The International Solidarity Movement is appealing for activists to join our team in the besieged Gaza Strip.  After being barred from Gaza in 2003 following the murders of Rachel Corrie and Tom Hurndall, ISM Gaza was reinstated in August 2008 when ISM and other volunteers traveled aboard the historic, siege-breaking voyage of the first Free Gaza Movement boat. ISM has maintained a constant presence in Gaza since that time, for over three years of Israel’s crippling siege.

ISM volunteers refused to leave when Israel began bombing Gaza in December 2008. During the devastating 23-day assault, activists accompanied ambulances and provided vital testimony to the international media.

Daily life in Gaza is a harrowing struggle. In stark violation of international law, Israel enforces a three-nautical-mile fishing blockade. The Israeli-imposed ‘buffer zone’ swallows up a third of Gaza’s farmland, which lies along the Israeli border. Farmers are routinely shot and killed simply for working their land well inside Gaza’s borders.

ISM Gaza volunteers accompany farmers and demonstrators in the ‘buffer zone’, as well as fishermen routinely harassed by the Israeli navy. Visit http://www.palsolidarity.org/category/gaza/ to watch videos and read reports by ISM Gaza.

Those interested in joining the ISM Gaza team are required to attend a preliminary training in their home country and must communicate with the volunteers in Gaza prior to arrival. Entering Gaza is an arduous process that may require some time to be spent in Egypt. All ISM volunteers in Gaza must agree to ISM principles as delineated on palsolidarity.org.

Also recommended:

• Previous experience in the West Bank with the ISM strongly encouraged; if not, experience with nonviolent direct action, preferably elsewhere in the Middle East
• A historical understanding of Palestine and some knowledge of the current political situation
• Arabic language skills highly recommended; if not English is necessary
• Cultural sensitivity
• Ability to stay in Gaza for an extended period of time (over a month)
• High degree of independence and self-sufficiency
• Ability to do deal with protracted stressful situations
• Experience with consensus-based decision-making

For more information about where to attend a preliminary training or other questions, please email gazaism@gmail.com.

13 May 2012 | Samidoun

We have only two options: to achieve all of our demands, or to die

Free Palestinian people, masses of our nation, free people of the world….

We have entered a stage of legendary and draining human struggle, where we face real danger which threatens our lives. We are now very close to martyrdom, which is more precious and one of the best options for us.

We are now at the state of a great test of wills and we reject completely the attempts of the Prison Service management to force us to accept partial settlements in order to bring an end to this epic humanitarian struggle for justice. Here, we emphasize the following points:

We have only two options to achieve all of the following.

First, we swear not to go back without achieving our demands. We are waiting for martyrdom for the sake of our dignity, and we have prepared ourselves to confront our only two options – the victory of our humanity and our dignity, or our martyrdom without it.

Second, we strongly and firmly swear that we will continue with our battle of the empty stomachs, whatever the costs may be, until we achieve the minimum of our demands, particularly the immediate end to the horror of solitary confinement and isolation, and to allow prisoners from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank who have been denied family visits to receive them, and to return prison conditions to their pre-2000 state.

Third, we greatly appreciate the role of our great sister Egypt with regard to compelling “Israel” to implement the second part of an agreement and fulfilling its commitments, and we are confident that Egypt is an Arab leader that will not leave us to face this battle alone. We also affirm categorically that we will not end our strike without promptly achieving our demands. We are confident of the depth of support in our nation, and particularly in Egypt.

Finally, we are ready for martyrdom. We are not amateurs in hunger. Death is easier than disrespect for our dignity, so we swear we will live with dignity or die.

For Immediate Release

April 17, 2012: Cyclists attacked by soldier in the Jordan Valley seek legal action

Danish activist Andreas was attacked by Israeli commander Lt.-Col. Shalom Eisner during an unarmed demonstration in the Jordan Valley on April 14th. (See video). Dutch activist Mira and a Palestinian man also suffered injuries following an assault by Eisner,  Swedish activist Alex was handcuffed and detained for over one hour during the incident. The action involved some two hundred people riding bikes along Route-90 which connects Israeli settlements, which are recognized as illegal by the International Court of Justice. Organized by the Sharek Youth Forum, the cycling event was to raise awareness of the restrictions on Palestinian movement and the human rights violations of Palestinians living in the Jordan Valley. According to the organization, Palestinian cars are frequently detained, searched, or refused entry on Route-90 where the event was held.

Andreas, Mira, Alex, and the Palestinian man are working with attorney Meissa Irshaid from the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel to ensure that the testimony of these bike tour participants is represented in the assault case against Lt.-Col Eisner.

“Israeli soldiers blocked the road for all of the cyclists and quickly resorted to violent force to intimidate us from cycling on Route 90. Lt-Col Eisner beat me with his M-16 without provocation,” Andreas stated. Mira was also struck in the face by Eisner’s gun. The two were evacuated to hospital and Andreas received stitches in his lip.

The attack on the cyclists was publicly condemned by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in an April 15^th news article published in Haaretz. In response to this public action taken by Netanyahu, Andreas says, “this is widespread phenomena across the West Bank. Dozens of protesters have been killed or violently injured for participating in peaceful protests against the theft of their land and the ongoing military occupation.”

Furthermore, Andreas argues, “it isn’t just internationals that deserve human rights in Palestine, all attacks by Israel should be condemned equally.”

The activists will continue work with the International Solidarity Movement in the West Bank while pursuing legal action against the April 14^th incident with the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel.

###

16 April 2012 | Welcome to Palestine Campaign 2012

We did not have to show our 1500 visitors Israeli racism, arrogance, and human rights violations; the Israeli government showed them and also showed the whole world. Calling itself a democracy, this outlaw state denied the right of people from around the world to come visit us and see for themselves the reality of life under occupation.

We the Palestinian people are 11 million normal human beings, 7 million are refugees or displaced people simply because they are natives to a land that was wanted for a Jewish state. Five million of us are living in increasingly shrinking ghettos on a tiny fraction of our land. We remain here despite an illegal and brutal occupation that includes land confiscation, movement restrictions, home demolitions, illegal imprisonment of thousands (many now on hunger strike), and countless other inhuman conditions. We did not expect from this occupation that daily violates human rights to also allow us as prisoners under its boot to openly and honestly receive visitors. These visitors who wanted to come and see what reality is like here certainly were shocked at the Israeli behavior. And those who wanted to welcome our visitors and were brutally assaulted will remember how the same Israeli police let right wing fanatics sing and disrupt at the airport. The whole world is now seeing Israel for what it is: a police state that fulfills all the requirements of being an apartheid pariah state per the International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid (1973).

Countries that once supported Apartheid in South Africa had people who mobilized against it. Now people of conscience mobilize to challenge this apartheid that is now so explicitly expressed. Those airlines and governments that acted as subcontractors for the Israeli apartheid regime are being challenged by their own people. In denying boarding to a passenger by Air France, the airline documented that she cannot board because she is neither Jewish or Israeli! (See in French and in English).

In claiming in writing that we called for disruptions and for challenging ”security” of Israel, the Israeli government was exposed as lying. In forcing a Swedish passenger (unrelated to our campaign) to sign that he was not going to meet with any “pro-Palestinian” individuals or groups, the Israeli government was shown to be racist. Imagine if a similar requirement was posted to visitors to any other country about visiting or meeting with “pro-black” individuals or organizations. In sending a letter to that claims activists should worry about Iran and Syria before worrying about this system of apartheid, the Israeli government showed the bankruptcy of its arguments. In denying us the right to visit, the Israeli government showed the world that it has a lot to hide.

For examples of participant profiles of those denied their right to visit us in Palestine, visit this link.

At the end of our press conference in Bethlehem, we passed out Easter colored eggs. We Palestinian Christian and Muslims are grateful to all who act on their conscience, Internationals, Israelis, and Palestinian volunteers. Thousands of us say loud and clear: we will not be silenced, we will continue to organize campaigns until we have freedom and until Israel complies with all relevant International and Humanitarian laws.

Contact email: media@palestinejn.org

Contact phone numbers in languages: Arabic, English. French, Spanish, Hebrew
0599255573 (A, E, F)
0568347074 (A, E, S)
0598939532 ((A, E)
0505633044 (A, E, H)

Welcome to Palestine 2012 Campaign websites
http://bienvenuepalestine.com
http://palestinianspring.palestinejn.org
http://www.righttoenter.ps
http://welcometopalestine.info
http://bienvenidosapalestina.jimdo.com/
http://bienvenuepalestine.ca/

English: http://palestinianspring.palestinejn.org
Arabic: http://wtp2arabic.palestinejn.org
Spanish: http://wtp2spain.palestinejn.org
French: http://wtp2spain.palestinejn.org
Swedish: http://wtp2sweden.palestinejn.org
Norwegian: http://wtp2norway.palestinejn.org

This week International Solidarity Movement is calling for international solidarity in the run up to Palestinian Prisoners Day on the 17th April.  The Palestinian prisoners struggle needs immediate international attention as Israel’s treatment of prisoners under a military judicial system starkly violates international law and fundamental human rights.  According to Addammer there are currently 4,637 Palestinian political prisoners are kept in Israeli military jails and detention centers, including 320 administrative detainees.

Some of the primary objectives of the prisoners struggle are:

• To stop the system known as administrative detention, which allows the imprisonment of individuals without charge or trail
• To halt the practice of solitary confinement.
• To stop the use of torture and ill treatment. Palestinians are exposed to systematic ill and degrading treatment from the moment of arrest – both physiological and physical terrors are used as means of breaking the prisoners and getting details and information.
• To stop the illegal transference of prisoners from the occupied territories into Israeli borders. Every time Israel brings a prisoner from the West bank jails inside their borders – they are in clear violation with the 4th Geneva Convention.
• To stop the use of military courts for civilians.
• To stop arrest and imprisonment of vulnerable groups such as children, elder and disabled.

Besides the suffering of individual prisoners, Israel systematically uses collective punishment towards the relatives of prisoners. The journeys to visit your husband, wife, son, or daughter may take up to 15 hours as the prisoners are systematically placed as far from their home as possible. Furthermore, visitors will face degrading processes of strip search at the borders to Israel and at the entrance to the prisons. Sometimes they even get turned away.

“All people and governments of conscience in the world have an immediate responsibility to put pressure on Israel forcing them to respect International law and human rights!” says Faris Sabbah, from Addammer, the Prisoners support and Human Rights Association.

TAKE ACTION

You can:

• Organize a protest in front of the Israeli Embassy or consulate in our town
• Write letters to protest the violations of rights of Palestinian political prisoners and to call for an intervention to the International Committee of the Red Cross, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and your governoment or parliamentarians.
• Write letters to Palestinian prisoners expressing your support. Read more about thise here:

Submit your photos:

What ever action you choose to take – please submit photos from your action to ISM at palreports@gmail.com.

You can get inspired from similar ISM campaign carried out in accordance to “Open Shuhada Street Campaign.”

Please follow these guidelines:

1. In the subject line please write “ Campaign for international solidarity with Palestinian prisoners”
2. Photos should not be a maximum of 1 MB
3. A poster, sign, clothing or any other visual statement that expresses your solidarity with Palestinian prisoners should be visibel.
4. Include a location of the photo (example: Hollywood sign, Hollywood, California) in the email
5. Include the date when the photograph was taken in the email
6. If the visual is written in a language other than English, please write the statement in the body of the email in order to be translated.
7. Photos should be original and not edited or borrowed from another entity
8. Photos must be submitted by April 19th.

Click here to visit the Rachel Corrie Foundation

16 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement

On the anniversary of Rachel Corrie’s martyrdom today, the rain fell in quiet tears that watered Palestine in a confusing emotion of remorse and yet optimism—the same optimism we hear in the voice of Rachel’s diaries and actions.

It rained on Kufr Qaddoum where attack dogs clenched in their jaws the peaceful freedom fighters of Palestine, an image reminiscent of a segregated America.

It drizzled as the folks of Al Ma’sara demanded the wall to fall, an echoing cry humanity heard from Germany.

Puddles formed along Shuhada Street in Al Khalil where Apartheid still lurked despite South Africa’s continued victories.

And it watered on Gaza, where the dust never seems to settle between the murderous attacks of the Zionist military.

While Palestine is indeed special, it is obvious that it shares much with what the world has struggled for, and International Solidarity Movement threads the humanization of the world as the fabric of solidarity work with Palestinians.

Today Palestine and earth, the earth that has inherited the great sacrifices of Rachel Corrie, quietly wept and yet persisted with her memory for the very ideals she died for: freedom and justice.

Peaceful resistance against oppression never dies, and this reassures the international community that despite the images of Rachel facing the Israeli Goliath of colonialism, that she is still alive and with us in ISM, in Palestine, and in the world, as a spirit that will continue to inspire us.

In a letter she sent nearly a decade ago to her family, when she first left her hometown of Olympia, Washington in the US, she said:

We are all born and someday we’ll all die. Most likely to some degree alone. What if our aloneness isn’t a tragedy? What if our aloneness is what allows us to speak the truth without being afraid?

 While the struggle against occupation feels isolating at times, it is these words that reassure us that we are not alone, that Rachel is not alone, that the voiceless victims of Zionism are not taken for granted. This is not a tragedy which we mark, but the greatness of a peace activist. Nothing can crush the spirit of Rachel Corrie, one of thousands who sacrificed for the humanization and liberation of the Palestinian people.

Murdered in 2003 by an Israeli driven, military Caterpillar bulldozer, Rachel and seven other ISM activists in Rafah, Gaza, were trying to prevent the raising of Palestinian property and livelihood by Zionists. Dropping debris on her and then proceeding towards her is the exact lack of concern Israel has towards life that we see as Gaza faces continued collective punishment today.

 She ended her letter in humble realization of her role that would later translate into the sacrifices of a peaceful revolutionary.

 I can’t cool boiling waters in Russia. I can’t be Picasso. I can’t be Jesus. I can’t save the planet single-handedly.

She is with us now, from Susiya to Dora, Jabalia and Beit Hanoun, back down to Rafah and across to Jerusalem.

Rachel speaks truth. And so long as a grain of injustice exists in Palestine and this world, this truth will not settle for what is today’s reality of a violent, arrogant Israel that continues to demolish and kill.

It is in your memory, Rachel, that ISM continues towards justice, in memory of Tom and Vittorio, in memory of this week’s martyrs, in memory of the thousands of Palestinians who resisted.

Until freedom, we march.

Two international activists were assaulted late this morning by extreme Zionist settlers in Al Khalil (Hebron). A female activist was assaulted by a male settler, after being punched in the face and having her camera stolen by this male settler.

Today’s attack comes following weeks of warning and aggression towards photojournalists and activists with cameras by Israeli military and police, which have stated to internationals that Israeli law forbids the photography of their operations, or rather, their breach of international law and human rights.

Activists have received these warnings for weeks now, and today’s attack comes parallel to the deliberate targeting by Israeli military of journalists and activists with cameras, by shooting tear gas canisters and bullets directly at them at most West Bank demonstrations.

About a month ago, Reporters without Borders published this statement regarding these warnings and threats.

While today’s attack is an escalation against internationals in the region, and while it is evident that the Israeli military and illegal settlers are collaborating in attacking Palestinians and internationals,  International Solidarity Movement will not desist from bringing proof of Israeli aggression through pictures, videos, and our continued reporting.

We thank the international solidarity community for its continued support in the face of Israeli Zionism, colonialism, discrimination, and militarization of Palestine.

In Solidarity,

International Solidarity Movement- Palestine

6 March 2012 | Global March to Jerusalem

We, the Advisory Board of the Global March to Jerusalem, are alarmed and deeply troubled by the continuing repression of Palestinians in Jerusalem and by the deliberate and systematic attempts to expel and reduce the Christian and Muslim Palestinian population of the city as part of the policy called “Judaisation,” which is being applied to every part of historic Palestine.

 This policy is inconsistent with all relevant United Nations resolutions on Jerusalem and contrary to the most basic principles of international law. Its purpose is plainly to ethnically cleanse Jerusalem of its non-Jewish population and transform a once proud symbol of international tolerance and religious and cultural diversity into an exclusionary and racist enclave.

 Jerusalem is our common universal heritage. It is the centre of spirituality and ideological significance for all of the monotheistic religions, and a beacon of emancipation and hope for the downtrodden. This historic city is venerated across the world for enhancing the spiritual heritage of all humanity; it has been a symbol of unity and equality, with a message of love, mercy and compassion.

 However the entire world is now witnessing a threat to the sovereignty, sanctity and inviolability of Jerusalem. The plan is not only to destroy the Muslim and Christian presence, but also to change and dismantle the social structure of Jerusalem, obliterating its indigenous Arab identity and changing the character of the city.

 The people of the world have therefore taken it upon themselves to prevent this abomination, by mobilizing themselves in every part of the world and representing all religious, humanitarian, and cultural backgrounds in a global march to Jerusalem (GMJ) aimed at guarding the City of Peace from becoming a wasteland of intolerance.  We therefore lend our names to support the convergence of people from all countries and continents of the world to Jerusalem, and to the nearest points to which they are able to approach, both inside Palestine and at the Palestinian borders with Jordan, Egypt, Syria and Lebanon, as well as in their own countries, in a peaceful march towards Jerusalem.

 We therefore support this effort, and encourage all of humanity to support it, by making the pledge set forth below, that all participants in the Global March to Jerusalem have agreed to accept.

1. We assert the importance of Jerusalem politically, culturally and religiously to the Palestinian people and humanity as a whole. We call for the protection of the Holy Places and all archeological sites and consider all the efforts done to change its Arabic & cultural identity as a crime against humanity. We call on all international institutions to do their duties towards the city.
2. The defense of Jerusalem and its liberation are a duty of all free people around the world and we call on all institutions, organizations, and individuals to participate in this duty.
3. We condemn the Zionist campaign of ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem and the rest of Palestine including all ongoing policies intended to change the demographic and geographic situation in the city and aimed at its Judaisation. We also condemn the continuation of the Zionist occupation forces in building the apartheid wall that aims to expropriate more Palestinian lands and convert the occupied areas into shrinking cantons isolated from each other.
4. We support the right of the Palestinian People to self-determination, to liberate their lands and to live on them in freedom and dignity like all other people on earth.
5. We support the non-negotiable & inalienable rights of the Palestinian People, including their families, to return to their homes and lands from which they were uprooted.
6. We reject all racist laws that distinguish between people based on ethnicity or religion and call for their cancellation and criminalization.
7. The Global March to Jerusalem does not represent any one faction or political party, but we call for participation of all social forces, political factions, and ideologies.
8. The Global March to Jerusalem is a global peaceful movement, which does not use violence to achieve its goals.

Signed,

The Advisory Board of the Global March to Jerusalem (partial listing of names)

Abdullatif Arabiyyat, Former Speaker of the Jordanian Parliament

Swami Agnivesh, Founder, Bonded Labour Liberation Front and World Council of Arya Samaj, former member of the Indian parliament and former chairperson of the UN Voluntary Trust Fund on Contemporary Forms of Slavery

Ahmad Obeidat, Former Jordanian Prime Minister & Head of the National Front for Reform

Dr. Ahmed Mohammed attia Bahar, Vice President, Palestinian Legislative Council

Tan Sri Anthony Francis Fernandes, Malaysian entrepreneur; founder and CEO, Air Asia

Dr. Anton Shuhaiber, Gaza Christian Association

Arnold Hottinger,Swiss journalist and publicist; former Middle East correspondent for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

H.E. Atallah Hanna, Archbishop of Sebastia, Patriarchate of Jerusalem

Bouguerra Soltani, Algerian Government Minister and party leader for the Movement of the Society for Peace

Dr. Cornel West, Professor of African American studies. Princeton University; philosopher, writer and civil rights activist

Datuk Yasmin Yusoff, Malaysian actress and television host

David Hartsough, Director, Peaceworkers, San Francisco

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate

HE Dr. Dzukelly Ahmad, member of the Malaysian parliament

Evelyn Hecht-Galinski, Jewish German author, activist and publicist

Dr. Francis Boyle, Professor of International Law, University of Illinois

Dr. Franco Cavalli, oncologist and former leader of the Swiss Social Democrat Party parliamentary group

George Galloway, former Member of British Parliament and Founder of Viva Palestina

Dr. Ghada Karmi, Writer and Co-Director, Centre for Palestine Studies, University of Exeter

Gretta Duisenberg, Founder and Chair, “Stop the Occupation” (Netherlands), Free Gaza Movement Board Member

Dr. Hammam Said, Head of the Jordanian Consultative Council of the Muslim Brothers

Hilarion Capucci, Archbishop of Caesarea, Greek Melkite Church

Ibrahim Nasrallah, Jordanian-Palestinian Poet & Novelist

Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Pastor Emeritus, Trinity United Church of Christ, Chicago, Illinois, USA

Prof. Judith Butler, writer and philosopher, University of California, Berkeley

Laith Shubeilat, Former Jordanian Parliamentarian

Lalita Ramdas, Chair, Greenpeace International

Admiral Laxminarayan Ramdas, Magsaysay Peace Award Recipient and anti-nuclear advocate

Dr. Leo Gabriel, Austrian socioanthropologist, journalist and documentary filmmaker; member, World Social Forum International Council

Fr. Louis Vitale, Order of Franciscan Monks; Pace e Bene; nonviolent resistor

Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, Jewish Renewal Movement

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammed, former Prime Minister of Malaysia

Mairead McGuire, Nobel Peace Laureate

Marzuki Alie, Speaker, Indonesian House of Representatives

Marwah Daud Ibrahim, Indonesian feminist, writer and Member of Parliament

Medha Patkar, Leader, National Alliance of People’s Movements; Recipient, Right Livelihood Award, Goldman Environment Prize & Amnesty International Human Rights Defenders Award

Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, Secretary General, Palestinian National Initiative and President, Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees

Neta Golan, Co-Founder, International Solidarity Movement

Dr. Norman Paech, former Member of the German Parliament; professor of law, emeritus, University of Hamburg

Sheikh Raed Salah, President of the Islamic movement within the 1949 Ceasefire Line

Justice Rajinder Sachar, Former Chief Justice, Delhi High Court, Member, UN Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities. Senior Advisor & Counsel, People’s Union for Civil Liberties

Ronnie Kasrils, South African national liberation leader and former cabinet minister

Seema Mustafa, Syndicated columnist & former political editor, Asian Age

Prof Siddique Hassan, Director, Vision 2016 and Assistant Amir of the Jamat-e-Islami, Hind)

Subhi Ghosheh, Chairman, Jordanian Beitul-Maqdes Forum

Syeda Hameed, Columnist, The Indian Express, and Member, Indian National Planning Commission

HE Tony Pua Kiam Wee, member of the Malaysian parliament

Tujan Faysal, First elected woman Jordanian Parliamentarian

Admiral Vishnu Bhagwat, Former Chief of the Naval Staff of India

Mrs. Wardina Safiyyah, Malaysian actress and television host

Dr. Yacoub Zaiadeen, Former Jerusalem Representative to the Jordanian parliament

Sheikh Yousuf Jumaa, former Palestinian Minister of Awqaf and Religious Affairs; former preacher of Al-Aqsa Mosque

Dr. Zakaria Agha, M.D., member, Palestine Liberation Organization Executive Committee; former chair, Gaza Strip Medical Association

Dr. Zeenat Shaukat Ali, Author; Vice Chairman and Founder Trustee of SAGE Foundation; Professor of Islamic Studies, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai

Beginning this week local organizers in Al Khalil (Hebron) and supporters have organized a series of events to commemorate the Baruch Goldstein Massacre and demand the re-opening of Shuhada Street, once the commercial heart of Al Khalil, now off limits to locals, Palestinians in general, and even international supporters following the massacre that claimed 29 Palestinian lives.

While one street may seem insignificant or small, the segregation, economic strangulation, violence, and oppression that Shuhada Street suffers is a microcosm of Zionist policy. As extremist settlers continue to harass and violently attack Palestinians and internationals, and the Golani Brigade continues to show no accountability or concern for international law, it is all the more essential that this street be the symbolic avenue of freedom for Palestinians.

An illegal Zionist settlement pollutes the very heart of a historic piece of Al Khalil now overtaken with settler violence, racial epithets, and sadly, pure hatred for Palestinians and their supporters.

The residents of Al Khalil, Palestinian activists, and International Solidarity Movement  call on the international community to display their support in a project that will showcase international solidarity for the opening of Shuhada Street.

As such we ask that the international community submits a photo of solidarity to International Solidarity Movement. This photo will be of a major street or landmark of your hometown with a display or sign of solidarity for Shuhada Street. Diversity in support for human rights can humanize the victims of Zionist oppression in Al Khalil and elsewhere.

Get creative with your slogans and locations! Please note that multiple photos from the same location will not all be published, so local organizing in deciding a location in your community is suggested, or the ISM media team will select 1 photo from each location.

In order to participate, please submit a photo to palreportskhalil@gmail.com and keep in mind the following guidelines:

1. In the subject line of your email please be sure to write “Open Shuhada Street Photo Campaign”
2. Photos should not be a maximum of 1 MB
3. A poster, sign, clothing or any other visual statement supporting the opening of Shuhada Street should be visible in the photo along with the landmark or major street
4. It is not necessary for individuals to be a part of the picture, as your privacy is honored, however if individuals can please indicate their names (if they wish to be identified)
5. Please include a location of the photo (example: Hollywood sign, Hollywood, California) in the email
6. Include the date when the photograph was taken in the email
7. If the visual is written in a language other than English, please write the statement in the body of the email in order to be translated.
8. Photos are original and not edited or borrowed from another entity
9. Please submit photos no later than April 2nd

ISM Palestine looks forward to receiving your photographs. Stay tuned for a publication on April 4th on palsolidarity.org.

Organizational endorsements are welcome for this statement.

Please click here or email april17@palestinianprisoners.org to endorse.

“I hereby assert that I am confronting the occupiers not for my own sake as an individual, but for the sake of thousands of prisoners who are being deprived of their simplest human rights while the world and international community look on,” Sheikh Khader Adnan wrote from the bed that Israeli soldiers chained him to in the Ramleh prison hospital on 11 February.

“It is time the international community and the UN support prisoners and force the State of Israel to respect international human rights and stop treating prisoners as if they were not humans.” (Ma’an News Agency, “Hunger-striking prisoner not backing down,” 11 February 2012)

As we mark the 65th day of an ongoing hunger strike by Sheikh Khader Adnan, whose struggle has inspired millions and infused the Palestinian national and solidarity movements with new energy, we must reflect on his call to the world and prepare a meaningful international strategy to support Palestinian prisoners’ struggle for freedom, justice, and equality.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Khader Adnan is fighting for rights that should be guaranteed to all prisoners, including due process, fair and equal treatment, and freedom from torture and other coercive methods. Palestinian prisoners from the West Bank face a military justice system that is entirely separate from that for Jewish Israelis, including settlers, who are instead part of the Israeli civil justice system; this military justice system for Palestinian political prisoners includes systematic and arbitrary detention without charge, the acceptance of torture, an almost complete lack of due process, vague charges, very low standards of evidence including the use of secret evidence, and widely disparate and harsher sentencing than the civil justice system.In Israel’s domestic criminal justice system exists a system of apartheid Palestinian citizens of Israel charged with political offenses are deemed ‘security prisoners’ and treated very differently from Jewish citizens. Palestinians are subject to unjust and unequal trials using secret evidence, gag orders, and evidence obtained through torture. (Please see this comprehensive analysis by Addameer for further details.)

As of January 2012, 4,417 Palestinian political prisoners are held in jails in Israel, including 170 children and 6 women. Just like Khader, 310 prisoners are held – without charge or trial – under administrative detention including over 20 lawmakers. In solidarity with them, and to broaden Khader’s struggle, we will actively oppose their imprisonment and any detentions without fair trials.

We demand the immediate release of all Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. They have been targeted by an unfair and unequal legal system. Their imprisonment reflects Israel’s inherent system of injustice and racism. In addition, Israel must immediately halt its practices of:

• Administrative detention.
• Torture and ill-treatment of detainees.
• Solitary confinement and isolation.
• The use of military courts in the occupied Palestinian territory that illegally try civilians.
• Undermining a fair trial by using secret evidence against the accused.
• Arresting vulnerable groups, such as children, disabled, elderly and ill people.

On Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, Tuesday, April 17, we ask that all supporters of the Palestinian political prisoners’ movement bring Khader Adnan’s spirit of resistance to the doorsteps of his captors and would-be killers:

• Organize a protest in front of your local Israeli embassy, consulate or mission.
• Write letters to protest the violations of rights of Palestinian political prisoners and to call for an intervention to the International Committee of the Red Cross, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and your government or parliamentarians.
• Raise awareness on your University campus or in your community about Palestinian political prisoners
• Picket and protest G4S, Motorola, the Volvo Group, and the Israeli Medical Association – all providing services to Israel’s prisons – as well as other targets of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which challenges the Israeli policies of occupation, colonization and apartheid these repressive institutions maintain.
• Write letters to Palestinian prisoners expressing your support.

We must not allow Khader’s struggle to pass, like so many before his, as one more brave stand crushed by the armed might of the Israeli apartheid regime, unremarkable and inconsequential. Rather let this historic moment mark the beginning of a revitalized global movement for Palestinian prisoners, their rights, their families, and their struggle. Together, we can make it so.

Khader lives.

Initiating Signatories:

Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association
Defence for Children International – Palestine Section
UFree Network
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
Free Ameer Makhoul Campaign
Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat
Al-Awda New York, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition 
Arab Organization for Human Rights
Camden Abu Dis Friendship Association
Canada Palestine Association
CAPPJPO-EuroPalestine
Coalition for a Free Palestine – South Africa
Existence is Resistance
Frantz Fanon Foundation, France
French Jewish Union for Peace
Intal
International Solidarity Movement – France
Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Labor for Palestine
Lawyers for Palestinian Human Rights
Leeds Palestinian Solidarity Campaign
National Lawyers Guild International Committee/Free Palestine Subcommittee
Netherlands Palestine Committee
New York City Labor Against the War
“Palestina nel cuore” Committee
Palestine Solidarity Campaign (UK)
Palestinian Youth Movement-USA
PennBDS
Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Siegebusters
Students for Justice in Palestine National
Tower Hamlets Jenin Friendship Association
United 4 Palestine
US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
US Palestinian Community Network
Vermonters for a Just Peace
Yousef Alsedeeq Institute for Prisoners’ Protection