The struggle to free Palestinian political prisoners is escalating. Palestinians jailed in occupation prisons -- Khalil Awawdeh and Raed Rayan -- are engaged in long-term hunger strikes to demand their freedom, and administrative detainees are continuing to boycott occupation military courts.
The struggle of the prisoners is also international -- from the imprisonment Georges Abdallah in France to the Holy Land Foundation Five in the U.S., strugglers for Palestine are held in imperialist prisons. We want to highlight two cases with movement right now -- Fusako Shigenobu, jailed for over 21 years in Japan, will be released on May 28. Meanwhile, two activists of Palestine Action are currently being jailed in Britain and were denied bail. Read below for more information on all of these cases.
We also want to encourage you to join Samidoun, get involved in one of our chapters and support our work! Please click here to apply for membership, or click here to make a donation.
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Japanese Political Prisoner and struggler for Palestine, Fusako Shigenobu, will be released on May 28, 2022
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network expresses its strongest support and solidarity to Fusako Shigenobu, internationalist prisoner of the Palestinian liberation struggle. She has been jailed in Japan for over 21 years as a political prisoner for her role as a founder of the revolutionary organization the Japanese Red Army (JRA), which struggled for a revolutionary future for Japan as well as working hand in hand with Palestinian revolutionaries in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) for a liberated Palestine. On May 28 in Japan (May 27 in the Americas), Fusako Shigenobu will be liberated from imprisonment, and her daughter, May Shigenobu, is working with comrades and supporters around the world to welcome her liberation.
We are republishing the press release and biography of Fusako Shigenobu and urge all supporters of Samidoun, the Palestinian prisoners and the Palestinian struggle to view the livestream, organize group gatherings for the livestream and show your solidarity for Fusako, welcoming a struggler for Palestine home after decades of injustice.
The livestream will take place on the channels below at 3:30-6:30 pm Pacific time on May 27, 6:30 – 9:30 pm Eastern time on May 27, 11:30 pm May 27 – 2:30 am May 28 in central Europe, 00:30 am to 3:30 am in Lebanon and Palestine on May 28 and 7:30 to 10:30 am in Japan on May 28.
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Fusako Shigenobu, political prisoner and founder of the leftist revolutionary organization the Japanese Red Army (JRA), will be released on May 28, 2022, in Tokyo after 21.5 years of unjust imprisonment. Fusako and the JRA struggled for the Palestinian cause and their liberation since the early 1970s.
We as an international support collective would like to share with you the creation of an information source for Fusako Shigenobu and her writings for the first time in English. For over 50 years, her writings have been limited to Japanese, so we want to expand a readership base and tell the true story that has been suppressed by the state-sponsored narrative and media spin.
For the last two decades, the Olive Tree(オリーブの樹), a support group for Fusako in Japan, has published 157 newsletters sharing her writings from prison. We are the international branch supporting Fusako called the Olive Tree International Collective. Working alongside her daughter, May (Mei) Shigenobu, our goal is to tell the true story of Fusako’s life and legacy and to correct the corporate media’s use of racist terminology, and state-sponsored narratives to frame the actions of the JRA while ignoring their humanitarian work to support Palestinians.
Help us celebrate her long overdue freedom and to spread information from her and about her. To do that please support us by:
- Sharing this information with your network as widely as possible and sharing this flyer/banner on your website (Flyer and banner below this text and before the bio of Fusako).
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Write messages that mention Fusako Shigenobu on your individual social media. These are the hashtags:
#Fusako_Shigenobu
#FreedomFighterFusako
#Freedom_Fighter_Fusako
#Fusako_Liberation
- Tweeting (mention @MayShigenobu) or post on the official Facebook wall of FusakoShigenobu page
Click here to read and share Fusako Shigenobu's biography!
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Two Palestinian prisoners are currently on long-term hunger strikes to end their administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial, in the colonial prisons of the occupation regime. Khalil Awawdeh has been on hunger strike for 83 days and Raed Rayan has been on hunger strike for 48 days. They are among up to 600 Palestinians held in administrative detention and 4,500 total political prisoners in occupation prisons, putting their bodies and lives on the line to end their arbitrary detention.
Awawdeh, 40, from Ithna, near al-Khalil in the West Bank of occupied Palestine, is the father of four daughters. His health has deteriorated rapidly, and he has been repeatedly transferred to civilian hospitals, only to be returned to the infamous Ramle prison clinic where he is currently held. This frequent transfers put further pressure on his already fragile condition, as he is unable to stand or walk, suffers from severe pain and has lost a significant amount of weight after nearly three months without food.
Raed Rayan, 27, has been on hunger strike for 48 days. From the village of Beit Duqqu, northwest of occupied Jerusalem, he has been imprisoned without charge or trial under administrative detention since 3 November 2021. He was seized only months after his release from a previous period of administrative detention; he was arrested for the first time in June 2019 and jailed without charge or trial until April 2021.
Originally ordered detained for six months, his detention was extended for an additional four months in April 2022, sparking him to launch his hunger strike in protest. To protest against this decision, and to demand his release, he started a hunger strike on April 6, 2022. Since the beginning of his hunger strike, he has not received a medical examination. He suffers from headaches and pains all over his body and has difficulty walking.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all supporters of Palestine to take action to support these Palestinian hunger strikers and all Palestinian prisoners struggling for freedom, for their own lives and for the Palestinian people. They are confronting the system of Israeli oppression on the front lines, with their bodies and their lives, to bring the system of administrative detention to an end. Take these actions below to stand with the hunger strikers and the struggle for liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea!
TAKE ACTION: Join the Social Media Campaign!
There is a growing social media campaign to #FreeRaed and #FreeKhalil. Use these hashtags and to post on Twitter and Instagram. Post in all languages! Take action and join the social media outrage and break the isolation imposed upon Raed and Khalil by the Israeli occupation!
Protest in your city or country!
Join the many protests taking place around the world — confront, isolate and besiege the Israeli embassy or consulate in your city or country of residence. Or take to the streets in your neighborhood, on your campus or at a government building in your area. Make it clear that the people are with Palestine! Send us your events at samidoun@samidoun.net. One such demonstration is taking place on Wednesday, 25 May in Montreal at 6:30 pm at Guy-Concordia. Click here for details.
Boycott Israel!
The international, Arab and Palestinian campaign to boycott Israel can play an important role at this critical time. Local boycott groups can protest and label Israeli produce and groceries, while many complicit corporations – including HP, G4S, Puma, Teva and others, profit from their role in support Zionist colonialism throughout occupied Palestine. By participating in the boycott of Israel, you can directly help to throw a wrench in the economy of settler colonialism.
Click here to read the full call to action!
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Palestine Action activists imprisoned in campaign to #ShutElbitDown
In the past week, the campaign by Palestine Action in Britain to #ShutElbitDown has grown with five actions that have caused significant damage to the Israeli arms manufacturer, which profits from the manufacture and sale of weaponry “battle-tested” on Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Currently, three activists are being remanded in British prison for their participation in these direct action protests after prosecutors noted that Palestine Action’s activities had forced the closure of Elbit’s arms factory in Oldham.
On Sunday, 15 May — Nakba Day — 9 Palestine Action activists stormed Elbit’s Bristol headquarters, smashing equipment and windows, and “destroying the building’s interior, dismantling offices and equipment, and barricading themselves inside, while others blocked road access to the site.”
After being denied bail by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), two Palestine Action activists are set to remain in prison. The 2 are part of a larger team of 9 activists who, on Nakba day, occupied and damaged the Bristol headquarters of Elbit Systems, Israel’s largest arms company. All 9 were placed on remand and jailed, and though 7 have been released, Stav Sinai and Ronnie Barkan remain awaiting trial.
Throughout its nearly 2 years of existence, Palestine Action has been subject to a campaign of state repression and intimidation. However, the taking of political prisoners has set a concerning new precedent for the group. In response, the group has promised ‘no backdown to the crackdown’, and called for heightened direct action against Elbit, who produce drones, ammunition, and chemical weapons. The company supplies the Israeli occupation military with 85% of its drone fleet.
Send your letters and messages of support to the 2 activists who remain in prison. Email them to the Palestine Action support committee at: palactprisoners@protonmail.com
Protest to Shut Elbit Down! Join a protest in your area, or join local activists outside Elbit’s factory, UAV Engines in Shenstone, on Tuesday from 11AM at UAV Engines Ltd, Lynn Lane, Shenstone, WS14 0DR
Get involved with Palestine Action! Sign up to learn more or join an action.
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Samidoun chapters, affiliates and links around the world:
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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Alternately, checks and money orders may be written and mailed to:
AFGJ/Samidoun
225 E. 26th St., Ste. 1
Tucson, A.Z. 85713-2925
U.S.A.
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