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#Palestine2022 campaign aims to bring Palestine into the French presidential campaign

In the 2022 French presidential election campaign, Palestine is largely absent from the mainstream discussion, despite the fact that it should be a central issue in addressing France’s foreign policy. French governments have always actively supported Israel, a colonial and racist state. France plays a key role in the oppression of the Palestinian people, including through its decisive support for Israel’s acquisition of nuclear weapons, imprisoning struggler for Palestine Georges Abdallah, free trade agreements and criminalization of solidarity.

Collectif Palestine Vaincra is launching the #Palestine2022 campaign to bring Palestine into the debate and demand an end to French cooperation with Israeli apartheid during the French presidential election campaign!

Join the mobilization
Sign the petition on www.palestine2022.com

Platform points of the #Palestine2022 campaign:

Denounce the criminalization of support for Palestine

  • Defend the right to boycott Israel: repeal the Alliot-Marie, Mercier and Dupond-Moretti circulars (to prosecute boycott, divestment and sanctions activity)
  • Reject the IHRA’s definition of anti-Semitism, which conflates anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism
  • Denounce the criminalization of Palestinian organizations and the Palestinian solidarity movement
  • Support Salah Hamouri, French-Palestinian lawyer threatened with expulsion from Jerusalem where he was born
  • Demand the removal of Palestinian organizations from the list of “terrorist organizations” of the European Union

Stop economic and cultural cooperation with Israel

  • End the free trade agreements between Israel and France, in particular within the framework of the EUROMED agreements
  • Exclude Israel from the Horizon Europe agreement for innovation and research
  • Stop investments by French companies in Israel, especially in illegal West Bank settlements
  • End twinning between French towns and Israeli towns

Stop all forms of military cooperation

  • Impose a military embargo against Israel
  • Stop collaboration with Israeli military companies
  • Stop the incorporation of French citizens and dual citizens into the Israeli army
  • Stop the funding of the Israeli army by French associations

Demand the release of Georges Abdallah
Lebanese communist and struggler for Palestine, he has been imprisoned in France since 1984 despite being eligible for release since 1999. He is one of the 5,000 Palestinian political prisoners who are detained not only by the Israeli occupation but also by its allies such as France, the United States or Saudi Arabia.

Supporting the struggle of the Palestinian people here also means fighting against France’s complicity with Israeli apartheid. It is therefore essential to join the collectives and associations organizing to strengthen this solidarity and anti-colonialist mobilization.

Original source: Collectif Palestine Vaincra

Remembering Chuck Kaufman: A life in anti-imperialist struggle

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network honors the life of Chuck Kaufman, a lifelong anti-imperialist activist, dedicated organizer, and co-founder of the Alliance for Global Justice. AfGJ, in addition to its own distinguished work in defense of people’s rights in the United States and internationally, is the fiscal sponsor for Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and over 150 other social justice organizations across an array of movements. 

Chuck passed away on 28 December 2021 after a long life in struggle dedicated to advancing liberation movements and anti-imperialist resistance globally. Many of us have known him for decades, and a number of his organizing efforts, including the Campaign for Labor Rights, the Mobilization for Global Justice, and the Latin America Solidarity Coalition, were crucial to our early political development. 

Chuck was on the front lines of Latin America solidarity for decades and a key voice in the anti-war movement in 2001, when he co-founded the ANSWER Coalition, and beyond. He consistently held a principled position on Palestine and always refused to allow Palestine to be excluded from anti-war and progressive movements, or stripped of the political nature of its struggle for freedom and reduced to a humanitarian concern.

Chuck’s advice and support have been invaluable for Samidoun and its growth, as well as our members as we participated in a range of organizations and movements over the years. His anti-imperialist principles will continue to inspire our work as we organize to free Palestinian prisoners and for the liberation of Palestine.

We are sharing the below statement from AfGJ as well as a link to a Zoom memorial for Chuck, which will take place on Sunday, 9 January 2022 at 11 am MST (10 am Pacific, 1 pm Eastern). AfGJ will host a virtual memorial where family members, friends from all over the world, and comrades in general, will also participate. To register, visit bit.ly/chuckpresente.

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AFGJ’s work continues without our visionary but with a solid team who have worked alongside him for years to build a better world. AfGJ requests hat people offer gestures of comfort and remembrance of Chuck through their continued support to AFGJ and the causes to which he dedicated his life to. Please visit AfGJ.org for articles or additional materials related to Chuck’s legacy. You may donate to AFGJ here.

Chuck was a true leader, a visionary, a master strategist and above all, a loving and kind comrade and friend. Through his wise stewardship Alliance for Global Justice grew to become a major force in building the capacity of grass roots organizers throughout the Americas to confront imperialism, neoliberalism and oppression in all forms and to strive to curb U.S. violations of human rights, both within and outside its borders.

Chuck has been a leader of the Central and Latin America solidarity movements since joining the staff of the Nicaragua Network in 1987. He gave up his successful advertising business out of disgust at Congress’ cowardice during the Iran-Contra scandal. He went on his first coffee picking brigade to Nicaragua that same year. Chuck has been in the front ranks of the movements to support the right of people in Latin America and the Caribbean to dignity, sovereignty, and self-determination. He has led delegations to Nicaragua, Venezuela, Haiti and Honduras.

Chuck has written and spoken often about US democracy manipulation programs through the National Endowment for Democracy and US Agency for International Development as well as what he calls the need to look to the Abolition Movement as our inspiration to change the culture of US militarism. He was a board member of the Latin America Solidarity Coalition and a leader of the LASC’s effort to build a stronger movement to oppose US militarism and the militarization of relations with Latin America. He was a founder of the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism (ANSWER) Coalition and has spoken at most of the major Washington, DC anti-war demonstrations. Through AfGJ, he was a founding board member of the Honduras Solidarity Network. He held a B.A. in Government and Politics from George Mason University. His first political activism was as a high school student in 1969 when he organized student walk-out in four county high schools in his native Indiana.

 

Amsterdam demands freedom for Palestinian prisoners, celebrates Abu Hawash victory

Samidoun Nederland took to the streets in West Amsterdam on Thursday, 6 January to celebrate the victory of Palestinian hunger striker Hisham Abu Hawash and to call for freedom for all Palestinian prisoners. The event had been originally called to demand Abu Hawash’s release, but became instead a celebratory occasion. Participants shared information about Abu Hawash’s 141-day hunger strike as well as the ongoing boycott of the Israeli military courts by the 500 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial under “administrative detention.”

The administrative detainees, whose detention is indefinitely renewable, based on secret evidence, are among 4,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Participants in the action carried Palestinian flags and Samidoun banners and distributed material discussing the current situation of Palestinian political prisoners and Palestinians struggling to confront occupation and colonialism.

They also denounced the action of the Dutch government, announced yesterday, to cut funding to the Palestinian organization, the Union of Agricultural Work Committees. Despite the fact that the government’s own report completely exonerated the UAWC of the dubious allegations against it, the Dutch state chose to impose political conditions and repression on Palestinian farmers, in league with the Israeli criminalization of the UAWC and other Palestinian organizations defending people’s rights.

Samidoun Nederland is planning a number of upcoming events and actions to free Palestinian prisoners and support the liberation of Palestine. Contact Samidoun Nederland to find out more details and get involved.

Madrid protest celebrates victory of Abu Hawash, calls for Palestinian prisoners’ liberation

On Tuesday, 4 January, Samidoun España organized a protest in support of Hisham Abu Hawash in the center of Madrid at Plaza del Sol. An enthusiastic crowd of supporters of Palestine attended the event and urged the liberation of Abu Hawash, at the time on his 141st day of hunger strike against his administrative detention, Israeli imprisonment without charge or trial.

Participants carried Palestinian flags and banners calling for the boycott of Israel and calling for the liberation of Palestine, including the banners of the Masar Badil (Alternative Palestinian Revolutionary Path) movement, which convened in Madrid in late 2021.

They brought As the protest continued, participants learned that Abu Hawash had concluded his strike after winning an agreement for his release on 26 February; he will continue to receive medical treatment until his release. Protesters broke out into dabkeh — Palestinian folk dance — in celebration of Abu Hawash’s victory.

Participants emphasized the need for continued protest and organizing to free Palestinian prisoners, especially as over 500 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial are boycotting the Israeli military courts to demand an end to administrative detention. They pledged to continue struggling and mobilizing until Palestine is free from the river to the sea.

To get involved in upcoming actions for Palestinian prisoners and the liberation of Palestine in Madrid, contact Samidoun España.

Sweden solidarity with Palestinian prisoners: Actions in Växjö and Gothenburg

Despite snowy weather and below-freezing temperatures, dozens of people came out in Växjö, Sweden on 5 January to celebrate the victory of Hisham Abu Hawash in his hunger strike and call for the freedom of all Palestinian prisoners.

A 12-year-old Palestinian child, Lara, from Gaza, spoke at the event, recalling the story of Abu Hawash’s hunger strike as well as other recent Palestinian hunger strikers who won their freedom from administrative detention. She declared, “We are gathering in support of all of our prisoners who continue their struggles in different ways, not least of which is the battle of empty stomachs.”

She highlighted the struggle to end administrative detention, Israeli imprisonment without charge or trial currently imposed on approximately 500 of the 4,500 Palestinian political prisoners. She emphasized that Palestinians will continue to struggle for freedom despite all forms of oppression. The protest was organized by the Masar Badil Sweden chapter, Samidoun Sweden and local Palestinian community organizations.

In Gothenburg, Palestine solidarity and community organizations came together on Thursday, 6 January to celebrate the victory of Hisham Abu Hawash and call for freedom for all Palestinian prisoners. Samidoun Göteborg joined fellow Palestine support organizations in the center of Gothenburg with Palestinian flags, banners and information for passers-by.

Organizers plan to continue actions to support Palestinian prisoners and the liberation of Palestine. To get involved with Samidoun in Sweden and join the actions and events to come, please contact Samidoun Sweden.

Israeli occupation forces invade Sa’adat family home: Take action!

Israeli occupation forces invaded the home of imprisoned Palestinian leader Ahmad Sa’adat in Ramallah in the pre-dawn hours of 5 January 2022, rifling through personal papers and taking photographs of the home. Ahmad Sa’adat is the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, imprisoned since 2006 by Israel (and since 2002 by the Palestinian Authority) for his leadership in the Palestinian liberation movement.

Abla Sa’adat, Sa’adat’s wife, said that the occupation forces searched throughout the home and shot heavily in the area outside the home in an attempt to terrorize the family.

Further, this attack aimed not only to continue the policy of collective punishment and attempted intimidation against the loved ones of Palestinian leaders and the prisoners’ movement, but also to continue the Israeli policy of attempting to confiscate the Jerusalem IDs of Palestinians and further the ethnic cleansing of Jerusalem.

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network expresses its strongest condemnation of this latest attack. We urge all friends of Palestine and supporters of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement to join us in taking action between 15 and 22 January 2022 for the International Week of Action to Free Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian Prisoners.

Palestinian Jerusalemites, like Abla Sa’adat, face a constant policy of attacks designed to erase the Palestinian and Arab character of the capital of Palestine and to eradicate the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem. One of the mechanisms used to pursue Palestinian Jerusalemites is the attempt to remove or seize Jerusalem ID cards so as to exclude them from the city. Palestinian Jerusalemites are accused of no longer having Jerusalem as their “center of life” if they live outside Jerusalem for a length of time; they face obstacles in travel and even marriage as living outside Jerusalem can always be used as a mechanism of racist oppression by the Israeli regime.

Abla Sa’adat, who lives in Kufr Aqab in Jerusalem, told Palestinian media sources that the occupation forces stormed into the home in Ramallah, where she was visiting her children, at 2:30 am, as if they had waited to disrupt their family visit. They photographed personal items in the home as well as the water and electricity bills.

She said that the Israeli occupation forces are attempting to find an excuse to confiscate her Jerusalem ID by claiming that she lives in Ramallah rather than Kufr Aqab (5 minutes away). In May 2021, the Israeli occupation cut off her national and health insurance, a frequent tactic used when targeting Palestinian Jerusalemites and attempting to confiscate their rights to their home city.

This incident is not only an attack on the Sa’adat family, it reflects two clear policies of targeting: the attack on the Palestinian identity and the Palestinian people of Jerusalem, and the unceasing collective punishment directed at the families and loved ones of Palestinian prisoners, including raids, summonses to interrogation, confiscation of Jerusalem IDs and home demolitions.

Palestinian prisoners are resistance leaders, on the front lines for justice and liberation, enduring hunger strikes and struggling relentlessly with an unbreakable will toward freedom. Join Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and organizers for justice and liberation in Palestine around the world for the International Week of Action to Free Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian Prisoners, 15 January to 22 January 2022. 

TAKE ACTION: 

  1. Organize events, actions and protests to demand freedom for Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian prisoners! Protest in public squares, campuses and community spaces. Organize a Palestine Stand or a letter writing event to write to Sa’adat and his fellow Palestinian prisoners. These dates also mark the anniversary of Israel’s bloody “Cast Lead” attack on Gaza in 2008-2009. Email us at samidoun@samidoun.net to inform us about your events or actions.
  2. Screen the film “Fedayin”, on the life and struggle of Georges Abdallah. Ahmad Sa’adat and Georges Abdallah are comrades who constantly salute each others’ struggles and maintain a political correspondence despite miles of distance and prison walls. To organize a screening, email samidoun@samidoun.net and vacarmesfilms@gmail.com
  3. #ShutElbitDown: Palestine Action won an important victory against British repression of the courageous activists who have confronted Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit Systems with red paint and creative direct action. The next trial – in Crown Court – is coming up in January. Help support the campaign by organizing actions to #ShutElbitDown in your area. Learn more at https://palestineaction.com/
  4. Join the social media campaign. Post a photo or a video with a message calling for freedom for Ahmad Sa’adat and his fellow Palestinian prisoners and the hashtag #FreeAhmadSaadat. You can use the posters below. Send us your photo by emailing us at samidoun@samidoun.net or contacting us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
  5. Boycott Israel! Ahmad Sa’adat says: “I call on all forces of progress, freedom and democracy to stand by the struggle of our people through all forms of boycott: political, economic, academic and cultural of the occupation state and the creation of a real economic cost for its industries of colonization and settlement and escalating the global campaigns for boycott of all corporations that support and invest in the occupation militarily and economically.” Don’t buy Israeli goods, and campaign to end investments in corporations that profit from the occupation. Join direct actions to challenge war profiteers and boycott complicit corporations like Puma and HP.

Victory for Hisham Abu Hawash after 141 days of hunger strike

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes Hisham Abu Hawash, who suspended his hunger strike today, 4 January, after 141 days of strike. He will win his freedom on 26 February. Abu Hawash’s victory shows the power of the prisoners’ resistance to win their freedom, arm in arm with the Palestinian people and their resistance, the Arab people, and the international cause of justice and liberation. Now is the time to redouble our efforts to free all Palestinian prisoners and bring the system of administrative detention — and the entire Israeli regime — down.

Right now, 500 Palestinian prisoners held under administrative detention are boycotting the military courts to demand an end to that system. They are among over 4,500 Palestinian political prisoners struggling for freedom.

https://twitter.com/hadafps/status/1478432165872517125

Now is the time to intensify our mobilization to bring administrative detention to an end and support the Palestinian prisoners’ movement in struggle. Organize actions for the Week of Action to Free Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian Prisoners from 15-22 January 2022. 

This victory was achieved through Hisham’s struggle and sacrifice and through the resistance of the prisoners’ movement and the Palestinian people. Freedom for all Palestinian prisoners — freedom for Palestine, from the river to the sea!

6 January, Amsterdam: Samidoun Netherlands protest for Hisham Abu Hawash

Samidoun Netherlands calls on all supporters of Palestine to show their solidarity with the Palestinian hunger striker Hisham Abu Hawash on Thursday, January 6, 2022 at 3:00 PM at Plein 40-’45 in Amsterdam.

Hisham Abu Hawash will be on hunger strike for 143 days on January 6. He launched his hunger strike in protest against his administrative detention by the Israeli occupation – incarceration without charge or trial.

Abu Hawash is a 40-year-old Palestinian, married, and the father of five children (Hadi, Mohammed, Izz al-Din, Waqas and Saba). During his hunger strike, Abu Hawash was transferred several times from Ramle Prison Clinic – which is known to Palestinian prisoners as a site of medical neglect – to local hospitals.

The occupation has waited until December 26 to suspend Abu Hawash’s administrative detention. This ensures that Abu Hawash can receive his family and supporters from Palestine ’48. However, he is not allowed to leave the hospital and cannot be transferred to a Palestinian hospital. Therefore, Abu Hawash remains a prisoner of the Israeli occupier.

Abu Hawash has been jailed without charge or trial since 27 October 2020, with his detention repeatedly extended. While his legal appeals have been repeatedly dismissed, his detention was once again extended for four months while he was on hunger strike. The Israeli occupation also refused to confirm that it would not be renewed again. In multiple arrests, he has spent 8 years in total in Israeli occupation prisons, 52 months of that time without charge or trial under administrative detention.

Abu Hawash’s case exemplifies exactly why over 500 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention have announced that they will launch a collective boycott of the Israeli military courts and appeals courts beginning on 1 January 2022, as the court system only gives a veneer of legitimacy to an illegitimate regime. In total, there are more than 4,500 Palestinian political prisoners in occupation prisons.

 

Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all supporters of Palestine to take action to save the life of Hisham Abu Hawash and support all Palestinian prisoners struggling for freedom, for their own lives and for the Palestinian people. He is confronting the system of Israeli oppression on the front lines, his life and health at risk at every moment, to bring the system of administrative detention to an end. Organize actions to support Abu Hawash and his fellow political prisoners, including during the Week of Action to Free Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian Prisoners from 15-22 January 2022. 

Administrative detention – like the entire Israeli prison system – is a colonial weapon designed to attack the Palestinian resistance and isolate the leaders of the struggle from the Palestinian people. End administrative detention; free all Palestinian prisoners!

4 January, Riverside, CA: Emergency protest to free Hisham Abu Hawash

Tuesday, 4 January 
2 pm
6235 Rivercrest Drive (Red Cross of Riverside County)
Riverside, CA
Info: https://twitter.com/uspcn/status/1478217226410885120

EMERGENCY ACTION: #FREEHISHAM *mask required* mandatory social distancing!
Join us as we gather outside the Riverside County, Southern California Red Cross office to demand more accountability from international human rights orgs.

We will deliver our concerns to this local office and we recommend others go to their county Red Cross Offices as well.

5 January, Växjö: Take Action – Freedom for Hisham Abu Hawash!

Wednesday, 5 January
5 pm
Stortorget
Växjö, Sweden

In solidarity with the Palestinian hunger striker, Hisham Abu Hawash and all Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli occupation prisons! Hisham, who has been on hunger strike for more than 140 consecutive days, protesting against Israeli unjust “administrative detention” policies, is nearing death any day now as he has entered a very dangerous phase!

Hisham is not alone in this struggle, as there are more and more Palestinian prisoners suffering because of this injustice that violates international humanitarian law and the Geneva Convention on the Rights of Prisoners of War!

We will not be silent about these gross violations!

Everyone who believes in human rights and the rights of the Palestinian people (including Palestinian prisoners) to freedom, is WELCOME to a demonstration to send a message to the world about what is happening in occupied Palestine and in Israeli prisons!

Place: Växjö, Stortorget!
Time: Wednesday 05-01-2022, at 17:00!

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I solidaritet med den palestinske hungerstrejkaren, Hisham Abu Hawash och alla palestinska fångar i de israeliska ockupationsfängelserna! Hisham, som har hungerstrejkat i mer än 140 dagar i rad, och protesterat mot israeliska orättvisa “administrativa arresterings”-policyn, närmar sig döden när som helst då han har gått in i en klinisk dödsfasen!
Hisham är inte ensam i denna kamp, ​​eftersom det finns allt fler palestinska fångar som lider på grund av denna orättvisa som bryter mot internationella humanitära lagen och Genèvekonventionen om krigsfångarnas rättigheter!

Vi kommer inte att vara tysta om dessa grova kränkningar!

Alla som tror på mänskliga rättigheter samt palestinska folkets (inklusive palestinska fångars) rättigheter till frihet, är VÄLKOMNA till en manifestation för att skicka ett budskap till världen om vad som händer i ockuperade Palestina och i israeliska fängelserna!

Plats: Växjö, Stortorget!
Tid: Onsdagen 05-01-2022, kl 17:00!

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Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
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