Sa'adat calls for mass Palestinian movement for national unity and resistance

freeahmadsaadat.org

 

Recently released Palestinian political prisoner Yousef Abu Ghoulmeh, freed in late July 2012, shared a prison cell with Ahmad Sa'adat for nearly three months following the end of the prisoners' hunger strike - and Sa'adat's release from isolation. Abu Ghoulmeh spoke with Voice of the People radio station on August 4, 2012, discussing Sa'adat's comments, political insights, and the current situation of Sa'adat and his fellow Palestinian political prisoners behind occupation bars.

Ahmad Sa'adat is the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, and a Palestinian national leader. He had been held in isolation for over three years when the agreement ending the hunger strike saw his return to the general prison population (His - and his fellow prisoners' - isolation had been a major factor in several large hunger strikes.)

Abu Ghoulmeh said that Sa'adat urged the Palestinian masses, and all Palestinian political and social forces and organizations to engage in mass mobilization and take the streets, demanding an end to the Palestinian internal fragmentation and division, emphasizing the harm such division caused to the Palestinian national movement. He noted that Sa'adat emphasized that Hamas and Fateh have particular responsibility to bear to end the state of division. Centrally, Sa'adat urged, the end of division can only come through a united front to expose the crimes of the occupation and build resistance through all and varied forms of struggle; there is no hope or future in absurd negotiations, said Sa'adat. In particular, he noted that the Israeli government will often engage in forms of political blackmail and machinations including promises of releasing prisoners, some who have been imprisoned for decades, in order to spur further pseudo-negotiations; he denounced any participation in such schemes as engaging with an occupation deception that will only harm the Palestinian national cause.

Abu Ghoulmeh further said that Sa'adat urged Palestinian political forces to make strong efforts to free all of the Palestinian prisoners behind occupation bars, and to prioritize the prisoners' case as part of the Palestinian struggle to regain the people's land and rights. Sa'adat asked Abu Ghoulmeh to convey his greetings to the Palestinian people, inside Palestine and in exile and diaspora, and particularly Palestinian refugees in the camps, struggling to return, especially those in Lebanon, Syria and Jordan facing difficult circumstances.

Sa'adat is strong and healthy despite his repeated hunger strikes and lengthy isolation and imprisonment, reported Abu Ghoulmeh, noting that throughout their time sharing a room at Gilboa, Sa'adat was steadfast and vital, filled with enthusiasm, and never lost hope in Palestinian victory.
Abu Ghoulmeh also provided an update on the current situation of Palestinian political prisoners behind bars, nearly three months following the end of the mass hunger strike of April-May 2012. He noted that the occupation authorities are continuing to fail to implement the agreement with the prisoners, and have not come through on promised improvements to living conditions, continue aggressive late-night inspections and ransacking of cells, abusive methods of transfer of prisoners, and denial of family visits under security pretexts. In addition, Abu Ghoulmeh reported that administrative detention without charge or trial continues at the same level as prior to the strike, saying it was a mechanism of the occupation to pressure the Palestinian people and Palestinian freedom fighters.

Sa’adat: Strike continues until victory despite hospitalization

April 30, 2012 Samidoun

 

Imprisoned Palestinian leader Ahmad Sa’adat, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, confirmed he is continuing his open-ended hunger strike until the just demands of the prisoners’ movement is achieved, noting that these demands are fair, humane, and revive the prisoners’ movement and its great history of struggle.

Sa’adat said this during a visit with Mahmoud Hassan, a lawyer with Addameer, in Ramleh prison hospital, where he was moved yesterday. Hassan reported that Sa’adat called for the masses of the Palestinian people and the Arab nation, and all solidarity organizations and progressive movements around the world to support the prisoners’ strike and the prisoners’ struggle as part and parcel of the Palestinian national struggle to resist occupation.

Sa’adat called for the Palestinian leadership to support the prisoners’ strugle at all levels, including supporting releaed prisoners, rehabilitation for freed prisoners, and treating Palestinian political prsioners as prisoners of war.

Sa’adat praised all of the prisoners engaged in the battle of the empty stomachs, saying that struggle is the only way to achieve the prisoners’ just demands, and greeted the Palestinian people, the prisoners, his family, and all peace and justice activists wherever they are.

Hassan said that Sa’adat’s health was steadily deterioriating, and protested the Prison Service’s refusal to give him salt in violation of international laws allowing prisoners on hunger strike to access salt to maintain their bodies.

This visit came after an earlier lawyer visit, by Hassan al-Ramla was rejected by Israeli prison services.

Palestinian leader Ahmad Sa’adat transferred to Ramle prison hospital from isolation in Ramon

 April 29, 2012 Samidoun

 

Act now to defend the prisoners’ lives: click here to take action!

Ramon prison management transferred hunger striking Palestinian prisoner and leader, Ahmad Sa’adat to Ramle prison hospital on Sunday, April 29. Sa’adat is General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and has been in isolation for over three years in Ramon prison. He has been on hunger strike since April 17 with now over 2000 Palestinian prisoners.

PFLP prisoners were previously offered that Sa’adat’s isolation would be ended in exchange for them ending their hunger strike, which the prisoners refused, saying they are committed to achieving the full demands of the strike in unity with all prisoners, including ending all isolation, ending administrative detention, and supporting rights to family visits, education and media for prisoners.

Sa’adat has lost 6 kilograms so far on this hunger strike, which comes only short months after his last extended hunger strike, from September 27-October 20, calling for an end to isolation and solitary confinement. Hundreds of prisoners joined this strike, which ended with false Israeli promises to end isolation which were then ignored following the prisoner exchange. Sa’adat lost tens of kilograms during the previous strike.

Sa’adat was abducted in 2006 from the Palestinian Authority’s Jericho prison, where he had been held with five other prisoners, including four of his comrades under US and British guard since 2002. His imprisonment had been ruled illegal by the Palestinian High Court and he was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council while held in Jericho. On March 16, 2006, Israeli occupation forces attacked the prison and abducted Sa’adat and his fellow prisoners. He is now one of 19 Palestinian prisoners in isolation.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued a statement in response to the news that Sa’adat has been transferred to the prison hospital, saying that the PFLP “holds the occupation government fully responsible for any consequences to the life of General Secretary Sa’adat and all of the heroic prisoners fighting the battle of open hunger strike in order to meet their just demands, particularly ending solitary confinement. We have great pride in national leader Ahmad Sa’adat, who is locked in the battle of open hunger strike….we confirm our full support of the prisoners’ movement strike…and we call for the widest movement on all levels to support the prisoners in their strike in the prisons of the occupation and force their demands to be accepted.”

 

A press conference was held on Sunday evening at Wattan Media Centre in Ramallah to draw attention to Sa’adat’s health situation. Khalida Jarrar, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council with the PFLP, said that “the prisoners on hunger strike must not be harmed. The occupation state knows very well that our people are capable of protecting and responding to dangerous threats to our prisoners and leaders.” She called on Palestinian political leaders to act immediately and rapidly to protect the prisoners, and to immediately end all forms of security cooperation with the occupation. She also called for Arab countries that have ties with the occupation state to break them immediately and expel the ambassadors of the occupation.

Jarrar said that Sa’adat was transferred without anyone’s knowledge to the prison hospital, something only discovered when a lawyer sought to visit with him at Ramon prison. She also noted particular concern for the health of the brave strikers Thaer Halahleh and Bilal Diab, who have been on hunger strike for 62 days. She noted that isolation is one of the most urgent reasons for the strike, saying that it is one of the most dangerous actions by the Prison Service against leaders, including Mahmoud Issa who has been isolated since 2002.

Abla Sa’adat, Sa’adat’s wife, said that her husband would not end its strike until its goals were achieved including ending solitary confinement and allowing family visits for prisoners from Gaza that have been prohibited for six years. Sa’adat spoke about her husband’s last message, emphasizing the need for unity to support the prisoners. She expressed serious concern for her husband’s life, noting that this is his second time on hunger strike in six months. She called for the Palestinian people and their supporters everywhere to join in events and actions in support of the prisoners, saying that such action is important to the success of the strike.

Issa Qaraqe, the Minister of Prisoners’ and Detainees’ Affairs, called for the UN General Assembly to convene a special session to take up the case of the prisoners. He noted that the Israeli government is fully responsible for the humanitarian disaster that may come to the prisoners and that the occupation state is committing crimes against prisoners through arbitrary laws and racist, unjust, cruel and inhumane treatment. He said that the strike would continue to grow in the next week, which would bring an explosion to the Palestinian streets.

Act now to defend the prisoners’ lives: click here to take action!

Take Action for Ahmad Sa'adat and Palestinian Prisoners on Hunger Strike!

 freeahmadsaadat.org

Over 1600 Palestinian prisoners are currently engaged in a steadfast and open-ended hunger strike that launched on April 17, 2012 - Palestinian Prisoners' Day. Ahmad Sa'adat, Palestinian national leader and General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, is among these prisoners, once again taking up the "Battle of the Empty Stomachs" to demand justice and dignity, and has now been on hunger strike for 12 days.

Palestinian hunger strikers are demanding an end to isolation and solitary confinement; an end to administrative detention; access to family visits for all prisoners, including those from Gaza; and access to education and media. Sa'adat has been held in isolation for over three years, since March 2009. 

Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike have demanded international solidarity. Take action today to stand for freedom, dignity and justice for Ahmad Sa'adat and all Palestinian Prisoners! See below for actions you can take.

In a breaking news report, Palestinian political prisoners from the PFLP have rejected an occupation offer to end Sa'adat's isolation if they would break the hunger strike. They refused - the hunger strike includes prisoners from all Palestinian factions, united in their demands.

A new letter from Ahmad Sa'adat - to his family, the Palestinian and Arab people and the world - was released today, smuggled from his isolation cell.

It calls for support for the hunger strike on Palestinian, Arab and international levels:
Dearest Umm Ghassan, and all my loved ones;

Ghassan, Amal, Iba, Loay, Sumoud, Yassar, and my whole family;
Do not worry, my health is much better than in the previous hunger strike, and I am confident it will remain so. Thank you for your continual support to my position in this hunger strike. As is the case in every strike, they took all of our electrical appliances, canteen, clothing...we only have left prison clothes, some change of underwear, pajamas, towels, soap and toothpaste.

All of us have lost about 5-7 kilograms in weight, but everyone is in good health and most importantly, high morale, and are determined to continue the strike. We are confident of victory, relying on the justice of our cause and our demands, and the support of the masses of our people, our nation, and the free world - individuals, organizations and institutions - standing, as always alongside our just struggle.

These demands include a number of legitimate human rights under international law, including abolition of solitary confinement as a dangerous form of torture with no security or legal justification and contrary to international humanitarian law and all international conventions that prohibit torture. We are also demanding an end to the prohibition of family visits to the prisoners from Gaza for more than seven years, as well as interference with family visitors from the West Bank under the pretext of 'security reasons', and demanding that such visits be allowed for extended as well as immediate family.

What we need from the masses of the people, political forces and institutions is to raise the voices and the call of our just demands of the prisoners with a unified voice, and not subject the cause of the prisoners to internal disputes or the management of division.

This strike includes participation from all political forces and factions, without exception, and the best gift from the political forces supporting us is to implement agreements for unity, on which the ink is not yet dry. Such unity is an essential foundation, the most important pillar to achieve our just national goals.

In conclusion, I salute and thank all of the Palestinian, Arab and international forces standing beside our just struggle.

Forward to victory!

Ahmad Sa'adat
April 24, 2012
Eighth day of hunger strike
The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat is re-circulating the following action calls from theSamidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, and encourage all to take action to support the brave prisoners once more putting their bodies on the line for their freedom and the freedom of Palestine:

TAKE ACTION! 
1. Sign a letter demanding the Israeli state implement all of the demands of hunger striking Palestinian prisoners.Tell the Israeli Prison Services that the world is watching! Click here to sign.
2. Join a protest or demonstration for Palestinian prisoners. Major marches will take place in Edinburgh on April 28, at 12 noon, assembling at Charlotte Square; and in London on April 28 at 4 pm, across from 10 Downing Street. Organizing an event, action or forum on Palestinian prisoners on your city or campus? Use this form to contact us and we will post the event widely. If you need suggestions, materials or speakers for your event, please contact us at samidoun@samidoun.ca.
3. Contact your government officials and demand an end to international silence and complicity with the repression of Palestinian political prisoners. In Canada, Call the office of John Baird, Foreign Minister, and demand an end to Canadian support for Israel and justice for Palestinian prisoners, at : 613-990-7720; Email: bairdj@parl.gc.ca. In the US, call the office of Jeffrey Feltman, Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs (1.202.647.7209). Demand that Jeffrey Feltman bring this issue urgently to his counterparts in Israel.
4. Write to the International Committee of the Red Cross and demand they uphold their duties to protect the rights of Palestinian political prisoners. Click here to sign a one-minute letter and make your voice heard!
5. Distribute materials, including factsheets and videos, telling the story of Palestinian prisoners. Click here for videos and here for factsheets.
Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat
April 28, 2012

Starving for Freedom: Six Years on the Abduction of Ahmad Sa'adat - One Month on the Hunger Strike of Hana Shalabi

www.freeahmadsaadat.org

March 14-15, 2012 marks the sixth anniversary of the attack on Jericho prison and the Israeli abduction of Palestinian national leader Ahmad Sa'adat and his comrades, who had been held under U.S. and British guard in a Palestinian Authority prison.

For the past three years, since March 18, 2009, Ahmad Sa'adat has been in isolation in an Israeli occupation prison, subject to solitary confinement, poor health care and intense repression. Similarly, Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh, one of his comrades also abducted from Jericho in 2006, has been in isolation for many months. The demand to end the isolation of Ahmad Sa'adat - and his fellow prisoners in solitary confinement - sparked the September-October 2011 hunger strikes that swept through the occupation's prisons.

As we mark this anniversary, a Palestinian prisoner's hunger strike has once again captured the attention of the world, very soon after the heroic 66-day hunger strike of Khader Adnan. Hana al-Shalabi, released in the October 2011 prisoner exchange, was re-abducted on February 16, 2012, and is held under administrative detention without charge or trial. She has now been on hunger strike for 28 days.

The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat echoes the call of Hana al-Shalabi's parents for a day of action this Saturday, March 17:

"We call upon...all Palestinians to go to the streets and participate in the support action planned on Saturday March 17 in solidarity with our daughter Hana Al-Shalabi and all administrative detainees. We will continue supporting our daughter’s hunger strike and we want to let our daughter Hana know: we are with you in your hunger strike until you achieve your demand; your immediate release from the unjust Israeli jails.

Your support to Hana is necessary to achieve Hana’s immediate release; it is also needed to support our daughter in her open hunger strike which she has started on February 16, 2012.

Finally, we call upon all administrative detainees to join Hana’s hunger strike until you achieve your own immediate release and put an end to the unjust Israeli policy of administrative detention which violates human rights and International law."

Similarly, we join in the call for people around the world to take action on April 17, Palestinian Prisoners' Day, for Ahmad Sa'adat, Hana Shalabi, Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh, Khader Adnan, and all of the nearly 5,000 Palestinian prisoners held within the jails of the occupation:

"On Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, Tuesday, April 17, we ask that all supporters of the Palestinian political prisoners’ movement bring Khader Adnan’s spirit of resistance to the doorsteps of his captors and would-be killers...Let Khader Adnan’s hunger strike mark the beginning of a revitalized global movement for Palestinian prisoners, their rights, their families, and their struggle. Together, we can make it so."

Ahmad Sa'adat, Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh, Khader Adnan and Hana al-Shalabi - alongside their nearly 5,000 sisters and brothers - are paradigmatic examples of the steadfastness of Palestinian prisoners. Despite the abuse and isolation they have suffered, Palestinian prisoners - and the Palestinian people as a whole - will continue to resist occupation, racism, and settlement in order to obtain their rights to freedom, self-determination and return.

On this, the sixth anniversary of the storming of Jericho prison and the abduction of Ahmad Sa'adat, the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat reiterates that it is long past time to end the dangerous and damaging policy of Palestinian Authority security coordination with the Israeli occupation. This policy is responsible for ongoing political repression and for the imprisonment of Palestinians in both PA and Israeli jails. It must be noted that Ahmad Sa'adat and his comrades were abducted not from their homes but from the Palestinian Authority jail that had held them - contrary to Palestinian law - for over four years at the time of the military siege.

The policy of security coordination is the policy that kept Ahmad Sa'adat, a Palestinian national leader, behind bars for four years before the Israeli attack and abduction. It poses a deep danger to the Palestinian cause, and represents the inverse of the unity and national solidarity displayed overwhelmingly by Palestinian prisoners standing together across all lines to confront occupation. It endangers the accomplishments of the Palestinian revolution and dishonors the struggles of the Palestinian people over its decades.

In addition, it must also be emphasized that United States and British guards maintained the prisons that held Ahmad Sa'adat and his comrades in Jericho, and that they were warned and exited the prison in a coordinated fashion prior to the Israeli occupation attack - when their presence there had been repeatedly, and falsely, justified as "protection." The actions of the US and British guards and monitors in Jericho prison are yet one more example of the active complicity and responsibility for occupation by these states. Further, we call upon international authorities, including the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, to take up their responsibility to address the ongoing suffering and abuse of Palestinian political prisoners by occupation forces.

Six years after the abduction of Ahmad Sa'adat from Jericho prison, the Palestinian people and Palestinian prisoners are steadfast as ever, unbowed by repression, confronting the occupier from behind its own bars. They are a living beacon of steadfastness and inspire our struggle for the liberation of each prisoner - and the liberation of all of Palestine, its land and its people.

Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat

Take Action!

1. Picket, protest or call the Israeli embassy or consulate in your location and demand the immediate freedom of Ahmad Sa'adat, Hana al-Shalabi, and all Palestinian political prisoners.

2. Distribute the free downloadable Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat flyer in your community at local events.

3. Write to the International Committee of the Red Cross and other human rights organizations to exercise their responsibilities and act swiftly to demand that prisoners' rights are recognized. Email the ICRC, whose humanitarian mission includes monitoring the conditions of prisoners, at JER_jerusalem@icrc.org, and inform them about the urgent situations of Hana Shalabi and Ahmad Sa'adat. Make it clear that isolation is a human rights violation and a form of torture, and that the ICRC must stand up and play its role to defend prisoners' rights.

4. Email the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat at campaign@freeahmadsaadat.org with announcements, reports and information about your local events, activities and flyer distributions.

WHO IS AHMAD SA'ADAT?

Ahmad Sa'adat, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was elected to his position in 2001 following the assassination of the previous General Secretary, Abu Ali Mustafa, on August 27, 2001 by a U.S.-made Apache missile shot from an Israeli military helicopter as he sat in his office in Ramallah. PFLP fighters retaliated by assassinating Rehavam Ze'evi, the racist extremist Israeli tourism minister and head of the Moledet party, notorious for his political platform based on the "transfer" or ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, on October 17, 2001.

Sa'adat was abducted by Palestinian Authority security forces after engaging in a meeting with PA officials under false pretenses in February 2002, and was held in the Muqata' PA presidential building in Ramallah until April 2002, when in an agreement with Israel, the U.S. and Britain, he and four of his comrades were held in the Palestinian Authority's Jericho prison, under U.S. and British guard.

He remained in the PA jails, without trial or charge, an imprisonment that was internationally condemned, until March 14, 2006, when the prison itself was besieged by the occupation army and he and his comrades were kidnapped. While imprisoned in the PA jail in Jericho, he was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council. Since that time, he has been held in the prisons of the occupation and continually refused to recognize the illegitimate military courts of the Israeli occupation. He was sentenced to thirty years in prison on December 25, 2008 solely for his political activity, and has spent three years in isolation at the present time.

10 Years in Prison, 10 Years of Struggle: On the Anniversary of the Abduction of Ahmad Sa'adat

Jan. 15, 2012 freeahmadsaadat.org

January 15, 2012 is the 10th anniversary of the abduction of Palestinian political leader Ahmad Sa'adat by the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah at the hands of the PA intelligence services headed by Tawfiq Tirawi. Sa'adat, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, has been imprisoned for ten years - first by PA security, then under US and British guard in a PA prison in Jericho, and now, for the past six years, inside Israeli jails alongside thousands of other Palestinian political prisoners after a siege on Jericho and the kidnapping of Sa'adat and his comrades in 2006.

The kidnapping of Ahmad Sa'adat on January 15, 2002, was emblematic of the deep damage of the crime of "security cooperation" to the Palestinian people and their national cause. "Security cooperation" has meant nothing but attacks on the Palestinian resistance at the behest of Israel, committed by Palestinian Authority hands. The abduction of Ahmad Sa'adat, and his imprisonment - and that of his comrades - in the PA prison in Jericho, under U.S. and British guard, was a clear example of the PA's status as fundamentally beholden to the interests of Israel, the U.S. and other international powers, at the expense of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian resistance.

The abduction of Ahmad Sa'adat has come to symbolize the thousands of Palestinians who have gone through the jails of the PA because of their loyalty to the Palestinian people, cause and resistance, and the impunity of PA officials - like Tawfiq Tirawi - who continue to find lucrative and influential positions within the Authority despite their shameless acts of betrayal, imprisoning, and abducting Palestinian leaders and activists.

This complicity with Israeli demands for the subjugation and suppression of the Palestinian people led directly to the Israeli assault on Jericho prison in 2006, where Ahmad Sa'adat and his comrades were immobilized in the face of Israeli occupation aggression. Sa'adat had never been charged with a crime throughout his four years in PA prison; his release had been ordered by the PA's highest court. Yet the PA refused to release Sa'adat, respecting the dictates of Israel, the US and Britain above Palestinian legitimacy; it claimed that it "could not guarantee his safety" outside the prison. Yet it simultaneously guaranteed that he and his comrades could not be safe from Israeli aggression, their locations known at all times by Israel and under the watchful eyes of U.S. and British guards, directly in collusion with Israel. (It should be noted that, forewarned of the attack, the U.S. and British guards absented Jericho prison at the request of the Israeli occupation army.)

Since his second kidnapping, from a PA prison to the heart of the occupation's jails, Ahmad Sa'adat has remained a leader of the prisoners' movement. Today, he has spent nearly three full years in isolation at the hands of the occupation. He was an inspiration - and his release from isolation a key demand of the prisoners' hunger strike that galvanized the Palestinian prisoners' movement and the prisoners' cause in October 2011.

Just as Sa'adat's kidnapping is a symbol of the crime of security cooperation, Sa'adat's imprisonment in the hands of the occupation is a symbol of the steadfastness of the nearly 5,000 prisoners inside the jails of the occupation - like his fellow prisoners, resisting isolation, refusing rights violations, and not allowing their will and strength to be broken by the actions of the occupation jailers.

Ten years after the abduction of Ahmad Sa'adat, this anniversary is a reminder that we must continue to organize, act, and demand the freedom of Ahmad Sa'adat and all Palestinian political prisoners, and expose the complicity of the U.S., British, Canadian and other international governments in the enforcement of "security cooperation" and the abuse and mass imprisonment of Palestinian political leaders and activists. While the Quartet pushes the Palestinian Authority to return to bogus negotiations with the occupation (while the occupation continues settlement expansion, ethnic cleansing, land confiscation, home demolitions, isolation, solitary confinement, and mass imprisonment), it is urgent that we form an international popular basis of support for the Palestinian people and their activists and leaders inside the jails of the occupation, rather than those complicit with the occupation at the table of negotiations.

Take Action!

1. Picket, protest or call the Israeli embassy or consulate in your location and demand the immediate freedom of Ahmad Sa'adat and all Palestinian political prisoners.

2. Distribute the free downloadable Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat flyer in your community at local events.

3. Write to the International Committee of the Red Cross and other human rights organizations to exercise their responsibilities and act swiftly to demand that prisoners' rights are recognized. Email the ICRC, whose humanitarian mission includes monitoring the conditions of prisoners, at JER_jerusalem@icrc.org, and inform them about the urgent situation of Ahmad Sa'adat. Make it clear that isolation is a human rights violation and a form of torture, and that the ICRC must stand up and play its role to defend prisoners' rights.

4. Email the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat at campaign@freeahmadsaadat.org with announcements, reports and information about your local events, activities and flyer distributions.

WHO IS AHMAD SA'ADAT?

Ahmad Sa'adat, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was elected to his position in 2001 following the assassination of the previous General Secretary, Abu Ali Mustafa, on August 27, 2001 by a U.S.-made Apache missile shot from an Israeli military helicopter as he sat in his office in Ramallah. PFLP fighters retaliated by assassinating Rehavam Ze'evi, the racist extremist Israeli tourism minister and head of the Moledet party, notorious for his political platform based on the "transfer" or ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, on October 17, 2001.

Sa'adat was abducted by Palestinian Authority security forces after engaging in a meeting with PA officials under false pretenses in February 2002, and was held in the Muqata' PA presidential building in Ramallah until April 2002, when in an agreement with Israel, the U.S. and Britain, he and four of his comrades were held in the Palestinian Authority's Jericho prison, under U.S. and British guard.

He remained in the PA jails, without trial or charge, an imprisonment that was internationally condemned, until March 14, 2006, when the prison itself was besieged by the occupation army and he and his comrades were kidnapped. While imprisoned in the PA jail in Jericho, he was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council. Since that time, he has been held in the prisons of the occupation and continually refused to recognize the illegitimate military courts of the Israeli occupation. He was sentenced to thirty years in prison on December 25, 2008 solely for his political activity, and has spent nearly three years in isolation at the present time.

Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat

Isolation of Sa'adat continued - Call from Occupied Palestine to the Occupy Movement

Take Action - Isolation of Ahmad Sa'adat continued in violation of promise to prisoners

A Call from Occupied Palestine to the Occupy Movement

October 27, 2011

Only one week after promising Palestinian political prisoners that isolation would end and that all prisoners in isolation would be returned to the general population, in order to convince those prisoners to end their hunger strike, Israeli authorities have announced their intention to continue the isolation of Ahmad Sa'adat for at least one more year.

As reported by the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, an Israeli court in Bir Saba issued a ruling on October 27, 2011 to extend the isolation of Ahmad Sa'adat for an additional year. Ahmad Sa'adat has already been held in isolation for over two and one-half years. His release from isolation was a key demand of Palestinian prisoners' recent hunger strike - and was promised to them one week ago.

The ruling, which was based on secret evidence like all such rulings, dates back to August 8 but was not released until today; Ahmad Sa'adat was not accompanied by lawyers in the hearing.

The prison administration had promised to end isolation following Palestinian prisoners' hunger strike. This decision is tantamount to torture - and a direct violation of the agreement with Palestinian prisoners to end their hunger strike, which had drawn the eyes of the world to their struggle.

20 Palestinian prisoners remain in isolation, despite the strike's suspension on October 17. Israel had promised that they would be released from isolation immediately following the release of 477 prisoners in a prisoner exchange agreement - however, Israel's prison administration has acted in complete violation of its word.

On October 18, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan Mendez called in the UN General Assembly for all use of isolation longer than 15 days to be banned, saying that isolation can cause "severe mental pain or suffering" and "can amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment when used as a punishment, during pre-trial detention, indefinitely or for a prolonged period...Segregation, isolation, separation, cellular, lockdown, supermax, the hole, secure housing unit... whatever the name, solitary confinement should be banned by states as a punishment or extortion technique."

The punishment, isolation and extortion of Ahmad Sa'adat for his ongoing courage and commitment as a leader of Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinian people must end. International action and solidarity is necessary!

The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat reprints the following call received from activists in Palestine:

A Call from Occupied Palestine to the Occupy Movement - From occupied Palestine, from our occupied lands, from our camps of refuge, from the prisons of torture and the prisoners of freedom, from our stolen lands, our chained borders, our demolished homes and our revolution, our commitment, our struggle for freedom:

For us, the word occupation has always stood for colonialism, land theft, genocide, dispossession, and death. It is a word and a concept we have fought to bring to an end for over sixty years. Yet the Occupy movement that has arisen in public squares, in cities and towns around the world, from the centre of imperialism in the US, Wall Street itself, is an occupation that can serve as a source of hope for liberation, for decolonization, for an end to the racist occupation of our homeland.

Seeing the youth of the West in the streets rejecting the brutal consequences of the system of imperialism and capitalism once more, we salute you, we stand with you, and we call: "Occupy Wall Street, Liberate Palestine!"

Our political prisoners stood steadfast through three weeks of hunger strike and have today been confronted by yet one more lie, another broken promise on the heap of lies and broken promises of the occupier - rather than our prisoners being freed from isolation, they are remaining in isolation. Ahmad Sa'adat, Palestinian national leader, having already spent two and a half years in solitary confinement, is slapped with yet one more year.

We call upon you to make it clear that despite solitary confinement, Ahmad Sa'adat and the Palestinian prisoners are not isolated, and are part of a global movement and global solidarity. We call upon you to raise the voices, the pictures, and the stories of Palestinian political prisoners at Occupy Wall Street and all Occupy movement events. We, the Palestinian people are also the 99%, those victimized by war profiteers, by racism, by imperialism, by displacement and genocide. Our thousands of prisoners remain in the prisons of the illegal, illegitimate occupier.

Raise their voices among yours, and stand together for the liberation of Wall Street, Palestine, and all of our oppressed and stolen land and people!

Take Action!

1. Picket, protest or call the Israeli embassy or consulate in your location and demand the immediate freedom of Ahmad Sa'adat and all Palestinian political prisoners. Make it clear that you expect the demands of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike to be immediately implemented, including an immediate end to the isolation of Ahmad Sa'adat! Send us reports of your protests at Israeli embassies and consulates.

2. Bring the struggle of Palestinian prisoners to Occupy protests, as will happen in New York City on Friday, October 28 (Existence is Resistance Kuffeya Day) and has happened in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Download and distribute the flyer, hold a rally or teach-in and express solidarity.

3. Distribute the free downloadable Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat flyer in your community at local events.

4. Write to the International Committee of the Red Cross and other human rights organizations to exercise their responsibilities and act swiftly to demand that the prisoners' demands are implemented. Email the ICRC, whose humanitarian mission includes monitoring the conditions of prisoners, at JER_jerusalem@icrc.org, and inform them about the urgent situation of Ahmad Sa'adat. Make it clear that isolation is a human rights violation, a form of torture, and that Palestinian prisoners were coerced into stopping their hunger strike with false promises of the recognition of their rights, and that the ICRC must stand up and play its role to defend prisoners' rights.

5. Email the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat at info@freeahmadsaadat.org with announcements, reports and information about your local events, activities and flyer distributions.

Imprisoned PFLP leader Ahmad Saadat hospitalized after 20 days of hunger strike

Oct. 18, 2011 by Adri Nieuwhof Electronic Intifada

The Israeli government and the Palestinian movement Hamas today began implementing their agreement to release 1,027 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for one captured Israeli soldier. Meanwhile, PFLP leader Ahmad Saadat has been taken to Al Ramla Prison hospital due to health complications following 20 days of hunger strike.

This news came as the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) promised to end the policy of isolation of Palestinian political prisoners in its jails, following today’s prisoner swap, according to Issa Qaraqi, Minister of Prisoners in the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority. In response, Palestinian hunger strikers have suspended their actions.

Prisoners exchange deal

Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association and Al-Haq write in a comment on the prisoners exchange deal:

Only 27 of the total 35 women currently held in Israeli prisons were included in the first list of prisoners to be released, despite agreement by Israel that all female political prisoners would be included in the exchange. Crucially, of the first 477 prisoners to be released, 205 of them will not be reunited with their families as their release has been made contingent on their deportation or transfer, both of which are in violation of international law. Of the West Bank prisoners, including East Jerusalemites, 18 will be transferred to the Gaza Strip for a period of three years while an additional 146 will be forcibly relocated there on a permanent basis. A further 41 prisoners, including one woman, will be deported outside of the oPt, to as-of-yet unknown third countries.

Release into exile is extension of isolation

Sahar Francis, director of Addameer, remarks in the comment that the exile of prisoners to the Gaza Strip or outside the OPT “effectively serves as an extension of their previous isolation from their homeland and families and in many cases can be seen as a second prison sentence”. The organizations note that these terms violate “Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits forcible transfers and deportations of protected persons, a proscription that is part of customary international humanitarian law.”

Moreover, unlawful deportation or transfer also constitutes a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention (GC IV) and qualifies as one of the most serious war crimes, according to Addameer and Al-Haq. They write:

Given the stark asymmetry in power, resulting from the belligerent occupation, between the Palestinian and Israeli parties involved, neither the potential “consent” of the prisoners nor the fact that the deal was negotiated by a Palestinian authority can serve as justification for the deportations as this contravenes the spirit of articles 7, 8 and 47 of the GC IV concerning the inviolability of the protections afforded by the Convention.

Detention of thousands of Palestinian political prisoners continues

Thousands of Palestinian political prisoners will remain in Israeli jails after the prisoners swap. Amnesty International writes in its 18 October press release :

Over 5,200 Palestinians from the West Bank – including East Jerusalem – and the Gaza Strip, which together comprise the OPT, are currently detained in facilities run by the Israel Prison Service. The vast majority are detained inside Israel. (..) The fact that they are detained on Israeli territory makes it difficult, if not impossible for their families to visit them, as the Israeli authorities often refuse to grant them travel permits. Israel suspended family visits for all prisoners from Gaza in June 2007, in a punitive policy that penalizes both the detainees and their families.

Addameer and Al-Haq add in their comment:

These political prisoners—arrested on the basis of Israeli military orders that criminalize any form of opposition to the occupation; tried by Israeli military tribunals that do not conform to international due process standards or held in administrative detention without charge or trial; and imprisoned in harsh and illegal detention conditions that have recently led them to launch an open-ended hunger strike—are entitled to justice.

Before the attention they have received as a result of the exchange deal wanes, it is imperative to demand a fair and permanent resolution to their plight, in the form of unconditional release, in compliance with international humanitarian law.”

Third Week of Hunger Strike - Action Grows as Sa'adat's Health in Jeopardy

October 12, 2011 Free Ahmad Sa'adat

Palestinian prisoners have entered their third week of hunger strike. After two weeks of hunger strike, physical symptoms become increasingly severe and prisoners' lives and health are increasingly at risk. As prisoners have put their lives and bodies on the line to defend the rights of themselves and their people, international support and solidarity is continually escalating and much-needed.

The health of Ahmad Sa'adat, General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Palestinian national leader who has been in isolation for two and one-half years and the center of the demand for an end to isolation, is increasingly at risk. Two lawyers visited Sa'adat on October 7 and October 9, and reported that he was fainting and vomiting - a direct consequence of the Israeli Prison Service's confiscation of salt from prisoners. He has already lost over 7 kilos on the hunger strike. Nevertheless, no independent doctors or medical professionals have been permitted to examine Sa'adat.

Despite his own health crisis, when asked about the duration of the strike, Sa'adat responded: "We are going to continue. We will not accept these degrading conditions. Either we live in dignity or we die with our heads high."

As of October 9, 300 prisoners were participating in a complete open ended hunger strike and 3000 in a partial hunger strike. Additional prisoners have been joining the strike on a daily basis - on October 10 and 11, over 1500 prisoners at Nafha, Ramon, Eshel, Asqelan, and Gilboa prisons have joined in.

Hunger strike tents continue to grow in cities throughout Palestine - in Ramallah, Qalqilya, Nablus, Gaza, Salfit, Tulkarem, Nazareth, Haifa. Palestinian activists have gone on solidarity hunger strike and engaged in ongoing mobilizations throughout Palestinian cities. In Gaza, three international activists have joined in the solidarity hunger strikes. Demonstrations in front of Ofer and Asqelan prisons were organized by Palestinians in '48 Occupied Palestine. On October 12, 2011, a general strike is expected to close businesses, schools and offices throughout Palestinian cities for hours, to express mass popular support for the prisoners' struggle.

Negotiations to end the strike failed on Monday as Israeli prison authorities continue to disregard Palestinian prisoners' rights. Prisoners have been repeatedly denied lawyers' visits in several prisons. Prisoners have been increasingly denied salt or their salt confiscated - a potentially deadly action for Sa'adat and other hunger strikers.

Abdel Latif Gheith, Chair of the Board of Directors of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, was today slammed with a six-month ban on entry into the West Bank (as defined by Israel.) Gheith is a resident of East Jerusalem and was called to al-Moskobiyeh interrogation center in Jerusalem to order him arbitrarily forbidden from entering the West Bank, a severe violation of his right to freedom of movement and obvious retaliation for his work in support of the prisoners' hunger strike.

2,000 Palestinian prisoners join hunger strike

By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH - Associated Press | Oct. 11, 2011

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners are refusing food
to pressure authorities into providing better conditions in their most
defiant protest in years, spreading through Israeli prisons and beyond.

The hunger strike has rolled through most of Israel's 23 lockups, where
some 5,300 Palestinians are detained with crimes ranging from stone
throwing to masterminding militant attacks.

At least 200 Palestinian prisoners have been on a total hunger strike for
the past two weeks, refusing all food but drinking liquids. Some 2,000
joined the strike overnight Tuesday, said Kadoura Fares, who heads a
prisoners' rights group. He said many of them have already been
participating by refusing to eat three days a week.

Palestinian prisoners' lawyers gave varying numbers. It was not possible
to directly speak to the prisoners.

The strike began as a small protest when an imprisoned Palestinian leader,
Ahmed Saadat, was placed in solitary confinement. The 60-year-old Saadat,
who is serving a lengthy sentence for involvement in the assassination of
an Israeli Cabinet minister 10 years ago, is in poor condition after two
weeks without food, say his associates.

The demands quickly spread to demand other privileges that Palestinian
lawyers said were taken from prisoners earlier this year: taking
university courses, bringing in books and watching Arabic television
channels. They also demand Israeli prisons remove the screens separating
them from their loved ones during family visits, and demand to be
unshackled when they see relatives.

A spokeswoman for Israel's prisons authority said the numbers of prisoners
said to be striking were exaggerated. Sivan Weizman said only 240
prisoners were refusing food and that their health was being monitored.
She said Saadat and other prisoners were placed in solidarity confinement
because they were suspected of helping to direct militant attacks from
prison.

It is the largest Palestinian prisoner protest since 2004, when hundreds
of inmates went on a 17-day hunger strike to demand better conditions,
said lawyer Sahar Francis.

Palestinian prisoners say they have seen their privileges progressively
eroded since Gaza militants captured an Israeli soldier, Gilad Schalit, in
a 2006 cross-border raid. Families of Gaza prisoners have not been allowed
to visit inmates since then.

Gaza's ruling Hamas authorities refuse to allow the Red Cross to visit
Schalit, and little is known about his fate. Negotiations to exchange
Schalit for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners have repeatedly failed.

The issue of prisoners runs deep in Palestinian society. Most Palestinians
have had a family member serving time in an Israeli prison, and many
thousands have been imprisoned themselves.

The hunger strike has resonated outside of the prisons. On Tuesday
hundreds of Palestinians demonstrated outside the concrete and barbed
wire-ringed Ofer prison in the West Bank near Jerusalem, holding up
pictures of imprisoned family members and political leaders.

Some youths hurled rocks at Israeli forces, who responded with sirens,
tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the crowd.

Call to Action: Support Palestinian Prisoners on Hunger Strike!

The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat

Palestinian prisoners in Israeli occupation prisons issued a statement on Sunday, September 25, 2011, stating that they plan to begin an open-ended hunger strike on September 27, 2011, demanding an end to the isolation of Ahmad Sa'adat, an end to isolation for all Palestinian political prisoners, and an end to the policies of repression and humiliation against visitors to the prisoners, including denial of family visits and visitors being stopped, searched and impeded at Israeli occupation checkpoints. The prisoners are also demanding an end to abuse and humiliation of prisoners while they are transferred from one prison to another.

The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat stands in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners' hunger strike and calls for people around the world to join their voices to the prisoners' call for justice.

Ahmad Sa'adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and a Palestinian national leader, has been imprisoned by Israeli occupation forces since his kidnapping in March 13, 2006. He was abducted in a violent Israeli military raid from a Palestinian Authority prison where he had been unjustly held without charge or trial for over four years under U.S. and British guard. He has been in isolation for over two years following his calls for resistance to the Israeli assault on Gaza in winter 2009. (Learn more about Ahmad Sa'adat here.)

The prisoners' statement follows:

"We, the comrades of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the Zionist prisons and detention centers, declare to the steadfast, struggling brave masses of the Palestinian people and to all free people in the world:

We announce that we will begin an open-ended hunger strike on Tuesday morning, September 27, 2011, in response to the official policies of the Zionist government and its fascist prison administration. We demand our rights and our dignity, as we struggle for the victory of our values and ideals.

Our goals for this hunger strike:

1. End the solitary confinement and isolation of our comrade, General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and the PLO Central Council, Ahmad Sa'adat, Abu Ghassan.

2. End the policy of isolation for all prisoners;

3. End the policy of systematic humiliation by the occupation army against the Palestinian people at checkpoints and crossings, particularly targeting visitors to prisons, and end the arbitrary denial of visits to the prisoners, especially the prisoners from the Gaza Strip. End the humiliation and abuse of prisoners during transfer.

The principles of our revolution include the rejection of all forms of injustice, and for us to struggle and confront the occupier in all areas and places in our own manner. Accordingly, we call upon all of the Palestinian and Arab people, political forces and institutions, human rights and civil society organizations, to raise their voices for us, so that we do not become easy prey for a vicious occupier. We promise to all of our people, and to the legacy of the martyrs of Palestine, that we will continue on our path until victory.

Great glory to the martyrs ...
Victory to the revolution ...
Victory is inevitable."

TAKE ACTION TO SUPPORT AHMAD SA'ADAT AND ALL PALESTINIAN PRISONERS!

1. Picket, protest or call the Israeli embassy or consulate in your location and demand the immediate freedom of Ahmad Sa'adat and all Palestinian political prisoners.

2. Distribute the free downloadable Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat flyer in your community at local events.

3. Write to the International Committee of the Red Cross and other human rights organizations to exercise their responsibilities and act swiftly to demand that the Israelis ensure that Ahmad Sa'adat and all Palestinian prisoners are freed from punitive isolation. Email the ICRC, whose humanitarian mission includes monitoring the conditions of prisoners, at jerusalem.jer@icrc.org, and inform them about the urgent situation of Ahmad Sa'adat.

4. Email the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat at info@freeahmadsaadat.org with announcements, reports and information about your local events, activities and flyer distributions.

Occupation Courts Extend Sa'adat Isolation After 775 Days - Take Action

May 4, 2011 freeahmadsaadat.org

The Israeli occupation courts have, once again, extended the
isolation of Ahmad Sa'adat. On May 3, 2011, at a hearing in Beersheba
prison, the court issued an extended isolation order until November
3, 2011. Ahmad Sa'adat, General Secretary of the Popular Front for
the Liberation of Palestine and Palestinian national leader, has been
held in isolation since March 19, 2009 - for over two full years,
over 775 days.

It is well-established that solitary confinement and isolation are
dangerous and detrimental to the physical and mental health of
prisoners. It is a technique frequently used against political
prisoners, from the U.S.'s Guantanamo Bay and Communications
Management Units, to Ben Ali's isolation cells in Tunisia, to the
prisons of the occupation. Israel is a signatory to the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, whose articles 10 states that
"All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity
and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person." On
the contrary, isolation cells deprive prisoners of human contact,
recreation, and mental stimulation. Sa'adat is regularly denied
family visits, newspapers, books, and information in Arabic. While
Israel's utter contempt for international law is visible in every
aspect of its behaviour, from its war crimes against Palestinians, to
its denial of the Palestinian right to return, to its apartheid
regime targeting Palestinian citizens, the situation of Palestinian
prisoners is a glaring example of Israel's flouting of international
law and human rights standards.

The European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) - the expert body associated
with the Council of Europe - has noted, "It is generally acknowledged
that all forms of solitary confinement without appropriate mental and
physical stimulation are likely, in the long-term, to have damaging
effects resulting in deterioration of mental faculties and social
abilities." Those prisoners targeted for isolation, including Ahmad
Sa'adat, are long-time Palestinian leaders. Sa'adat has always been a
leader among his fellow prisoners and a voice of conscience of the
Palestinian people - and it is for that reason that he is being
targeted under cover of secret evidence for isolation and deprivation.

Sa'adat refused to attend the hearing, as an illegal manifestation of
an illegitimate occupation and abduction, and due to its reliance on
secret evidence, saying that he refused to legitimize what was
clearly a mockery of justice.

This extension of isolation comes as Palestinian prisoners have
launched hunger strikes in protest against the use of isolation. The
strikes began on May 3 at Ramon, Ashkelon and Nafha prisons and will
also take place on May 7, 11, 14, 18, 21, 25, and 28. Palestinian
prisoners - inside the jails of the occupation - are taking action
against isolation and demanding freedom. It is imperative that we
echo their voices and demand an end to isolation and freedom for
Palestinian prisoners.

The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat also notes that Dr. Ahmad
Qatamesh, long-time Palestinian activist and writer, has been subject
to the imposition of arbitrary administrative detention and demands
his freedom. As http://addameer.info/?p=2101 Addameer reveals, his
administrative detention order - extended minutes before he was to be
released from was merely copied from another Palestinian prisoner -
bearing witness once again to the fact that administrative detention
is nothing more than an arbitrary kidnapping and imprisonment of
Palestinians, without charge or trial, for six months at a time.
Administrative detention, based on nothing more than secret evidence,
has been used to target and silence Palestinian activists when even
the flimsy standards of Israeli military courts cannot be used to
imprison Palestinian writers, activists and community organizers. The
Campaign demands the freedom of Ahmad Qatamesh and an end to the
horror that is administrative detention, a mechanism of terror
against the Palestinian population.

From administrative detention, to military trials, to the isolation
cells, Israel shows utter contempt for the human rights and dignity
of Palestinian prisoners. In response, it is urgent that supporters
of Palestine and justice around the world raise their voices to
demand an end to isolation, an end to arbitrary detention - and the
freedom of Ahmad Sa'adat and every one of the thousands of
Palestinian prisoners of freedom, in an occupation's jails for daring
to struggle for the freedom of their land and people.

We urge activists to include statements and messages of solidarity
with Palestinian prisoners in their events, and as the anniversary of
Al-Nakba comes near, to mark the Nakba on May 15 by demanding the
right to return and the liberation of Palestine -including the
freedom of Palestinian political prisoners. Palestinian prisoners are
hunger striking and raising their voices behind bars - we must join
their voices and demand their freedom!

Please contact us at
mailto:info@freeahmadsaadat.org to inform
us of your events and actions.

TAKE ACTION TO SUPPORT AHMAD SA'ADAT AND ALL PALESTINIAN PRISONERS!

1. Call the
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/About+the+Ministry/Diplomatic+missions/Web+Sites+of+Israeli+Missions+Abroad.htm Israeli

embassy or consulate in your location and demand the immediate
freedom of Ahmad Sa'adat and all Palestinian political prisoners.

2. Write to the International Committee of the Red Cross and other
human rights organizations to exercise their responsibilities and act
swiftly to demand that the Israelis ensure that Ahmad Sa'adat and all
Palestinian prisoners are freed from punitive isolation. Email the
ICRC, whose humanitarian mission includes monitoring the conditions
of prisoners, at mailto:jerusalem.jer@icrc.org, and inform
them about the urgent situation of Ahmad Sa'adat.

3. Email the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat at
mailto:info@freeahmadsaadat.org with
announcements, reports and information about your local events,
activities and flyer distributions.

May 4, 2011

The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat
http://www.freeahmadsaadat.org
mailto:info@freeahmadsaadat.org

On Palestinian Prisoners' Day, Support Palestinian Prisoners' Struggle for Freedom!

April 17, 2011 freeahmadsaadat.org

On Palestinian Prisoners' Day, April 17, 2011, the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat salutes all of the over 5,700 Palestinian prisoners inside the Israeli occupation's jails, and calls upon all those concerned for justice and freedom to join and build the largest possible international movement to secure the freedom of all Palestinian prisoners, and of the entire Palestinian people.

Palestinian prisoners have always stood as the backbone of the Palestinian national movement. Their continued steadfastness in the face of torture, isolation, denial of medical care and family visits, and their continual willingness to confront the occupation, engaging in hunger strikes and protests and demanding their rights, is an inspiration to all.

In moments of Palestinian national division or despair, the voice of prisoners has remained a clarion call and a beacon: an example of national unity, forged in struggle, and full commitment not only to the liberation of all Palestinian prisoners, but also to the liberation of Palestine, to the resistance, to self-determination, to freedom, to the return of Palestinian refugees. The valiant struggle of Palestine's political prisoners is central to the Palestinian movement for national liberation; it is the struggle of the Palestinian people.

We also note today the Palestinian and Arab political prisoners held in jails around the world, many for their own support of the Palestinian struggle and the Palestinian cause, and call for the freedom of all of those prisoners, and of all political prisoners in the jails of their oppressors around the world. We demand that governments end their investigations of and repression against activists supporting Palestine - from the U.S., where 23 activists face grand jury subpoenas and FBI raids for their public activity in support of Palestine, to France, where boycott, divestment and sanctions activists have been threatened with charges for boycotting Israeli goods, to Argentina, where an activist was arrested for organizing a Nakba commemoration - to everywhere around the world. Instead of attempting to suppress and silence voices of justice and solidarity, these governments must act to end their complicity and support for Israeli war crimes and occupation against the Palestinian people.

On Palestinian Prisoners' Day, we urge the new Egypt to mark this day by releasing all remaining Palestinian prisoners in Egyptian jails. We greet the Arab popular movements with solidarity and call for the freedom of all Arab political prisoners in Arab jails.

Furthermore, we also spotlight today the village of Awarta, which has been subject to closure, home invasions, mass kidnappings, detentions, forced DNA testing of hundreds of women, lengthy imprisonment of children, and interrogation of thousands of Palestinians. Awarta is under siege, and we stand today with the people of Awarta subject to massive and arbitrary detention and call for international attention and solidarity with the people of Awarta.

We also stand with the people of Gaza struggling to break their own siege, and note that Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails from Gaza have been denied family visits for years. We demand an end to the siege of Gaza and the siege of its prisoners!

For two years, Ahmad Sa'adat, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, has been held in isolation in the occupation prisons. He has been regularly regularly denied family visits, denied access to books or reading mateial, and denied basic exercise and medical care. Sa'adat was kidnapped by the Israeli occupation army on March 14, 2006 from where he and his comrades, Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh, Majdi Rimawi, Basil al-Asmar, and Hamdi Qur'an, were imprisoned in the Palestinian Authority's Jericho Prison under U.S. and British guards. The U.S. and British guards removed themselves immediately prior to the Israeli attack, making clear that the U.S. and the U.K. were directly complicit in the attack on Jericho. Sa'adat, the leader of a major Palestinian political party and an elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, had been held in Israeli prisons for nearly six years at various times, held repeatedly in "administrative detention," where Palestinians are held without charge or trial under secret evidence. He was held in PA prisons for four years before his kidnapping and has now been held in the occupation's prisons for five years.

Ahmad Sa'adat is not only a national leader of the Palestinian people, he is a recognized leader and symbol of the Palestinian prisoners' movement - a symbol of steadfastness and commitment to Palestine and its people in the face of all forms of abuse and violation. And it is because Sa'adat represents that voice - the voice of the prisoners - that he has been placed in isolation, in an attempt to silence not only Sa'adat himself, but the Palestinian prisoners' movement, and through that, the conscience of the Palestinian revolution.

However, neither Ahmad Sa'adat, nor the Palestinian prisoners, nor the Palestinian people, have been compelled into silence or submission by isolation and torture. Rather, their voice is heard, more clearly than ever, calling for justice, freedom, and liberation. Today, and every day, we stand beside Ahmad Sa'adat and the prisoners of freedom, and encourage all around the world to join us in building the call to free Ahmad Sa'adat and all Palestinian prisoners!

On Palestinian Prisoners' Day, please write us at info@freeahmadsaadat.org to inform us about actions or events in support of Palestinian political prisoners. We encourage you to hold educational events, demonstrations and activities in support of Palestinian prisoners and distribute information about Ahmad Sa'adat, Palestinian prisoners, and the Palestinian cause.

5th anniversary of Sa'adat's abduction, join the movement to end Oslo

March 13, 2011 freeahmadsaadat.org

March 15, 2011 marks the fifth anniversary of the storming of Jericho prison and the abduction of Palestinian national leader Ahmad Sa'adat and his comrades by the Israeli occupation military. On this anniversary, the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat emphasizes that the strength and determination of the Palestinian people to free all prisoners from the occupation jails has remained steadfast and strong, and calls upon all to support and join in the March 15 protests for Palestinian unity and against the Oslo agreement. Despite the abuse and isolation they have suffered, the Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinian people will continue to resist occupation, racism, and settlement in order to obtain their rights to freedom, self-determination and return.

Since his abduction, Ahmad Sa'adat has been subjected to repeated mistreatment, denial of family visits and denial of medical care in occupation prisons. He has been held in isolation since March 19, 2009, with his isolation repeatedly renewed. Despite the occupation prisons' practices, which run contrary to international norms and human rights standards, Sa'adat has continued to stand firm and steadfast with the Palestinian people and their rights, and while the jailers have isolated Sa'adat physically, they have failed to isolate his words or his spirit - the Palestinian people and the world stand with him.

The anniversary this year of Ahmad Sa'adat's abduction comes in conjunction with the March 15, 2011 protests to end Palestinian internal division and overthrow the Oslo agreement and all of its products. Sa'adat's abduction, coming as it did from a Palestinian Authority prison established under the terms of Oslo and its "security cooperation", was itself a manifestation of Oslo and the fracturing of the Palestinian internal front.

On this anniversary, the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat echoes Sa'adat's call for support for the March 15 demonstrations. Sa'adat's wife, Abla, reported on March 11 that he called for all Palestinians, inside and outside Palestine, to participate in the protests and expressed his "sincere greetings for all of the efforts led by Palestinian youth, and affirmed that all prisoners in the jails of the occupier are with them, support their movement and their demands."

The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat calls upon all of its supporters around the world to join in and support Palestinian efforts for March 15 demonstrations in all area, including actions and demonstrations called by local Palestinian communities, and to raise the struggle of Palestinian prisoners, one of the central demands of the March 15 protests. We join with Ahmad Sa'adat and share his conviction in the ability of the Palestinian people to take the initiative in their hands and pressure for change, to end the division, and end the destructive era of the Oslo agreements and "negotiations."

On the fifth anniversary of Ahmad Sa'adat's abduction, it is long past time to end once and for all the dangerous and deeply damaging policy of security coordination, a policy responsible for ongoing political repression, human rights violations and threats to the Palestinian cause. We emphasize that the policy of Palestinian Authority security coordination with the Israeli occupation is the cause not only of Ahmad Sa'adat's imprisonment but also of ongoing arrests, prosecutions, torture and fear for Palestinians in the West Bank. The Palestinian Campaign in Solidarity with Ahmad Sa'adat has labeled the policy of security coordination "national treason against the people and the resistance." The policy of security coordination is a threat to the Palestinian cause and the entire Palestinian people, and is a slap in the face to the thousands of Palestinian prisoners in the occupier's jails and threatens all of the accomplishments of the Palestinian revolution over its decades.

On this anniversary, we reiterate our call to all organizations in solidarity with Palestine, prisoners' rights and human rights to join the Campaign, and for international authorities, including the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, to take up their responsibility to address the ongoing suffering and abuse of Palestinian political prisoners by occupation forces, including the abuse of child prisoners and the denial of medical care to ill prisoners.

Five years after Ahmad Sa'adat's abduction from Jericho prison alongside his comrades, the Sa'adat, the Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinian people remain steadfastly in confrontation of occupation and oppression. On this anniversary, we salute Ahmad Sa'adat and all Palestinian prisoners and pledge to continue our work until all Palestinian political prisoners - and all of Palestine - are free.

Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat

Updates and Actions from the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat

The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat + www.freeahmadsaadat.org +
info@freeahmadsaadat.org

January 24, 2011 - Ahmad Sa'adat,Palestinian national leader and political prisoner, remains in isolation, for nearly 700 days, prohibited from family visits, reading material confiscated, and barred from his friends and fellow prisoners, and accompanied by his fellow prisoner in isolation, Jamal Abu el-Hija.

Isolation and prevention of human contact is widely understood by
human rights advocates to be ill-treatment that amounts to torture
and/or cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment, in violation of the
Geneva Conventions. Ongoing and repeated isolation that will now
stretch to over two years, justified by vague declarations of
"security" needs, indicate that the Israeli regime is dedicated to
attempting to isolate Sa'adat not only from his fellow prisoners, but
to isolate and silence his voice among the Palestinian people.

Sa'adat's ongoing isolation only serves to make clear time and again
that the Israeli courts are merely an arm of the occupation,
dedicated at all levels to maintaining the oppression of the
Palestinian people and providing a "legal" pretext for ongoing
brutality and human rights abuses.

http://freeahmadsaadat.org/tunisia.html Despite the Israeli
occupation's goals, however, Sa'adat has continued to speak out. From
isolation, Sa'adat issued a message congratulating the people of
Tunisia for their remarkable revolution and the promise it holds for
the Arab world.

In addition, the French Foreign Minister, Ms Michelle Alliot-Marie,
visited Gaza on January 21, 2011, where she referred to the
Palestinian resistance's detention of occupation solidier Gilad
Shalit as a "war crime." At the same time, she had no words for the
thousands of Palestinian prisoners held hostage in Israeli jails,
including Salah Hammouri, a French and Palestinian citizen held in
Israeli jails. The Campaign condemned the Foreign Minister and
demanded an apology to the Palestinian prisoners.
(http://freeahmadsaadat.org/ffm012111.html Statement here in French
and English). http://www.salah-hamouri.fr/ Learn more about the case of Salah Hammouri!

January 15, 2011 marks the ninth anniversary of Sa'adat's kidnapping
by Palestinian Authority security forces, at the behest of Israeli
and U.S. demands, as part of the policy of "security cooperation."
The http://freeahmadsaadat.org/9thenglish.html Campaign issued a
statement in English and
http://freeahmadsaadat.org/9tharabic.html Arabic condemning the PA
and demanding an immediate end to the policy of security cooperation.
Indeed, the documents of the Palestine Papers newly released by
Al-Jazeera, revealing inside details of negotiations on such topics
as Jerusalem, the right of refugees to return and security
cooperation only confirm that such policies have been a disaster for
the Palestinian people; the tragedy of security cooperation is
illustrated precisely by Sa'adat's case.

Sa'adat, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine, has been held in Israeli jails since March
14, 2006, when he was abducted from Jericho prison, where he had been
held in a Palestinian Authority prison under U.S. and British guard.
While imprisoned in the PA jail in Jericho, he was elected to the
Palestinian Legislative Council. He was sentenced to thirty years in
prison on December 25, 2008 by an Israeli military court for his
political activity, and has spent over 500 days in
continually-renewed isolation at the present time.

The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat salutes the human rights and
Palestine solidarity activists around the world who have rallied to
struggle for Sa'adat and the approximately 7,000 prisoners held in
the jails of the occupation. http://www.freeahmadsaadat.org Read the
Campaign website for more news about actions - including vigils in
Ireland and a tour in late 2010 by Abla Sa'adat, Ahmad Sa'adat's
wife, in the United States.

This work defeats the occupation's plans - it refuses to allow the
Palestinian prisoners, on a Palestinian, Arab or international level,
to be isolated. The voices of Ahmad Sa'adat and the Palestinian
prisoners will be heard, and no bars or isolation will prevent that.


TAKE ACTION TODAY!


1. The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat calls upon all supporters of
justice and human rights to write to U.S. President Barack Obama and
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and demand an end to U.S. aid to
Israel. The U.S. is responsible for Sa'adat's kidnapping - demand it end now!

Write here:
http://www.freeahmadsaadat.org/action4.html


2. Write a letter to Ahmad Sa'adat. Letters of support are important
and demonstrate solidarity with Ahmad Sa'adat and Palestinian
prisoners - let him know that the world is demanding his freedom.
Email the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat at
info@freeahmadsaadat.org with your
letters, or use our contact form at:
http://freeahmadsaadat.org/contact.html.
We will send all letters received to Palestine. We also encourage you
to write to him directly using this address: Ahmad Sa'adat, Ramon
Prison, Ramon area, PO Box 699, Postal Code 80600, Israel.

3. Organize an event in your local area to support Palestinian
prisoners. Please contact the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat at
info@freeahmadsaadat.org about your own events and activities!


The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat
http://www.freeahmadsaadat.org

info@freeahmadsaadat.org