We call on the international community to take action to demand Israel abide by international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Mobilize and Organize in Solidarity with the Hunger Strike!
We thank those of you who are mobilizing on behalf of the prisoners and their families and friends. PLEASE CALL, FAX OR E-MAIL the following offices and demand that they abide by international and Israeli law concerning the treatment of political prisoners!
Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon
Tel: 972-2-6705555
Fax: 972-2-6512631
E-mail: pm_eng@pmo.gov.il
Ministry of Defense, Shaul Mofaz
Tel: 972-3-5692010
Fax: 972-3-6916940
e-mail: sar@mod.gov.il
Ministry of the Interior, Avraham Poraz
Tel: 972-2-6701411
Fax: 972-2-6701628
e-mail: sar@mops.gov.il
Ministry of Justice, Yosef Lapid
Tel: 972-2-6708511
Fax: 972-2-6288618
e-mail: sar@mops.gov.il
Let us know about your actions by replying to: info@palsolidarity.org
For more information contact: International Solidarity Movement http://www.palsolidarity.org
INFORMATION ON PALESTINIAN POLTICAL PRISONERS
For background information on Palestinian political prisoners under Israeli occupation, please refer to ADDAMEER (Arabic for conscience) Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association website. http://www.addameer.org
Excerpts from Addameer's website:
Since the beginning of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories in 1967, over 650,000 Palestinians have been detained by Israel. This forms approximately 20% of the total Palestinian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). Considering the fact that the majority of those detained are male, the number of Palestinians detained forms approximately 40% of the total male Palestinian population in the OPT.
As of 15 August 2004, there were approximately 7,500 Palestinian political prisoners being held in Israeli prisons. Over 750 of these are administrative detainees, held without charge or trial for indefinite periods of time. 380 of the political prisoners are aged 18 and under, 78 of whom are 16 years and under. After the age of 14, Palestinian children are tried as adults. There are no juvenile courts and children are often held and serve their sentences in cells with criminal prisoners and are often not separated from adults, illegal under international law. There are 106 Palestinian female political prisoners, 20 of whom are mothers and 2 of whom gave birth in prison, with their children remaining in prison with them. Of the total 7,500 political prisoners, 3,800 are being held in civil prisons, with the remaining political prisoners held in Israeli military detention centers and prison camps.
The arrest and detention of Palestinians living within the OPT is governed by a wide-ranging set of military regulations that govern every aspect of Palestinian civilian life. There are approximately 1,500 military regulations governing the West Bank and over 1,400 governing the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military commander of the region issues military orders, and the issuance of new orders often remains unknown and become apparent when they are implemented, as the military commander may issue new military regulations at any moment.
Israeli prisons and military detention camps are primarily located within the 1948 borders of Israel. There are a total of 5 interrogation centers, 6 detention/holding centers, 3 military detention camps, and about 20 prisons in which Palestinians from the OPT are held. The location of prisons within Israel and the transfer of detainees to locations within the occupying power's territory are illegal under international law and constitute a war crime. The Fourth Geneva Convention explicitly states that “Protected persons accused of offences shall be detained in the occupied country, and if convicted they shall serve their sentences therein.” (Article 47) Most of the Palestinian Prisoners are being held in detention facilities located outside the OPT.
As a result of an arbitrary permit system which governs Palestinians movement within the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem, and to and from the 1948 borders of Israel, family visits to detainees are often not possible, extremely infrequent, or impossible. Since the beginning of the current Intifada in September 2000, family visits have been prevented repeatedly and for long periods at a time.
International Solidarity Movement http://www.palsolidarity.org
Please also see:
Arab American Roman Catholic Community http://www.al-bushra.org
B’Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories http://www.btselem.org
The Electronic Intifada http://electronicintifada.net
Gush Shalom http://www.gush-shalom.org
Jewish Voice for Peace http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org
The Palestine Chronicle http://www.palestinechronicle.com
The Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG) http://www.phrmg.org
The Palestine Monitor http://www.palestinemonitor.org
Physicians for Human Rights - Israel http://www.phr.org.il
Women in Black http://www.womeninblack.net
Related News
Palestinians say prisoner's life in danger
Marwan Barghouti, the secretary of the mainstream Fatah movement led by Yasser Arafat, has lost about 40 pounds (18 kilograms) and is suffering from dehydration. representatives of the International Red Cross who recently visited Barghouti in detention as saying the prisoner's condition was "very bad and he is no longer able to walk or get up because of his hunger strike."
http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20040904-013154-7512r.htm
Gandhi In Palestine
As Gandhi began to speak, a youth climbed the wall and lustily waved the Palestinian flag. "This wall which I see here reminds me of the Bantustans (self-governing enclaves) which the apartheid regime in South Africa tried to create," Gandhi said. "I've come here to protest two kinds of injustices, the injustice of a wall and the injustices of prisoners who are treated worse than animals."
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20040913&fname=Arun+Gandhi+(F)&sid=1
How Are You, Non-Violence? - By Uri Avnery
There are people amongst us who are ready for a compromise peace but have been led to believe that “there is no one we can talk with”, because “they” don't want peace but seek to annihilate us. But we must understand that Palestinian violence, which causes so much bloodshed, is the predictable result of our cutting off every other road in front of them.
http://www.amin.org/eng/uri_avnery/2004/sep4.html
State continues to implement anti-Arab segregation
The ILA justifies its policy by claiming it is carrying out the policy of the JNF, the owner of the land on which the project in question is being built, and one of its biggest owners. The JNF (Jewish National Fund) predates the establishment of the state. It was founded in order to purchase land from Arabs for Jewish settlement
http://www.maarivintl.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=10917
Palestinian youth seriously injured in Rafah
A 15-year old Palestinian was seriously injured Saturday morning in Oraiba, north of Rafah, where Israeli troops opened random fire. Palestinian medical sources said that five bullets were lodged in Nithal Humaidan's body, and that he was transported to hospital in critical condition.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/English/Story.asp?DSNO=661330
Fifth Gaza teenager dies
Husam Abu Zarka, 18, died of his injuries on Saturday after being wounded in Wednesday's clashes with Israeli occupation troops. Abu Zarka was fatally wounded when Israeli soldiers opened fire on a group of stone-throwing youths and died soon afterwards.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/49DFB82E-9DBC-45E9-BF1E-84BE31AD2E45.htm
Israeli Occupation Arrests a Girl, Erects Several Checkpoints in the West Bank
A 14 year old girl was arrested today in Yatta town of Hebron by the Israeli occupation forces as the control on the Israeli were strictly gripped on the city, towns and villages of Hebron province since last Tuesday.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_09/015.html
Villages put under Israeli curfew
Commanders made the order in the villages of Jaba, Sandakumieh and Asafa this morning. The curfew was imposed in Hilat Adaher the previous day following clashes between troops and stonethrowing protesters. All four villages are close to the town of Jenin...
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,10668588%255E1702,00.html
Occupational hazards
They were "My Story" books where the children set down in words and pictures their history and their wishes. Every one I picked up said it was very difficult to see the future. Many of them wrote that they dream of becoming doctors, many asked, "Am I going to end up performing a martyrdom operation?"
http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/politicsphilosophyandsociety/story/0,6000,1296739,00.html
Meager turnout in PA voter registration drive for Dec. elections
Palestinians launched a voter registration drive Saturday, a first step toward long-overdue elections, and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat promised that voting for parliament and president would take place this winter.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/473350.html
Palestinians eye polls next spring as pressure builds on Arafat
"We hope to be able to hold general elections next spring," Jarbawi told reporters at Arafat's battered West Bank headquarters flanked by the Palestinian leader, indicating that simultaneous presidential, parliamentary and municipal polls would be held.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=3&u=/afp/20040904/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_vote_palestinian_040904174654
Egyptian officials set to hold Gaza talks with Arafat
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit and intelligence chief Omar Suleiman are due to hold talks with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Monday, Abul Gheit told a joint press conference with his visiting Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2004/September/middleeast_September109.xml§ion=middleeast&col=
AG warns: Shelling civilians is war crime
"If they are shelling us, we should shell them," he burst out at one point during the discussion yesterday. But Attorney General Menachem Mazuz intervened. "That would be a war crime, on the part of both the state and you personally," he said...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/471345.html
Israel tallies up compensation claims by Iraq's Jews
Discussion of Jews and property has also surfaced within Iraq itself. In late December 2003, a source within the Iraqi Governing Council told the Jerusalem Post that the council was considering restitution of Jewish property seized as of 1951. Rumors of "foreign Jews," presumably former Iraqi citizens, seeking to buy land in Iraq, were rife.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=8047
State to buy homes of evacuated settlers
“The law for the implementation of the disengagement plan” – that is the name of the bill that would be brought before the Knesset in November, which would allow the government to carry out the plan. The main principles of the bill have reached Maariv.
http://www.maarivintl.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=10903
Mobilize and Organize in Solidarity with the Hunger Strike!
We thank those of you who are mobilizing on behalf of the prisoners and their families and friends. PLEASE CALL, FAX OR E-MAIL the following offices and demand that they abide by international and Israeli law concerning the treatment of political prisoners!
Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon
Tel: 972-2-6705555
Fax: 972-2-6512631
E-mail: pm_eng@pmo.gov.il
Ministry of Defense, Shaul Mofaz
Tel: 972-3-5692010
Fax: 972-3-6916940
e-mail: sar@mod.gov.il
Ministry of the Interior, Avraham Poraz
Tel: 972-2-6701411
Fax: 972-2-6701628
e-mail: sar@mops.gov.il
Ministry of Justice, Yosef Lapid
Tel: 972-2-6708511
Fax: 972-2-6288618
e-mail: sar@mops.gov.il
Let us know about your actions by replying to: info@palsolidarity.org
For more information contact: International Solidarity Movement http://www.palsolidarity.org
INFORMATION ON PALESTINIAN POLTICAL PRISONERS
For background information on Palestinian political prisoners under Israeli occupation, please refer to ADDAMEER (Arabic for conscience) Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association website. http://www.addameer.org
Excerpts from Addameer's website:
Since the beginning of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories in 1967, over 650,000 Palestinians have been detained by Israel. This forms approximately 20% of the total Palestinian population in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT). Considering the fact that the majority of those detained are male, the number of Palestinians detained forms approximately 40% of the total male Palestinian population in the OPT.
As of 15 August 2004, there were approximately 7,500 Palestinian political prisoners being held in Israeli prisons. Over 750 of these are administrative detainees, held without charge or trial for indefinite periods of time. 380 of the political prisoners are aged 18 and under, 78 of whom are 16 years and under. After the age of 14, Palestinian children are tried as adults. There are no juvenile courts and children are often held and serve their sentences in cells with criminal prisoners and are often not separated from adults, illegal under international law. There are 106 Palestinian female political prisoners, 20 of whom are mothers and 2 of whom gave birth in prison, with their children remaining in prison with them. Of the total 7,500 political prisoners, 3,800 are being held in civil prisons, with the remaining political prisoners held in Israeli military detention centers and prison camps.
The arrest and detention of Palestinians living within the OPT is governed by a wide-ranging set of military regulations that govern every aspect of Palestinian civilian life. There are approximately 1,500 military regulations governing the West Bank and over 1,400 governing the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military commander of the region issues military orders, and the issuance of new orders often remains unknown and become apparent when they are implemented, as the military commander may issue new military regulations at any moment.
Israeli prisons and military detention camps are primarily located within the 1948 borders of Israel. There are a total of 5 interrogation centers, 6 detention/holding centers, 3 military detention camps, and about 20 prisons in which Palestinians from the OPT are held. The location of prisons within Israel and the transfer of detainees to locations within the occupying power's territory are illegal under international law and constitute a war crime. The Fourth Geneva Convention explicitly states that “Protected persons accused of offences shall be detained in the occupied country, and if convicted they shall serve their sentences therein.” (Article 47) Most of the Palestinian Prisoners are being held in detention facilities located outside the OPT.
As a result of an arbitrary permit system which governs Palestinians movement within the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem, and to and from the 1948 borders of Israel, family visits to detainees are often not possible, extremely infrequent, or impossible. Since the beginning of the current Intifada in September 2000, family visits have been prevented repeatedly and for long periods at a time.
International Solidarity Movement http://www.palsolidarity.org
Please also see:
Arab American Roman Catholic Community http://www.al-bushra.org
B’Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories http://www.btselem.org
The Electronic Intifada http://electronicintifada.net
Gush Shalom http://www.gush-shalom.org
Jewish Voice for Peace http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org
The Palestine Chronicle http://www.palestinechronicle.com
The Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group (PHRMG) http://www.phrmg.org
The Palestine Monitor http://www.palestinemonitor.org
Physicians for Human Rights - Israel http://www.phr.org.il
Women in Black http://www.womeninblack.net
Related News
Palestinians say prisoner's life in danger
Marwan Barghouti, the secretary of the mainstream Fatah movement led by Yasser Arafat, has lost about 40 pounds (18 kilograms) and is suffering from dehydration. representatives of the International Red Cross who recently visited Barghouti in detention as saying the prisoner's condition was "very bad and he is no longer able to walk or get up because of his hunger strike."
http://www.washtimes.com/upi-breaking/20040904-013154-7512r.htm
Gandhi In Palestine
As Gandhi began to speak, a youth climbed the wall and lustily waved the Palestinian flag. "This wall which I see here reminds me of the Bantustans (self-governing enclaves) which the apartheid regime in South Africa tried to create," Gandhi said. "I've come here to protest two kinds of injustices, the injustice of a wall and the injustices of prisoners who are treated worse than animals."
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20040913&fname=Arun+Gandhi+(F)&sid=1
How Are You, Non-Violence? - By Uri Avnery
There are people amongst us who are ready for a compromise peace but have been led to believe that “there is no one we can talk with”, because “they” don't want peace but seek to annihilate us. But we must understand that Palestinian violence, which causes so much bloodshed, is the predictable result of our cutting off every other road in front of them.
http://www.amin.org/eng/uri_avnery/2004/sep4.html
State continues to implement anti-Arab segregation
The ILA justifies its policy by claiming it is carrying out the policy of the JNF, the owner of the land on which the project in question is being built, and one of its biggest owners. The JNF (Jewish National Fund) predates the establishment of the state. It was founded in order to purchase land from Arabs for Jewish settlement
http://www.maarivintl.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=10917
Palestinian youth seriously injured in Rafah
A 15-year old Palestinian was seriously injured Saturday morning in Oraiba, north of Rafah, where Israeli troops opened random fire. Palestinian medical sources said that five bullets were lodged in Nithal Humaidan's body, and that he was transported to hospital in critical condition.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/English/Story.asp?DSNO=661330
Fifth Gaza teenager dies
Husam Abu Zarka, 18, died of his injuries on Saturday after being wounded in Wednesday's clashes with Israeli occupation troops. Abu Zarka was fatally wounded when Israeli soldiers opened fire on a group of stone-throwing youths and died soon afterwards.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/49DFB82E-9DBC-45E9-BF1E-84BE31AD2E45.htm
Israeli Occupation Arrests a Girl, Erects Several Checkpoints in the West Bank
A 14 year old girl was arrested today in Yatta town of Hebron by the Israeli occupation forces as the control on the Israeli were strictly gripped on the city, towns and villages of Hebron province since last Tuesday.
http://www.ipc.gov.ps/ipc_e/ipc_e-1/e_News/news2004/2004_09/015.html
Villages put under Israeli curfew
Commanders made the order in the villages of Jaba, Sandakumieh and Asafa this morning. The curfew was imposed in Hilat Adaher the previous day following clashes between troops and stonethrowing protesters. All four villages are close to the town of Jenin...
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,10668588%255E1702,00.html
Occupational hazards
They were "My Story" books where the children set down in words and pictures their history and their wishes. Every one I picked up said it was very difficult to see the future. Many of them wrote that they dream of becoming doctors, many asked, "Am I going to end up performing a martyrdom operation?"
http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/politicsphilosophyandsociety/story/0,6000,1296739,00.html
Meager turnout in PA voter registration drive for Dec. elections
Palestinians launched a voter registration drive Saturday, a first step toward long-overdue elections, and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat promised that voting for parliament and president would take place this winter.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/473350.html
Palestinians eye polls next spring as pressure builds on Arafat
"We hope to be able to hold general elections next spring," Jarbawi told reporters at Arafat's battered West Bank headquarters flanked by the Palestinian leader, indicating that simultaneous presidential, parliamentary and municipal polls would be held.
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1515&ncid=1515&e=3&u=/afp/20040904/wl_mideast_afp/mideast_vote_palestinian_040904174654
Egyptian officials set to hold Gaza talks with Arafat
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit and intelligence chief Omar Suleiman are due to hold talks with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Monday, Abul Gheit told a joint press conference with his visiting Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2004/September/middleeast_September109.xml§ion=middleeast&col=
AG warns: Shelling civilians is war crime
"If they are shelling us, we should shell them," he burst out at one point during the discussion yesterday. But Attorney General Menachem Mazuz intervened. "That would be a war crime, on the part of both the state and you personally," he said...
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/471345.html
Israel tallies up compensation claims by Iraq's Jews
Discussion of Jews and property has also surfaced within Iraq itself. In late December 2003, a source within the Iraqi Governing Council told the Jerusalem Post that the council was considering restitution of Jewish property seized as of 1951. Rumors of "foreign Jews," presumably former Iraqi citizens, seeking to buy land in Iraq, were rife.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=8047
State to buy homes of evacuated settlers
“The law for the implementation of the disengagement plan” – that is the name of the bill that would be brought before the Knesset in November, which would allow the government to carry out the plan. The main principles of the bill have reached Maariv.
http://www.maarivintl.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=10903