occupied by illegal settlers.

Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat launches new website to support imprisoned Palestinian leader

1 July 2013

The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat announced the launch of its updated website on June 26. The new Campaign website has more interactive features, integration with Facebook and Twitter, and extensive news and resources on Ahmad Sa’adat and the movement of Palestinian prisoners for freedom, justice and liberation.

Ahmad Sa’adat is the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. One of nearly 5,000 Palestinian political prisoners, he has been sentenced to thirty years in Israeli prisons for a range of “security-related” political offenses. These charges include membership in a prohibited organization (the PFLP, of which Sa’adat is General Secretary), holding a post in a prohibited organization, and incitement, for a speech Sa’adat made following the Israeli assassination of his predecessor, Abu Ali Mustafa, in August 2001.

The Campaign says, “Sa’adat is a prisoner of conscience, targeted for imprisonment because of his political activity and in his capacity as a Palestinian leader. The systematic assassination, imprisonment and detention of Palestinian political leaders has long been a policy of the Israeli state, as reflected in the imprisonment of Sa’adat and over a dozen other members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, including Marwan Barghouthi, as well as the nearly 5,000 Palestinian political prisoners, targeted for their involvement in and commitment to the struggle for the liberation of their land and people.”

The Campaign is an effort of concerned people from around the world, coming together to address the travesty of justice taking place, and calling for justice and freedom for Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian political prisoners. Ahmad Sa’adat is a prisoner of conscience, subject to the illegitimate military courts of an illegal military occupation.

Hundreds of organizations and activists around the world have signed on to the campaign’s calls for freedom for Ahmad Sa’adat and his fellow Palestinian prisoners here. Learn more about the campaign and its supporters at its website.

Palestinian prisoner Eyad Abu Khudair on hunger strike for release home to Gaza

1 July 2013

Palestinian prisoner Eyad Abu Khudair, 38, from Rafah in Gaza, is engaged in an open hunger strike for the past 14 days, demanding his release to Gaza after the completion of his sentence, reported prisoners inside Negev prison, where he is held.

Abu Khudair’s 8-year sentence expired on April 12, 2013; he was arrested on April 12, 2005. He is a Palestinian who carried Jordanian nationality, who came to the Gaza Strip in 1999, where he married and he and his wife had three children. At the time he entered Gaza, he applied for his status to be recognized there – but it was never recognized before his capture in 2005.

However, at the time of his arrest, Jordan stripped Jordanian nationality from him, alleging that he is a member of Islamic Jihad in Palestine, thus rendering him stateless. Jordan refuses to accept Abu Khudair’s return. He is on hunger strike demanding his release to Gaza and his family. The occupation has extended his detention by 30 days several times, saying that the issue of his release is unresolved. Abu Khudair launched his hunger strike in order to force action on the issue.

The Mohja Foundation reported that Abu Khudair has faced harsh retaliation from prison authorities for his hunger strike, saying that he was forced to stay outside in the sun in the heat of the day from 7 am to 1 pm in order to pressure him to stop the strike. He lost consciousness at the time as a result of excessive sun exposure; the prison is located in the desert.

Mohja Foundation appealed to human rights organizations and international bodies to take action to support prisoners on hunger strike to end racist abuses against them and pressure the occupation for their release.

Palestinian prisoners’ families rally in Gaza at ICRC headquarters

1 July 2013

GAZA, PALESTINE, July 1 – Families and supporters of Palestinian political prisoners detained by Israel held a sit-in in the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)’s Gaza Strip headquarters on Monday, July 1, calling for the ICRC to fulfill its responsibilities to protect Palestinian prisoners.

All photos by Joe Catron:

Martyr Arafat Jaradat’s wife Dalal gives birth to baby Arafat

1 July 2013

arafat-jaradat-baby Dalal Jaradat, the widow of Arafat Jaradat, 30, the Palestinian political prisoner held in occupation jails who died under torture on February 23, 2013, 6 days after his arrest, gave birth to their child on June 30, 2013.

Dalal and Arafat had two children, Yara, 4 years old, and Mohammad, 2 years old, and Dalal was pregnant when Arafat was arrested. She named the new baby boy Arafat, after his martyred father. Ma’an reported that mother and child are well.

Jaradat was from the town of Sair north of al-Khalil, and was killed in Megiddo prison as a result of torture, according to his autopsy report. Dalal Jaradat was interviewed at the time about her experience of his arrest and murder:

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