Breaking News: Khalida Jarrar sentenced to 15 months imprisonment by Israeli military court

Breaking News: Khalida Jarrar sentenced to 15 months imprisonment by Israeli military court

Khalida Jarrar, Palestinian leftist and feminist parliamentarian and advocate for political prisoners, has been sentenced by an Israeli occupation military court in Ofer to 15 months imprisonment today, 6 December 2015. Arrested by occupation military forces who invaded her Ramallah home on 2 April, the imprisonment of Jarrar, former executive director and current vice-chair of the board of directors of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, has sparked widespread Palestinian, Arab and international outrage.

Jarrar is a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council for the Abu Ali Mustafa bloc, the parliamentary bloc affiliated with the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. In 2014, she had been targeted for forced displacement to Jericho from Ramallah by an occupation military order, which she succeeded in defeating after a month-long sit-in at the PLC office and an international support campaign.

In April, she was immediately placed in administrative detention without charge or trial following her arrest. An international outcry – including a vote by the Portuguese parliament demanding her release – followed, and she was then charged in Israeli military courts. While the military courts present an appearance of a “trial,” these trials are in reality no more just or fair than arbitrary administrative detention. 99.74% of Palestinians who come before them are convicted.

Jarrar was charged with twelve entirely political charges relating to her public political activity, including giving speeches, attending public forums, and calling for the freedom of Palestinian political prisoners. She was accused of “incitement” for allegedly calling for the capture of Israeli occupation soldiers by the Palestinian resistance in order to free Palestinian prisoners. Despite this statement by the occupation military, they could produce no witness to confirm that Jarrar had ever said this – and the witnesses they brought forward all indicated that they were threatened and tortured into giving statements against Jarrar.

Despite the obviously political nature of the charges against Jarrar, an internationally-recognized parliamentarian and political leader, and the steadfast advocacy of her lawyers of Addameer, she was convicted by the Israeli military courts – as is entirely standard – and sentenced to fifteen months in Israeli occupation prisons.

“The conviction of Khalida Jarrar comes as no surprise; Israeli military courts serve no function except as an instrument of repression and suppression directed against Palestinians. Khalida Jarrar is a Palestinian political leader and an internationally-renowned struggler for justice. She has dedicated her life to working for freedom for her people and her land, and especially for the freedom of Palestinian political prisoners,” said Charlotte Kates, coordinator of Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network.

“It is urgent that we build the movement internationally to demand freedom for Jarrar and for her nearly 7,000 sisters and brothers held as Palestinian political prisoners inside Israeli jails. Khalida Jarrar is a longtime struggler for freedom and social justice, on Palestinian, Arab and international levels. We must do our utmost to advance her goals – to see Palestine, free of colonialism and oppression, with justice and liberation for all, including protesting, organizing and building the campaign for boycott, divestment and sanctions, and international isolation of Israel.” 

Take Action:

1. Protest at the Israeli consulate or embassy in your area and demand freedom for Khalida Jarrar and all Palestinian prisoners. This is a time of uprising and intifada – protests are happening around the world and are more urgent than ever. see our list of actions here:http://samidoun.net/2015/10/take-action-rise-up-with-palestine-global-protest-actions/ Hold a community event or discussion, or include Khalida Jarrar’s case in your next event about Palestine and social justice. Please email us at samidoun@samidoun.net to inform us of your action.

2. Contact your government officials and demand they pressure Israel to free Palestinian prisoners. In Canada, Call the office of the new Foreign Minister, Stéphane Dion, at 613-996-5789 and demand an end to Canadian support for Israel and that Canada pressure Israel to free Palestinian prisoners, including Khalida Jarrar, or email: stephane.dion@parl.gc.ca. In the US, call the White House (202-456-1111) and the US State Department (202-647-9572); demand an end to US aid to Israel and that the US pressure Israel to free Palestinian prisoners. In the EU, contact your MEP – you can find your MEP here, or use the tool at http://freepalestine.eu/ to both call for an end to the EU-Israel Association Agreement and for the EU to pressure Israel to free Jarrar and her fellow prisoners

3. Boycott, Divest and Sanction. Hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law. Don’t buy Israeli goods, and campaign to end investments in corporations that profit from the occupation. G4S, a global security corporation, is heavily involved in providing services to Israeli prisons that jail Palestinian political prisoners – there is a global call to boycott it. Palestinian political prisoners have issued a specific call urging action on G4S. Learn more about BDS at bdsmovement.net.

Video: Farewell to the martyr Moataz Zawahreh in Dheisheh

Video: Farewell to the martyr Moataz Zawahreh in Dheisheh

Video & Story by Sheren Khalel and Abed Al Qaisi

BETHLEHEM — Mutaz Zawahra was having the time of his life in France on a youth program with two other friends when he got the news that his oldest brother had fallen dangerously ill. His brother, Ghassan, was on hunger strike in Israeli prison protesting his internment without trial or charge, and family members told Mutaz that his older brother may not make it through his strike alive.

Mutaz returned home immediately to be with his family, just in time for the start of the unrest that was about to erupt. Not long after, on Sept. 29, Israeli authorities announced that they would release Ghassan, 40 days into his hunger strike. Ghassan ended his strike and began to look forward to home. Exactly two weeks later, his brother was shot dead.

Israeli forces shot and killed Mutaz during a particularly intense bout of clashes coined “A Day of Rage.” He was the 30th Palestinian to be shot dead that month.

Mutaz, a well-known supporter of the left-wing Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), was loved by his community — a fact that was apparent at his funeral, as thousands of mourners flooded the streets of Bethlehem.

His brother Ghassan, was not one of them.

When Ghassan was finally released on Nov. 30, he went straight to his brother’s gravesite before even thinking to go home.

Two days later he was giving a speech at a commemoration ceremony, which should have marked the 40-day anniversary of his brother’s death, as Islamic tradition. The commemoration was held for several days however, so Ghassan could at least have the honor of paying his respects to his brother on a special day just for him.

During his speech, Ghassan is flanked by three other younger brothers, giving him the strength to continue when tears threaten to break his voice.

Palestinian Youth Organization elected to leadership in World Federation of Democratic Youth

Palestinian Youth Organization elected to leadership in World Federation of Democratic Youth

The Palestinian Youth Organization was elected for the first time to the General Council of the World Federation of Democratic Youth (WFDY), out of over 62 left and progressive youth organizations around the world attending the WFDY Assembly. 

Comrade Haytham Abdo participated in WFDY’s 19th General Assembly, convened in Havana, Cuba in November 2015 and is representing PYO on the General Council. The PYO is very active in WFDY activities and most recently hosted a delegation of the General Council in Ain el-Helweh camp in Lebanon in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

WFDY was founded in 1945, following World War II and after the defeat of fascist forces, by young people coming together to struggle against fascism and imperialism. Over 150 otganizations around the world are united under the banner of anti-imperialism in WFDY.

“The election of the Palestinian Youth Organization is based on its position of firm principle, simplicity and clarity of vision that unequivocally refuses to recognize the Zionist entity and refuses the path of negotiations. Palestine from the river to the sea is our homeland; we reject the agreements with the enemy, from Camp David to Wadi Araba to Oslo,” said the PYO following the election.

Comrade Ahmad Tanani of the Progressive Student Labor Front in the Gaza Strip congratulated the comrades in the PYO on their election, saying that the PYO “constitutes a qualitative addition to WFDY and its support for the Palestinian cause…The election results leave no room for doubt that principled and consistent positions make one worthy of trust, and not as some claim, that lowering our political ceiling means broadening our support.”

Thousands march to mourn the martyr, Comrade Khaled Jawabra

Thousands march to mourn the martyr, Comrade Khaled Jawabra

“We are fighting for the freedom of our People and the liberation of Palestine from the river to the sea,” said the mother of the martyr, Comrade Khaled Jawabra, while carrying the body of her 20-year-old son during his funeral in Al-Arroub refugee camp in Al-Khalil today. 

Comrade Jawabra was killed by occupation forces on Thursday, November 26 as he and other young people in the camp confronted invading occupation forces. His funeral procession marched from Al-Ahli hospital in Al-Khalil city to his home in Al-Arroub camp.

The mother of the martyr, alongside leaders and cadres of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, members and representatives of all Palestinian national and Islamic forces and the people of the camp and Al-Khalil, led his funeral march, raising pictures of the martyr, flags of Palestine and PFLP banners and banners of all of the Palestinian factions, calling for the escalation of the intifada.

PFLP mourns Comrade Khaled Jawabra and vows to continue the resistance

PFLP mourns Comrade Khaled Jawabra and vows to continue the resistance

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine joins the masses of our people in mourning the son of Palestine, former prisoner and our martyred Comrade Khaled Mahmoud Jibrin Jawabreh, of Al-Arroub refugee camp north of occupied Al-Khalil, 20 years old, killed by occupation forces on Thursday evening, November 26, as youth in the camp confronted their invasion of the camp. 

The PFLP saluted the heroic martyr, praising his commitment to struggle, his courage, and his determination to confront the occupier; a former prisoner, he spent more than two years in Zionist prisons, all of his brothers have been arrested and imprisoned, and his brother Samed, is currently imprisoned in Zionist jails.

The Popular Front has great pride in the struggling Jawabra family, who have given many martyrs, wounded, and prisoners of war in the struggle for freedom. 

The PFLP emphasizes, for itself and for all of the forces of resistance, that it will not retreat from the path of intifada and resistance. The Front confirms that the assassinations and killings will not stop the flames of the popular uprising; the Palestinian people are determined and will continue until the defeat of the occupation and the achievement of their full rights.

The Front pledges to the martyr Comrade Khaled Jawabra and all the martyrs of our people that their blood has not been shed in vain.

PSLF and Islamic Bloc hold joint student rally in Gaza to support intifada

PSLF and Islamic Bloc hold joint student rally in Gaza to support intifada

The Progressive Student Labor Front and the Islamic Bloc at Al-Azhar University in Gaza organized a solidarity demonstration in support of the popular uprising and intifada on November 4, marching through the university’s squares chanting in support of the continuation of the intifada. 

In a joint statement of the two organizations, delivered by Comrade Maher Mizher of the Progressive Student Action Front, they saluted the resistance actions and popular demonstrations of the intifada, saying that the intifada by every tool and means is the road to the liberation of Palestine and its holy sites, and stopping the onslaught of the settlers who are killing and burning Palestinian children and families. He urged the continuation of confrontation and operations in the checkpoints and streets,urging that student and youth organizations’ leadership and Palestinian factions must work to form a unified leadership and dedicate serious efforts to sustaining the intifada and to move and mobilize the youth of the Arab and Muslim world to act for Palestine.

The student statement also denounced the Palestinian Authority’s  

security forces in the West Bank ongoing security coordination with the occupation, demanding that they instead join the resistance and stop participating in the suppression of the uprising.

Mizher: Palestinian youth are leading the intifada, exposing Zionist falsehoods

Mizher: Palestinian youth are leading the intifada, exposing Zionist falsehoods

Comrade Jamil Mizher, member of the Political Bureau of the

Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, saluted the spirit of the heroic martyr of al-Khalil, Ibrahim Skafi, who carried out a heroic operation which injured several Israeli soldiers, causing panic among the occupying forces in the area. Mizher noted that the operation only re-confirms that the intifada and resistance of our people cannot be stopped by the attacks of the occupier.

Mizher also saluted the masses of the Palestinian people in Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza Strip, occupied Palestine 48, the camps and everywhere in diaspora, who continue to struggle and engage in the uprising despite the enormous sacrifices given by our people.

In an interview on Al-Aqsa TV, Mizher said that the most important achievement to date of the current uprising is the emergence of a strong young generation that is leading in the midst of the battle, noting that the intifada has proven once again the falsehood of the Zionist statement that “the old will die and the young will soon forget.” Instead, this generation has shown its commitment and dedication to the resistance of our people until achieving our goals: return, liberation and self-determination.

Mizher said that this uprising is also striking blows against the Zionist insistence on considering occupied Jerusalem to be “the eternal capital of the Israeli state,” as the people of Jerusalem and its youth are fighting the occupation for their city. The uprising has also come in contrast to the predictions made at last year’s Herzliya conference, which sought to remove the Palestinian situation from the table as the occupier bet on calm in occupied Palestine. The uprising of Palestinian youth has surprised and disoriented the occupier.

Furthermore, Mizher noted, the uprising unites the Palestinian masses throughout the occupied homeland, where the Palestinian people and their blood in the West Bank, Jerusalem, Gaza and occupied Palestine 48 are standing together, reflecting popular unity and determination. He urged the need to build on this basis to continue and escalate the intifada and provide all elements of steadfastness and protection for its continuation until the ousting of the occupier.

This uprising did not come from a vacuum, but erupted following a series of accumulating and ongoing crimes against our people, including the ongoing Judaization and ethnic clansing of Jerusalem, the ongoing killings, the land confiscation, home demolition and attempts to change the “facts on the ground,” the storming of Al-Aqsa and attempted division of it, said Mizher. He noted also that this uprising follows ongoing Palestinian responses and resistance actions to these crimes, including the operation by the hero and martyr Moataz Hijazi, as well as the martyrs of the Front, Uday and Ghassan Abu Jamal. These operations and the new daily operations are being carried out by the children of the Palestinian factions, raised in the national struggle, even if each operation is carried out on a spontaneous or individual basis in the fire of the intifada, said Mizher.

He denounced those who are attempting to bet on a break, calm, or downturn in the intifada or the surrender of the Palestinian people, saying that the reality is that Oslo and the occupation will fall before our people and that our people will esclate the uprising to confront the occupier.

He also urged the immediate implementation of the recommendations of the Political Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, including putting a final end to the Oslo agreement, ending security coordination and economic, political and security agreements with the occupier. The declaration of the Executive Committee of the PLO to end this coordination is a positive step but must be implemented in practice rather than simply using it as a rhetorical device while coordination continues on the ground, said Mizher.

He also urged the formation of a united national strategy with a common vision for the continuation of the uprising, and the need to confront all attempts to return to the futile and harmful negotiations or rely on the US government, which is a full partner in the aggression against the Palestinian people, said Mizher.

Mizher stated the necessity of providing political protection for the uprising by enhancing the steadfastness of our people and compensating families whose homes have been demolished or displaced, as well as the promotion of social solidarity to the people under difficult circumstances.

Furthermore, Mizher said, the most important threat to the continuity of the uprising is the absence of a unified national leadership. He urged the necessity of working in a national framework to strengthen the political, organizational and economic pillars of continuity of the intifada, and to convert the occupation into a losing project on security and economic levels, raising the cost to the occupier.

Mizher also emphasized the need to have no illusions about the Arab regimes that are backed by the United States as part of the program to destroy the Arab liberation project and support the Zionist project, stating that we must rely on the Palestinian people first, alongside the Arab people and the popular, democratic forces of the world, where the current intifada has brought the issue of Palestine back to the forefront after years of marginalization.