April 17: Philadelphia Fast for Palestinian Prisoners’ Day

17 April 2013

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/269643646506213/
Join members of Philly BDS as we fast for 24 hours to demand freedom for all Palestinian political prisoners and mark Palestinian Prisoners’ Day on Wednesday, April 17.

There are still over 4,800 Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli jails, including children and administrative detainees (jailed without charge or trial). Over the past months we have seen Samer Issawi remain on hunger strike for over 260 days until he wins freedom without conditions; we have seen Arafat Jaradat tortured to death in Israeli prison; and Maysara Abuhamdieh die of cancer after being refused proper medical treatment by the Israeli prison service. The Israelis have continued their illegal policies of jailing Palestinians without charge or trial, jailing children in violation of all international laws, and torturing prisoners regardless of their age or gender.

But we also see the resistance of Palestinian prisoners to this repression through waves of hunger strikes throughout the Israeli prison system. We have seen Palestinians taking to the streets to protest the treatment of the men and women who resist the occupation of their land. And we have also seen the protests by Palestine solidarity activists around the world supporting the demand for justice and freedom for all Palestinian political prisoners.

April 19: Chicago Action for Palestinian Prisoners’ Day

17 April 2013

CHICAGO ACTION FOR PALESTINIAN PRISONERS DAY – FRIDAY APRIL 19
5:30PM AT THE BEAN IN MILLENNIUM PARK
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/348321378621665/?ref=22

Join the Palestinian community and Palestinian activists from across Chicago for our “Intifada Theater” production in support of International Palestinian Prisoners Day. April 17 is the day when activists around the world demand justice and freedom for all Palestinian political prisoners.

There are still over 4,800 Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli jails, including children and administrative detainees (jailed without charge or trial). Over the past month we’ve seen Samer Issawi remain on hunger strike for over 260 days until he wins freedom without conditions; we’ve seen Arafat Jaradat tortured to death in Israeli prison; and Maysara Abuhamdieh die of cancer after being refused proper medical treatment by the Israeli prison service. The Israelis have continued their illegal policies of jailing Palestinians without charge or trial, jailing children in violation of all international laws, and torturing prisoners regardless of their age or gender.

But we have also seen the resistance of Palestinian prisoners to this repression through waves of hunger strikes throughout the Israeli prison system. We’ve seen Palestinians taking to the streets to protest the treatment of the men and women who resist the occupation of their land. And we’ve also seen the protests by Palestine solidarity activists around the world supporting the demand for justice and freedom for all Palestinian political prisoners.

April 19, Vancouver: Reem Kelani – Music of Resistance for Palestinian Prisoners’ Day

17 April 2013

Music of Resistance: Reem Kelani
Friday, April 19, 7:00pm, Rhizome Cafe, 317 East Broadway, Vancouver
(unceded Coast Salish territories)

Marking Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, commemorate Palestinian cultural resistance with art and music, featuring the song of Palestinian singer and musician Reem Kelani.

Presented by the Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign, organizing in solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for liberation and self-determination, and to support the Palestinian call for international boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) of Israel. Endorsed by the Canada Palestine Association, Conference of the Palestinian Shatat in North America, Independent Jewish Voices – Vancouver
$10 suggested donation, but no one turned away for lack of funds

http://www.reemkelani.com/biog.asp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEduVB5s3ww

reemkelani

April 17: Toronto – Criminalization of Dissent: Event for Palestinian Prisoners’ Day

17 April 2013

On the occasion of Palestinian Prisoners Day, and as part of the LACSN solidarity month events, please join CAIA at an event we are co-hosting:

Criminalization of Dissent: A Panel Discussion
Wednesday, April 17
7:00 – 9:00 pm
OISE, Room 5-250
252 Bloor Street West, (above St. George station)

Speakers include Palestinian activist Issam Alyamani, Six Nations land defender Francine “Flower” Doxtator, Mapuche activist Jaroslava Avila, Krisna Saravanamuttu of the Coalition for Tamil Rights, former political prisoner Perry Sorio of Migrante as well as a special guest speaker on the issue of security certificates in Canada.

Addameer launches Stop Administrative Detention Campaign for Palestinian Prisoners’ Day

17 April 2013

Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association has created a new website of factsheets, materials, reports and invaluable information for all advocates for Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, as part of its new campaign to stop administrative detention:

www.stopadcampaign.com

Join Addameer’s Global End Administrative Detention Campaign!

Addameer calls on activists and people of conscience to stand in solidarity with all political prisoners and join Addameer Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Organization’s upcoming global campaign against administrative detention.

Over 4,743 Palestinians are currently detained by Israel; 10 of them women, 193 of them children, and 178 of them held under administrative detention, a decrepit policy that Israel uses to hold Palestinians on secret information indefinitely without charging them or allowing them to stand trial.

Not only are these prisoners held arbitrarily, but Israel’s use of administrative detention violates several international standards, such as deporting Palestinians from the occupied territory to Israel, denying regular family visits and failing to take into account the best interests of child detainees as required under international law.

We need your support to break their chains and the silence on administrative detention.

Today, Israel has outsourced security for prisons where Palestinians are held to a British-Danish company named G4S. Along with the Israeli Prison Service, G4S is responsible for the harsh conditions the prisoners faced during the historic 2012 hunger strikes that thousands of Palestinians participated in, including two hunger strikers that neared death in protest of their arbitrary detention, Khader Adnan and Hana Al-Shalabi. G4S is also complicit in Israel’s detention of nearly one-third of the Palestinian Legislative Council since 2006, and for dozens of human rights defenders being arrested every year for participating in popular resistance.

The government of Israel should release all administrative detainees, and in the meantime, all administrative detainees must be granted their rights in accordance with international law.

Addameer supports the international boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against G4S to end its complicity in detaining administrative detainees and to put pressure on the Israeli government to release the prisoners. Addameer calls on solidarity organizations, individuals and human rights organizations around the world to join our End Administrative Detention campaign launching on 17 April 2013.

TAKE ACTION!

You can help us pressure the Israeli government to release the prisoners by:

Participating in a mass day of mobilization in your city on 17 April, the annual Palestinian Prisoners Day.
Organizing an “End Administrative Detention” week on 17-24 April 2013 in your city or university campus using Addameer’s forthcoming campaign materials.
Joining a local G4S BDS campaign in your city.
Raising awareness about administrative detention in your community.

www.stopadcampaign.com

Please follow us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube or visit our main website www.addameer.org for further information

Today: Friday, March 15 – US Call-In Day to demand release of Issawi, Sharawna and all prisoners

15 March 2013

Friday, March 15 Call-in Day

to demand the release of Samer Issawi,
Ayman Sharawna and all Palestinian political prisoners

8:00 am to 4:00 pm CDT

Call President Obama – Call Secretary of State Kerry – Call the Office of Mideast Affairs

Samer Issawi continues on his hunger strike–which is in its 236th day–until he wins an absolute agreement that guarantees his release. Issawi is on the verge of death, according to a statement from his sister Shireen Issawi on Thursday, March 14th, a day after he decided to refuse both liquids and vitamins.

We need to continue our pressure on the U.S. government to demand his release and that ofAyman Sharawna, who has been on hunger strike since July 1st, 2012, except for a brief reprieve in January 2013 when he believed that his case was moving in a positive direction; as well as the hundreds of other Palestinian prisoners who are striking in solidarity with these men.

We again call on all activists, especially those in the U.S., to call President Obama and the State Department on Friday, March 15th, from 8 AM to 4 PM CST, to take action.

1) Call President Obama at 202-456-1111

2) Call US Secretary of State John Kerry at 202-647-4000

(pick option 4 for the operator and ask to leave a message for Kerry)

3) Call the Office of Near East Affairs at 202-647-7209

(you will get transferred to Marguerite Pickett to leave a message)

Sample message:
“My name is _____ from __________ and I demand that the US administration intervene for the immediate release of Samer Issawi, Ayman Sharawna, the other hunger strikers, and all the Palestinian administrative detainees and political prisoners held by Israel.”

There will also be a campaign on Twitter, as there has been for many days, at 1PM CST, to demand the release of Samer Issawi. Check @samerissawi1 for the hashtag to use.

For updates on the worldwide campaign, follow “The Free Samer Issawi Campaign” page on Facebook

Issawi had been detained by Israeli authorities without any charge whatsoever. He had been released from prison in October 2011 as a part of the Shalit prisoner swap, but was detained again without charge on July 7, 2012, and has been refusing food since August 2012 to protest his detention.

Palestinian prisoners’ rights group Addameer had reported Wednesday that Issawi was suffering from severe heart problems, the latest in a series of illnesses he has contracted since the start of his 236 day hunger strike. Issawi has lost 45 kilograms (99 pounds) and his condition is reported to have deteriorated significantly since his hearing on February 21, which ruled that he would be released on March 6. Issawi remains in police custody, and his legs are said to be shackled to his hospital bed.

Chicago protesters march for freedom for Palestinian prisoners

8 March 2013

On March 6, protesters took to the streets of Chicago to express their solidarity with hunger striking prisoner Samer Issawi; Arafat Jaradat, who was killed under torture; and all of the over 4,800 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

Photos of the protest (all photos by Shirien):

The following article, from Fight Back News, chronicles the protest:

Chicago street action for Palestinian political prisoners
By Staff

Chicago, IL – “Israeli soldiers torture and kill! We say we won’t foot the bill!” This chant rang out in front of the building housing the Israeli Consulate here, March 6. Close to 100 people picketed, shouting their response to the March 2 death of 30-year-old Arafat Jaradat. An autopsy revealed that Jaradat died after being tortured during interrogation by Israeli security, sustaining a total of six broken bones in his spine, arms and legs; his lips lacerated; his face badly bruised.

The protesters were organized by the Chicago Movement for Palestinian Rights (CMPR), Palestine Solidarity Group (PSG) – Chicago, and the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) – Chicago. The marchers included college students and veterans of the Palestinian movement.

Young women stood along the curb with black cloth tied over their mouths, holding signs with the names of Palestinian hunger strikers, including Samer Issawi and other prisoners on hunger strike to protest their inhumane and illegal detainment in Israeli prisons. Issawi continues on his hunger strike, now past its 225th day. He has vowed not to break it until he wins an absolute agreement that guarantees his release. The protest also supported Palestinian administrative detainees Jafar Azzidine and Tarek Qa’adan, whose hunger strikes have gone on for 91 days

Other Palestinian prisoners still on hunger strike include Ayman Sharawna, who has been on strike since July 1, and the hundreds of Palestinian prisoners who are striking in solidarity with Jaradat, Issawi, and the others.

Abla Awadallah of Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Illinois-Chicago, said, “The reason why the issue of prisoners is so important is because the Israelis are trying to criminalize them and by criminalizing them they criminalize our national liberation movement. We will never allow our heroes to be called criminals and there will never be anything criminal about our struggle for national liberation, an end to colonialism and occupation, and the Right of Return!”

In addition, Hatem Abudayyeh of USPCN called for a moment of silence in memory of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez who had died the previous day. “Of all the political leaders in the world, Chavez was the greatest supporter of our struggle for national liberation,” explained Abudayyeh.

The protest called on supporters of Palestinian political prisoners to take action by calling President Obama at 202-456-1111; Secretary of State John Kerry at 212-647-4000; and the Office of Near East Affairs at 202-647-7209 to demand the U.S. administration: Condemn and sanction Israel for the killing of Arafat Jaradat; intervene for the immediate release of Samer Issawi, the other hunger strikers, and all the Palestinian administrative detainees and political prisoners held by Israel; and end all aid to Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian lands.

Students in Calgary hold solidarity hunger strike for Palestinian prisoners

8 March 2013

Student organizers with Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada held a one-day hunger strike in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners on March 8, as part of Israeli Apartheid Week actions at the university.

See photo (credit Remi Kanazi):

sphr-calgary

On International Women’s Day, freedom for Palestinian women prisoners

8 March 2013

Palestinian women have been part of all aspects of the struggle for the liberation of Palestine, including behind bars in occupation prisons. Since 1967, over 15,000 Palestinian women have spent time in Israeli jails. This report by UNWomen, Suspended Lives, looks at the lives and experiences of selected Palestinian women prisoners.

There are currently fourteen Palestinian women in Israeli jails.

Union of Palestinian Women's Committees calls for the freedom of Palestinian prisoners — Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees calls for the freedom of Palestinian prisoners

Lina Jarbouni, she is the longest serving Palestinian woman political prisoner, she is from Arabba Al Batouf village, near the Palestinian City of Akka (Akko-Acre): Arrested on 18th April 2002 and sentenced for 17 years by the court of the Occupation. Download Samidoun poster about Lina Jarbouni.

Manar Zawahreh from Bethlehem: Arrested on 13th September 2012 and sentenced for one year by the court of the Occupation.

Inam Al-Hasanat from Bethlehem: Arrested on 13th August 2012 and sentenced for two years by the court of the Occupation.

Asma Al-Batran, from Hebron: Arrested on 27th August 2012 sentenced to 10 months by the court of the Occupation and fined up to 680 USD.

Hadeel Abu Turki from Hebron: Arrested on 26th July 2012 sentenced to one year by the court of the Occupation. Hadeel is a minor, 17 years old, imprisoned as an adult.

Salwa Hassan, from Hebron: Arrested on 19th October 2011 sentenced to 21 months by the court of the Occupation.

Alaa Aljoubeh from Hebron, Arrested on 12th July 2011

Ayat Mahfouz from Hebron: Arrested on 4th February 2013

Nawal Asa’di from Jenin: Arrested on 5th November 2012

Muna Qa’adan from Jenin: Arrested on 13th November 2012

Alaa Abu Zaytoun from Nablus: Arrested on 9th February 2013

Intisar Alsayyed from Jerusalem: Arrested on 22nd November 2012

Dr. Amani Odeh from Jerusalem, arrested on 27th February 2013

Enaam Colombo from Jerusalem’s African community, arrested in late February 2013

Thamer Saba’aneh, prisoner activist and brother of detained cartoonist, arrested

8 March 2013

One of Mohammad Sabaaneh's cartoons in support of Palestinian prisoners, holding the light of freedom — One of Mohammad Sabaaneh’s cartoons in support of Palestinian prisoners, holding the light of freedom

Thamer Saba’aneh, 37, the brother of detained Palestinian cartoonist Mohammad Saba’aneh and a researcher for Ahrar association that supports Palestinian prisoners, was detained on March 4, when his home was invaded in a nighttime raid by Israeli occupation soldiers.

Mohammad Saba’aneh was detained on February 16 as he returned to Palestine from Jordan. His detention has been extended several times for further interrogation. A popular cartoonist, Saba’aneh’s supporters have created a facebook group to draw attention to his case.

Saba’aneh was finally allowed to see a lawyer on March 5, when a lawyer from the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club visited him for the first time since his detention.

Friday, March 15 Call-in Day

to demand the release of Samer Issawi, Ayman Sharawna and all Palestinian political prisoners

8:00 am to 4:00 pm CDT

1) Call President Obama at 202-456-1111

3) Call the Office of Near East Affairs at 202-647-7209

Follow us on Instagram @samidounnetwork

to demand the release of Samer Issawi,
Ayman Sharawna and all Palestinian political prisoners