The following video, by Philly BDS, was filmed at the March 3 protests outside the AIPAC policy conference in Washington, DC, in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners on hunger strike. (For more information on the protests, click here..)
Palestinians protest outside Ofer prison, honour Hugo Chavez
As part of the ongoing series of mobilizations and demonstrations throughout Palestine in support of Palestinian prisoners, Palestinian activists protested outside Ofer prison on March 6, 2013. They were attacked by Israeli occupation forces, who shot live ammunition and rubber bullets at the protesters, wounding 16 protesters. Among others, Hassan Karajah, youth coordinator for the Stop the Wall campaign, is scheduled to face a military hearing today at the prison.
Protesters carried Venezuelan flags to honour Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who died on March 5, sparking tributes around the world in honour of his support for Palestine. (Photos via Translators for Palestine)
Washington, DC protest targets AIPAC, stands with Palestinian prisoners
Activists with CODEPINK, Interfaith Peace Builders, the US Campaign to End the Occupation, the Fellowship of Reconciliation and other organizations gathered in Washington, DC on March 3 for ExposeAIPAC, a protest outside the America Israel Public Affairs Committee’s annual policy conference. AIPAC is the leading Israel lobby organization in Washington, DC and is closely linked with the Israeli and US governments – Vice President Joe Biden and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor addressed the gathering, as did Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and, via video, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Protesters gathered outside the conference, calling for an end to US military aid to Israel and deep change in US foreign policy. As part of the protests of AIPAC, activists carried signs bearing the name of Palestinian hunger strikers, past and present, in Israeli jails, as well as long-time pre-Oslo prisoners, administrative detainees, and other Palestinians held in Israeli occupation prisons, highlighting the struggle of Palestinian prisoners for freedom and justice, particularly the lengthy hunger strike of Samer Issawi (who published this important piece in the UK’s Guardian March 3).
All photos by Emmanuel Jean Marie, CODEPINK.
Arafat Jaradat autopsy report released, shows death due to torture
Al-Haq and Addameer released an unofficial English translation of the autopsy report for Arafat Jaradat conducted by Dr. Saber al-Aloul of the Palestinian Medico-legal institute on Friday March 1, revealing that Jaradat’s body was bruised and injured while his heart appeared healthy and had no signs of damage.
Arafat Jaradat Autopsy – Arabic
Unofficial Translation of Autopsy Report – Arafat Jaradat
Al-Haq and Addameer also joined in the following joint statement by 14 organizations demanding an independent international inquiry into Jaradat’s killing:
The Palestinian Human Rights Organisations Council (PHROC), along with Adalah, Public Committee Against Torture in Israel and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, express their outrage at the death of Arafat Jaradat, 30, which, according to the autopsy report of Dr Saber al-‘Aloul, Director of the Palestinian Medico-legal Institute, was caused by torture and ill-treatment inflicted while in Israeli custody. The preliminary autopsy, to which there are links below, found that Arafat displayed severe bruising on his upper back, deep bruising along the spine, and significant bruising on both sides of the chest. The postmortem also discovered bruising on both arms and inside the mouth, blood around the nose and three fractured ribs. In addition, the examination discounted the claim by the Israeli authorities that Arafat died of a heart attack. His heart was completely healthy and there was no evidence of damage or weakness of any kind. The report concludes that all injuries were the result of very recent, severe and direct torture. The undersigned organisations reiterate the demands made by UN representatives for an immediate international investigation into the death of Arafat Jaradat with a view to holding those responsible for his death accountable.
Arafat Jaradat was arrested on 18 February on suspicion of throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at settlers and was transferred to al-Jalameh prison where he confessed to throwing stones but denied any involvement with firebombs. On 21 February, his lawyer, Mr. Kamil Sabbagh, reported that Arafat was suffering from severe pain in his back and appeared to be psychologically and physically weak after three days under interrogation. According to Mr. Sabbagh, Arafat also expressed strong fear at the prospect of returning to interrogation when his detention order was extended by 12 days. After a request from Mr. Sabbagh, the Israeli military judge ordered that a full physical and psychological examination of Arafat be carried out, the results of which were to be presented to the Israeli Security Agency (ISA) and the court. It is unclear if this medical examination ever took place. If it did, the results of the exam should be disclosed. If it did not, the Israeli authorities must explain why this order was not complied with.
The absolute prohibition against torture is a peremptory norm of international law and “has now become one of the most fundamental standards of the international community”[1]. Since 2001, there have been more than 750 complaints of torture and ill-treatment against the ISA. Not one complaint has resulted in a criminal investigation. Indeed, given that all complaints are reviewed by the Inspector of Interrogee Complaints, who is himself an ISA agent, it is a process that guarantees the absence of credible and impartial investigations. The fact that the Israeli Attorney General has ratified each recommendation not to investigate is further evidence of the institutional impunity which shields the ISA and those who commit torture in Israeli prisons.
Article 12 of UN Convention Against Torture, of which Israel is a State Party, obliges States to perform prompt and impartial investigations in all alleged incidents of torture. Torture is also considered a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and is further listed as both a crime against humanity and a war crime under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. In addition, torture has permissive universal jurisdiction according to customary international law, which allows any State to prosecute those accused of torture, regardless of their nationality.
However, in 1999, the Israeli High Court of Justice ruling in the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel v The State of Israel contributed significantly to the current climate of impunity, shielding those who commit torture. While the Court affirmed that the practice of torture was prohibited, it also held that such prohibition would not apply in cases of “necessity”, leaving room for the use of extreme measures in arbitrarily-defined situations, in blatant contradiction to the jus cogens status of the absolute prohibition of torture. The ruling effectively allowed for the continuing use of torture by affirming that an Israeli official charged with torture would not be criminally liable by virtue of the “necessity defence”, which can legitimise the use of “physical pressure” in certain circumstances.
In 2009, the UN Committee Against Torture reiterated its call on Israel to remove ‘necessity’ as a justification for the crime of torture as well as calling for all interrogations to be recorded on film. These demands have been ignored. In short, while torture is a crime that the international community maintains cannot be allowed to go unpunished, in Israel both the High Court of Justice and the Attorney General contribute to the lack of accountability that pervades the Israeli judicial system. Unless this culture of impunity is challenged, Palestinians in Israeli prisons will continue to be victims of torture and ill-treatment with regularity.
Arafat’s death is symptomatic of the utter disregard with which Israel holds the lives of Palestinian prisoners. Since the beginning of the occupation in 1967, 203 Palestinians have died in Israeli detention centres. At least 71 of these died as a direct result of torture.[2] One hundred and seventy eight Palestinians are being held in administrative detention without charge or trial or any access to the information upon which their detention is based. Presently, ten Palestinians are engaged in hunger strikes in protest against their detention. Tarek Qa’adan and Jafar Azzidine, who spent more than 90 days on hunger strike and are in critical condition, have suspended their strikes for a week ahead of a court hearing on 6 March in the hope that their detention orders will be dismissed. Both men had their administrative detention orders renewed for another three months on Friday 22 February.
In light of the above, the undersigned organisations call for the following steps to be taken:
- An international investigation into all complaints of torture by Israeli forces must be carried out, followed by effective accountability for those responsible and redress for victims;
- All ISA interrogations of Palestinians must be subject to video recording, in line with the recommendations of the Turkel Commission;
- Given that Israel does not offer due process or a fair trial to Palestinian prisoners, all administrative detainees should be promptly released;
- The UN Committee Against Torture and Third States should pressure Israel to adopt adequate criminal legislation to define and penalise torture under domestic Israeli law;
- The European Parliament must promptly activate the parliamentary fact-finding mission that includes members of its Subcommittee on Human Rights to investigate the conditions of detention and interrogation of Palestinians detained by Israel;
- The EU parliamentary fact-finding mission must include an investigation into Israel’s illegal practice of administrative detention and the use of the “Unlawful Combatant Law”;
- All hunger strikers in advanced stages must be moved immediately to civilian hospitals where they can receive the appropriate standard of care without being shackled;
- Immediate intervention from the IPS to provide all hunger strikers with unrestricted access to independent doctors;
- All hunger strikers should be allowed family visits;
- UN Member States should urgently put pressure on Israel to end its policy of arbitrary detention and to abide by the standard rules for the treatment of prisoners adopted in 1955, which set out what is generally accepted as being decent principle and practice in the treatment of prisoners.
Khader Adnan honours imprisoned Lebanese freedom fighter Georges Ibrahim Abdallah

On February 28, 2013, Sheikh Khader Adnan participated in an event honouring Palestinian political prisoners and hunger strikers in Arraba village, Jenin area. Adnan’s own hunger strike from December 2011-February 2012 played a major role in catalyzing the Palestinian prisoners’ movement.
The Arraba Youth organized in coordination with the Prisoners Club and the Popular Youth Committee a solidarity march with the Palestinian Prisoners from the solidarity tent to the Municipal garden complex, planting seeds bearing the names and photos of the Palestinian Hunger Strikers, Long Term Palestinian Prisoners and a number of Arab Prisoners in Israeli Jails.
Adnan planted a seed bearing the name of Lebanese Freedom fighter Georges Ibrahim Abdallah who is imprisoned in France – despite a decision to free him – and who has now been on hunger strike for 5 days in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners.
Palestinian cartoonist Mohammad Saba’aneh’s detention extended
Update from friends and supporters of Palestinian cartoonist Mohammad Saba’aneh, who is being held under interrogation since February 16:
A military court in the city of Ashkelon extended the detention of Mohammad Saba’aneh, a Palestinian cartoonist for Al-Hayat al-Jadida, for a second time,
Saba’aneh was arrested on February 16 while crossing the Allenby Bridge checkpoint from Jordan. His detention was originally extended for nine days on February 20. The cartoonist’s lawyer appealed the extension and requested permission to see the journalist, in what would be the first time since the arrest.
Freedom for the Palestinian Cartoonist Mohammad Saba’aneh
March 6, Eugene, OR: Emergency protest for Palestinian Political Prisoners

How Israel legitimises torturing Palestinians to death Al-Jazeera(http://tinyurl.com/a6suyks)
For more information on Israeli Apartheid Week, see US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (http://tinyurl.com/akqmxev).
Please bring signage and banners to show support for all Palestinian prisoners currently on hunger strikes and in detention and to protest Arafat Jaradat’s death by torture. Jaradatwas arrested on 18 February on suspicion that he had thrown stones at Israelis. Guardian(http://tinyurl.com/axrvbln)
Al-Nakba Awarness Project discourages signage equating a “parity of suffering” or promoting “dialogue” and prefer those supporting the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) as the late Stephane Hessel, Holocaust survivor, co-author of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights himself endorsed.
(http://www.bdsmovement.net/) (www.pacbi.org/) (http://www.usacbi.org/) (http://www.whoprofits.org/)
Event free, donations always gratefully appreciated.
Sponsored by Al-Nakba Awareness Project
(http://www.al-nakba-history.
Hassan Karajah’s detention extended as he suffers from medical neglect
KKAddameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association provided the following update about Hassan Karajah this morning, February 28. Karajah is the youth coordinator of the Stop the Wall campaign who has been detained under interrogation since January 22, and his detention and interrogation period have been extended several times since then:
UPDATE: It was decided at Hassan Karajah’s hearing this morning that he and his lawyer will have to wait another 7 days for evidence and charges to be presented. In the meantime, Karajah will remain in detention. Since he has been detained, he has lost 16 kg. Despite his requests, he is not receiving an adequate dosage of the medication he requires for nerve damage in his leg. It should be noted that his interrogators are the same interrogators who were responsible for interrogating Arafat Jaradat, who died earlier this week as a result of torture during interrogation.
Khaled Barakat radio interview about Palestinian political prisoners
Khaled Barakat, friend of Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network was interviewed on “The Friday Morning After,” on Montreal’s CKUT 90.3 FM by host Sara Shaltony.
The interview aired on February 22, 2013 and covered prisoner hunger strikes, including the strike of Samer Issawi, and the protests breaking out across Palestine in support of the thousands of Palestinians behind bars.
UN Special Rapporteur: The death of a Palestinian prisoner while undergoing interrogation in an Israeli facility must be investigated
The following statement was issued by Richard Falk, UN Special Rapporteur for human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, urging international investigation into the death of Arafat Jaradat under interrogation.
GENEVA (27 February 2013) – The United Nations Special Rapporteur for human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Richard Falk, today called for an international investigation on the death of Palestinian prisoner Arafat Jaradat while undergoing interrogation in an Israeli facility.
“The death of a prisoner during interrogation is always a cause for concern, but in this case, when Israel has shown a pattern and practice of prisoner abuse, the need for outside, credible investigation is more urgent than ever,” Mr. Falk stressed. “The best approach might be the creation of an international forensic team under the auspices of the UN Human Rights Council.”
The human rights expert pointed to the assessment made by Palestinian Authority’s chief pathologist, Dr. Saber Aloul, who observed the autopsy carried out inside Israel, and found there were clear signs of torture on the body of the previously healthy, 30-year-old Jaradat. Israeli officials initially claimed Jaradat died of a heart attack, but the preliminary autopsy findings did not include a cause of death.
“In light of Dr. Aloul’s findings that there was no evidence of heart disease or damage, and that there were signs of torture on Jaradat’s body, an independent international investigation should be launched,” the Special Rapporteur said.
According to the Israeli human rights organization B’tselem, more than 700 Palestinian detainees have filed complaints against agents of the Israeli security agency Shin Bet for mistreatment during interrogation throughout the last decade; however, not one has resulted in a criminal investigation being opened.
Related Israeli violations include the routine transfer of prisoners, including children, for interrogation and detention to prisons outside of the Occupied Territory into Israel, in violation of the Geneva Convention; the holding of administrative detainees without charge or trial (currently about 159 of the almost 4,600 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody); and holding prisoners in isolation for extended periods of interrogation without access to lawyers or family. B’tselem has reported that while incidents of physical abuse have decreased in recent years, they have not ended.
Arafat Jaradat, from the small village of Sa’ir near Hebron, was a gas station attendant. He leaves behind a four-year-old daughter and two-year-old son; his wife Dalal is pregnant with their third child.
“As an occupying power, Israel has special responsibilities under international humanitarian law to deal humanely with Palestinians held in detention, and the international community has similar responsibilities to ensure that these are carried out,” the Special Rapporteur underscored.
ENDS
In 2008, the UN Human Rights Council designated Richard Falk (United States of America) as the fifth Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights on Palestinian territories occupied since 1967. The mandate was originally established in 1993 by the UN Commission on Human Rights. Learn more, log on to: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/countries/ps/mandate/index.htm