7 aug 2016
Protesters in New York City rallied outside the Manhattan office of British-Danish security corporation G4S on Friday, 5 August to demand freedom for Bilal Kayed, a Palestinian political prisoner in Israeli jails, on his 53rd day of hunger strike.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network gathered outside the G4S office, carrying Palestinian flags and signs urging freedom for Kayed, on hunger strike since 15 June demanding his release from imprisonment without charge or trial under administrative detention.
He was ordered to administrative detention after the completion of his 14.5-year prison sentence on 13 June. Kayed’s case threatens a dangerous precedent for all Palestinian prisoners completing lengthy sentences, who could suddenly be ordered to indefinitely-renewable administrative detention.
He is one of nearly 750 Palestinian prisoners held without charge or trial under administrative detention, and 7,000 total Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are engaged in actions to support Kayed, including over 100 joining an open hunger strike for his freedom.
The protest found many enthusiastic and interested passers-by, who received the flyers and literature about Kayed‘s case with interest. Several drivers witnessing the protest on the road also honked their support for Palestine and for Kayed’s freedom.
The protest was part of Samidoun’s ongoing actions protesting the security corporation, which contracts with the Israeli Prison Service to provide control rooms, equipment and security systems for Israeli prisons, as well as checkpoints and police training centers. Palestinian political prisoners have urged a global boycott of the corporation, which is also the focus of human rights protests for its involvement in the incarceration and deportation of youth and migrants in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and elsewhere.
Divestment from G4S has also been part of the demands of Black activists and prison abolitionists demanding an end to investment in the mass incarceration of Black youth in the United States.
Many participants in the protest are also currently participating in #ShutDownCityHallNYC, a protest encampment against NYPD violence and repression against the Black community and other oppressed communities in the city. Joe Catron of Samidoun spoke about the occupation’s demands, including defunding the NYPD, ending so-called “broken windows” policing and payment of reparations to survivors and victims of racist police violence. The movement celebrated a partial victory when Bill Bratton, the police commissioner whose firing was demanded by the movement, announced his abrupt resignation earlier in the week. Catron noted that police and prison abolition rather than reform is a primary focus of the encampment, which emerges from the broad Movement for Black Lives.
Noura Khouri, a Palestinian activist in the Bay Area and a member of the national committee of the War Resisters’ League, joined the protest during her visit to New York City. She also emphasized the importance of joint collective struggle to confront policing, imprisomnent and repression. In particular, she highlighted the campaign against Urban Shield, in which Palestinian activists in the Bay Area were deeply involved. The Stop Urban Shield Coalition is a broad coalition of social justice-oriented community organizations who came together to expose Urban Shield, a SWAT training and weapons exposition that brings together police and military units across the US and internationally. The coalition stopped Urban Shield from being hosted in Oakland and is now working to put an end to this militarized gathering altogether.
She also highlighted the campaign to cut the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI), which funds the militarization of local police departments across the country under a “counter-terrorism” pretext, supporting the further surveillance, entrapment and repression against Arab and Muslim communities while intensifying the militarized repression of Black communities and other oppressed communities.
Samidoun is organizing with an array of New York City groups for a march and rally in support of Kayed’s strike on Friday, 12 August, as he enters his 60th day of hunger strike. Endorsers of the march include Al-Awda NY, the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition, the International Action Center, International Concerned Friends and Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Jericho Movement, Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, Labor for Palestine, NY4Palestine, NYC Free Peltier and NYC Students for Justice in Palestine.
Protesters will gather at the G4S office at 19 W. 44th Street in NYC before a 5:30 march to another G4S office at 370 Lexington Avenue, demanding that Israel release Bilal Kayed, all administrative detainees and all Palestinian political prisoners immediately, and that G4S immediately get out of Palestine.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network gathered outside the G4S office, carrying Palestinian flags and signs urging freedom for Kayed, on hunger strike since 15 June demanding his release from imprisonment without charge or trial under administrative detention.
He was ordered to administrative detention after the completion of his 14.5-year prison sentence on 13 June. Kayed’s case threatens a dangerous precedent for all Palestinian prisoners completing lengthy sentences, who could suddenly be ordered to indefinitely-renewable administrative detention.
He is one of nearly 750 Palestinian prisoners held without charge or trial under administrative detention, and 7,000 total Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are engaged in actions to support Kayed, including over 100 joining an open hunger strike for his freedom.
The protest found many enthusiastic and interested passers-by, who received the flyers and literature about Kayed‘s case with interest. Several drivers witnessing the protest on the road also honked their support for Palestine and for Kayed’s freedom.
The protest was part of Samidoun’s ongoing actions protesting the security corporation, which contracts with the Israeli Prison Service to provide control rooms, equipment and security systems for Israeli prisons, as well as checkpoints and police training centers. Palestinian political prisoners have urged a global boycott of the corporation, which is also the focus of human rights protests for its involvement in the incarceration and deportation of youth and migrants in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and elsewhere.
Divestment from G4S has also been part of the demands of Black activists and prison abolitionists demanding an end to investment in the mass incarceration of Black youth in the United States.
Many participants in the protest are also currently participating in #ShutDownCityHallNYC, a protest encampment against NYPD violence and repression against the Black community and other oppressed communities in the city. Joe Catron of Samidoun spoke about the occupation’s demands, including defunding the NYPD, ending so-called “broken windows” policing and payment of reparations to survivors and victims of racist police violence. The movement celebrated a partial victory when Bill Bratton, the police commissioner whose firing was demanded by the movement, announced his abrupt resignation earlier in the week. Catron noted that police and prison abolition rather than reform is a primary focus of the encampment, which emerges from the broad Movement for Black Lives.
Noura Khouri, a Palestinian activist in the Bay Area and a member of the national committee of the War Resisters’ League, joined the protest during her visit to New York City. She also emphasized the importance of joint collective struggle to confront policing, imprisomnent and repression. In particular, she highlighted the campaign against Urban Shield, in which Palestinian activists in the Bay Area were deeply involved. The Stop Urban Shield Coalition is a broad coalition of social justice-oriented community organizations who came together to expose Urban Shield, a SWAT training and weapons exposition that brings together police and military units across the US and internationally. The coalition stopped Urban Shield from being hosted in Oakland and is now working to put an end to this militarized gathering altogether.
She also highlighted the campaign to cut the Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI), which funds the militarization of local police departments across the country under a “counter-terrorism” pretext, supporting the further surveillance, entrapment and repression against Arab and Muslim communities while intensifying the militarized repression of Black communities and other oppressed communities.
Samidoun is organizing with an array of New York City groups for a march and rally in support of Kayed’s strike on Friday, 12 August, as he enters his 60th day of hunger strike. Endorsers of the march include Al-Awda NY, the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, the Free Mumia Abu-Jamal Coalition, the International Action Center, International Concerned Friends and Family of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Jericho Movement, Jews for Palestinian Right of Return, Labor for Palestine, NY4Palestine, NYC Free Peltier and NYC Students for Justice in Palestine.
Protesters will gather at the G4S office at 19 W. 44th Street in NYC before a 5:30 march to another G4S office at 370 Lexington Avenue, demanding that Israel release Bilal Kayed, all administrative detainees and all Palestinian political prisoners immediately, and that G4S immediately get out of Palestine.
Extremist settlers, guarded by Israeli special forces, stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque yards on Sunday morning, via the Mughrabi Gate.
The settlers, led by archaeological and historical guides, toured the Al- Aqsa compound and took some photos for different places, Jerusalemite sources said.
Worshipers and religious science circle students defended the mosque with chants of “Allahu Akbbar!” (God is Greatest).
Israeli police also detained mosque guard Luay Abu-Saadi, at Al- Asbat Gate.
According to Al Ray Palestinian Media Agency, Israeli authorities seek, by such intrusions, to devote the temporal and spatial division of Al- Aqsa mosque compound and Judaize Jerusalem.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam and is also venerated as Judaism’s most holy place. Disputes surrounding visitation to the site have historically flared tensions in the occupied Palestinian territory.
In 2003, the Israeli government unilaterally decided — despite the objections of the Islamic Endowments Department — to allow non-Muslim visitors into the complex.
Since then, under increasingly right-wing Israeli governments, extremist Jewish settlers have been allowed into the site in ever greater numbers — usually protected by Israeli security forces — while Palestinian access to the site has become increasingly restricted.
Christians outside of the Levant remain divided on the issue, as biblical end times prophecy states: “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” ~Revelation 21:22
However, settler attacks on Christian holy sites have been progressive and on the increase, in recent years.
This past Thursday, Israeli police continued their aggression against the mosque and the staff of the Rehabilitation Committee. Six of the staff, including the director of the committee, were taken into.
For the second day in a row, the Israeli police prevented the committee staff from completing the renovation works inside the Dome of the Rock, at the mosque compound.
Media expert in the affairs of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa mosque, Mahmud Abu Atta, said that “Israeli police had arrested both of the director of the committee, Bassam al Hallaq and other five employees including: Mohammad al-Dabbagh, Suleiman Abdullatif, Moatasem Karama, Anass al-Dabbagh and Mahmud Annata.”
Israeli occupation forces broke into the Dome of the Rock in the morning and halted the reconstruction works, while detaining six of the rehabilitation staff and taking them to Al Selsela Gate police station, Abu Atta added.
Abu Atta said “The aggression of the Israeli occupation against the Islamic Waqf officials including the Rehabilitation Committee and Al-Aqsa mosque guards is completely unprecedented and dangerous.”
On today’s intrusion, he confirmed that 21 Israeli settlers had broken into the mosque yards and taken a provocative tour around it. They also performed Talmudic religious rituals at Al- Rahma gate, east of Al- Aqsa, according to Abu Atta.
He added that troops also deployed special forces inside the courtyards .
Israeli police deported Isa Salhab, an observer of the Rehabilitation Committee in the Islamic Waqf, from al-Aqsa for two weeks.
On Wednesday, Israeli police released, with no conditions, the director of the Rehabilitation Committee Bassam al Hallaq and others, after interrogating them for several hours at Al- Qishleh Police Centre, in the Old City district of Jerusalem.
As reported by advocate Muhammad Mahmud, the magistrate court judge extended the detention of Sayf al-Din Abu Juma (21 years), his brother Amir (18 years), Kamal Alami (20 years) and Yousef Abu Juma (17 years) to 7/8/2016 and Munir Muheisen to 9/8/2016.
Since the early hours of the morning, Muslims worshipers from Jerusalem and pre-1948 Palestine came into al-Aqsa Mosque yards where they spread out in educational circles, reading verses from the Quran and defending the mosque from settlers break-ins with Takbeer.
The aggression of the Israeli occupation against Al-Aqsa guards, as well as staff from the Islamic Waqf, has escalated dramatically, whereupon Israeli forces detained and deported nine guards and employees.
Furthermore, Israeli police have been keeping al-Aqsa Mosque guard Fadi Alayyan jailed since the last June.
The settlers, led by archaeological and historical guides, toured the Al- Aqsa compound and took some photos for different places, Jerusalemite sources said.
Worshipers and religious science circle students defended the mosque with chants of “Allahu Akbbar!” (God is Greatest).
Israeli police also detained mosque guard Luay Abu-Saadi, at Al- Asbat Gate.
According to Al Ray Palestinian Media Agency, Israeli authorities seek, by such intrusions, to devote the temporal and spatial division of Al- Aqsa mosque compound and Judaize Jerusalem.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam and is also venerated as Judaism’s most holy place. Disputes surrounding visitation to the site have historically flared tensions in the occupied Palestinian territory.
In 2003, the Israeli government unilaterally decided — despite the objections of the Islamic Endowments Department — to allow non-Muslim visitors into the complex.
Since then, under increasingly right-wing Israeli governments, extremist Jewish settlers have been allowed into the site in ever greater numbers — usually protected by Israeli security forces — while Palestinian access to the site has become increasingly restricted.
Christians outside of the Levant remain divided on the issue, as biblical end times prophecy states: “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.” ~Revelation 21:22
However, settler attacks on Christian holy sites have been progressive and on the increase, in recent years.
This past Thursday, Israeli police continued their aggression against the mosque and the staff of the Rehabilitation Committee. Six of the staff, including the director of the committee, were taken into.
For the second day in a row, the Israeli police prevented the committee staff from completing the renovation works inside the Dome of the Rock, at the mosque compound.
Media expert in the affairs of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa mosque, Mahmud Abu Atta, said that “Israeli police had arrested both of the director of the committee, Bassam al Hallaq and other five employees including: Mohammad al-Dabbagh, Suleiman Abdullatif, Moatasem Karama, Anass al-Dabbagh and Mahmud Annata.”
Israeli occupation forces broke into the Dome of the Rock in the morning and halted the reconstruction works, while detaining six of the rehabilitation staff and taking them to Al Selsela Gate police station, Abu Atta added.
Abu Atta said “The aggression of the Israeli occupation against the Islamic Waqf officials including the Rehabilitation Committee and Al-Aqsa mosque guards is completely unprecedented and dangerous.”
On today’s intrusion, he confirmed that 21 Israeli settlers had broken into the mosque yards and taken a provocative tour around it. They also performed Talmudic religious rituals at Al- Rahma gate, east of Al- Aqsa, according to Abu Atta.
He added that troops also deployed special forces inside the courtyards .
Israeli police deported Isa Salhab, an observer of the Rehabilitation Committee in the Islamic Waqf, from al-Aqsa for two weeks.
On Wednesday, Israeli police released, with no conditions, the director of the Rehabilitation Committee Bassam al Hallaq and others, after interrogating them for several hours at Al- Qishleh Police Centre, in the Old City district of Jerusalem.
As reported by advocate Muhammad Mahmud, the magistrate court judge extended the detention of Sayf al-Din Abu Juma (21 years), his brother Amir (18 years), Kamal Alami (20 years) and Yousef Abu Juma (17 years) to 7/8/2016 and Munir Muheisen to 9/8/2016.
Since the early hours of the morning, Muslims worshipers from Jerusalem and pre-1948 Palestine came into al-Aqsa Mosque yards where they spread out in educational circles, reading verses from the Quran and defending the mosque from settlers break-ins with Takbeer.
The aggression of the Israeli occupation against Al-Aqsa guards, as well as staff from the Islamic Waqf, has escalated dramatically, whereupon Israeli forces detained and deported nine guards and employees.
Furthermore, Israeli police have been keeping al-Aqsa Mosque guard Fadi Alayyan jailed since the last June.
Israeli border soldiers on Saturday evening arrested a Palestinian young man as he was trying to cross the security area to the east of al-Bureij refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.
Eyewitnesses told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that the young man crossed the security fence near Tal Abu Hasina when soldiers spotted him.
They added that the soldiers forced the young man to undress at gunpoint and then handcuffed him before they took him aboard a military vehicle to an unknown place.
At the time, military reinforcements of troops and tanks arrived in the area where the breach took place.
Eyewitnesses told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that the young man crossed the security fence near Tal Abu Hasina when soldiers spotted him.
They added that the soldiers forced the young man to undress at gunpoint and then handcuffed him before they took him aboard a military vehicle to an unknown place.
At the time, military reinforcements of troops and tanks arrived in the area where the breach took place.
Over 80 Palestinian detainees are on hunger strike staged across different Israeli jails in protest at Israel’s arbitrary detention policies, a rights group said Sunday.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), the hunger strike was initially staged in solidarity with the Palestinian hunger-striker Bilal Kayed, who has been starving for the 54th consecutive day in protest at being transferred to administrative detention, without charge or trial, right after the end of his 15-year-sentence in Israeli jails.
Five Palestinian detainees have continued their hunger strike in response to being held administratively in Israeli jails. Mahmoud al-Balboul has been on an open-ended hunger strike since July 4 and his brother Muhammad since July 7.
Both prisoners Malek al-Kadhi and Ayad al-Hreimi started their hunger strike on July 15. Journalist Omar Nazal launched his hunger strike on August 4 while prisoner Waleed Muslameh announced his hunger strike on July 18 after the Israeli prison authorities transferred him to solitary confinement.
According to the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), the hunger strike was initially staged in solidarity with the Palestinian hunger-striker Bilal Kayed, who has been starving for the 54th consecutive day in protest at being transferred to administrative detention, without charge or trial, right after the end of his 15-year-sentence in Israeli jails.
Five Palestinian detainees have continued their hunger strike in response to being held administratively in Israeli jails. Mahmoud al-Balboul has been on an open-ended hunger strike since July 4 and his brother Muhammad since July 7.
Both prisoners Malek al-Kadhi and Ayad al-Hreimi started their hunger strike on July 15. Journalist Omar Nazal launched his hunger strike on August 4 while prisoner Waleed Muslameh announced his hunger strike on July 18 after the Israeli prison authorities transferred him to solitary confinement.
Hordes of fanatic Israeli settlers stormed on Sunday morning the holy al-Aqsa Mosque via the Maghareba Gate. The break-in was carried out under heavy shield by Israeli occupation policemen and special intervention troops.
The Israeli assailants performed sacrilegious rituals and yelled anti-Muslim slogans. The peaceful Muslim worshipers kept chanting “Allah is the Greatest” in protest at the break-in.
A member of the al-Aqsa supervision staff was kidnapped by the occupation forces during the assault. The guard, identified as Luay Abu al-Saad, was kidnapped from the Asbat Gate on his way to his workplace at al-Aqsa Mosque.
Abu Saad was deliberately hit by an Israeli electric tractor in Ramadan month and was rushed to hospital for urgent treatment.
Meanwhile, a group of Muslim women maintained vigil outside of al-Aqsa in protest at being banned from entering the site.
The Israeli assailants performed sacrilegious rituals and yelled anti-Muslim slogans. The peaceful Muslim worshipers kept chanting “Allah is the Greatest” in protest at the break-in.
A member of the al-Aqsa supervision staff was kidnapped by the occupation forces during the assault. The guard, identified as Luay Abu al-Saad, was kidnapped from the Asbat Gate on his way to his workplace at al-Aqsa Mosque.
Abu Saad was deliberately hit by an Israeli electric tractor in Ramadan month and was rushed to hospital for urgent treatment.
Meanwhile, a group of Muslim women maintained vigil outside of al-Aqsa in protest at being banned from entering the site.
Several Palestinian civilians were kidnapped by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) and a nine-year-old disabled child was left injured at dawn Sunday in abrupt sweeps launched across the West Bank and Jerusalem.
The Israeli occupation army claimed responsibility for the abduction of five Palestinians from the southern West Bank and Jerusalem at predawn time on allegations of involvement in anti-occupation activism.
Reporting from al-Khalil, a PIC journalist said an Israeli special unit kidnapped the ex-prisoner Dhiaa Ismail Muslameh, 21, from al-Khalil’s southwestern town of Beit Awa, after Palestinian Authority forces had chased him in the afternoon.
Musalmeh, a student at the Polytechnic University, had reportedly spent 28 months in Israeli jails. The IOF soldiers further kidnapped 18-year-old Muntaser Naser Muslameh from the area after they wreaked havoc on his family home.
Two youngsters and an elderly citizen were, meanwhile, kidnapped by the IOF from al-Khalil’s southern corners.
According to the PIC news correspondent, the nine-year-old disabled child Youssef Abdul Rahman al-Rajabi was aggressively attacked by Israeli settler gangs near the Ibrahimi Mosque in al-Khalil.
At the same time, a military checkpoint was pitched by the IOF near the entrances to al-Dhahriya, the Fawar refugee camp, and al-Samou’ village. Youssef Sayel Issa, 26, was also kidnapped by the Israeli soldiers after they rummaged into his family home in Bethlehem’s southern town of al-Khader. Montasser Ibrahimi Issa, 22, was summoned to questioning in the Etzion camp.
The IOF also kidnapped the youngster Muneer Muhammad Shanayteh from Bethlehem’s eastern corners. The occupation troops have tightened military grip around Bethlehem’s eastern villages, blockaded by the Israeli army for the third week running.
The Palestinian Liaison said the IOF soldiers have sealed off six roads with concrete blocks and two more roads with sand barriers. Over recent weeks, abrupt sweeps have been launched by the occupation troops across the area under the pretext that Israeli settlers residing in illegal settlement outposts were subjected to an anti-occupation shooting attack.
Several surveillance cameras were seized from the area on the same allegations.
The Israeli occupation army claimed responsibility for the abduction of five Palestinians from the southern West Bank and Jerusalem at predawn time on allegations of involvement in anti-occupation activism.
Reporting from al-Khalil, a PIC journalist said an Israeli special unit kidnapped the ex-prisoner Dhiaa Ismail Muslameh, 21, from al-Khalil’s southwestern town of Beit Awa, after Palestinian Authority forces had chased him in the afternoon.
Musalmeh, a student at the Polytechnic University, had reportedly spent 28 months in Israeli jails. The IOF soldiers further kidnapped 18-year-old Muntaser Naser Muslameh from the area after they wreaked havoc on his family home.
Two youngsters and an elderly citizen were, meanwhile, kidnapped by the IOF from al-Khalil’s southern corners.
According to the PIC news correspondent, the nine-year-old disabled child Youssef Abdul Rahman al-Rajabi was aggressively attacked by Israeli settler gangs near the Ibrahimi Mosque in al-Khalil.
At the same time, a military checkpoint was pitched by the IOF near the entrances to al-Dhahriya, the Fawar refugee camp, and al-Samou’ village. Youssef Sayel Issa, 26, was also kidnapped by the Israeli soldiers after they rummaged into his family home in Bethlehem’s southern town of al-Khader. Montasser Ibrahimi Issa, 22, was summoned to questioning in the Etzion camp.
The IOF also kidnapped the youngster Muneer Muhammad Shanayteh from Bethlehem’s eastern corners. The occupation troops have tightened military grip around Bethlehem’s eastern villages, blockaded by the Israeli army for the third week running.
The Palestinian Liaison said the IOF soldiers have sealed off six roads with concrete blocks and two more roads with sand barriers. Over recent weeks, abrupt sweeps have been launched by the occupation troops across the area under the pretext that Israeli settlers residing in illegal settlement outposts were subjected to an anti-occupation shooting attack.
Several surveillance cameras were seized from the area on the same allegations.
The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) has reported that Israeli soldiers kidnapped, overnight and earlier Sunday, at least eight Palestinians in the West Bank districts of Jerusalem, Hebron, and Bethlehem.
The Jerusalem office of the PPS said the soldiers kidnapped a guard of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, identified as Luay Abu Sa’ad, and took him to an interrogation facility.
The PPS added that the soldiers have kidnapped several mosque guards last week, and moved them to various interrogation centers.
In Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, the soldiers kidnapped five Palestinians from the city and Beit Awwa town, west of Hebron, after breaking into their homes and violently searching them.
The kidnapped have been identified as Rajaey Nafeth Jaber, 25, Nihad Mousa Omar, 66, and Farid Rajabi, 23, from Hebron city, in addition to Dia Ismael Masalma and Montaser Nasser Masalma, from Beit Awwa town, west of Hebron.
In the West Bank district of Bethlehem, the soldiers invaded several communities and searched homes, before kidnaping two Palestinians from the al-Khader and the al-‘Obeydiyya towns.
The kidnapped Palestinians have been identified as Yousef Sayel Issa, 26, and Monir Mohammad Shanayta, 33.
The Bethlehem office of the PPS said the soldiers have kidnapped twelve Palestinians in the district in the past two days.
The Jerusalem office of the PPS said the soldiers kidnapped a guard of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, identified as Luay Abu Sa’ad, and took him to an interrogation facility.
The PPS added that the soldiers have kidnapped several mosque guards last week, and moved them to various interrogation centers.
In Hebron, in the southern part of the West Bank, the soldiers kidnapped five Palestinians from the city and Beit Awwa town, west of Hebron, after breaking into their homes and violently searching them.
The kidnapped have been identified as Rajaey Nafeth Jaber, 25, Nihad Mousa Omar, 66, and Farid Rajabi, 23, from Hebron city, in addition to Dia Ismael Masalma and Montaser Nasser Masalma, from Beit Awwa town, west of Hebron.
In the West Bank district of Bethlehem, the soldiers invaded several communities and searched homes, before kidnaping two Palestinians from the al-Khader and the al-‘Obeydiyya towns.
The kidnapped Palestinians have been identified as Yousef Sayel Issa, 26, and Monir Mohammad Shanayta, 33.
The Bethlehem office of the PPS said the soldiers have kidnapped twelve Palestinians in the district in the past two days.
Head of the studies and documentation unit at detainees and ex-detainees committee in Gaza Strip, Abdunnaser Farwana, revealed that the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) arrested 2,320 Palestinian minors since October, 01, 2015.
Farwana said in a press statement on Saturday that the Israeli arrests included males and females of different ages ranging from 11 to 19 years old.
400 of them are still under arrest and are being exposed to serious violations of human rights in Israeli jails.
Farwana called on the international community to provide international protection for the Palestinian captives and to confront the Israeli new law which allows the arrest of children below 14 years old in full disregard to its serious effects on the future of the Palestinian children, he said.
Israeli occupation authorities are detaining over 7,000 Palestinian prisoners distributed in 25 jails and detention centers. 1,500 among them are suffering diseases and over 750 are held under the illegal administrative detention.
The number also includes 70 female captives, 400 children, 6 MPs, and 41 old prisoners who have served over 20 years including 30 detainees who were arrested before signing Oslo accords.
Farwana said in a press statement on Saturday that the Israeli arrests included males and females of different ages ranging from 11 to 19 years old.
400 of them are still under arrest and are being exposed to serious violations of human rights in Israeli jails.
Farwana called on the international community to provide international protection for the Palestinian captives and to confront the Israeli new law which allows the arrest of children below 14 years old in full disregard to its serious effects on the future of the Palestinian children, he said.
Israeli occupation authorities are detaining over 7,000 Palestinian prisoners distributed in 25 jails and detention centers. 1,500 among them are suffering diseases and over 750 are held under the illegal administrative detention.
The number also includes 70 female captives, 400 children, 6 MPs, and 41 old prisoners who have served over 20 years including 30 detainees who were arrested before signing Oslo accords.
Several Palestinian citizens suffered injuries during violent clashes on Saturday evening with Israeli soldiers in Beita and Burin towns in Nablus province.
According to the Red Crescent, 13 Palestinians suffered different injuries, including one in a critical condition, during the events in Beita and Burin.
Red Crescent ambulance crews evacuated some of the wounded to hospitals and provided others with medical assistance on site.
Local sources in Beita told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that the events started after a large number of Israeli troops stormed in the evening different neighborhoods of the town and clashed with local young men.
They added many citizens suffered from inhaling tear gas during the skirmishes. They also said that the invading troops kidnapped a young man identified as Ramez Duwaikat before withdrawing from the town.
In Burin, the Israeli army claimed that one of its soldiers suffered a slight head injury during its campaign in the town. Locals said that the soldiers attacked young men and intensively fired tear gas grenades at them and homes.
One tear gas canister fell inside a house, causing its residents to suffer from suffocation.
According to the Red Crescent, 13 Palestinians suffered different injuries, including one in a critical condition, during the events in Beita and Burin.
Red Crescent ambulance crews evacuated some of the wounded to hospitals and provided others with medical assistance on site.
Local sources in Beita told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that the events started after a large number of Israeli troops stormed in the evening different neighborhoods of the town and clashed with local young men.
They added many citizens suffered from inhaling tear gas during the skirmishes. They also said that the invading troops kidnapped a young man identified as Ramez Duwaikat before withdrawing from the town.
In Burin, the Israeli army claimed that one of its soldiers suffered a slight head injury during its campaign in the town. Locals said that the soldiers attacked young men and intensively fired tear gas grenades at them and homes.
One tear gas canister fell inside a house, causing its residents to suffer from suffocation.
Israeli soldiers invaded, on Saturday evening, the villages of Beita and Burin, south of the northern West Bank city of Nablus, shot and injured at least three Palestinians, while dozens suffered the effects of teargas inhalation, during clashes that took place following the invasions.
Medical sources said that at least three Palestinians were shot with rubber-coated metal bullets, in Beita village, and that one of them suffered a moderate-to-serious injury before he was moved to a hospital for treatment.
The soldiers also kidnapped one Palestinian, identified as Ziyada Dweilat, but later released him and handed him to the Palestinian District Coordination Office (DCO).
Furthermore, the soldiers invaded Burin village and clashed with dozens of local youths, who hurled stones on the military vehicles, while the army fired dozens of gas bombs, targeting protesters and nearby homes.
Many Palestinians, including several children, suffered the effects of teargas inhalation after the soldiers fired gas bombs at their homes.
Some of the wounded, who received treatment by Red Crescent medics in their homes, have been identified as Shahd, Hala, Shatha and Alaa’ ‘As’ous, Bilal Dakheel Eid and his family, and Mohammad Raja Eid.
On Saturday at dawn, the army invaded the al-‘Obeydiyya town, east of Bethlehem, and kidnapped Ghassan Jamil al-‘Asa, 38, after breaking into his home and searching it.
Medical sources said that at least three Palestinians were shot with rubber-coated metal bullets, in Beita village, and that one of them suffered a moderate-to-serious injury before he was moved to a hospital for treatment.
The soldiers also kidnapped one Palestinian, identified as Ziyada Dweilat, but later released him and handed him to the Palestinian District Coordination Office (DCO).
Furthermore, the soldiers invaded Burin village and clashed with dozens of local youths, who hurled stones on the military vehicles, while the army fired dozens of gas bombs, targeting protesters and nearby homes.
Many Palestinians, including several children, suffered the effects of teargas inhalation after the soldiers fired gas bombs at their homes.
Some of the wounded, who received treatment by Red Crescent medics in their homes, have been identified as Shahd, Hala, Shatha and Alaa’ ‘As’ous, Bilal Dakheel Eid and his family, and Mohammad Raja Eid.
On Saturday at dawn, the army invaded the al-‘Obeydiyya town, east of Bethlehem, and kidnapped Ghassan Jamil al-‘Asa, 38, after breaking into his home and searching it.
6 aug 2016
Hamas-affiliated prisoners reached an agreement Saturday with the Israel Prison Service (IPS) to end their mass hunger strikes, according the the Prisoner’s Media Office, a Gaza-based organization covering Palestinian prisoner-related news.
The group published the terms of the agreement that was reached, which included ending all types of “humiliating searches” -- specifically strip searching -- improving the living conditions of Hamas-affiliated prisoners in Israel’s Nafha prison, by installing proper ventilation and reducing prisoner congestion.
The terms of the agreement also included returning the head of the Higher Commission of Hamas Prisoners, Muhammad Irman, from Israel’s Hadarim prison back to Nafha prison within a period of six months, as well as returning all prisoners who were previously moved to other prisons, back to their original locations.
The agreement stated that the IPS would agree to several other demands for prisoners concerning daily life, which included allowing books to be brought in during family visitation, and allowing prisoners access to watch an additional news channel.
Hundreds of Hamas-affiliated prisoners in Nafha, Rimon, and Eshel prisons launched a hunger strike Wednesday in protest of the “humiliation and oppression” they faced at the hand of Israeli authorities.
Hamas leader Abd al-Rahman al-Shadid said in a statement that over 300 of the movement's members in Israeli jails launched a hunger strike which would continue until their demands were met.
Al-Shahid said that Hamas-affiliated prisoners were abused, beaten, and strip searched while being moved days prior to them joining the strike.
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) reported Thursday that 285 Hamas-affiliated prisoners held at the Eshel and Nafha prisons entered an open hunger strike amid ongoing protests of some 40 prisoners from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) who have been hunger striking in support of fellow prisoner Bilal Kayid.
Kayid has been on hunger strike for more than 50 days in protest of being sentenced to administrative detention -- internment without trial or charges -- on the day he was meant to be released from prison after serving a 14-and-a-half year sentence.
The large-scale solidarity movement among prisoners has resulted in an equally massive crackdown by the IPS, which has conducted multiple raids, cell block closures, confiscations of personal property, and transfers of detainees in attempts to quell the strikes.
The ongoing prisoners movement has inspired sit-ins across the occupied Palestinian territory organized by families of incarcerated hunger strikers and their supporters.
Members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) carried out a sit-in in Gaza City in solidarity with hunger-striking prisoners on Thursday.
The deputy speaker of the PLC in Gaza, Ahmad Bahr, called on all Palestinian resistance factions and their military wings to unite to release prisoners from Israeli custody.
Bahr also demanded that the Palestinian Authority end its controversial security coordination with Israel. “We must unite to free prisoners,” he added.
According to prisoners rights group Addameer, Israel was detaining some 7,000 Palestinian prisoners as of May.
The group published the terms of the agreement that was reached, which included ending all types of “humiliating searches” -- specifically strip searching -- improving the living conditions of Hamas-affiliated prisoners in Israel’s Nafha prison, by installing proper ventilation and reducing prisoner congestion.
The terms of the agreement also included returning the head of the Higher Commission of Hamas Prisoners, Muhammad Irman, from Israel’s Hadarim prison back to Nafha prison within a period of six months, as well as returning all prisoners who were previously moved to other prisons, back to their original locations.
The agreement stated that the IPS would agree to several other demands for prisoners concerning daily life, which included allowing books to be brought in during family visitation, and allowing prisoners access to watch an additional news channel.
Hundreds of Hamas-affiliated prisoners in Nafha, Rimon, and Eshel prisons launched a hunger strike Wednesday in protest of the “humiliation and oppression” they faced at the hand of Israeli authorities.
Hamas leader Abd al-Rahman al-Shadid said in a statement that over 300 of the movement's members in Israeli jails launched a hunger strike which would continue until their demands were met.
Al-Shahid said that Hamas-affiliated prisoners were abused, beaten, and strip searched while being moved days prior to them joining the strike.
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) reported Thursday that 285 Hamas-affiliated prisoners held at the Eshel and Nafha prisons entered an open hunger strike amid ongoing protests of some 40 prisoners from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) who have been hunger striking in support of fellow prisoner Bilal Kayid.
Kayid has been on hunger strike for more than 50 days in protest of being sentenced to administrative detention -- internment without trial or charges -- on the day he was meant to be released from prison after serving a 14-and-a-half year sentence.
The large-scale solidarity movement among prisoners has resulted in an equally massive crackdown by the IPS, which has conducted multiple raids, cell block closures, confiscations of personal property, and transfers of detainees in attempts to quell the strikes.
The ongoing prisoners movement has inspired sit-ins across the occupied Palestinian territory organized by families of incarcerated hunger strikers and their supporters.
Members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) carried out a sit-in in Gaza City in solidarity with hunger-striking prisoners on Thursday.
The deputy speaker of the PLC in Gaza, Ahmad Bahr, called on all Palestinian resistance factions and their military wings to unite to release prisoners from Israeli custody.
Bahr also demanded that the Palestinian Authority end its controversial security coordination with Israel. “We must unite to free prisoners,” he added.
According to prisoners rights group Addameer, Israel was detaining some 7,000 Palestinian prisoners as of May.
Several Palestinian prisoners in Israel’s Ashkelon prison filed complaints against Israeli forces and authorities after their family members were denied entry through Israeli-controlled checkpoints despite holding Israeli permits for family visitations, according to a statement released Saturday by a lawyer from the Palestinian Committee of Prisoners’ Affairs.
Karim Ajwa said in the statement that the complaints were filed against the prison administration and Israeli security forces after families were denied passage through checkpoints. The family members included the wife of prisoner Nasr Abu Hmeid, the mother of Haitham Salhiya, the brother of Muhammad Abu Shahin, the mother and daughter of Issam al-Froukh, the brothers of Yusif Nazal, and the brother of Majdi Sabanah.
The committee stated that such actions were part of a broader system of arbitrary punishments imposed on Palestinian prisoners and their families, adding that several other families have complained of their permits being ripped up at checkpoints by Israeli soldiers and being denied entry for scheduled visitations.
The committee also urged the the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which is responsible for arranging most family visits for Palestinian prisoners, to intervene and stop acts that violate humanitarian laws and the rights of the prisoners.
The incidents came amid widespread protest over the ICRC’s recent cuts to family visitations, reducing arranged visits for male Palestinian prisoners from two days a month to just one.
Since families of Palestinian prisoners often experience rejection or long-term delays of their permit applications to visit prisons in Israel, including incidents at checkpoints that prevent them from crossing even after they have been issued permits, Palestinians are heavily reliant on ICRC-arranged visitations, as ICRC buses transport Palestinians to and from the prisons and act as an institutional medium between the families and Israeli authorities.
Karim Ajwa said in the statement that the complaints were filed against the prison administration and Israeli security forces after families were denied passage through checkpoints. The family members included the wife of prisoner Nasr Abu Hmeid, the mother of Haitham Salhiya, the brother of Muhammad Abu Shahin, the mother and daughter of Issam al-Froukh, the brothers of Yusif Nazal, and the brother of Majdi Sabanah.
The committee stated that such actions were part of a broader system of arbitrary punishments imposed on Palestinian prisoners and their families, adding that several other families have complained of their permits being ripped up at checkpoints by Israeli soldiers and being denied entry for scheduled visitations.
The committee also urged the the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which is responsible for arranging most family visits for Palestinian prisoners, to intervene and stop acts that violate humanitarian laws and the rights of the prisoners.
The incidents came amid widespread protest over the ICRC’s recent cuts to family visitations, reducing arranged visits for male Palestinian prisoners from two days a month to just one.
Since families of Palestinian prisoners often experience rejection or long-term delays of their permit applications to visit prisons in Israel, including incidents at checkpoints that prevent them from crossing even after they have been issued permits, Palestinians are heavily reliant on ICRC-arranged visitations, as ICRC buses transport Palestinians to and from the prisons and act as an institutional medium between the families and Israeli authorities.
First deputy speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council Ahmed Bahar has strongly denounced the new Knesset law which allows Palestinian children under age 14 to be tried and jailed, describing it as "fascist and racist."
In press remarks on Friday, Bahar emphasized that this Israeli law clearly violates the international conventions and agreements that call for protecting children and sparing them any conflicts and wars.
"The Zionists is going far further in devising racist laws and legislation, in the midst of Arab silence and international complicity," Bahar charged.
"Such violation of the children's rights constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity according to the provisions of the international laws and conventions," he added.
He also highlighted that Israel's new imprisonment law against the Palestinian children reflected its fascism and the need for immediate international action to curb it.
In press remarks on Friday, Bahar emphasized that this Israeli law clearly violates the international conventions and agreements that call for protecting children and sparing them any conflicts and wars.
"The Zionists is going far further in devising racist laws and legislation, in the midst of Arab silence and international complicity," Bahar charged.
"Such violation of the children's rights constitutes a war crime and a crime against humanity according to the provisions of the international laws and conventions," he added.
He also highlighted that Israel's new imprisonment law against the Palestinian children reflected its fascism and the need for immediate international action to curb it.
Villagers of Bil’in, in the central West Bank district of Ramallah, held the weekly nonviolent protest, on Friday, in participation with Israeli activists and delegates from Norway, Japan, and Spain, demanding ending the illegal Israeli occupation, and marched in solidarity with hunger striking detainees in Israeli prisons.
The nonviolent protesters marched carrying Palestinian flags and posters of detainee Bilal Kayed, and dozens of striking detainees, while chanting against the ongoing Israeli occupation and violations.
They demanded the release of Kayed, who is held under arbitrary administrative detention orders, without charges or trial, after he already served his 15.5 prison sentence, and called for the release of all detainees.
Following the protest, the visiting delegates listened to the history of nonviolent struggle in Bil’in, and the successes of the ongoing protests in retrieving illegally confiscated Palestinian lands and rerouting the illegal Annexation Wall.
The delegates also listed to a detailed account of the types of weapons used by the soldiers, and the ongoing punitive invasions into the village as an act of collective punishment by the army in an attempt to stop the protests.
Also Friday, the soldiers released a child, identified as Hamza Khatib, who was kidnapped after the soldiers invaded Bil’in last week, and accused him of throwing stones at the military vehicles.
His lawyer managed to refute the military claims, and informed the court that the soldiers violently assaulted Khatib, and beat him on several parts of his body in addition to threatening to further harm him and his family.
The nonviolent protesters marched carrying Palestinian flags and posters of detainee Bilal Kayed, and dozens of striking detainees, while chanting against the ongoing Israeli occupation and violations.
They demanded the release of Kayed, who is held under arbitrary administrative detention orders, without charges or trial, after he already served his 15.5 prison sentence, and called for the release of all detainees.
Following the protest, the visiting delegates listened to the history of nonviolent struggle in Bil’in, and the successes of the ongoing protests in retrieving illegally confiscated Palestinian lands and rerouting the illegal Annexation Wall.
The delegates also listed to a detailed account of the types of weapons used by the soldiers, and the ongoing punitive invasions into the village as an act of collective punishment by the army in an attempt to stop the protests.
Also Friday, the soldiers released a child, identified as Hamza Khatib, who was kidnapped after the soldiers invaded Bil’in last week, and accused him of throwing stones at the military vehicles.
His lawyer managed to refute the military claims, and informed the court that the soldiers violently assaulted Khatib, and beat him on several parts of his body in addition to threatening to further harm him and his family.
