Martyrdom of Sheikh Khader Adnan, after 86 days of hunger strike: Latest target of the Zionist assassination policy
Khader Adnan, Palestinian prisoner, hunger striker and resistance leader, was martyred in the early morning hours of Tuesday, 2 May 2023 after 86 days of hunger strike, demanding his freedom. Adnan, 45, was married to Randa Musa, and is the father of nine children. A leader in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, he became one of the most prominent symbols of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement and ongoing resistance after winning his liberation from administrative detention four times through hunger strikes, in 2012, 2015, 2018 and 2021.
Throughout his hunger strike, which he began on 5 February 2023, from the moment of his arrest by occupation forces, he refused to break his strike despite immense pressure to do so. When occupation forces charged him with membership in Islamic Jihad and giving political speeches (“incitement”) before their military courts, he refused to end his strike. The Israeli prison administration refused to transfer him to a civilian hospital and refused his release on bail just last week, declaring that more information was needed about his medical condition. Just yesterday, yet another military court hearing in his case was postponed and delayed into the future, a clear policy of acting to ensure his death behind occupation bars.
The martyrdom of Sheikh Khader Adnan, the symbol of dignity, freedom and steadfastness, is an Israeli assassination, carried out with forethought and premeditation. It has been clear for the months of this strike that the occupation is determined to eliminate this symbol of prisoners’ resistance and Palestinian sacrifice and commitment and love for his people and land. However, it is also clear that the legacy of Sheikh Khader Adnan will never be eliminated by this practice of Zionist assassination. Instead, like his fellow leaders of the Palestinian revolution and resistance, he is an example of the unbending will of the Palestinian people that would not bow down to colonialism, Zionism and exploitation.
It is also clear that all of those who are complicit in and backers of Zionist colonialism are partners in the assassination of Khader Adnan, from the U.S. and its $3.8 billion in weapons handed over to the Israeli regime each year to the Canadian, British and European governments that continue to praise and salute the colonial project while denouncing those who resist it as “terrorist.” We also note here the complicity of the Palestinian Authority, which continues to arrest and imprison those who resist like Khader Adnan, rather than raise their cases and calls to freedom in the official and international arenas where it is present. Over the past 86 days, Samidoun, along with Adnan’s wife, Randa Musa, his comrades in the resistance, and many others, have warned that the Israeli occupation intends to assassinate him.
According to the occupation prison administration, Sheikh Khader Adnan was found unconscious in his isolation room at the Ramle prison and was then pronounced dead at Assaf Harofeh hospital. The 237th martyr of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, he spent 8 years behind occupation bars, most in administrative detention, and was arrested 12 times by the occupation, as well as by the collaborationist forces of the Palestinian Authority practicing “security coordination.”
A tireless advocate of resistance, truly dedicated to the Palestinian people, he refused to give up his resistance and his hunger strike until the last moment, committed to his approach of freedom or martyrdom. His martyrdom must become a cry of rage and a commitment to build upon his great sacrifices and dedication to the Palestinian people and the total liberation of the land of Palestine, from the river to the sea. With every strike, every speech, every mobilization for the prisoners, Sheikh Khader Adnan personified the Palestinian will to resist and ability to sacrifice for a great and just cause despite the most seemingly hopeless of circumstances.
He also never hesitated to express solidarity with fellow prisoners struggling against injustice, as he did in his message to California prisoners on hunger strike in 2013, and in his message to Irish Republicans who stood with him during his own hunger strike.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network mourns the martyrdom of Khader Adnan with deep sadness and rage, and sends its deepest condolences to his wife, Randa Musa, a tireless advocate for not only his freedom but the liberation of all prisoners and all of Palestine, his nine children, who set up a sit-in in Manara Square in Ramallah, his fellow strugglers and the Palestinian people and the Arab and international movements for justice and liberation.
The only response to his martyrdom must be continued and escalated action, resistance, protest and struggle, and for people around the world and Palestinian and Arab communities in exile and diaspora, it is urgent that we take the streets to make it clear that Khader Adnan, a great symbol of freedom, will never be eliminated by the Zionist assassination policy. He must live on in each of us and our actions, in honor of his sacrifice, commitment and willingness to put his body and life on the line not only for his own freedom, but for the liberation of Palestine. The great crime of the assassination of Sheikh Khader Adnan must not be allowed to pass without real accountability imposed by the people.
Glory to the martyr, Sheikh Khader Adnan. Freedom for the prisoners, the cause to which he gave his life. Liberation for Palestine, from the river to the sea.
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Montréal – Wednesday 3 May
Métro Guy-Concordia – 5:30 pm
Call to action – Unity of destiny and loyalty to the martyrs in all of Palestine, from its river to its sea and its diaspora. Join us as we stand to honour the life of Sheikh Khader Adnan (the Sheikh of Dignity) who for long has been a pillar in support of our people. Sheikh Khader has always stood up for the prisoners and the martyrs – let us not fail him as we did while he was alive. Let us take over his fight and push till we #FreeThemAll
See you there!
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Montréal – Mercredi 3 mai
Métro Guy-Concordia – 17h30
Appel à l’action – Unité de destin et loyauté envers les martyrs de toute la Palestine, de sa rivière à sa mer et à sa diaspora. Rejoignez-nous pour honorer la vie du Cheikh Khader Adnan (le Cheikh de la Dignité) qui a longtemps été un pilier du soutien à notre peuple. Le cheikh Khader a toujours défendu les prisonniers et les martyrs – ne l’abandonnons pas comme nous l’avons fait de son vivant. Reprenons son combat jusqu’à ce que nous libérions tous nos prisonniers.
On se voit là-bas!
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Berlin remembers Sheikh Khader Adnan, martyr of freedom
Samidoun Deutschland and fellow Palestinians in Germany remembered Sheikh Khader Adnan today, 2 May, in Berlin, in the heart of the Arab and Palestinian community. Khader Adnan was on hunger strike for 86 days in Israeli occupation prisons, demanding his freedom; he conducted five previous hunger strikes, winning his liberation from administrative detention on four occasions.
Palestinian flags and posters of Khader Adnan fluttered over Sonnenallee, the street in Berlin’s Neukölln district that is a bustling heart of Arab and Palestinian community businesses and institutions along with a banner remembering and saluting Khader Adnan and his sacrifices and commitment to the liberation of prisoners and the liberation of Palestine.
Graffiti also appeared on surrounding buildings, an expression of popular anger and outrage over the martyrdom of Sheikh Khader Adnan as well as honouring his commitment to struggle and to the land and people of Palestine, confronting the most dire of circumstances with resistance until his last breath.
These actions reflect that, despite the ongoing persecution, harassment and criminalization directed at the Palestinian community and the solidarity movement in Berlin, from the banning of Palestinian Prisoners’ Day and Al-Quds Day marches, to the threats to ban Nakba 75 commemorations as was done by Berlin authorities in 2022, the will of the community and of Samidoun Deutschland to express their commitment to Palestinian liberation and its love for the heroes, prisoners and martyrs of Palestine can never be suppressed.
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The will of the martyred Palestinian hunger striker, Sheikh Khader Adnan
Below we are republishing the will of the martyred prisoner, Sheikh Khader Adnan. He wrote his will on 2 April, one month before his martyrdom, nearly two months into his hunger strike. Khader Adnan died inside Israeli occupation prisons on 2 May 2023 after 86 days of hunger strike and amid a clear commitment of the Zionist entity to end his life. Khader Adnan lives on, an eternal symbol of steadfastness, freedom, dignity and resistance:
In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most merciful
The Almighty said: “Verily those who say, “Our Lord is Allah,” and remain firm (on that path),- on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve and never will Allah grant to the disbelievers a way (to triumph) over the believers.”
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, for granting me the ability to strike for freedom. Praise be to Allah for His countless blessings, and prayers and peace be upon the master of creation, the beloved of truth, our prophet Muhammad, may God bless him and his family and grant him peace.
I am sending you these words of mine, as my flesh has melted, my bones have gnawed, and my strength has weakened from my imprisonment in the beloved, authentic Palestinian city Al-Ramla. This is my will to my family, my children, my wife, and my people.
My wife, I counsel you and my children to fear Him (Allah), the Most High, to cling to His firm rope, to dispense with His bounty from others, to speak the truth in every time and place, to uphold ties of kinship, to pray and to pay Zakat (almsgiving), to preserve Allah‘s sanctities, and His right to our situation, money, movement, residence, and knowledge. The best homes in Palestine are the homes of martyrs, prisoners, the wounded and the righteous.
I entrust the uncles, aunts, relatives and neighbors to you; everyone who has a right over us. I entrust you with not leaving anyone with a debt over me, moral or material, for your love (me) is most in need of His mercy. If it is my martyrdom, do not allow the occupier to dissect my body, bury me near my father and write on my grave “here (lies) the poor servant of Allah, Khader Adnan, your prayers for him, his parents, and Muslims everywhere”. Make it a simple grave, and ask Allah for forgiveness, mercy, consolidation, and the breadth of my grave, and to make our graves a garden of paradise, not pits from the depths of Hell, and that He accepts all our deeds purely for His honorable face.
Mother of Abd al-Rahman (my wife) and the children, Ma‘ali, Bisan, Abd al-Rahman, Muhammad, Ali, Hamza, Maryam, Omar and Zainab. Forgive me and my brothers Abu Adnan, Abu Anas, Umm Nour and all the uncles, uncles, relatives, friends, and neighbors for any shortcomings from me on your side as I leave this temporary life, but make sure that I have not been distracted from you except by Allah’s permission for duty.
O our proud people, I send you this commandment of greetings and love, and I am full of confidence in His mercy, victory, and empowerment.
My greetings to our commanders, the families of the martyrs and the prisoners, and my greetings to them and to all the revolutionaries.
Your loving husband, Umm Abd al-Rahman; your loving father, my children; your loving brother, my brothers; your loving son, our people.
I pray that Allah accepts me as a martyr loyal to His honorable face.
Your love, Khader Adnan
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Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network has chapters and affiliates in the United States, Canada, Germany, France, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Spain, Palestine and Lebanon and we work with groups around the world. Would you like to form a local chapter or become an affiliate? Contact us at samidoun@samidoun.net.
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