Vancouver Emergency VIGIL and PROTEST for Khader Adnan – Palestinian prisoner on 61st day of Hunger Strike
Thursday, February 16
5:00 PM – 6:30 PM
CBC Building, Hamilton and Georgia Sts., Vancouver
Facebook event: https://www.facebook.
Please forward WIDELY!
Join us for a VIGIL and PROTEST for Khader Adnan, Palestinian prisoner on the 61st day of his Hunger Strike, protesting his arbitrary detention without charge. We will stand outside the CBC building to highlight Khader Adnan’s invisibility – and the invisibility of the Palestinian voice – on CBC and in Canadian media.
This vigil comes in response to an urgent call for international solidarity from Randa Adnan, Khader Adnan’s wife, and Jihad Adnan, Khader Adnan’s father. Khader Adnan is a Palestinian political activist, baker, husband and father who is being held in administrative detention by the Israeli occupation military forces. Administrative detention is detention without charge, based only on secret evidence, indefinitely renewable by military judges.
His hunger strike has now lasted 61 days. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have called for Khader Adnan to be charged or released. Thousands of people around the world have called for his release. In Palestine, dozens have been injured as protests calling for his release were attacked with tear gas and rubber bullets.
Despite these calls, an Israeli military appeal upheld Khader’s administrative detention on Monday. He has still not been – and will not be – charged with any crime. Khader Adnan is demanding the end of administrative detention in Palestine.
And here in Canada, Khader Adnan’s case has been missing from the Canadian media – ignored and silenced – while the Harper government parades its unconditional support of Israel (and its illegal settlements, land confiscation, and detention without charge).
Khader Adnan has been on hunger strike since December 17, 2011, when he was seized from his home in Arraba outside Jenin in the occupied West Bank of Palestine by Israeli soldiers Before entering his house, soldiers used the driver that takes Khader’s father to the vegetable market, Mohammad Mustafa, as a human shield by forcing him to knock on the door of the house and call out Khader’s name while blindfolded. Khader Adnan was tortured and abused – and has never been charged with any crime.
For more information on Khader’s case: http://samidoun.ca/2012/
Palestinian Youth Movement – USA: Khader Adnan – Dying to Live, Dignity before Food
The following call was issued by the Palestinian Youth Movement-USA as an urgent demand for action for Khader Adnan, issued as his 59th day of hunger strike began.
URGENT CALL to PEOPLE OF CONSCIENCE
Palestinian Activist for Justice and Freedom
KHADER ADNAN
Dying to Live…Dignity before Food
Palestinian Youth Movement – USA (PYM – USA) urges all people of conscience and comrades in joint struggle for justice and freedom to heed the call to FREE KHADER ADNAN—a symbol of Palestinian resistance, resilience, steadfastness, and courage. Adnan’s body and life are on the line inside the oppressor’s jail in order to reclaim his dignity, rights, and freedom of his land and people.
On December 17th, Khader Adnan Mohammed Musa, was arbitrarily arrested by Israeli authorities under orders of administrative detention*. The next day, Adnan started a hunger strike, now in its 59th day to protest his arrest and the authorities’ refusal to provide medical treatment needed as a result of injuries sustained during his arrest and torture during hours of interrogation. Above all, his hunger strike and now of dozens more Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails, is a principled stance against the racist and oppressive nature of Israeli colonization of Palestine.
Israeli authorities have denied his appeal for his release based on secret, yet admittedly insufficient evidence unshared with his lawyers, requiring that Adnan remains detained for the full four months of his administrative detention order, that expires on May 8th. In spite of the increasing gravity of his health condition, authorities keep him inhumanely shackled to his prison-hospital bed; there is fear that he may lose his life at any moment.
On his fourteenth day of detention, December 31st, President Obama ratified the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which permanently enshrines into law the power to militarily detain US citizens indefinitely without charge or trial, in a manner similar Adnan’s detention. Khader Adnan’s story is the story of thousands of other Palestinian men and women held captive for resisting the ongoing Zionist colonization of Palestine—currently there are 4,417 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers, including 310 administrative detainees, 5 women and 132 children. His plight is like that of countless Black and Brown men throughout the US whose rates of racialized captivity continue to soar, or thousands more political prisoners, incarcerated for challenging American exploitation and state sponsored repression, domestically and abroad. Don’t let this happen at home or abroad…ACT NOW!
How YOU can HELP:
- Picket, protest or call the Israeli embassy or consulate in your area and demand the immediate freedom of Khader Adnan, Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian political prisoners. Make it clear that you are watching the situation of Khader Adnan and that Israel is responsible for his health and life, and demand an end to the use of isolation, solitary confinement, and administrative detention.
- Write to the International Committee of the Red Cross and other human rights organizations to exercise their responsibilities and act swiftly to demand that the prisoners’ demands are implemented. Email the ICRC, whose humanitarian mission includes monitoring the conditions of prisoners, at JER_jerusalem@icrc.org, and inform them about the urgent situation of Khader Adnan. Make it clear that arbitrary detention without charge or trial is unacceptable, and that the ICRC must act to protect Palestinian prisoners from cruel and inhumane treatment.
- Sign the widely circulated petition and see other recommendations for how you can act at Samidoun: Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
- Join in on an international wide hunger strike in solidarity with Khader Adnan and other political prisoners in Palestine and elsewhere, starting Wednesday, February 15th.
For more information on Khader Adnan and the plight of Palestinian political prisoners, please visit:
· Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association – ADDAMEER
· The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat
*What is Administrative Detention?Administrative detention is a procedure that allows the Israeli military to hold detainees indefinitely on secret evidence without charging them or allowing them to stand trial. In the occupied Palestinian West Bank, the Israeli army is authorized to issue administrative detention orders against Palestinian civilians on the basis of Military Order 1651. This order empowers military commanders to detain an individual for up to six month renewable periods if they have “reasonable grounds to presume that the security of the area or public security require the detention.” On or just before the expiry date, the detention order is frequently renewed. This process can be continued indefinitely (source: http://www.addameer.org/
Embassies & Consulates – U.S.
Atlanta
1100 Spring St. N.W., Suite 440
Atlanta, GA 30309
Tel: 404-487-6500; Fax: 404-487-6555
Mon-Thurs 9:30am – 1:00pm
Boston
20 Park Plaza, Suite 1020
Boston, MA 02116
Tel: 617-535-0200; Fax: 617-535-0255
Mon-Fri 10:00am – 1:00pm (Visits by appointment only)
Chicago
111 East Wacker Drive, Suite 1308
Chicago, IL 60601
Tel: 312-297-4800; Fax: 312-297-4855
Mon-Thurs 9:30am – 1:00pm
Houston
24 Greenway Plaza, Suite 1500
Houston, TX 77046
Tel:713-627-; Fax: 713-627-0149;
consular.dep@houston.mfa.gov.
Mon-Fri 9:30am – 12:30pm (except national and Jewish holidays)
Los Angeles
6380 Wilshire Blvd, Suite 1700
Los Angeles, CA 90048
Tel: 323-852-5500; Fax: 323-852-5555; info@losangeles.mfa.gov.il
Mon-Fri 9:00am – 12:00pm
Miami
100 N. Biscayne (Yitzhak Rabin) Blvd Suite 1800
Miami, FL 33132
Tel: 305-925-9400; Fax: 305-925-9455
Mon-Thurs 8:45am – 5:15pm
New York
800 2nd Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Tel: 212-499-5400; Fax: 212-499-5555
Mon-Fri 9:00am – 12:00pm (Except American & Jewish holidays)
Philadelphia
1800 JFK Boulevard, Suite 1818
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Tel: 215-977-7600; Fax: 215-977-761
info@philadelphia.mfa.gov.ilMo
San Francisco
456 Montgomery Street, Suite 2100
San Francisco, CA 94104 (Downtown between California & Sacramento Streets)
Tel: 415-844-7500; Fax: 415-844-7555
Mon-Fri 9:00am – 12:00pm
Washington DC
3514 International Drive NW
Washington DC 20008
Tel: 202-364-5500; Fax: 202-364-5607
Mon-Fri 9:30am – 1:00pm
URGENT: Heed Randa Adnan’s call. Military court rejects Khader Adnan’s appeal in de facto death sentence
“My husband is dying inside an Israeli jail. The world should make sure I am able to see him,” she said. “And it should pressure the Israeli government to release him before it’s too late… Israel denied Khader any fairness or decency…But maybe the rest of humanity will show more mercy.” – Randa Adnan (via Joe Catron in Mondoweiss)
It is urgent that people take action around the world, as Khader Adnan’s persecution continues in his 58th day on hunger strike. On Monday, February 13, an Israeli military court rejected Adnan’s appeal. Adnan is being held without charge, on secret evidence. He is now in his 58th day of hunger strike, and entering an extremely critical health stage in which organ failure is imminent. The military court’s action is an effective death sentence for Khader Adnan, who has refused to stop his hunger strike so long as arbitrary detention, torture and abuse continue in the occupation’s prisons.
The Israeli military court action has shown once more the utter contempt of the Israeli occupation for Palestinian life. Khader Adnan has spent six years in Israeli prisons over different times in detention – almost all of that time with no charge or trial, held on secret evidence and at the whim of the illegal Israeli occupation.
Heed Randa’s call. Action is URGENT now more than ever. It is time to occupy Israeli consulates and embassies, engage in solidarity hunger strikes, and protests. Please use this form to send us information about your local protests and actions.
Khader Adnan is dying to live. Take action now to support him.
1. Organize a protest, occupation or solidarity hunger strike at your local Israeli Embassy (for a list, click here).
Post your local actions to the Khader Adnan facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Free-Khader-Adnan/236953309725144 and tell us here: http://samidoun.ca/2012/02/tell-us-about-your-local-protest-for-khader-adnan/
Help us spread the word with social media after you take action.
Download this photo of Khader Adnan to use for your social media profile pictures and click on the suggested messages below and they will be automatically tweeted.
2. Call your government officials and demand that they pressure Israel publicly and privately to release Khader Adnan.
In Canada:
Call the Israeli Embassy in Ottawa at (613) 567-6450 OR your local Embassy (for a list, click here).
Call the Office of the Foreign Minister, John Baird (Tel: 613-990-7720; Email: bairdj@parl.gc.ca)
Just last week, Baird stated that “There is not a government on the planet today more supportive of Israel than Harper’s Canada.” Call Baird’s office and let him know that this shameful declaration implicates Canada in Israel’s crimes and human rights violations. Demand that Baird’s office call for Khader Adnan’s release.
In the US:
Call the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC (1.202.364.5500) OR your local Embassy (for a list, click here).
Call the office of Jeffrey Feltman, Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs (1.202.647.7209)
Demand that Jeffrey Feltman bring this issue urgently to his counterparts in Israel and raise the question of Khader Adnan’s administrative detention.
3. Write to Israeli officials and demand an end to delay and the immediate, unconditional release of Khader Adnan. Samidoun has provided a template and an automated letter-writing system. Send yours and make your voice heard today!
4. It is important to note the responsibility of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Sign this petition and join hundreds demanding that the ICRC exercise its responsibilities to protect Palestinian prisoners.
5. Your creative resistance is needed: your articles, videos, and art. Spread the word:
Tweet Now: STOP Israeli Military de facto death sentence for #KhaderAdnan #Dying2Live http://samidoun.ca/?p=238
Samidoun Resources for Khader Adnan Protests – Leaflets and Signs
Organizing a protest or vigil to call for freedom for Khader Adnan?
Samidoun has resources that can support your organizing.
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Our 8.5 x 11 single-sided leaflet presents information on Khader Adnan’s case and action items. Download Khader Adnan information flyer:For the USFor Canada |
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11×17 poster with image by Hafez Omar.
Download poster |
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11×17 poster.
Download poster |
Los Angeles Emergency Protest for Khader Adnan
Khader Adnan, a Palestinian prisoner being held without charges is on his 57th day of hunger strike. His attempt to appeal has constantly been postponed by the Israeli military. His family, after observing and visiting him, fear that he is “living the last days of his life.” More info about Adnan can be found here:
http://samidoun.ca/2012/02/
In an attempt to stand in solidarity with him Khader Adnan, there is an emergency vigil/protest planned for today, Sunday, February 12, at the Israeli Consulate in Los Angeles, at 5 pm.
More info can be found at the link below:
https://www.facebook.com/
Letter from Khader Adnan’s Hospital Bed
Khader Adnan, imprisoned Palestinian activist, now on hunger strike for 57 days in protest of torture, abuse, and administrative detention without charge, issued the following letter from his hospital bed in Zeif Hospital, Safad. He has lost 80 pounds and remains shackled hand and foot to his bed. Click here to take action now to free Khader Adnan, and read and distribute his letter:
I started my battle offering my soul to God almighty and adamant to go ahead until righteousness triumphs over falsehood. I am defending my dignity and my people’s dignity and not doing this in vain.
“The Israeli occupation has gone to extremes against our people, especially prisoners. I have been humiliated, beaten, and harassed by interrogators for no reason, and thus I swore to God I would fight the policy of administrative detention to which I and hundreds of my fellow prisoners fell prey,” Adnan wrote.
“Here I am in a hospital bed surrounded with prison wardens, handcuffed, and my foot tied to the bed. The only thing I can do is offer my soul to God as I believe righteousness and justice will eventually triumph over tyranny and oppression.”
“I hereby assert that I am confronting the occupiers not for my own sake as an individual, but for the sake of thousands of prisoners who are being deprived of their simplest human rights while the world and international community look on,” he wrote.
“It is time the international community and the UN support prisoners and force the State of Israel to respect international human rights and stop treating prisoners as if they were not humans.
“I starve myself for you to remain. I die for you to live. Stay with the revolution.”
Appeals Decision Delayed as Khader Adnan Dying to Live – Act Now!
Khader Adnan, Palestinian political prisoner being held under administrative detention, is now entering his 57th day of hunger strike and facing a severe health crisis. Despite the fact that Khader Adnan risks death with every minute that passes, the Israeli military court system is delaying decisions in his case and further prolonging his unjust imprisonment. This delay shows utter disregard for Khader Adnan’s life, health and humanity. Write now to the Israeli Military Judge Advocate General to demand that Khader Adnan be freed immediately and unconditionally.
Keep the pressure on: make phone calls, send letters, and protest to free Khader Adnan. See actions: http://samidoun.ca/?p=191
Tweet Now: Tell Israeli Courts: Your Delays are Killing #KhaderAdnan #Dying2Live http://samidoun.ca/?p=191
On Thursday, February 9, an appeals hearing was held in Adnan’s hospital room in Zief Hospital in Safad, where six lawyers represented him. Despite the urgency of the situation and the threat of Adnan’s imminent death, the judge postponed ruling on the case until typed documents were presented, expecting a ruling sometime “next week.”
In the hospital, he remains shackled to the bed, even as he has lost over 80 pounds. After 50 days without food, a hunger striker has a severe risk of organ failure – which is why action now to demand Khader Adnan’s freedom is urgent.
Khader Adnan has been protesting his detention and the abuse and torture suffered since he was seized by Israeli occupation soldiers on December 17, 2011, as Addameer reports. Prisoners – like Khader Adnan – held under administrative detention are imprisoned without charge, on secret evidence, for up to six-month periods at a time – which can be renewed repeatedly.
Palestinian and solidarity activists in Chicago, New York, and Washington, DC held protests in the United States, while a solidarity hunger strike continued in Gaza. Near Beitunia, outside Ofer prison, the Israeli occupation army attacked a Palestinian demonstration calling for Khader Adnan’s release with tear gas and bullets, injuring 16 people, including a journalist.
International pressure is also mounting. Human Rights Watch joined Amnesty International’s call to “charge or release” Adnan on Saturday February 11, and United Nations envoy Robert Serry issued a statement, calling on Israel “to do everything in its power to preserve the health of the prisoner and resolve this case while abiding by all legal obligations under international law.” Organizations including the Arab Doctor’s Union and the National Lawyers Guild’s Free Palestine Subcommittee, have joined the call for Khader Adnan’s release.
Khader Adnan is dying to live. Take action now to support him. http://samidoun.ca/?p=191
1. Call your government officials and demand that they pressure Israel publicly and privately to release Khader Adnan.
In Canada:
Call the Israeli Embassy in Ottawa at (613) 567-6450 OR your local Embassy (for a list, click here).
Call the Office of the Foreign Minister, John Baird (Tel: 613-990-7720; Email: bairdj@parl.gc.ca)
Just last week, Baird stated that “There is not a government on the planet today more supportive of Israel than Harper’s Canada.” Call Baird’s office and let him know that this shameful declaration implicates Canada in Israel’s crimes and human rights violations. Demand that Baird’s office call for Khader Adnan’s release.
In the US:
Call the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC (1.202.364.5500) OR your local Embassy (for a list, click here).
Call the office of Jeffrey Feltman, Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs (1.202.647.7209)
Demand that Jeffrey Feltman bring this issue urgently to his counterparts in Israel and raise the question of Khader Adnan’s administrative detention.
2. Organize a protest outside your local Israeli Embassy (for a list, click here). View Chicago and Washington DC protests here.
Post your local actions to the Khader Adnan facebook page here: https://www.facebook.
Help us spread the word with social media after you take action.
Download this photo of Khader Adnan to use for your social media profile pictures and click on the suggested messages below and they will be automatically tweeted.
3. Write to Israeli officials and demand an end to delay and the immediate, unconditional release of Khader Adnan. Samidoun has provided a template and an automated letter-writing system. Send yours and make your voice heard today!
4. It is important to note the responsibility of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Sign this petition and join hundreds demanding that the ICRC exercise its responsibilities to protect Palestinian prisoners.
5. Spread the word:
Tweet Now: 56 Days: Take Action Now for #KhaderAdnan http://samidoun.ca/?p=191 #Palestine #Israel #Dying2Live
Tweet Now: Tell Israeli Courts: Your Delays are Killing #KhaderAdnan #Dying2Live http://samidoun.ca/?p=191
Solidarity protests for Khader Adnan take the streets Chicago, Washington, DC and New York
Palestinian and Palestine solidarity activists took to the streets in Chicago, Washington and New York City on February 8, calling for freedom for Khader Adnan. They taped their mouths and bodies with the Twitter hashtag “#Dying2Live” representing Khader Adnan, carried Palestinian flags and signs reading “Dignity over Food.”
All photos and videos produced by organizers in Chicago and Washington, DC:
Photos of Chicago’s demonstration:
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Video of Chicago’s demonstration:
Photos of Washington, DC demonstration:
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Video of DC’s demonstration:
Updates and Action: Khader Adnan appeal hearing in hospital; Irish former hunger striker expresses solidarity
As Khader Adnan enters his 54th day of hunger strike, your action to support his case is more critical than ever. An appeal hearing of the Israeli military court will be held in Zeif Hospital in Safad tomorrow, February 9 at 11 am, following earlier refusals to move the hearing from Ofer prison. The director of the hospital wrote to the court stating that he was refusing all treatment, and his condition is worsening. Please keep the pressure on: make phone calls, send letters, and protest to free Khader Adnan.
Tweet Now: Take Action Now for #KhaderAdnan http://samidoun.ca/?p=133 #Dying2Live
Tommy McKearney, a veteran of the hunger strikes of Irish Republican prisoners in the North of Ireland, sent a solidarity message to Khader Adnan via video, as international solidarity has continued to mount on the grassroots level, even as international officials remain shamefully silent. Bobby Sands, an Irish republican hunger striking political prisoner, died in 1981 after 66 days of hunger strike demanding rights for Irish political prisoners held by British colonial authorities:
Randa, Khader’s wife, visited him in the hospital on Tuesday, and reported on his condition:
She said he is being targeted for “assassination,” but he’s in good spirits and determined to continue his strike against Israel’s “illegitimate and inhumane policies.”
Randa was able to visit her husband Tuesday evening at Zeif hospital in Safad.
“Adnan is being targeted for a slow process of assassination” she said. She says she was “shocked” at her husband’s condition, and that he told her he feels he’s living the last moments of his life, she said.
“A lot of the hair on his face and head has fallen off. He has not been allowed to shower or wash during all his time in detention, nor is he allowed to wear warm clothes in this cold weather.”
She added that “during my visit, my husband’s heart swelled up and a medical crew neglected him for half an hour.”
A letter from imprisoned Palestinian national leaders Marwan Barghouti of Fateh and Ahmad Sa’adat, General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, called for Khader Adnan’s release as reports from inside Ofer prison revealed that 65 prisoners were engaged in a solidarity hunger strike that began on Tuesday.
TAKE ACTION:
Keep the pressure on! Continue to make phone calls, send letters, and protest for Khader Adnan and Palestinian prisoners! On Monday, Judge Dalya Kaufman said Khader Adnan’s medical condition was “acceptable.” Khader Adnan is dying to live on hunger strike – and it is anything but acceptable.
Activists around the world are joining solidarity hunger strikes on February 9. If you will join in, please join in the international Twitter actions to support Khader Adnan:
Tweet Now: On #9FebHungerStrike to free #KhaderAdnan http://samidoun.ca/?p=184 #Dying2Live
Tweet Now: Take Action Now for #KhaderAdnan http://samidoun.ca/?p=133 #Dying2Live
Please send us your actions, photos and reports to samidoun@samidoun.ca.
