Palestinian prisoners' hunger strike continues - now is the time for international solidarity!
October 2, 2011 freeahmadsaadat.org
New Flyer Available about Hunger Strike (Download PDF)
Palestinian prisoners in several prisons, including Nafha prison, reported that they were threatened that family visits would be denied in retaliation for their participation in the hunger strike. Israeli prison officials told the prisoners that for each day they spent on hunger strike, they would be banned from family visitation for 1 month.
In addition, women prisoners participating in the hunger strike, Sumoud Kharajeh, Linan Abu Ghoulmeh, Duaa Jayyousi and Wuroud Kassem, were moved into isolation and solitary confinement, Linan Abu Ghoulmeh while under arbitrary administrative detention.
The Israeli occupation prison service also transfered prisoners from Departments 13 and 14 in the Nafha prison to other prisons; their location remains unknown. Two prisoners in Nafha, members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine who were abducted from Jericho prison with Ahmad Sa'adat have also been placed in isolation, Hamdi Qur'an and Basil al-Asmar.
During a family visit, Israeli occupation prison authorities confiscated the identity cards of the families of Palestinian prisoners Mahmoud Abu Wahdan and Raed Sayel. The families were told that because their imprisoned relatives refused to break their hunger strike, they were not allowed to visit them.
In the Ofer prison, Israeli authorities placed 9 detainees - members of the PFLP - in solitary confinement and confiscated all their personal effects, clothing and other belongings.
In Asqelan Prison, the Israeli prison administration prevented lawyers from visiting detainees. A lawyer who came to Asqelan to visit prisoners Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh, Allam Al-Kaabi, and Shadi Sharafa was banned from visiting the prisoners and informed that these three and all prisoners from the PFLP who are on hunger strike are prohibited from receiving lawyer visits.
Earlier in the day 20 prisoners from the Fateh party joined the open hunger strike, including the oldest Palestinian prisoner, Fakhri Barghouti, who entered his 34th year in Israeli prisons, and Akram Mansour, who has been imprisoned for 33 years and is quite ill with cancer. Additional prisoners will join the hunger strike in the next few days.
In the Negev prison, Anas Al-Shanti was placed in solitary confinement. In Ramon prison, prisoner Basem Al-Khandaqjy, a member of Central Committee of the People's Party, joined the hunger strike.
Platform for Solidarity with Palestine of Seville, Spain Expresses Solidarity with Ahmad Sa'adat and prison hunger strike
October 1, 2011
The Platform in Solidarity with Palestine in Seville, Spain, noted that it is engaged in campaigning for the release of Ahmad Saadat and all Palestinian prisoners and the current hunger strike. It sent the following letter to the International Committee of the Red Cross:
Dear friends of the International Committee of Red Cross,
We are really concerned about the latest news on the situation of Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails.
The cases of Ahmad Saadat, Ahmad Qatamesh, Ayed Dudeen are some serious examples of the thousands of prisoners held in administrative detention without charge or trial.
Israeli military orders of detention, the "secret evidence", the solitary confinement, the ill-treatment and torture, the humiliations and abuses that continuosly suffering of Palestinian prisoners are a flagrant violation of international law and human rights. The Israeli judicial system and military tribunals are a mockery of justice.
The case of prisoner Ahmad Saadat, General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and member of Palestinian Legislative Council, is really serious about being in solitary confinement since March 2009. Imprisonment in isolation is a serious risk to physical and mental health of prisoners. It is a technique frequently used against palestinian political prisoners.
Israel is a signatory to the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights whose Article 10 states that: "All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person."
The extension of isolation is another violation of the prisoners basic rights. Currently, prisoners in the prisons of the occupation have begun an indefinite hunger strike in protest against the use of isolation.
With this action, again, prisoners demanding freedon of Ahmad Saadat, and Ayed Dudeen, Ahmad Qatamesh and many others (in administrative detention renewed regularly) and all the palestinian prisoners. They demandig for the end the isolation of Ahmad Saadat and end of isolation of all Palestinian political prisoners, and the end to the policies of repression and humiliation against them and their families.
They demanding the end of the horror experienced by prisoners and their families -It is the systematic Israeli way of terror against the Palestinian population-.
We ask you, as a human rights organization, which put pressure on the government of Israel to implement international law, the human rights and the Fourth Geneva Convention regarding the treatment of civilians under occupation - whether this population is in prison or outside it -.
You have a humanitarian duty to follow up monitoring of the situation of Palestinian prisoners and to report about them. We await your urgent and firm intervention with prison Israeli authorities for demand respect for prisoners human rights.
Awaiting your response.
Sincerely,
Platform of Solidarity for Palestine
Blanco White, 5
41018 Seville, Spain
andaluciaconpalestina@yahoo.es
http://palestina.webcindario.com
éirígí plans Irish vigil in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners
28/09/11
éirígí, an Irish republican socialist political party, expressed its solidarity and support for the Palestinian prisoners' hunger strike and is organizing a vigil outside the Israeli embassy in Dublin at 6:30 pm on October 5. The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat encourages all solidarity activists and supporters in Ireland to join this important action:
"As republicans mark the 30th anniversary of the ending of the 1981 Irish hunger strikes, we in éirígí extend our solidarity to the Palestinian prisoners who have been steadfast in their resistance to the attempts of the Zionist regime to subjugate them. We also once more pay tribute to our comrades in the PFLP, who have taken this action for the sake of all prisoners of the Israeli occupation, and for their families and friends as well.
On Wednesday 5th October, éirígí will hold a candlelit vigil in support of the prisoners on hunger strike outside the Israeli embassy, Pembroke Road, Dublin, Ireland. The vigil will begin at 6.30pm. Bígí linn."
http://www.eirigi.org/latest/latest280911.html
Palestinian prisoners associated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine began a hunger strike yesterday [September 27] against conditions imposed on detainees by the zionist regime.
The prisoners are calling for an end to the humiliating treatment and abuse of prisoners, and of those trying to visit them. They are also demanding an end to the solitary confinement of Ahamd Sa’adat, general secretary of the PFLP.
Sa’adat was arrested in January 2002 by Palestinian Authority security at the behest of Israel. He was held without charge or trial at Jericho prison until March 2006, when Israeli forces laid siege to the prison and kidnapped Sa’adat and several comrades.
The zionists eventually tried Sa’adat, convicting him of membership of a prohibited organisation [the PFLP], of holding a post in a prohibited organisation, and of incitement. For these ‘crimes’ he was sentenced to 30 years in December 2008, and has been held in solitary ever since. He has now joined the hunger strike as well.
The Israeli prison regime responded immediately by threatening to increase repression against striking prisoners, by moving them into isolation or to other prisons entirely. This prison transfer tactic has been used frequently by the regime to break up comrades and to disrupt the organisation of resistance within the prison system.
The prisoners answered by announcing that they will escalate their campaign by rejecting all prison orders and refusing to wear their uniforms.
As republicans mark the 30th anniversary of the ending of the 1981 Irish hunger strikes, we in éirígí extend our solidarity to the Palestinian prisoners who have been steadfast in their resistance to the attempts of the zionist regime to subjugate them. We also once more pay tribute to our comrades in the PFLP, who have taken this action for the sake of all prisoners of the Israeli occupation, and for their families and friends as well.
On Wednesday 5th October, éirígí will hold a candlelit vigil in support of the prisoners on hunger strike outside the Israeli embassy, Pembroke Road, Dublin. The vigil will begin at 6.30pm. Bígí linn.
We print below the prisoners’ statement announcing the commencement of the hunger strike.
“We, the comrades of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the Zionist prisons and detention centers, declare to the steadfast, struggling brave masses of the Palestinian people and to all free people in the world:
We announce that we will begin an open-ended hunger strike on Tuesday morning, September 27, 2011, in response to the official policies of the Zionist government and its fascist prison administration. We demand our rights and our dignity, as we struggle for the victory of our values and ideals.
Our goals for this hunger strike:
1. End the solitary confinement and isolation of our comrade, General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and the PLO Central Council, Ahmad Sa’adat, Abu Ghassan.
2. End the policy of isolation for all prisoners;
3. End the policy of systematic humiliation by the occupation army against the Palestinian people at checkpoints and crossings, particularly targeting visitors to prisons, and end the arbitrary denial of visits to the prisoners, especially the prisoners from the Gaza Strip. End the humiliation and abuse of prisoners during transfer.
The principles of our revolution include the rejection of all forms of injustice, and for us to struggle and confront the occupier in all areas and places in our own manner. Accordingly, we call upon all of the Palestinian and Arab people, political forces and institutions, human rights and civil society organizations, to raise their voices for us, so that we do not become easy prey for a vicious occupier. We promise to all of our people, and to the legacy of the martyrs of Palestine, that we will continue on our path until victory.
Great glory to the martyrs ...
Victory to the revolution ...
Victory is inevitable.”
Yom Kippur, 2011 (5772): Call-to-Action
by the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network
In solidarity with political prisoners and those facing mass incarceration across Palestine, the US and the world...
Sunday, October 02, 2011
As we welcome the Jewish new year, we look back at the year behind us to address our complicity in the many injustices of our time by recommitting to our collective responsibility for justice and humanity. In particular, we reflect on the common plight and struggle of political prisoners and the many people across the world whose dignity is denied and liberty is threatened by mass incarceration and military blockades.
We are inspired in our struggle for justice by the sacrifice and courage of so many in the year behind us - the late Troy Anthony Davis, the Georgia prison strikers, Mumia Abu Jamal, Ahmad Sa'adat, Leonard Peltier, the people of Gaza confined to an open-air prison - and in front of us: the Palestinian prisoners and those jailed at Pelican Bay State Prison and other California prisons on hunger strike and carrying out civil disobedience in defense of the most basic of dignity and rights.
On September 30, 2011, Palestinians across occupied Palestine - from the West Bank to the State of Israel to Gaza - put out a call for solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners. On this Yom Kippur, Friday, October 7, we Jews of conscience, in response to this call, intend to extend our fast of atonement and take action to demand:
- An end to the isolation of Ahmad Sa'adat - General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine;
- A meeting of the demands of the civil disobedience and hunger strike of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons;
- An end to the death penalty in the United States and all other places it remains a State practice
- A meeting of the demands of the hunger strike at California state prisons
- An end to the Israeli blockade on Gaza and unconditional and permanent opening of the Rafah crossing
Israel now holds approximately 6,000 political prisoners, who are subjected to torture, humiliation, and solitary confinement. Many of these prisoners have never been tried, but are held in "administrative detention," and many are children under age 16. Palestinian prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons began an open-ended hunger strike on September 27, 2011, demanding an end to the isolation of Palestinian prisoner and national leader Ahmad Sa'adat, an end to isolation for all Palestinian political prisoners, and an end to the policies of repression and humiliation against visitors to the prisoners, including denial of family visits and visitors being stopped, searched and impeded at Israeli occupation checkpoints.The prisoners are also demanding an end to abuse and humiliation of prisoners while they are transferred from one prison to another, as well as their right to an education.
We stand with these political prisoners and prisoners of conscience all around the world who are imprisoned unjustly, and unjustly treated.
We stand with people all over the world whose daily lives are terrorized and unjustly controlled by policing and incarceration.
In recognition of the centrality of the struggles of those confined in Israeli occupation prisons, at Pelican Bay and in Gaza to our collective struggles for liberation, on this Yom Kippur the International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network call on Jews of conscience to commit to fasting for 48 hours, from Thursday October 6 at sundown, to Saturday, October 8 at sundown. In addition, we invite all those in solidarity with political prisoners, prisoners of conscience and people facing incarceration across the world, to join us to take the following actions:
- Send an email to the International Committee of the Red Cross to urge them to exercise their responsibilities and act swiftly to demand that the Israelis ensure that Ahmad Sa'adat and all Palestinian prisoners are freed from punitive isolation: jerusalem.jer@icrc.org
- Sign the petition to meet the demands of the prisoners at Pelican Bay and other prisons.
- Sign the petition for the unconditional and permanent opening of the Rafah Crossing
- Contact us to participate or coordinate actions on Friday, October 7 at Israeli consulates in solidarity with the call from Palestinians in Israeli occupation prisons and in Gaza: ijan@ijsn.net
Developments on Palestinian Prisoners' Hunger Strike - Action Needed
Solidarity with Palestinian prisoners is more urgent than ever. Since the announcement of Palestinian prisoners' hunger strike against the isolation of Ahmad Sa'adat and all other prisoners held in solitary confinement, and against torture and humiliation for prisoners and their families and visitors, Israeli prison officials have stepped up their threats against Palestinian prisoners participating in the hunger strike.
The strike begins today, Tuesday, September 27. The Israeli Minister of Internal Security, at a meeting in Ramon and Naqab Prisons, has threatened to escalate repression against prisoners, threatening to move all prisoners participating in the hunger strike into isolation and solitary confinement, and to forcibly transfer those prisoners to other prisons in the occupation prison system. Prisoners are frequently transferred by occupation forces in an attempt to break up social bonds and disrupt organizing against prison repression.
For decades, Palestinian prisoners have engaged in hunger strikes to demand - and win - their rights, putting their bodies on the line once more to demand the freedom and dignity of themselves, their people, their homeland and their nation. Palestinian prisoners have announced that they will not be moved from their course by the threats of the occupiers. Prisoners' representatives have confirmed that Sa'adat and fellow isolated leader Jamal Abu al-Haija, in isolation with Sa'adat, will join in the strike themselves.
Furthermore, prisoners announced that they will reject all prison orders, refusing to wear uniforms, stand up for daily counts, or accept food. The situation is more urgent than ever as prisoners begin their strike. The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat calls upon all solidarity, international justice and human rights groups and organizations to join us to demand freedom, dignity and justice for Palestinian prisoners.
TAKE ACTION TO SUPPORT AHMAD SA'ADAT AND ALL PALESTINIAN PRISONERS!
1. Picket, protest or call the Israeli embassy or consulate in your location and demand the immediate freedom of Ahmad Sa'adat and all Palestinian political prisoners. Make it clear that you support the demands of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike!
2. Distribute the free downloadable Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat flyer in your community at local events.
3. Write to the International Committee of the Red Cross and other human rights organizations to exercise their responsibilities and act swiftly to demand that the Israelis ensure that Ahmad Sa'adat and all Palestinian prisoners are freed from punitive isolation. Email the ICRC, whose humanitarian mission includes monitoring the conditions of prisoners, at jerusalem.jer@icrc.org, and inform them about the urgent situation of Ahmad Sa'adat.
4. Email the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat at info@freeahmadsaadat.org with announcements, reports and information about your local events, activities and flyer distributions.
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