Today’s story of resistance concerns two brothers, a changing landscape, and lessons from the past.
The brothers, commanders Adel and Imad Awadallah, were each other’s right arm. They led the Al-Qassam Brigades, inflicting fear upon the enemy for years, especially in 1996 when 49 zionists were killed in one week in the “Sacred Revenge” series of operations avenging Yahya Ayyash.
On this day in 1998, they were martyred on a farm, besieged by special forces in Al-Khalil. After hours of armed clashes, they ascended gloriously.
No one knew their fate for 16 years.
This is their story.
From Al-Bireh, Adel and Imad joined the Al-Qassam Brigades in their youth, quickly advancing in the ranks and becoming leaders in Ramallah. When the mastermind engineer Yahya Ayyash was martyred at the hands of zionists in January 1996, they sought to avenge his death in a series of painful anti-colonial operations.
Adel and Imad were the #1 most wanted in the West Bank, not only by the occupation but also by its lapdog, the Palestinian Authority. For three years, Adel and Imad hid from them both. All who visited their home were arrested, and the PA launched a massive arrest campaign of Hamas cadre.
In August 1998, Imad was kidnapped by the PA and tortured in Areeha prison. In a heroic escape, he liberated himself from prison despite solitary confinement, but was tracked by the PA, who planted an electronic device on him.
Adel, on the other hand, was still a fugitive. Clinging to his aspirations of his people’s imminent liberation, he continued to orchestrate resistance operations. During one of them, forces of the Palestinian Authority opened fire on a Renault 9 car, believing him to be inside with his family, unconcerned with the casualties. The PA Forces ended up killing an unrelated Palestinian woman instead, in a move reminiscent of the PA’s thuggish behavior today, like their assassination of martyrs Nizar Banat, Mohammed Al-Banna, and Abdel Qader Zaqdah.
Three years, and all the forces of the PA and occupation could not catch them. In a video, Adel stated that he does not want revenge against those who kill him, but only revenge against the zionist entity. This sentiment is repeated by the resistance today, who understands that bloodshed with brothers serves the enemy, even in light of the atrocities committed by the PA. “Our guns do not see except the minarets of Al-Quds;” Dr. Ramadan Shallah‘s eminent quote is repeated in various forms by the factions today.
On this day in 1998, the IOF claimed to have assassinated both Adel and Imad, right after the PA tracked Imad after his prison escape. Their fate was unknown, whether they were arrested or martyred. Despite torture being used on them both, they refused to confess and refused to provide information about their fellow resistance fighters.
In 2014, the IOF released their bodies, received by a crowd of thousands who never forgot the legacy of the heroic brothers. Adel was wearing the same shirt, 16 years after his martyrdom.
When they were martyred, the Oslo Accords were just five years old. Today, one year beyond the 30th anniversary of the ill-fated Accords, the PA’s position on liberation has not changed; rather, it has more deeply entrenched itself in normalization and betrayal.
In the year of Adel and Imad’s martyrdom, the so-called separation wall did not exist. The geography of the land was markedly different; Palestinians were connected to their land, and colonial checkpoints were a ghost of what they are now. Watchtowers were smaller. Pegasus and Blue Wolf were non-existent. The surveillance state was not as present.
In 2023, mobility is not so easy. Thus, the strategies of the resistance had to change to reflect this. A new strategy has been adopted, in Jenin, in Nablus, in Tulkarem, Al-Khalil, and Areeha, quickly spreading to all parts of Palestine: there is no free entry, and if you enter, we will burn you. While some resistance fighters venture into the interior to send their message, this cohesive strategy has proven to be effective in the last two years.
Today, we not only approach the 31st anniversary of Oslo, but also the anniversary of the kidnapping by the PA of Musab Shtayyeh, who, like Adel and Imad, was also the most wanted man in the West Bank. Shtayyeh, the link between the West Bank and Gaza, is a member of the Lions’ Den and Al-Qassam Brigades. He has been subjected to torture, under the guise of kidnapping him “for protection,” a bold-faced and recurring PA lie.
Despite the setback of his continued abduction orchestrated by the US and zionists, resistance persists. Today’s youth face both the PA and the occupation, avenging martyr after martyr in their operations. They understand that we face two enemies: the zionist entity and the Authority that “participates in our annihilation,” in the words of Basil.
This story provides one lesson: The PA is a collaborating arm of the occupation, and it too must be refused. Basil taught us, “Every Palestinian must understand that any confrontation with the Authority is not a confrontation with a Palestinian, but a confrontation with a tool of the occupation,” a quote that rings clear considering the context of Musab’s arrest: PA repression led to clashes, and he raised his gun to defend himself without knowing if the aggressor was the IOF or PA. This simple ambiguity paradoxically creates clarity to understand the reality of the Palestinian situation.
Down with Oslo and the PA! Down with the zionist entity!
Resistance persists, united and advancing, until the dismantling of all oppressors.
At present, 24 Palestinian women — out of approximately 95 Palestinian women prisoners, of 9,900 Palestinians in Zionist jails, in addition to thousands more from Gaza held in colonial torture camps like that at Sde Teiman — are being imprisoned under “administrative detention” by the occupation forces in the colonial Damon prison. They include students from various Palestinian universities, journalists, activists, a lawyer, employees of Birzeit University and re-arrested former prisoners. “Administrative detention” is a detention regime inherited from the British colonial mandate over Palestine which allows the Zionist occupation to imprison Palestinians without charge or trial for a period of 3 to 6 months, renewable indefinitely.
Diala Nader Ibrahim Eideh (Diala Ayesh) is a lawyer from Al-Bireh, arrested on 17 January 2024 at a checkpoint on her way back to Ramallah. On 24 January, the Zionist occupation military commander in the West Bank issued an administrative detention order against her for four months. On 23 May 2024, the Ofer military court renewed her administrative detention for a further four months. Diala is a lawyer and human rights defender. She actively monitors and documents the living conditions of Palestinian political prisoners in the colonial military prison system and in the Palestinian Authority prisons.
Three well-known Palestinian women journalists are also held in administrative detention: Asma Hraish, from Beitunia, Ramallah, held since April 3. She was ordered to administrative detention for 3 months — renewed once again on June 27.
Israa Lafi was abducted by occupation forces on 17 July 2024, then ordered to administrative detention for 6 months. This is her second incarceration; in 2018 she spent 10 months in colonial prisons.
Bushra Al-Taweel, imprisoned for the 7th time by the colonial occupation. She was seized by occupation forces on 7 March 2024, during an invasion of Ramallah and ordered to administrative detention for 6 months, which was again renewed on August 19.
Shaima Rawajba, a student at An Najah University, was arrested during a raid by the colonial army on her home in Nablus on April 18, then ordered to administrative detention for 3 months. Her arbitrary detention without charge or trial was renewed for a further 4 months on July 24. This is her second detention; in 2022, the occupying forces had first arrested her alongside 3 of her friends at Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Seven students or recent graduates from Al Khalil are in administrative detention. These include Baraa Jamal Karama, Angham Asafra, Shahad Asafra and Jenin Amr. All four were arrested on December 3, then ordered to arbitrary administrative detention without charge or trial for a period of 4 months, renewed on April 1 and July 17 for a period of 4 months each time.
On September 1, 2024, the occupation forces arrested Jenin’s cousin, Raghad Amr, alongside Raghad Mubarak and Al Yamama Harinat. Raghad Amr & Al-Yamama are students, and Raghad Mubarak a recent engineering graduate, of Palestine Polytechnic University in Al Khalil. All three were ordered to administrative detention for a period of 4 months.
Hadeel Shatara, an employee of Birzeit University and a dedicated advocate for Palestinian prisoners’ liberation, was seized by the occupation on June 30 upon her return to Palestine and ordered to administrative detention for 5 months.
Khalida Jarrar, an academic at Birzeit University and feminist activist, was arrested on December 26 and ordered to administrative detention for 6 months, renewed on June 24.
Three students from Birzeit University are also in administrative detention: Layan Kayed, detained since April 7, and whose detention was renewed on July 5 for an additional 4 months.
Mona Abu Hussein, arrested on 12 March 2024 and whose administrative detention was renewed twice, on June 4 and September 3 for three months each time.
Dania Hanatsheh, arrested on August 19 and transferred to administrative detention for 4 months. Dania is one of the prisoners re-abducted after her release in November during the prisoner exchange achieved by the Palestinian Resistance.
In addition to Dania Hanatsheh, two other prisoners released in the November exchange were re-arrested and ordered to administrative detention by the occupation forces:
Hanan Barghouti, 60 years old, from Kobar, Ramallah, arrested on 5 March 2023 and ordered to administrative detention for a period of 3 months. Hanan’s husband and three of her children are also imprisoned. Her detention order was renewed twice, on June 4 and September 3, for three months each time.
Walaa Tanja, from Balata refugee camp in Nablus, was arrested at the Deir Sharaf checkpoint alongside Youssef Abu Dhraa, then transferred to administrative detention for a period of 6 months.
Two graduates of Birzeit University are also detained under this regime. Layan Nasir, detained since April 7, whose detention was renewed on July 30 for an additional 4 months. Layan Nasir was previously arrested in 2021 and spent 50 days in detention. And Saja Muadi, originally from Ramallah, arrested on April 18 and ordered to administrative detention without charge or trial for 6 months.
Yasmine Abu Sorour, from the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, was abducted by the Zionist occupation forces on 26 December 2023 and ordered to six months in colonial administrative detention. She has been imprisoned at least three times before, in 2015, when she was a minor girl, and twice in 2018.
Fatima Youssef al-Farakhna, from Deir Jarir in the Ramallah area, was abducted by occupation forces on 10 May 2024 and then ordered jailed without charge or trial for 6 months under administrative detention.
Sumoud Welad Muhammad, from Ramallah, has been held in detention without charge or trial since 12 March 2024, when she was abducted by occupation forces.
Freedom for all Palestinians held in Zionist, imperialist and reactionary prisons; freedom for Palestine!
Follow Dismantle Damon for more campaign updates and news on the struggle of Palestinian women prisoners.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network raises its salutes to the martyr, Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a US citizen who went to Palestine to join ISM and the Faz3a campaign defending Palestinian land, villages and agriculture from the rapacious settlers seeking to steal them. She was shot by a Zionist sniper in Beita on Friday, September 6th as she confronted the land-thieving settler mobs as part of the weekly demonstrations to defend the land of Palestine.
Aysenur committed her life to the Palestinian cause and for the liberation of Palestine from US imperialism and world Zionism. She was martyred using weaponry provided to the Zionists by the American imperialists, the same weaponry whose sale and transfer she and others vehemently opposed. The US government that has provided endless military, economic, and propaganda aid to the Zionist regime, has the blood of Aysenur on its hands, as well as the tens of thousands of martyrs in Gaza and the West Bank.
During her life, Aysenur was involved in fighting against the same institutions that bought the bullets that killed her. She participated in the student intifada, organizing at the encampment at the University of Washington, demanding the University divest from “Israel” and to cut ties with Boeing. Boeing, the 3rd largest weapons corporation in the world, is responsible for sending billions of dollars of munitions to the occupation forces. These include Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), which were used in multiple horrific massacres in Gaza, killing hundreds of Palestinians. Another US weapons company, General Dynamics, produces the MK-8 bombs, used by the Zionist forces on Monday, September 9, in the horrific massacre in the al-Mawasi camp in which the IOF bombed displaced Palestinians residing in tents, creating 27-foot-deep craters in the sand. As we honour Aysenur, we must also commit ourselves to building and developing the student Intifada and confronting the war machine at all US and Western universities.
Aysenur is one of the many martyrs who have given their lives for the Palestinian liberation struggle, and she is one of the many internationals who have made major sacrifices in solidarity with Palestine, including fellow internationalist martyrs for Palestine Rachel Corrie, Tom Hurndall, and the martyrs of the 2010 Gaza Freedom Flotilla: Furkan Doğan, Cengiz Akyüz, Ali Haydar Bengi, İbrahim Bilgen, Cevdet Kılıçlar, Cengiz Songür, Çetin Topçuoğlu, Fahri Yaldız, Necdet Yıldırım and, Ugur Süleyman Söylemez. As a Palestinian, Arab and international struggle, the cause has always been taken up by internationalists willing to dedicate themselves to ending the ongoing colonial genocide in Palestine; Aysenur and her forerunners engaged in popular organizing and struggle build upon a long line of courage and dedication. For example, in the 1970s, the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon — the heart of the Palestinian revolution — attracted people from around the world to join the struggle, through arts, health work, educational work, organizing, and through the armed resistance.
Many internationalists have also been imprisoned by Zionist, imperialist, or reactionary regimes globally for participating in the Palestinian liberation struggle through various forms, throughout the years.
Fusako Shigenobu, an internationalist prisoner of the Palestinian liberation struggle, was jailed in Japan for over 21 years as a political prisoner for her, and her comrades, collaboration and involvement in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s armed struggle. Inside Palestine, the prisoners of Palestine held by the Zionist regime over the years have included Terre Fleener, Brigit Schultz, Ludvina Jansen, Thomas Reuter, and Kozo Okamoto, who have spent years inside “Israeli” jails and participated as part of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement.
This is not to mention the numerous Arab liberation strugglers who have given their lives and freedom for the liberation of Palestine, as we see daily in the Arab support fronts for Gaza stretching from Yemen to Lebanon to Iraq, Syria and beyond. Arab strugglers for Palestine, from Georges Abdallah, a Lebanese internationalist struggler, who fought against French imperialism and has been imprisoned in French prisons for over 40 years, to Mohammed Boudia, Mohamed Zouari and Mohammed Salah, are among countless Arab martyrs for Palestine who have viewed Palestine as the central cause of Arab liberation. Most recently, Arab popular commitment and sacrifice for Palestine, despite official normalization and complicity, has been represented by the martyr Maher Dyab Hussein al-Jazi al-Howeitat, the Jordanian truck driver who on Sunday, September 8 carried out the Karameh operation on the Jordanian border with occupied Palestine, widely honoured as a “hero of Al-Aqsa Flood.”
Through different eras of the Palestinian revolution and various forms of struggle, the ongoing legacy of internationalist commitment to Palestinian liberation comes in confrontation with the full imperialist partnership in Zionist genocide. Aysenur lives on as part of this legacy of struggle, a call to action and an appeal to people of conscience everywhere. We uplift and honor the sacrifices made by international strugglers, alongside Palestinian and Arab strugglers, who have given their lives and faced imprisonment to further the struggle for Palestinian liberation.
Glory to Aysenur! Victory to Palestine, glory to the martyrs, defeat to Zionism and imperialism, liberation for Palestine from the river to the sea!
The Zionist-imperialist massacre that took place at 1 am on September 10, 2024, in Mawasi Khan Younis, on the tents of displaced people, using multiple US-made MK-84 bombs, 2,000-pound bombs with 900 pounds of explosives made by General Dynamics, airlifted to the Zionist regime by the Biden-Harris administration, must arouse all to action. The US has provided at least 14,000 such bombs to the Zionist regime in 2023-2024 alone.
There can be no “everyday” massacres. The ongoing slaughter of the Palestinian people, the genocidal illegitimate settler regime that implements it, is part of a global camp of plunder, massacre, and destruction aimed at the people of the world.
Fabric tents being bombed into sand in a “safe area,” with families (including Fujo, Madi, Tai’ma, and Al-Shaer families) and displaced ppl — many of them born refugees since 1948, forced from their homes to create illegitimate zionist entity on the land of Palestine and denied their right to return ever since, shot in the legs and shot dead and assassinated by occupation soldiers when even marching toward their homes — with a “fire belt.”
The zionist regime attempts to “legitimize” this horrific massacre…. by labeling it an assassination. Let us be very clear: assassinating Palestinians is not a legitimate purpose for one zionist rifle nor for a slew of bunker-buster bombs designed to destroy everything around. Palestinians have the absolute right to resist their colonization, occupation and genocide by all means necessary, including and especially armed struggle, and to form organizations and movements to lead and conduct that struggle. And the zionist regime has no right to exist on the land of Palestine, let alone to “defend itself” from the people it kills, occupies and tortures.
Tents swept off the earth, burned to pieces, craters all around. This is what Zionism is. This is what imperialism is. It is death, plunder and destruction. There is no solution for this crime except for the total defeat of the zionist regime & the total rout of imperialism.
It cannot be any clearer than it is right now that it is the Resistance that stands for life, hope, faith, humanity, justice, and dignity with all of its commitment and sacrifice, and that it is zionism and imperialism that are everything inhumane, repugnant, and, indeed, evil.
The zionist regime is nothing but a temporary entity, even as it attempts to prolong its existence through bloody massacres and US-made-and-funded weaponry. The illusion of its technological superiority is no more. All it has is destruction and death in its arsenal.
The vicious zionist regime must be brought to justice by all means. The Resistance forces are sacrificing everything to do so. We must, at the very least, bare minimum, do everything we can to escalate our movement. Justice must be done, for Palestine & for the world.
May the martyrs dwell in the highest heavens. Victory to the resistance, defeat to zionism and imperialism, and a liberated Palestine, from the river to the sea.
US-BASED ORGANIZATIONS STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH BOOKER OMOLE & DEMAND AN END TO HIS REPRESSION
We write as US-based organizations that have worked closely with Booker Omole, National Vice Chairperson and National Organizing Secretary of the Communist Party of Kenya. We stand in firm solidarity with Mr. Omole, who was unjustly detained as he prepared to travel to the People’s Republic of China. Omole was dragged off the plane and had his travel documents confiscated. He faces further repression with a hearing scheduled at 9:30 AM on Monday, September 9th, before the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
This act of repression is a blatant attempt to silence a leader of the revolutionary movement fighting for the rights and dignity of the Kenyan people. We recognize that Mr. Omole is being targeted because of his fearless leadership in the struggle against capitalist exploitation, imperialist political and economic domination, and political repression in Kenya.
We condemn the Kenyan government’s ongoing efforts to suppress dissent, particularly through the arrest and harassment of political leaders like Mr. Omole, who have been at the forefront of protests sparked by oppressive tax hikes, rampant government corruption and repression, reflected in the Kenyan people’s outrage at the rising cost of living, debt crisis, and the murder of protesters.
Last May, President Ruto introduced the neoliberal Finance Bill, which was resisted by a popular movement that asserted that Kenyans were already struggling with the high cost of living, and the bill proposed unacceptable tax hikes on basic necessities like cooking oil and bread. After a public outcry, the government revised the bill, dropping some of the proposed taxes on essential goods and shifting the burden to imported items and internet usage. However, these changes failed to address the underlying issues of a neoliberal-capitalist development model designed to benefit largely western monopoly capital as well as a domestic comprador bourgeoisie. The masses continue to demand Ruto’s resignation and that meaningful reforms are implemented.
The people’s resistance is crystallised in 13 demands, which include calling for an end to extra-judicial killings, addressing the unemployment crisis, tackling rampant corruption, and rejecting Kenya’s subservience to foreign powers like the US and IMF, which have plunged the nation into economic subservience. We stand with the protest movement, which has decried the Ruto government’s auctioning of Kenya’s natural resources and assets to foreign interests, eroding the country’s sovereignty, and ignoring the people’s voices in critical national decisions.
Kenya’s role as a lackey to US imperialism has become increasingly evident. Shortly after introducing the Finance Bill, Kenya was designated a Major Non-NATO Ally of the United States. This status underscores Kenya’s deepening alignment with US imperialist interests, at the expense of its own people.
The Communist Party of Kenya under Mr. Omole’s leadership, alongside other revolutionary organizations, has taken a leading role in opposing this neocolonial trajectory. In particular, they have denounced Kenya’s decision to send police forces to Haiti as part of a US-led imperialist intervention. Kenya’s involvement in this occupation is nothing more than an extension of the same oppressive systems that the Kenyan people are resisting at home. As anti-imperialists, we recognize that the struggle in Kenya is part of a broader global movement for sovereignty, justice, and liberation from imperialist control and wealth drain.
We call for the immediate end to the judicial harassment and curbing of Booker Omole’s rights and demand the release of all political prisoners detained in Kenya. We reaffirm our support for the protesters’ 13 demands and our internationalist solidarity with the Kenyan people’s popular struggle.
National Lawyers Guild, International Committee
Committee of Anti-Imperialists in Solidarity with Iran (CASI)
International Action Center
International People’s Tribunal on US Imperialism: Sanctions, Blockades, and Economic Coercive Measures
As we enter a new month, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network would like to commemorate Black August. Samidoun’s Toronto chapter honoured the decades-long tradition of calling for the release of all political prisoners and uplifting the Black Liberation struggle through our August 10th Prisoners’ Justice Day event and in attending a Black August art build with our comrades at A Dutty Boukman Book Club.
The first Black August was held in 1979 by the Black Guerrilla Family to commemorate the martyrdoms of revolutionary bothers Jonathan and George Jackson. Both of their lives were taken by the criminal injustice system in the United States. 45 years later, Samidoun honours their legacies by demanding: Free Them All, From Palestine to “Canada”.
Prisons in “Canada” and “Israel” function as an arm of imperialist white supremacy. They quell the people’s dissent against their oppressor and maintain status quo settler-colonial rule. Just like Canadian prisons are designed to capture Black and Indigenous peoples, in “Israel” the Zionist prison system is designed to detain, torture, and martyr Palestinians. In December 2023 in Milton, ON’s Maplehurst Correctional Complex, prisoners were, too, tortured by guards and Canada also has a decades-long history of deaths in custody that is on the rise.
The Palestinian Resistance’s commencement of Al-Aqsa Flood Battle on October 7th was not only a prison break out of besieged Gaza, but also an act to liberate Palestinian prisoners from the clutches of Zionism through a prisoner exchange. We must continue to learn from the Resistance’s steadfastness both within and outside of prison walls and how we can apply these learnings here to join hands with the Black Liberation struggle and beyond.
As September begins, we will continue to uphold and honour the legacies of Black revolutionaries– both past and living. From our solidarity with Stop Cop City in Atlanta to demanding justice for Tylor Coore in Tkaronto to paying tribute to the 1971 Attica Prison Uprising. All prison walls have got to fall! In the words of Black revolutionary Assata Shakur: “And, If I know anything at all/Its that a wall is just a wall/And nothing more at all/It can be broken down”
On Tuesday August 30th, protesters on stolen Musqueam land in “Delta, British Columbia, Canada” blocked the road at the Maersk and ASCO Aerospace Canada shipping warehouse headquarters. Maersk is the world’s largest integrated logistics and shipping company. Since October, the Danish shipping and logistics giant has contributed over $300 million worth of weapons components, sourced from from various parts of the world, including Canada, to be engineered into deadly weapons by U.S arms manufacturers. As a leader in the logistics industry, Maersk plays crucial role in the weapons supply chain.
With 68% of Israeli weapons sourced from the U.S, Maersk is a key player in the global arms supply chain that supports the Israeli occupation forces’ ongoing genocidal bombardment of Gaza, its occupation of the West Bank, and its imperial crimes across the region. Maersk ranks amount the world’s most profitable companies, with wealth tainted by the blood of over 186,000 Palestinian martyrs. ASCO Aerospace Canada facilities produces components for F-35 stealth fighters, and bulkheads, employing about 100 workers in Delta.
Protesters held the road for 2 hours, delivering speeches regarding these companies role in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people, chanting, and playing Palestinian music as trucks to and from the warehouses backed up on the road. The protestors communicated to the drivers in English, Punjabi and Hindi, handing out flyers to the drivers to explain the purpose of the protest. Many trucks turned back as a result. The resulting back up caused to Maersk’s shipping schedule in the port resulted in up to $500,000 in lost revenue to Maersk alone, with even the most conservative estimates far above $100,000 in direct losses from this action.
Delta police showed up in numbers, at least one wearing a “thin blue line” patch (infamously used to denote “police solidarity” against the people and often linked to racism and organized far-right movements), many of them covering their ID badges, and all immediately trying to intimidate protesters. As the cops brought in ever increasing numbers and vehicles, they began threatening arrest and displaying signs of aggression. At this juncture, protesters made the decision to leave the first action site. As they tried to walk down the road the police blocked their way and issued further threats to the crowd. They escalated their aggression by physically grabbing one BIPOC protester, ripping the tent they were carrying off their shoulder to confiscate it, and making further threats of arrest while again blocking the ability of the protesters to leave the site.
After demanding the cops to make way, the action then moved on to the Maersk office, where protesters picketed outside the entrance again giving speeches, chanting, holding banners and signs, and engaging workers in conversation about the Canadian arms trade that is facilitating the genocide in Palestine and Maersk’s role in it. Messages were chalked outside the offices. Shamefully, security on site warned workers leaving the facility not to speak to the protesters. Other protesters stood at the side of the highway with Palestinian flags and signs which provoked unending support from the truckers driving by all day, who honked, flashed peace signs, and cheered with the protestors. While this was happening, Delta police used taxpayer dollars to fly a drone overhead and monitor the action closely with several officers. Protesters left on a high after the afternoon shift change, having spent a beautiful day in community fighting to end the genocide of the Palestinian people.
This action demonstrates that workers and activists alike have the appetite to strike right to the heart of the military industrial complex here in “Vancouver.” We know there are many such facilities in the greater “Vancouver” area. We will not stop, we will not rest, until these war criminals know that we will fight them — every day until the genocide ends and beyond, until all of Palestine and Turtle Island are free.
On 6 September 2024, we mark the third anniversary of the great Freedom Tunnel on 6 September 2021, in which six Palestinian prisoners – Mahmoud al-Ardah, Mohammed al-Ardah, Yousef Qadri, Ayham Kamamji, Munadil Nafa’at and Zakaria Zubeidi — liberated themselves from the Zionist occupation regime’s “high security” Gilboa prison. The Freedom Tunnel was a harbinger of the Al-Aqsa Flood, exposing the illusory nature of the occupation’s proclaimed technological and intelligence superiority and inspiring collective hope and optimism in Palestine and around the world about the future of the Palestinian cause.
Zionist soldiers look at the Freedom Tunnel in confusion, 6 September 2021
The heroic Al-Aqsa Flood, launched on 7 October 2023, has exposed the inhuman rampage of the genocidal enemy and its imperialist backers – the US, Germany, France, Britain, Canada and more – and highlighted to all the legendary courage, strategic planning and execution, steadfastness and brilliance of the armed Resistance. At a time when the bombing of refugee camps, the destruction of hospitals, and the slaughter of mangled children have become daily news updates that could provoke despair in all who love life and cherish humanity, it is the ingenuity, resourcefulness, faith and deep dedication of the resistance, its leaders and its fighters, from the depths of the tunnels of Gaza to the paragliders soaring over the colonial fences, that continues to spark not only hope but certainty of victory and empower a growing global Intifada.
Palestinians in Gaza stand atop a captured Zionist tank, 7 October 2023
This anniversary takes on additional significance and profundity in light of the current moment – Al-Aqsa Flood is characterized not only by the heroic Resistance, and most centrally the armed resistance, and the Zionist genocide in Gaza, but by the invasions throughout the West Bank of occupied Palestine, particularly in Jenin (the home of the Freedom Tunnel heroes), Tulkarem and Tubas. On 4 September, Zakaria Zubaidi’s son, Mohammed, was martyred alongside his comrades from both Jenin and Tubas after they were targeted for assassination, as Zionist occupation forces fired three missiles at their car.
Mohammed Zakaria Zubaidi
Mohammed Zakaria Zubaidi was martyred alongside four fellow resistance fighters and leaders from both Jenin and Tubas – Mohammed Nazmi Abu Zagha, Mohammed Awad Abu Jumaa, Qusai Majdi Abdullah Abdelrazeq, Ahmed Fawaz Abu Dawas, as well as the youth Majed Abu Zeina.
The martyrs of the 4 September assassination attack: Mohammed Awad Abu Jumaa, Mohammed Abu Zagha, Mohammed Zubeidi, Ahmed Fawaz Abu Damas, Qusai Abdelrazeq
Mohammed Zubaidi survived an assassination attempt in Jenin just days before; growing up in Jenin refugee camp, forcibly separated from his imprisoned father for much of his life, he rose in the resistance to become a leader in his own right. The Zubaidi family has given martyr after martyr for Palestinian liberation, alongside the people of Jenin camp and city, a beating heart of resistance that has never been extinguished by either British or Zionist colonialism.
Mohammed and Zakaria Zubaidi
The history, present and future of the resistance in Jenin was woven into the Freedom Tunnel operation, a legacy that has continued in the Jenin Brigades, through its brave fighters and heroic martyrs who have relentlessly fought to free Jenin – and all of Palestine – from the grasp of the occupation. Despite the destruction wrought by the occupation forces – including tearing up 70% of Jenin’s roads – and the precious martyrs taken by their assaults and assassinations, from Mohammed Zubaidi and his comrades to Abu Shujaa in Tulkarem, the Resistance throughout the West Bank continues to fight, to rebuild, to defend their land and people, and to advance the cause of liberation.
Abu Shujaa, resistance leader in Tulkarem, martyred on 29 August 2024
The great popular Intifada of 1987 launched from Gaza in December, six months after the May 1987 Gaza prison break of Misbah al-Suri and his comrades and two months after their battle in Shujaiyya with occupation forces on 6 October, now commemorated as the official anniversary date of the founding of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement; and of course, two years after the great prisoner exchange of 1985 conducted by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine – General Command which liberated 1150 Palestinian prisoners, including al-Suri, Kozo Okamoto of the Japanese Red Army; Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, later the spiritual leader of Hamas; and Ziyad Nakhaleh, the current general secretary of Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Similarly, it is clear that alongside the Battle of Seif al-Quds/the Unity Intifada, the Freedom Tunnel – and, of course, the Wafa’ al-Ahrar prisoner exchange accomplished by the Resistance in 2011 in which many leaders, including most prominently, Yahya Sinwar, chair of the Political Bureau of Hamas, were liberated – is one of the immediate forebears of 7 October 2023.
The light of liberation that shone from the Freedom Tunnel has become a burning sun of the Palestinian revolution, casting away all illusions and exposing the friends and enemies of the Palestinian people, unquenchable until victory and liberation, from the river to the sea. It is clear to all that the Palestinian resistance – alongside the resistance forces in the region, stretching from Lebanon to Yemen to Iraq to Syria to Iran, and around the world, from the Sahel to Venezuela, with the support of our movements on our campuses, communities, countries and cities everywhere, including in the heart of the imperial core – can and will defeat the Zionist project in Palestine and US-led imperialism in the region, no matter how vicious their genocidal aggression and the irreplaceable human toll that they are determined to extract from the Palestinian and Arab people.
Today, the six heroes of the Freedom Tunnel are high priorities for liberation in a prisoner exchange conducted by the Resistance, alongside their fellow leaders of the prisoners’ movement: Marwan Barghouti, Ahmad Sa’adat, Abdullah Barghouti, Abbas al-Sayyed, Ibrahim Hamed, Hassan Salameh, Nael Barghouti, and their fellow prisoners with lengthy sentences, alongside the steadfast women prisoners like Khalida Jarrar, Hanan Barghouti, Bushra al-Tawil, Shatila Abu Ayad, and all of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners held behind Zionist, imperialist and collaborationist reactionary regime bars.
The situation inside the prisons has become even worse for Palestinian prisoners, as the Zionist regime carries out a deliberate policy of torture, starvation, medical neglect and abuse. For thousands of Palestinians abducted from Gaza and held in the torture camps like Sde Teiman, Zionist imprisonment has meant extreme physical and psychological torture, rape and sexual assault, conducted as a matter of state policy. The internal Zionist front is being torn apart with contradictions, especially after the exposure of the Netanyahu government’s willingness to give up the Zionist captives held by the Resistance in order to prolong their political future – even at the expense of the Zionist project itself.
This year, as we recall the Freedom Tunnel, we are republishing our analysis (slightly edited) issued on the anniversary of the Freedom Tunnel, below. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all in the movement to take this anniversary as an occasion to highlight the struggles of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement as part and parcel of the Palestinian liberation struggle, demand an end to the genocide, the freedom of the Palestinian prisoners and the liberation of all of Palestine, and to celebrate and honour the heroic resistance of the Palestinian people, especially the armed resistance at the forefront of that liberation.
Glory to the martyrs, freedom for the prisoners, and liberation for Palestine, from the river to the sea.
Today, 6 September, marks the anniversary of the Freedom Tunnel, when six Palestinian prisoners liberated themselves in 2021 from the high-security Gilboa prison of the Israeli occupation. The six Palestinians — Mahmoud al-Ardah, Mohammed al-Ardah, Yousef Qadri, Ayham Kamamji, Munadil Nafa’at and Zakaria Zubaidi — became national and international symbols of resistance and of the Palestinian will to freedom in seemingly impossible circumstances, while the simple spoon became a new icon of the resistance and steadfastness of the Palestinian people and their resistance leaders behind bars. While the six were eventually re-captured, their daring, well-organized escape from Gilboa exposed the weakness and cracks hiding beneath the propaganda exterior of “impenetrable Israeli security,” throwing the occupation prison system into internal crisis.
Five more Palestinian prisoners — Iyad Jaradat, Mahmoud Abu Shreim, Ali Abu Bakr, Mohammed Abu Bakr and Qusay Mar’i — are also imprisoned for their role in supporting the Freedom Tunnel actions. The six Freedom Tunnel prisoners and the five who supported them are held in solitary confinement and isolation, in a fruitless attempt to prevent their actions from remaining a bright example to the Palestinian prisoners’ movement and the Palestinian people.
Coming as it did so soon after the battle of Seif al-Quds/the Unity Intifada, the Freedom Tunnel captured the imaginations and consciences of the Palestinian people and Arab nation but also of all around the world who struggle for justice and liberation. Despite decades spent behind bars, the occupation was unable to break the will of the Palestinian prisoners or their leadership in resistance, and the six heroes of the Freedom Tunnel have once again demonstrated this clearly to the world.
Palestinian Prisoner Escapes
The Freedom Tunnel built on a long history of Palestinian prisoners’ resistance actions, from hunger strikes to collective rebellions behind bars, as well as successful escapes and self-liberations from occupation prisons. Some of the major escapes in Palestinian history include:
Atlit prison, 1938 – One of the leaders of the 1936-1939 revolt in Palestine against British colonialism, who fought alongside Sheikh Izzedine al-Qassam, Issa Hajj Suleiman al-Battat, escaped with several other Palestinian prisoners jailed by the British in 1938 before
Shata prison, 1958 – Many estimate this was the largest prison uprising and escape since the Nakba. Approximately 190 Palestinian and Arab prisoners revolted inside the Shata prison in the Jordan Valley on 31 July 1958. 77 prisoners escaped after fierce fighting in which 11 prisoners and two jailers were killed. Mohammed Jahjah, Zakaria Zubaidi’s grandfather, was one of the prisoners who liberated himself in this rebellion, who then participated in leading the fedayeen in armed struggle in Irbid, Jordan, before moving with the fighters to Syria.
Hamza Younes prison escapes, 1964, 1967 and 1971 – Palestinian prisoner Hamza Younes, from Ara, south of Haifa, escaped from occupation prisons on three occasions: from Asqelan prison, from a hospital and a third time from Ramle prison. In 1971, he escaped to Lebanon where he joined the Palestinian resistance there.
Ramallah prison, 1969 – Mahmoud Abdullah Hammad from Silwad, near Ramallah, escaped during a prisoner transfer in 1969. He evaded occupation forces for nine months and successfully made it to Jordan.
Nasser Issa Hamed and Majdi Suleiman Abu al-Safa, 1983 – Nasser was 15 years old at the time and was taken to the occupation court on 27 January 1983. The prisoners launched a confrontation inside the court and Nasser escaped into Ramallah, where he took shelter in an unfinished construction project. He hid in a well as he attempted to make his way home to Silwad, but eventually turned himself in after his mother was arrested by the occupation forces. One month later, learning of the story, Majdi Suleiman Abu al-Safa escaped in the same way from the occupation courts, making his way to Jordan and then to Colombia and Brazil, where he has remained until the present day.
Gaza prison, 1987 – Six Palestinian prisoners escaped Gaza prison on 17 May 1987; three were later assassinated by occupation forces and one more was re-imprisoned. Imad Saftawi and Khaled Saleh fled the Gaza Strip and maintained their freedom.
Nafha prison, 1987 – Three Palestinian prisoners, Khaled al-Rai, Shawqi Abu Nasir and Kamal Abdel-Nabi escaped Nafha prison successfully in 1987 but were recaptured eight days later as they attempted to make their way to Egypt.
Omar Nayef Zayed’s prison escape, 1990 – On 21 May 1990, Omar Nayef Zayed escaped from occupation prisons four years after his arrest as he was transferred to a hospital in Bethlehem. He made his way to Jordan and then to Bulgaria in 1994. In 2016, occupation forces attempted to have him extradited from Bulgaria to occupied Palestine, and he took refuge inside the Palestinian Authority embassy where he was later killed on 26 February 2016. His fight against extradition sparked an international campaign to support him and demand his freedom.
Escape of Saleh Tahaineh, 1996 – Saleh Tahaineh escaped from Ofer prison in a complicated plan involving his fellow struggler Nu’man Tahaineh — later also assassinated by the occupation — and another Palestinian prisoner scheduled to be released. He took the place of the prisoner whose release was scheduled, who then noted that he had not been released. He had earlier switched places with Nu’man, who had a much lower sentence. He was pursued and eventually killed by occupation forces after being captured. Both Saleh and Nu’man Tahaineh were mentors of Mahmoud and Mohammed al-Ardah.
Kfar Yona prison, 1996 – Two Palestinian prisoners, Ghassan Mahdawi and Tawfiq al-Zaben, escaped through a tunnel in 1996, the first prisoner escape that made use of a tunnel. While Mahdawi was seized the next year, al-Zaben was pursued by the occupiers for four more years.
Ofer prison, 2003 – Four Palestinian prisoners escaped from Ofer prison in 2002 during the Al-Aqsa Intifada, including Palestinian student Amjad al-Deek, using spoons and other implements to tunnel their way outside the prison. Three were later recaptured while Riyad Khalifa was killed by occupation forces.
Freedom Tunnel, 2021 – Six Palestinian prisoners escaped from Gilboa prison after digging a tunnel beneath the prison. While they were eventually recaptured, their bravery and commitment inspired Palestinians, Arabs and people around the world, especially in an era of advanced technological surveillance.
Multiple escape attempts – Over the years, Palestinian prisoners, including Mahmoud al-Ardah, who led the Freedom Tunnel operation, attempted to escape, including digging lengthy tunnels before being blocked. These included prisoners in Shata prison in 1998, Asqelan prison in 1996, Gilboa prison in 2014, and Eshel prison.
Inside the Prisons: Confronting the Occupier
The Freedom Tunnel action not only captured the imagination of Palestinians, Arabs and internationals seeking justice, in an era in which such actions had come to seem nearly impossible due to the high level of technological and electronic surveillance, it also sparked a crisis for the occupation. It exposed the weaknesses and failures in the system of military occupation that could not be protected by technology alone and remained highly vulnerable to the human element of the drive for freedom.
Since the Freedom Tunnel, the occupation has deployed large sums of money and resources to “enhance security” in the prisons, especially as they completed their self-liberation from Gilboa Prison Section 5, which had been constructed in 2004 and was touted as “invulnerable” to escape attempts. Over a period of time, the six prisoners dug the tunnel to the outside below the toilet area. They proceeded through the tunnel at approximately 1:49 am, and they were discovered not by an alert within the prison but by a settler who reported the presence of a “suspicious person” nearby. Images of occupation soldiers staring at the hole in the ground left by the tunnel and puzzling over the prisoners’ route were widely distributed.
The prison administration immediately began to implement measures against the prisoners following their public security humiliation. When the six heroes of the Freedom Tunnel were re-arrested, they were thrown in solitary confinement in difficult conditions, not provided medical care for their obvious injuries from beating and torture upon arrest, and transferred from prison to prison. However, they were not alone; the prisoners’ movement inside the prisons rose up, taking protest actions and burning cells to demand the rights of the Freedom Tunnel heroes. Outside, the Palestinian resistance announced that the six Freedom Tunnel prisoners would be at the top of the list for any upcoming prisoner exchange agreement.
Prison officials imposed a lockdown on many prisoners, particularly those of the Islamic Jihad movement and all prisoners with high or life sentences. Five of the six Freedom Tunnel prisoners are part of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, while the sixth, Zakaria al-Zubaidi, is a longtime Fateh leader; all six are from Jenin. The occupation authorities attempted to impose transfers every six months on those with high sentences, engaged in mass transfers of the Islamic Jihad prisoners, blocked family visits and engaged in ongoing raids, invasions and aggressive searches throughout the prisons.
In March 2022, the united Palestinian prisoners’ movement escalated toward a collective open hunger strike to stop such measures from going into effect, and the occupation was forced to back down. When it attempted to do the same again in August 2022, the prisoners’ movement again planned for an open hunger strike to begin on 1 September 2022, which was again averted as the occupation backed down. Further, the Islamic Jihad prisoners also achieved an end to the ongoing transfers of their prisoners and to return the prisoners to the sections from which they were originally transferred, while two prisoners, Abdullah al-Ardah and Abed Obaid, were returned to the general prison population from isolation.
In May 2022, the six heroes of the Freedom Tunnel were sentenced to five additional years of imprisonment, while five more Palestinians — Mohammed Abu Bakr, Iyad Jaradat, Ali Abu Bakr, Mahmoud Abu Shreim and Qusai Mar’i — were sentenced to four years for assisting their fellow prisoners.
In response to the sentences, Yaqoub Qadri affirmed: “We do not care what the sentence is. The important thing is that we made the impossible possible; we were able to break through the Israeli security services and dealt a blow. We were able to achieve something that was unthinkable for Israel and its security mechanisms.”
Even the judge in the court essentially affirmed Qadri’s comments that the sentence is a form of revenge for exposing the fragility of colonial domination in Palestine, noting that their self-liberation, “paralyzed the nation for days” and caused large financial expenditures, imposing additional costs on the occupation.
The response to repression following the Freedom Tunnel has been increased resistance inside the prisons, strong unity between all Palestinian political forces and a continued promise of freedom that no amount of repression has been able to suppress.
The Freedom Tunnel and The Resistance
Estimates indicate that the occupation spent tens of millions of dollars in less than 12 days in their pursuit of the Freedom Tunnel heroes. They further launched a project to fortify the prisons at a cost of $2.5 million. Thousands of police and army forces participated in the searches, with 720 police patrols, dozens of military vehicles and 250 checkpoints set up in the panicked reaction to the self-liberation of these Palestinian prisoners.
The effect of this action on the occupier and the self-liberation of these six Palestinians from Jenin has continued to inspire and inflame the growing resistance in Jenin, which has been the site of harsh battles as occupation forces attempt to suppress the resistance. Many referred to the Freedom Tunnel heroes as the Jenin Brigade, the name taken up by the fighters resisting the occupation in Jenin and heroically fighting back a massive invasion in July 2023.
The Freedom Tunnel came only months after the Seif al-Quds Battle/Unity Intifada throughout Palestine and served to confirm once again that the prisoners are at the heart of the resistance and are a truly unifying factor for the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause. The Palestinian resistance upheld the centrality of the prisoners in the defense of Gaza in the Unity of the Fields battle of August 2022 and again in the Revenge of The Free of May 2023, amidst massacres by the occupation and through the placement of the Freedom Tunnel prisoners at the top of the list for an exchange agreement. Today, amid the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood, the prisoners are once again at the core of the liberation movement, a compass toward freedom, resisting the genocidal onslaught alongside their people throughout Palestine.
Internationalism and the Freedom Tunnel
The message of the Freedom Tunnel was not confined to occupied Palestine nor even to Palestinians in exile and diaspora around the world. In protests and demonstrations in many international cities, the symbol of the spoon and the images of the Freedom Tunnel heroes inspired people to take to the streets to demand justice and liberation for Palestine and the Palestinian prisoners and an end to Western imperialist complicity with and support for occupation crimes.
From the Philippines to Colombia to France, where Georges Abdallah has been jailed for 40 years, the message of the Freedom Tunnel resonated among political prisoners and those fighting for their liberation. It proved the indomitable will of revolutionary prisoners and of the Palestinian people in seeking freedom in the most unfavorable circumstances, inspiring many to mobilize and join the movement to liberate Palestinian prisoners — and Palestine itself, from the river to the sea.
The Freedom Tunnel and the six heroes of the self-liberation operation represent the irrepressible hope of freedom and commitment to liberation that no amount of militarized repression and Zionist colonization has suppressed, for over 75 years. The actions of this “Freedom Brigade” are not only a symbol of hope for Palestinians but also for everyone in the world who seeks justice and freedom.
Building on the experiences of Palestinian prisoners who liberated themselves in the past, they exposed the crumbling edifices of the Israeli occupation and forced them to waste tens of millions of dollars in their massive manhunt. Their bravery and commitment to freedom is celebrated throughout Palestine, from the river to the sea, and everywhere around the world. Spoons – symbols of the rusty kitchen tools they used to dig their way to liberation – have come to represent the irrepressible drive to freedom.
Al-Aqsa Flood changed the world, building upon the history of the Palestinian revolution — including that of the Freedom Tunnel. As we build the global intifada and develop our movement to confront the Zionist genocide and support the Resistance and the liberation struggle, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all to stand with the Palestinian prisoners’ movement and the Palestinian people to demand justice and liberation for Palestine, from the river to the sea.
The Freedom Tunnel prisoners
Mahmoud al-Ardah
Mahmoud Abdullah al-Ardah, the leader of the Freedom Tunnel escape, was born on 8 November 1975 and grew up in Arraba, Jenin. He first became active as a boy during the great popular intifada of 1987 and was seized and imprisoned for the first time in 1992 on allegations of targeting occupation jeeps and military patrols with Molotov cocktails. He became a part of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement in prison before his release in 1996. Eight months later he was arrested again by the occupation forces for shooting a military officer invading Salfit and harbouring the martyr leader Saleh Tahaineh, who had himself escaped from occupation prisons. He was already sentenced to 99 years in occupation prisons before the Freedom Tunnel operation.
Photos of Mahmoud al-Ardah from 1997 in Megiddo prison (above)
After his imprisonment, he attempted to escape on multiple occasions, in 2001, 2011 and 2014. In the latter instance, he was accused of digging a tunnel to escape from Shata prison and on each occasion he was placed in isolation. He obtained both his high school diploma and bachelor’s degree in prison and became a leader of the prisoners’ movement before designing and planning the Freedom Tunnel self-liberation.
Mohammed al-Ardah
Mohammed Qasem al-Ardah, is 39 years old, from Arraba, Jenin. He has been imprisoned since 14 May 2002 and is sentenced to 3 life sentences and 20 years (now 25 years) in occupation prisons for his role in the military resistance to occupation, particularly during the Al-Aqsa Intifada. He is a struggler with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement. His brother, Ahmad, said that Mohammed was like a second father to their family after the death of their own father. He became the imam of the mosque in the area and a beloved, respected figure in Arraba. Like Mahmoud al-Ardah, Mohammed al-Ardah knew Nu’man Tahaineh, involved with Saleh Tahaineh in his escape, closely, as well as fellow escapees Iyad Sawalha and Iyad al-Hamran, both of which were involved in the 2002 escape from Ofer prison.
Yaqoub Qadri
Yaqoub Mahmoud Qadri (Ghawadra) was born on 22 December 1972 in Bir al-Basha, Jenin, growing up in Bir al-Basha and neighboring Arraba. As a teen, he was active in the great popular intifada of 1987. Seized by the occupation forces, he became more active following his imprisonment. He was later detained by the Palestinian Authority in 1996 under its “security coordination” with the Israeli occupation, and with the Al-Aqsa Intifada, became active in the resistance with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement, fighting to defend his village and neighboring villages and refugee camps from invasions by occupation soldiers.
He participated in the battle to defend Jenin camp in 2002 when it was subjected to massacres by occupation forces, and in operations targeting illegal settlers stealing Palestinian land. He was “wanted” and pursued by the occupation for over a year before he was seized in October 2003 in a cave near Zababdeh. He was sentenced to two life sentences and 35 years after spending four months under severe torture in interrogation in Jalameh interrogation center. He joined Mahmoud al-Ardah in the attempt to escape Shata prison in 2014 before once again joining in the Freedom Tunnel escape. He described the days of his self-liberation as the most beautiful of his life.
Munadil Nafa’at
Munadil Naf’at, 26, is one of four brothers from Ya’bad, Jenin. His family is heavily involved in the struggle for Palestine, and the four brothers have not been able to meet in one room for 16 years, as one has always been imprisoned. He and his family are farmers; he has been arrested repeatedly since he was 14 years old. He had been detained for 19 months without trial on allegations of involvement with the resistance and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad Movement at the time of his self-liberation through the Freedom Tunnel.
Ayham Kamamji
Ayham Fouad Kamamji, 36 years old, is from Kufr Dan, Jenin. He has been imprisoned since he was 20 years old in 2006 on the basis of involvement in the resistance with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement. Sentenced to two life sentences, he said that the inspiration for his escape was to see his mother’s grave, as he had been denied permission to attend her funeral in 2019. He had been active in the Palestinian prisoners’ movement since his arrest. On 14 April 2022, again only weeks before the additional sentencing of the Freedom Tunnel prisoners, his brother Shas Kamamji was killed by the occupation forces in Kfar Din. Many of Ayham’s brothers are also former prisoners for their role in resisting occupation.
Zakaria Zubaidi
Zakaria al-Zubaidi, born in 1976 in Jenin refugee camp, became one of the most prominent leaders of Fateh’s armed wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades, during the Al-Aqsa Intifada. Mohammed Jahjah, Zakaria Zubaidi’s grandfather, was one of the prisoners who liberated himself in the 1958 Shata prison rebellion and escape, who then participated in leading the fedayeen in armed struggle in Irbid, Jordan, before moving with the fighters to Syria.
Both his mother and his brother Taha were killed by occupation forces in 2002. He was repeatedly pursued by the occupation and was eventually promised an amnesty brokered by the Palestinian Authority. He married and had two children, a son and a daughter, and became a prominent advocate for Palestinian arts with the Freedom Theatre in Jenin. In this capacity, he met with many international activists and supporters of Palestine. His amnesty was revoked in 2011 and he was detained without charge by the Palestinian Authority for six months and then later held in a PA jail in “protective custody.” In 2018, he began his master’s degree studies at Bir Zeit University, but in 2019, he and his lawyer, Tariq Barghout, were seized by occupation forces and detained on allegations of armed resistance to the occupation. He finally obtained his master’s degree behind prison bars.
In May 2022, shortly before he was re-sentenced, occupation forces killed Daoud al-Zubaidi, Zakaria Zubaidi’s brother, a former Palestinian prisoner and a longtime struggler of the Palestinian resistance in Jenin. Daoud al-Zubaidi’s body is currently being imprisoned alongside over 550 bodies of the martyrs, a form of collective punishment imposed by the Zionist regime.
Mohammed Zakaria Zubaidi, and his uncle Mohammed Zubaidi, flank a photo of Naim Zubaidi. All three are martyrs of the Palestinian liberation cause.
On 4 September 2024, two days before this anniversary, Zakaria’s eldest son Mohammed was martyred at the age of 21, a leader and a fighter in the resistance in Jenin, alongside four of his comrades, in a Zionist assassination attack which fired three missiles at their car.
Mohammed Zubaidi carries the body of the martyr Wafa Jarrar.
The following statement was issued today by the CUNY 28 at their press conference outside the courthouse where 8 of the CUNY 28 continue to face unjust charges for their participation in the student encampment for Palestine. As CUNY for Palestine writes, “On 4/30, hundreds across the city were arrested at protests and Gaza solidarity encampments. While the charges have been dropped for most, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, CUNY, and the NYPD continue to pursue the heaviest charges for 8 of the now CUNY 28. In addition to the previously known 22, there were 6 additional comrades arrested that same night also facing felony charges. We’ve since connected with the 6 other comrades who were brutalized and arrested that night at CCNY, but who were isolated by the bureaucracy of the carceral machine and are also facing heavy and unjust charges.
TELL CUNY TO MEET THE 5 DEMANDS. DROP THE CHARGES FOR ALL OF THE CUNY 28. FREE PALESTINE.”
Escalating to end a genocide is not a crime — indeed, it is a duty, particularly in the heart of the imperial core, at a moment when the resistance forces of the region, from Palestine to Yemen to Lebanon to Iraq and beyond, are on the front lines sacrificing and fighting for the protection and liberation of humanity. We must all make clear that the raids and arrests will not intimidate our movement nor cause us to de-escalate our tactics and methods of struggle, but will only lead us to greater unity, resistance and confrontation, to end the genocide and for a free Palestine from the river to the sea.
The strong and principled statement of the CUNY 28 is below:
As of today, tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been martyred over the last ten months. This is a continuation of 76 years of the genocidal ambitions of the zionist state, a continuation of the Nakba. These numbers do not account for the countless thousands missing under the rubble in Gaza. An entire population is being starved, while over 20,000 are held hostage in the West Bank.
Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq continue to answer to the Palestinian call by confronting the zionist entity, smashing all illusions of the occupation’s invincibility while they deal with the entity’s outbursts. “The Axis of Resistance bears its responsibility not only in supporting Gaza but in doing more to serve the primary goal, which is stopping the aggression in all its forms.”
The fight is not just in solidarity, but in resisting assimilation to the colonial project. The CUNY 28 attempted to answer the call made by the steadfast Palestinian resistance to escalate from within the belly of the beast. We resist with Gaza.
Since October 7th, numerous CUNY administrations have issued disingenuous statements about anti-Semitism on campus, yet they remain silent on the ongoing genocide. Instead, CUNY actively represses and condemns any support of the Palestinian right to self-determination and liberation, contributing to the widespread racist dehumanization of Palestinians.
As the zionist entity continues its destruction of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank—and as the United States maintains its genocidal hegemony from Palestine to Harlem—the working-class people of the world escalate. An encampment should not normalize the institution—it should disrupt it, dismantle it and abolish it.
The occupation of buildings by students and outside agitators symbolizes reclaiming space and disrupting normal operations to draw attention to injustices and to force institutions to address the demands of protestors.
The night of the CUNY raid, “public safety” brutalized protesters. CUNY “public safety” are the pigs! The pigs are the IOF! Anyone that chooses to play the role of a pig is the enemy. A principled encampment should never collaborate with the pigs.
Since the violent escalation by CUNY and the pigs, all 22 agitators were charged with 3rd degree felony burglary—a clear representation of state repression against those of us who choose to act against genocide. At the same time, the CUNY Board of Trustees introduced a resolution to spend 4 million dollars on a private security firm that advertises its services to pigs and zionist-trained “experts” to spy on pro-Palestine protesters.
CUNY agitators spent more time in custody than Columbia protesters, and are still facing higher charges and continued backlash. The narrative of “good” vs. “bad” protester is a narrative pushed by the state to divide our efforts along class and racial contentions, but in reality the fight against the same enemy unites us.
We will not be intimidated into silence by the state.
Eight of the 22 have decided to resist this blatant state reprisal. We will not be bullied into silence by any court, nor Alvin Bragg and his many zionist donors. More than 90% of people serving time in federal prisons right now accepted coercive plea bargains instead of going to trial. The judicial system is built on mass-incarceration, capitalizing off of modern prison labor, which is just another form of slavery.
We are fighting our charges, not only because we do not recognize the state’s claim to authority over our actions, but also because we believe that challenging these charges is a necessary stand against an unjust system that seeks to silence dissent and criminalize resistance. It is hypocritical of the state to criminalize property damage at a protest, while signing lucrative contracts to destroy entire communities.
We are not just fighting for a Free Palestine but for the liberation of all. We fight for ourselves and our communities. Palestine is everywhere.
Remember, “we are all outside agitators.” Whether we are fighting in Atlanta, New York City, Sudan, or Palestine, the enemy remains the same. The zionist entity escalates, so does the Palestinian Resistance. The pigs and institutions escalate, so do the agitators of the world!
Watch the press conference video below:
CUNY presser: “We are all outside agitators whether we are fighting in Atlanta, New York, Sudan or Palestine — the enemy remains the same. The zionist entity escalates & so does the Palestinian resistance. The pigs & their institutions escalate, so do the agitators of the world.” pic.twitter.com/7H6UtrdqgG
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is an endorser and participant in this call. We urge all organizations to join in the week of action by endorsing the call and organizing actions and events — a day within the week will be specifically dedicated to the liberation of Palestinian prisoners!
INTERNATIONAL WEEK OF ACTION
OCTOBER 4-13, 2024
RESISTING GENOCIDE: BOYCOTT FOR PALESTINIAN LIBERATION
END THE GENOCIDE NOW!
The Canadian BDS Coalition & International BDS Allies call upon all supporters of Palestinian liberation around the world to join us in a week of boycott action from October 4 through 13, 2024, marking one year of genocide and one year of resistance – amid 76 years of genocide and 76 years of resistance – to end the genocide now and liberate Palestine!
Organize boycott actions at local stores, government buildings and other facilities, mobilize mass marches and demonstrations, hold political education events, take direct action, flyer, sticker, poster and act for the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea. Target Zionist products and complicit companies, educate your community about the boycott movement, mobilize on campus for divestment, expose the complicity of corporate and state-backed media, confront Zionist “charities” funding the “Israeli” war machine, and demand the full international isolation of the Zionist regime.
Join us for a week of action that will include:
Day of Action for Palestinian Children
Day of Action for Palestinian Journalists
Day of Action for Palestinian Political Prisoners
Day of Action for the Palestinian Resistance
Day of Action for Palestinian Refugees & The Right to Return
The struggle for the right to return and the liberation of Palestine is being led by the Palestinian people and especially by the armed resistance on the front lines in Palestine and throughout the region. This is not only a struggle to bring the past 12 months of extreme genocidal aggression to an end, but for the liberation of Palestine. At the same time, we see the complicity and direct responsibility of the United States, Canada, Britain, and European Union states for the ongoing genocide, through ongoing weapons sales and unlimited political, diplomatic and military support for the genocidal regime.
We urge all groups to endorse the Week, join in, take action, and organize your own events. We will provide posters and other materials that you can use in your actions, and we invite you to become part of our planning team to share your ideas with other organizations that are part of the Week of Action. Let’s come together for a powerful International Week of Action for Boycott for Palestinian Liberation!
Three well-known Palestinian women journalists are also held in administrative detention: Asma Hraish, from Beitunia, Ramallah, held since April 3. She was ordered to administrative detention for 3 months — renewed once again on June 27.
Bushra Al-Taweel, imprisoned for the 7th time by the colonial occupation. She was seized by occupation forces on 7 March 2024, during an invasion of Ramallah and ordered to administrative detention for 6 months, which was again renewed on August 19.
Shaima Rawajba, a student at An Najah University, was arrested during a raid by the colonial army on her home in Nablus on April 18, then ordered to administrative detention for 3 months. Her arbitrary detention without charge or trial was renewed for a further 4 months on July 24. This is her second detention; in 2022, the occupying forces had first arrested her alongside 3 of her friends at Al-Aqsa Mosque.
On September 1, 2024, the occupation forces arrested Jenin’s cousin, Raghad Amr, alongside Raghad Mubarak and Al Yamama Harinat. Raghad Amr & Al-Yamama are students, and Raghad Mubarak a recent engineering graduate, of Palestine Polytechnic University in Al Khalil. All three were ordered to administrative detention for a period of 4 months.
Khalida Jarrar, an academic at Birzeit University and feminist activist, was arrested on December 26 and ordered to administrative detention for 6 months, renewed on June 24.
In addition to Dania Hanatsheh, two other prisoners released in the November exchange were re-arrested and ordered to administrative detention by the occupation forces:
Two graduates of Birzeit University are also detained under this regime. Layan Nasir, detained since April 7, whose detention was renewed on July 30 for an additional 4 months. Layan Nasir was previously arrested in 2021 and spent 50 days in detention. And Saja Muadi, originally from Ramallah, arrested on April 18 and ordered to administrative detention without charge or trial for 6 months.
