On Sunday, 23 January, campaigners in Montreal gathered on a snowy day outside the Israeli consulate to call for justice and freedom for Palestinian political prisoners. The demonstration, organized by Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU), the Canadian Palestinian Federation of Quebec and Canada Sanctions Israel, came as part of the international Week of Action to Free Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian Prisoners.
Watch the seven videos taken by videographer Robin Edgar below:
The demonstration urged the liberation of Sa’adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. He was jailed 20 years ago this week by the Palestinian Authority at the behest of Israel, and in 2006 was kidnapped by Israeli occupation forces from Jericho prison. Today, he is serving a 30-year sentence in Israeli jails and is a leader of the Palestinian national movement.
Participants also gathered to express support for Nasser Abu Hmaid, Palestinian prisoner who is suffering from cancer and a lung infection and has been largely comatose for weeks. After suffering from medical neglect inside Israeli jails for years, his life is now at severe risk. His family continues to be denied visits to him, even as he lays unconscious in an Israeli hospital.
The demonstrators urged the liberation of Sa’adat, Abu Hmaid, and their over 4,650 fellow Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons. The organizations in Montreal that convened this mobilization will be organizing further actions to free Palestinian prisoners and build the boycott of Israel.
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:
Photo: William Bozian
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.
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.
Photo: Plate-forme Charleroi-Palestine
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.
Supporting the call of the Samidoun network for action on the anniversary of the arrest of Palestinian revolutionary Ahmad Sa’adat, along with the Masar Badil callout for solidarity with the Naqab uprising, RCG branches mobilised across Britain to bring the message of resistance to the streets.
On 20 January, Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! (FRFI) held a demonstration in Oxford Street, central London, outside Marks and Spencers, which remains a symbol of British collaboration with the Zionist settler state of Israel. Banners and placards were held high with the clear message ‘Free Palestine’ and ‘Zionism is racism,’ as well as images of the freedom fighters and Palestinian political prisoners. Speakers on the open microphone spoke of Ahmad Sa’adat, the Birzeit University student prisoners and Nasser Abu Hamid, among the 4,650 Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli occupation gaols, including children, and over 500 in administrative detention without charge and trial.
The protest hailed the valiant hunger striker Hisham Abu Hawash and spoke of Georges Abdallah, a fighter for Palestine who himself has served over 37 years in French prisons and wrote a powerful statement demanding Ahmad Sa’adat’s release. Many passers-by stopped and joined in.
RCG supporters in Glasgow, Scotland, held a street stall on 20 January and received a lot of support from the community, with dozens of people signing a petition demanding freedom for Ahmad Sa’dat and all political prisoners as well as opposing British imperialism’s support for the Zionist state of Israel. On 22 January, supporters of FRFI in Newcastle protested outside Barclays because of its huge investments in the arms trade and support for Israel.
Also mobilising on 22 January, West London RCG/FRFI picketed businesses and banks on the British high street that support Britain’s partnership with Israel. Marks & Spencer, Holland and Barrett, Barclays and HSBC were called out for their corporate sponsorship of Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people. As a supporter of FRFI stated, ‘it’s so important for people in Britain to build an anti imperialist movement in solidarity with the oppressed in Palestine and, by extension, the global working class.’ The businesses that we targeted were forced to close their doors to customers as we protested to demand an end to all British support for the racist state of Israel.
The London-based Focus E15 housing campaign took to the streets to link Britain’s anti-working class housing policies with Israel’s eviction of indigenous Palestinians, with the message:
‘Focus E15 campaign sends solidarity to the Palestinian political prisoners. A photo from east London 22 January against evictions in London as the campaign recognises the struggle in Palestine against house demolition and land theft. Return the keys to the Palestinians. Let the political prisoners go. Long live Palestine! Long live Gaza! One struggle! One fight!’
In Manchester, a 22 January street stall followed a film showing and discussion on the imprisonment of Ahmad Sa’adat on 18 January, which featured analysis on the centrality of the political prisoners in Palestine, Ireland and other anti-imperialist struggles.
British imperialism is centrally involved in the case of Ahmad Sa’adat, with both Tory and Labour parties continuing a record of reactionary interventionism against the forces of Palestinian revolution. Narrating a chain of events beginning with the Zionist assassination of PFLP leader Abu Ali Mustafa in August 2001, sparking the assassination of fascist Israeli minister Rehavam Zeevi in the famous 17 October operation, the meeting heard of the Palestinian Authority role in locking up Sa’adat in the aftermath. A comrade told the meeting:
‘On 14 March 2006 Zionist occupation forces stormed Jericho prison and captured Sa’adat and other political prisoners, 15 minutes after Britain’s Labour government ordered the removal of its prison monitors. 50 jeeps and 3 tanks were part of the Israeli operation and two Palestinian security personnel were killed protecting the prisoners. Labour Foreign Secretary Jack Straw responded to Palestinian complaints by blaming the PA for not providing necessary security needed by British forces. The newly elected Hamas government had promised to release Sa’adat and the other prisoners.
Arafat and the Palestinian Authority were directly involved in the conspiracy, with the handing over of the six prisoners a trade off for Israel allowing Arafat to travel outside Ramallah. British politicians told the Israelis of their plans to leave and allowed the prison invasion to take place. The rest is history. In December 2008, Israel sentenced comrade Sa’adat to 30 years for leading a “terrorist organisation” and pinning responsibility on him for its armed actions. He has now been imprisoned for over 20 years. Prior to the events after Abu Ali’s execution, he had spent a combined further 10 years in prison on 8 different occasions. Sa’adat would spend the first three years in solitary confinement – only ending it with a collective hunger strike – and is frequently punished by the Zionist prison system’s vindictive measures. In 2011 Israel refused a Hamas demand to have Sa’adat released as part of the deal involving captured Zionist soldier Gilad Shalit.
It was an indictment of the Oslo ‘peace’ process that the colonising power could simply invade the supposedly free territory controlled by the PA, and British and US imperialist involvement reveals their true motives.’
Britain has the blood of Palestinian people on its hands as it continues the war by funding and arming the Zionist settler state. The Labour Party is as guilty as the Tories. Time to act!
Free Ahmad Sa’adat! Free all Palestinian political prisoners!
From the river to the sea – Palestine will be free!
On Saturday, 22 January, Samidoun Nederland organized a Palestine stand next to a busy marketplace in Amsterdam-West. The stand was part of the international week of action to free Ahmad Sa’adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the PFLP.
This initiative was a part of the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the arrest of the Palestinian leader by the Palestinian Authority on 15 January 2002 as part of its “security coordination” with Israel. Supporting the immediate release of Ahmad Sa’adat is part of supporting the release of all Palestinian prisoners, but it is also supporting the legitimacy of the resistance of the Palestinian people against the Zionist state while denouncing the criminal complicity of the Palestinian Authority with the occupation regime.
Besides calling for the liberation of Sa’adat and the 4650 other Palestinian political prisoners, the activists handed out flyers calling for a boycott of Israeli products and companies that support and profit off the colonization of Palestine.
Organizers disseminated stickers, collected donations and created a mailing list with sympathizers to stay up to date with Samidoun activities. Many market visitors and shoppers talked with the Samidoun activists and expressed their support for the Palestinian cause. Some people expressed their disdain for the Palestinian Authority and Mahmoud Abbas for their cooperation with Israel. Others talked with organizers about the role of the Palestinian prisoners movement in the Palestinian national liberation struggle.
Samidoun Nederland will organize more events in support of the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea. Contact Samidoun Nederland to get involved, or reach out to Samidoun Network to get involved in your local area outside of The Netherlands.
Samidoun Stockholm invites you to a screening of the film “Fedayin, le combat de Georges Abdallah” (“Fedayin, Georges Abdallah’s Fight”), which is about Abdallah and his life in struggle. The film is shown with English subtitles.
Georges Abdallah, the Lebanese communist and freedom fighter for Palestine, is currently jailed in France for over 37 years. He is one of Europe’s longest held political prisoners, despite the fact that he has been eligible for release since 1999.
Georges Abdallah is today a symbol of the struggle against imperialism, Zionism, capitalism and reactionary Arab states. He fought against the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and still fights for the freedom of Palestine.
The film depicts his life and struggle from Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon to the French prison where he is held today.
Samidoun Stockholm bjuder in till en visning av filmen “Fedayin, le combat de Georges Abdallah” (“Fedayin, Georges Abdallahs kamp”), som handlar om Abdallah och hans liv i kamp. Filmen visas med engelska undertexter.
Georges Abdallahs, den libanesiske kommunisten och frihetskämpen för Palestina är med hans 38 år i det franska fängelset Lannemezan en av Europas längst hållna politiska fångar. Detta trots att han har varit berättigad till frigivning sedan 1999.
Georges Abdallah är idag en symbol för kampen mot imperialism, sionism, kapitalism och reaktionära arabiska stater. Han kämpade i kriget mot den israeliska invasionen av Libanon och kämpar än idag för Palestinas frihet.
Filmen skildrar hans liv och kamp från palestinska flyktingläger i Libanon till det franska fängelset.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network congratulates Palestine Action for another court victory over Israeli arms manufacturer Elbit, only days after the company announced it had sold off its Oldham factory and facilities and one month after three more Palestine Action activists were found not guilty for defacing Elbit properties. The case against three activists was dropped due to police failings and an inability to produce evidence, before the three even began their defense.
Once again, this victory in a series of achievements shows that strong, direct action can extract a real cost from those responsible for the colonization of Palestine and profiteering from Israeli war crimes. Palestine Action is only building and escalating the campaign to #ShutElbitDown entirely. Visit Palestine Action to learn more about the campaign to #ShutDownElbit and how you can get involved in your area to take action!
Three Palestine Action activists have had the case against them dropped in a trial at Birmingham Magistrates Court. After taking on a company complicit in Elbit’s business of bloodshed, ‘abuse of process’ by the prosecution has led to these activists being cleared of charges. This was the second ever trial of Palestine Action activists, and they – like the first activists to go on trial – have walked free again in another humiliating showing in the Courts for Elbit.
The CPS offered failed to offer evidence on charges of criminal damage, aggravated trespass, and resisting arrest, after overcharging activists following serious failings by the police. Notably, the CPS failed to produce the silver command police log. The trial was therefore concluded before activists, represented by Lydia Dagostino at Kelly’s Solicitors, were able to present their case on the necessity of taking action to end British complicity in Israeli war crimes.
This victory is hugely significant, coming just a month after another three activists were similarly cleared of ‘criminal damage’ for a blockade of an Elbit factory. In their only two trials to date, Palestine Action have won – with even the courts system appearing to understand the necessity, and proportionality, of taking action to undermine British complicity in Israeli war crimes.
None of the activists who have faced trial thus far have been successfully prosecuted, with the action taken being shown in court to be necessary and proportionate in light of war crimes and human rights abuses committed with Elbit products. If even the courts system is able to recognise this, and the CPS are unable to present a viable case, Palestine Action have called for an end to police harassment, intimidation, and their causing of physical injury when arresting activists – with these arrests consistently failing to reach prosecution.
On the day of the action itself, 5th July 2021, three female Palestine Action activists shut down the Vine Property Management site in Birmingham as part of a wider campaign targeting the suppliers, partners and landlords of Elbit Systems Ltd. Prior to this, other activists chained the gates shut, occupied the roof and sprayed the site with red paint to signify its complicity in the murder of the Palestinian people. The action successfully brought operations to a halt, with activists demanding an end to the firm’s complicity in Elbit’s operations and by extension, in Israeli war crimes.
Vine Property Management trades under the Fisher German banner after a 2019 merger and is responsible for the operations, maintenance and oversight of Elbit subsidiary UAV Engines Factory in Shenstone, Staffordshire. This factory manufactures engines which are used in Elbit’s Hermes and Watchkeeper drones, with the Hermes drone being described as the ‘backbone’ of Israeli surveillance and targeting missions. It also possesses lethal capabilities which are deployed against civilian targets in Gaza.
On the day of the occupation, a Palestine Action spokesperson stated the following:
“The production of arms, drones, and military technology relies on an interconnected and massive network of complicit firms – Palestine Action are dismantling this network, demanding that firms cease their partnership with Elbit unless they want to be shut down along with them. The message to all other firms with Palestinian blood on their hands is simple: until you end your facilitation of Israel’s brutal repression of Palestinians and sever ties with Elbit, Palestine Action will shut you down and cease your contribution to genocide for you.”
In response to the @samidounnetwork call for a week of action to free Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian prisoners we will be picketing outside Marks & Spencers on Oxford Street.
Settler colonial state Israel continues to brutally occupy Palestine and incarcerate all those resisting the apartheid violence. Just yesterday a Palestinian family of 15 has been forcefully evicted and had to witness their house razed to the ground by the racist Israeli police in Sheikh Jarrah, the neighbourhood, which was the centre of resistance last year against Zionist occupation, that triggered solidarity actions internationally.
Join us at the protest tomorrow in central London outside Marks & Spencer Oxford Street in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Bring placards, flags, banners, whistles and pots & pans.
Free Ahmad Sa’adat
Free all Palestinian political prisoners
Zionism is racism!
End the occupation of Palestine!
Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism!
Victory to the Intifada!
Free Palestinian Prisoners
Rolling picket in Ealing, 22 January, 1pm
Meet outside HSBC, Ealing Broadway
Join West London RCG to protest against the businesses, banks and institutions in Britain that support Israel’s oppression of the Palestinian people.
This action organised as part of the international week of action to free Ahmed Sa’adat and all Palestinian prisoners, called by @samidounnetwork 15-22 January 2022
Hanna Kawas
Speaking on behalf of the 
The protest hailed the valiant hunger striker Hisham Abu Hawash and spoke of Georges Abdallah, a fighter for Palestine who himself has served over 37 years in French prisons and wrote a powerful statement demanding Ahmad Sa’adat’s release. Many passers-by stopped and joined in.
Organizers disseminated stickers, collected donations and created a mailing list with sympathizers to stay up to date with Samidoun activities. Many market visitors and shoppers talked with the Samidoun activists and expressed their support for the Palestinian cause. Some people expressed their disdain for the Palestinian Authority and Mahmoud Abbas for their cooperation with Israel. Others talked with organizers about the role of the Palestinian prisoners movement in the Palestinian national liberation struggle.
Saturday, 22 January