Palestinians and supporters of Palestine rallied for freedom for Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian prisoners in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, the heart of New York’s Palestinian and Arab community, on Saturday, 22 January. Part of the international week of action to free Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian prisoners, the action drew the largest crowds in recent memory for a New York protest in support of the liberation of jailed Palestinians.

The rally met with an enthusiastic response from the community and passers-by. As the security team prepared for the protest, a man identified himself as a liberated Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails, bringing coffee for the organizers and activists preparing for the demonstration. Passers-by also joined the demonstration, chanting for liberation for Palestinian prisoners and justice and liberation for the Palestinian people.

The demonstration opened with a statement from Sa’adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and a Palestinian national leader. Sa’adat is currently serving a 30-year sentence in Israeli occupation prisons, after he was kidnapped in 2006 from a Palestinian Authority prison. The week of action commemorates the 20th anniversary of Sa’adat’s arrest by PA security forces as part of its “security coordination” with the Israeli occupation — and its later imprisonment of Sa’adat under U.S. and British guard.

Joe Catron, Samidoun’s U.S. coordinator, spoke on behalf of the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat, presenting a statement issued by Sa’adat from Israeli occupation prisons on the importance of internationalist struggle and collective solidarity against imperialism:

How can we, Palestinians, not be internationalist? Connecting struggles and recognizing the common chains of our oppressors is not merely a political choice for our struggle. The reality is unmistakable: we face not only a local oppressor, the Zionist regime, but an international ruling class: the imperialist powers and the reactionary regimes that profit from doing their bidding. This is clear for us in occupied Palestine and for movements around the world whose struggles for justice, human dignity and the future of the planet itself regularly confront imperialist interventions and coups, relentless assaults on sovereignty and the domination of the institutions of global capital such as the IMF.

How can we, for example, fight against the dungeons, jails, prisons and incarceration systems of our oppressors? Is this the task of the prisoners alone? How can we combat injustices inflicted on women globally – is this the task of women alone? The same principle applies to struggles for social liberation or the struggles of the indigenous nations for self-determination, sovereignty and survival itself.

Key struggles take place daily in prisons, schools, factories, popular neighborhoods – from the “slums” of Soweto to the refugee camps of Lebanon to the “projects” in the U.S.

In order for us to accomplish our goals, to achieve our liberation, we must build an international popular front confronting imperialism. This is, was and always will be a task for all revolutionaries around the world. We stand together in one camp confronting common enemies: capitalism, imperialism, Zionism, racism and reaction.

From the battles against repressive forces and isolation here in Ramon prison to the fight to defend indigenous land and popular movements in Brazil to the movement for peasant and worker justice in the Philippines, we are labeled “terrorists” because we work to protect our land and our people; in reality, we face the same forces of terror and domination that extract our wealth and resources and exploit our people in the most brutal of circumstances.

The goal of every struggling revolutionary prisoner, whether in the prisons of the U.S., the Philippines, Turkey or the Zionist jails in Palestine, is to obtain freedom, not a momentary amelioration of torture. We are not simply seeking to moderate or reform the social and economic conditions of our people. We must be clear: we are struggling for socialism, for an alternative world – and in order to achieve victory, we must struggle together.

Ahmad Sa’adat
General Secretary, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Ramon Prison, Occupied Palestine

Speakers from a number of organizations conveyed strong messages in support of Palestinian liberation. Aton spoke on behalf of Jewish Voice for Peace and Hassan on behalf of Samidoun NY/NJ. Tamar of Palestinian Youth Movement spoke about the role of Palestinian youth in organizing to struggle against imperialism, Zionism and colonialism, including joint struggle to resist capitalism, racism and settler colonialism in the U.S.

Nerdeen Kiswani, chair of Within Our Lifetime – United for Palestine spoke about the Palestinian struggle to defend land in Sheikh Jarrah, al-Naqab and throughout occupied Palestine. Souphe spoke on behalf of Al-Awda NY, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, and Rabbi Weiss spoke for the Neturei Karta, the Orthodox Jewish anti-Zionist religious group, which had a strong presence at the mobilization.

Hassan’s statement for Samidoun NY/NJ urged broader mobilization for Palestinian prisoners and for return and liberation for Palestine:

Today we’re here to highlight the struggles of Palestinian prisoners, in particular Ahmed Sa’adat and to draw attention to the ongoing struggles in Sheikh Jarrah and Al Naqab.

These two things are intricately connected. The right to resist occupation is contingent on the rights of Palestinian prisoners and vice versa. We know from experience that if we resist genocide we will be called terrorists and criminals and aggressors. We know that in the zionist dungeons our people and especially our leaders are isolated tortured and abused.

We also know that the popular masses are on our side when we say that zionists are the real terrorists criminals and aggressors. They are on our side when we fight back against zionist abuse by any means necessary. That is our court and our jury. Theirs is the verdict that Ahmed Sa’adat and others like him await when they are accused of crimes by the Zionist entity.

With every flare-up of israeli aggression there are new prisoners and new martyrs. Our continued support for the prisoners, the martyrs and their families shows future militants that they will not be left behind. It shows every prisoner in Palestine that we are with them, that all the good people of the world will always be with them and we will never believe the lies the colonizers say about them.

Every prisoner in Palestine is there because of their steadfast refusal to accept racism, imperialism, and settler colonialism. Ahmed Sa’adat has been in prison for 20 years because of his refusal to roll over and accept genocide. Because of his dedication, inside and outside of prison, to Palestinian national liberation.

To quote Ahmed Sa’adat:

the Palestinian prisoners’ movement represents a living witness to the continuation of our people’s resistance to the Zionist settler colonial project.

We need to stand with them and support their struggle against the zionist criminals whether it’s in Al Naqab, in Jericho, or in Sheikh Jarrah. And we need to have the steadfastness, the sumoud, to continue our agitation and solidarity not just when Palestine is trending, not just when the voices have gotten too loud to ignore but every single day until soon when Palestine is liberated from the river to sea.

The demonstration was organized by Jewish Voice for Peace – NY, Palestinian Youth Movement, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network and Within Our Lifetime – United for Palestine and endorsed by dozens of organizations.

Samidoun NY/NJ will be organizing actions and events in support of Palestine and the Palestinian prisoners’ movement in the coming period. To get involved, please contact Samidoun NY/NJ on Instagram or on Twitter.

Crowds of activists gathered outside the Commercial-Broadway Skytrain station in Vancouver on a sunny Saturday afternoon to call for freedom for Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian prisoners. The rally expressed support for Palestinians struggling for return and liberation in al-Naqab, Jerusalem, and throughout occupied Palestine as well as in exile and diaspora.

The protest was organized by Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, the Palestinian Youth Movement, Canada Palestine Association, BDS Vancouver – Coast Salish and the International League of Peoples’ Struggle as part of the international Week of Action to Free Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian Prisoners. Speakers expressed their strong support for Palestinian political prisoners and urged greater mobilization for Palestinian liberation.

Charlotte Kates, international coordinator of Samidoun, opened the rally by expressing solidarity with Indigenous struggles for liberation and self-determination on Turtle Island, noting that Canadian settler colonialism has been in league with the Zionist project since its inception and continues to support Israel and its crimes against the Palestinian people on diplomatic, political, economic and even military levels.

Aiyanas Ormond, coordinator of ILPS Canada, spoke about the complicity of the Canadian state in the ongoing crimes taking place against the Palestinian people and urged anti-imperialist struggle and action to stand with Palestinian prisoners and their leaders like Ahmad Sa’adat.

Kathy Copps spoke on behalf of BDS Vancouver – Coast Salish, urging participants to join the campaign to boycott Israeli wines and specifically for the province’s New Democratic Party (NDP) government to live up to the party’s position on settlement products, and get these wines — produced on occupied Palestinian and Syrian land — out of publicly owned BC Liquor Stores. There will be a day of action on 5 February outside the BC Liquor Store at Alberni and Bute in downtown Vancouver to protest and build the boycott of Israel.

In a statement, Canada Philippines Solidarity expressed the common struggle between Palestine and the Philippines, emphasizing the struggle against imperialism in both countries as well as the role of political imprisonment in targeting activists and revolutionaries. They called for freedom for all political prisoners in occupied Palestine and the Philippines.

Javid spoke on behalf of Samidoun Vancouver, focusing on the 500 Palestinian administrative detainees jailed without charge or trial, currently engaged in a collective boycott of the Israeli military court. He focused on the arbitrary and indefinite nature of administrative detention as a form of individual and collective torture, and urged support for the administrative detainees and all Palestinian prisoners struggling for freedom.

Hanna Kawas, chair of the Canada Palestine Association and a veteran organizer for Palestine in Vancouver, emphasized the responsibility of imperialist powers like the United States and Canada for ongoing war crimes in occupied Palestine. In particular, he noted U.S. and Canadian complicity and direct involvement in the massacres being perpetrated in Yemen by Emirati, Saudi and other reactionary forces that are also involved in normalization with Israel. He declared that “the U.S. empire is crumbling!” to cheers from all present.

Kimball Cariou of the Communist Party of Canada spoke about Canada’s history and present reality as a colonial power and how this is reflected in its longstanding support of the Zionist project in occupied Palestine, demanding that Canadian political parties end their complicity and involvement in colonialism on this land and in Palestine.

Speaking on behalf of the Palestinian Youth Movement, Rawan noted that there is an upsurge in activities and organizing taking place outside Palestine to accompany the upsurge inside Palestine, particularly the defense of land taking place in the Naqab and Sheikh Jarrah. She invited people to participate in a banner drop PYM will organize on 29 January in support of Sheikh Jarrah and other upcoming activities to defend Palestinian land and lives.

Isa of Sulong UBC delivered a powerful solidarity statement focusing on the struggle of political prisoners behind bars, from the experience of torture to their leadership in the liberation struggle. She issued a powerful call for solidarity from Palestine to the Philippine to Turtle Island.

Khaled Barakat, Palestinian writer, delivered a powerful closing message on behalf of the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement (Masar Badil). He focused on the anti-colonial nature of the Palestinian struggle, expressing support for Indigenous struggle in Turtle Island and the national democratic movement in the Philippines. “We cannot support one struggle and neglect another. We are fighting the same enemy … the enemy of imperialism, capitalism, and exploitation. That is the enemy of the people.”

He emphasized that the Palestinian struggle has the right of Palestinian refugees to return at its core, noting that over half of the Palestinian people are denied their return to occupied Palestine. “We struggle not for a Palestinian state, bu for liberation, justice, sovereignty, and our homeland.” He noted that “Jewish people struggling against Zionism; we know they are part of our struggle.” In closing, he affirmed that Palestine can win and that the Palestinian resistance and people can defeat Israel. “Another world is possible. Another Palestine is possible. Another world in Palestine is possible.”

The event closed with chants for the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea and freedom for all political prisoners jailed by imperialist, Zionist and reactionary regimes, and a quote from Ahmad Sa’adat: “In defense of the justice of our cause and in defense of the legitimate struggle of our people against the occupation, I refuse to recognize the legitimacy of your court or to legitimize your occupation or to stand before either of these. Because what you call a list of accusations and ‘security infractions’ are in reality my patriotic duties…the general duty of resistance against occupation…I would like to reaffirm my pride in belonging to the Palestinian Revolutionary Movement and to the extensions of this movement in the regional, national and international planes that form the components of the international movement against the imperialist system.”

Samidoun is organizing in Vancouver to build solidarity with Palestine and the Palestinian prisoners’ movement. To find out more about how you can get involved, contact Samidoun Vancouver or reach out to the Samidoun Network to get involved in your area.

On Saturday, 22 January, Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine in Charleroi, Belgium, visited the Chatelineau open-air market as part of the campaign to free Ahmad Sa’adat, a leader of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement and the national liberation movement as a whole. A team of activists carried a large sign and distributed materials and information as part of the International Week of Action to free Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian prisoners.

Participants distributed flyers and information, talked with vendors and passers-by and took solidarity photos in support of the campaign. The flyers urge supporters to write letters to Ahmad Sa’adat behind bars to express solidarity. Letter-writing to Palestinian prisoners both boosts the morale of the prisoners while also making it clear to the Israeli occupation that they will not be isolated from their supporters and comrades around the world.

Send letters to the following address:

Ahmad Sa’adat
Ramon prison, P.O.Box 699
80600 MITZPEH RAMON
Israel

With this event, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network is honoured to announce that the Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine has decided to join the Samidoun Network as a member organization! For years, the Plate-forme, based in Charleroi, Belgium, has supported campaigns launched by Samidoun and disseminated articles and reports.

The Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine has been very active in mobilizing to free Georges Abdallah and all Palestinian prisoners in Belgium.

As part of its assembly on 15 January 2022, the members of Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine decided to join the network in order to make our collective work more effective.

Samidoun members around the world are very excited to work and struggle together with the Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine and increase our level of coordination and collective organizing to free all Palestinian prisoners and liberate Palestine.

To get involved and learn more about the Plate-forme, visit the Charleroi pour la Palestine website, or connect with the Plate-forme on Facebook.

We encourage all to join the Plate-forme for their next event — a meeting with Saïd Bouamama, author of the book, “L’Affaire Georges Ibrahim Abdallah.” Georges Abdallah, a Lebanese Arab struggler for Palestine, has been imprisoned for over 37 years in France. Join the event on Saturday, 5 February at 5:00 pm at Livre ou Verre, Passage de la Bourse 6, in Charleroi, Belgium.

Source: Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine