Palestinian Federation of Chile in solidarity with Comrade Sa'adat
The following statement was received from the Palestinian Federation of Chile on June 16, 2008, marking their solidarity with the struggle of Comrade Leader Ahmad Sa'adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the PFLP, and all Palestinian prisoners:
Dear friends, brothers and sisters,
The Palestinian Federation of Chile, on behalf of the Palestinian community in our country, expresses our full and unconditional solidarity with the brother and comrade Ahmad Saadat, Secretary General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine - PFLP, a symbol of the fierce fight, dignity and resistance against the Israeli military occupation and the policy of isolation and their military aggression carried out against Palestinian prisoners. This time the comrade Saadat is on hunger strike in protest against his isolation and the abuse and humiliation that Palestinian prisoners receive daily.
The ongoing Israeli attacks against the prisoners and systematic human rights violations merely confirm the racist and inhuman policies of Israel, supported by its military power and endorsed by the Arab and international silence.
From Chile, we send our fraternal greetings to comrade Saadat and all Palestinian prisoners, noting that Israel is responsible for the health and integrity of these men and women, and demand the release of all prisoners. Israel as a military occupying power has no legal or moral right to kidnap and imprison those who struggle for freedom of their people and resist foreign military occupation.
Fraternal Greetings
Mauricio Abu-Ghosh Parham
President
Palestinian Federation of Chile
International Forum of Demark demands freedom for Comrade Sa'adat
The following open letter was received by the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat from the Internationalt Forum in Denmark, on June 17, 2009, expressing the Forum's call for the freedom of Comrade Sa'adat and all Palestinian prisoners, and demanding an end to torture and isolation:
Open Letter From Internationalt Forum, Denmark
Copenhagen, June 17, 2009
Stop Torture and Solitary Confinement in Israeli Prisons
Release Ahmad Sa’adat and all Palestinian Prisoners in Israeli Prisons
Ahmad Sa’adat, general secretary of The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, has entered the second week of his hunger strike against solitary confinement. Since March 18 this year, Sa’adat has been in total solitary confinement in Israeli prison.
In 2006, Ahmad Sa’adat was elected member of the Palestinian Legislative Council. On December 25, 2008, he was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment by an Israeli “court”.
Sa’adat wishes – by his hunger strike – to draw the attention to the increase in use of solitary confinement and torture by the Israeli prison authorities, to Israel’s continued violations of human rights and principles of law. He wishes as well to show that the struggle against occupation takes place both outside and inside the prisons.
Israel tries by its brutal prison policy to weaken and destroy Ahmad Sa’adat and the other 11.000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons – and to frighten those outside the prisons from participating in the liberation struggle.
Internationalt Forum claims:
Stop torture and solitary confinement in Israeli prisons
Free Ahmad Sa’adat and the other Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons
Internationalt Forum, Denmark June 17, 2009
Irish Republican Socialist Committees declare solidarity with Comrade Sa'adat
The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat received the following statement of solidarity on June 18, 2009 from the Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America, on behalf of the Irish Republican Socialist Movement:
18 June 2009
Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America
Solidarity with Hunger Striker Ahmad Sa'adat
On behalf of the Irish Republican Socialist Movement, the Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America send solidarity greetings to Ahmad Sa'adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who is now on the second week of a hunger strike in protest of the Israel Prison Service's policies of abuse and isolation of Palestinian political prisoners guilty of nothing more than legitimate resistance to a brutal occupation.
Around 11,000 Palestinian political prisoners are incarcerated in Zionist prisons, and since the Zionist military's criminal assaults in Gaza late last year and early this year, the prisoners have come under increased mistreatment. The attacks on the rights of Palestinian prisoners include the imposition of fines, prevention of rest periods, denial of family visits, confiscation of prisoners' belongings, denial of household items, and the regular use of solitary confinement and isolation cells, particularly against those identified as leaders.
Since 18 March, Comrade Sa'adat has been held in solitary confinement in Shikma Prison in Ashkelon (Asqalan), leading to a worsening of existing health issues. He suffers from back problems that require treatment by a specialist, but the Zionist authorities refuse to allow him to see such a specialist. We call on the Zionist prison authorities to immediately release Comrade Sa'adat from solitary confinement and provide the medical treatment that he requires.
Further, we call for an immediate end to the abuse and isolation of all Palestinian political prisoners, and demand that the Zionist government release Sa'adat and all other political prisoners. The occupiers have no right to judge or imprison men and women moved by their conscience to fight against the occupation and for a Palestinian state.
The IRSM--comprised principally in Ireland of the Irish Republican Socialist Party and the Irish National Liberation Army, and represented in North America by the IRSCNA--know all too well about how an occupying power criminalizes those who oppose it, and three of our INLA comrades died on hunger strike in 1981, along with seven members of the Irish Republican Army, protesting the denial of their rights as prisoners of war by the British state.
Thus, we give our full support to the struggle for Palestinian national liberation and the struggle within Zionist prisons by Palestinian political prisoners, and we lend our strength to Comrade Sa'adat in his time of need on hunger strike.
Freedom for Ahmad Sa'adat and all Palestinian prisoners now!
Protests and demonstrations across Palestine and the Arab world in solidarity with Comrade Sa'adat
Protests and demonstrations took place throughout Palestine and the Arab world in solidarity with imprisoned PFLP General Secretary, Comrade Ahmad Sa'adat, following his nine-day hunger strike against the occupation prison authorities' denial of prisoners' rights and policy of isolation.
Comrade Sa'adat was kidnapped in 2006 from a Palestinian Authority prison where he had been illegitimately held under PA, British and US guard since 2002, and was since sentenced to 30 years in prison in an illegitimate Zionist military court. He is a leader of the prisoner movement and a national leader of the Palestinian people and his actions have inspired solidarity around the world.
Beirut
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in Beirut organized a solidarity protest with Comrade Ahmad Sa'adat, the General Secretary of the PFLP, and the Palestinian prisoner movement. The protest was held on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 at the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Beirut.
Palestinian and Lebanese parties and forces participated in the protest as did a crowd of supporters, addressed by several speakers. The President of the Khiam Centre for the care and rehabilitation of victims of torture, spoke, calling upon the institutions of the international community and human rights agencies to intervene promptly to end the criminal Zionist violations of the rights of the over 11,000 Palestinian prisoners. The chair of the committee for Lebanese prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons spoke as well, stressing upon the right of the Palestinian peoplee to resist occupation as well as the urgent need for the international community to act to stop Zionist racism and oppression against the Palestinian people.
Comrade Marwan Abdel Al, member of the Political Bureau of the Popular Front for the Liberation, demanded that the ICRC act immediately and urgently to stop the policy of violation of prisoners' rights and harsh punishments by the occupation against Palestinian prisoners. He also stressed upon the need for national unity to support the prisoners and build a massive popular movement in support of the prisoners and detainees in Israeli prisons.
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Qalqilya
The PFLP in Qalqilya organized a protest in solidarity with Comrade Leader Sa'adat outside the headquarters of the ICRC in Qalqilya on June 15, 2009. The protest was attended by cadres and members of the PFLP, as well as members of community groups and women's organization. It raised slogans against the occupation's policies of torture and in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners, declaring that the use of solitary confinement and isolation in an attempt to weaken the steadfastness of the prisoners and detainees would fail.
The protesters presented a letter to the ICRC calling upon it to act against the occupation authorities to protect the life of Comrade Sa'adat, declaring the occupation responsible for his life and the life of all the prisoners, and calling for it to force the occupation to respect Palestinian prisoners' rights, declaring that abuse of the prisoners should be considered a war crime. The protest concluded with a call for the freedom of all of the prisoners and detainees in the Zionist jails.
Jordan
Leftist youth, student activists and Popular Unity Party members protested on Tuesday, June 16, 2009 in solidarity with Comrade Ahmad Sa'adat and his hunger strike against the "fascist Israeli practices against Palestinian prisoners," according to the protestors' statement. The protest included dozens of young people carrying images of Comrade Sa'adat as well as other leading prisoners in the Zionist jails, including Marwan Barghouthi, Fateh leader, and Aziz Dweik, Hamas leader and head of the Palestinian Legislative Council.
The protest was originally scheduled to take place at the UN office in Amman but was moved after Jordanian authorities threatened to prevent the protest by force. The protesters chanted against the fascist Israeli policies and sent a message to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon calling upon him to denounce and reject Zionist occupation practices against the Palestinian prisoners. It called upon the UN to investigate and act upon the case of Palestinian prisoners and seek to end their suffering as a result of Zionist crimes.
Nablus
The Prisoners' Support committee of the PFLP and the Union of Palestinian Women's Committees organized a protest in Nablus on June 17, 2009 in front of the ICRC headquarters in support of Comrade Ahmad Sa'adat. Hundreds of families of prisoners and representatives of all factions participated in the protest, carrying the Palestinian flags, banners, and pictures of Comrade Sa'adat. The protesters called upon the Palestinian Authority and human rights organizations to act in solidarity with Sa'adat and demand he receive appropriate medical care and his isolation ended, and for a campaing in solidarity for the freedom of the national leader, Comrade Sa'adat, and all of the prisoners.
Tripoli, Lebanon
The PFLP in northern Lebanon organized a rally and protest Tuesday, June 16, 209, in front of the ICRC headquarters in Tripoli in solidarity with Comrade Ahmad Sa'adat. Leaders, members and supporters of the PFLP and the Palestinian resistance organizations and civil society organizations attended the event, alongside members of Lebanese Islamic, educational, social and cultural institutions, and many residents of Nahr el-Bared and Beddawi camps. The protesters carried Palestinian flags and pictures of Comrade Sa'adat.
Speakers denounced the occupation's policies of isolation and injustice against the movement of Palestinian prisoners and called upon the ICRC and all international institutions to uphold their responsibilities to protct Palestinian prisoners and to act to pressure the Zionist regime to end these practices. They noted that Comrade Sa'adat has always been targeted because he is a symbol of the resistance and steadfastness of the Palestinian people, which is why he was kidnapped, tortured and now subject to isolation, alongside 11,000 Palestinian prisoners.
The protesters called for the freedom of the prisoners and noted that their treatment is against all international law and norms for prisoner conditions.
Gaza
A large sit-in and demonstration was organized in Gaza City on June 15, 2009 by the National and Islamic Forces and the PFLP, in solidarity with Comrade Ahmad Sa'adat and all Palestinian prisoners. The protest, outside the Gaza offices of the ICRC, was attended by many leaders of Islamic and national groups, and leaders and members and supporters of the PFLP, as well as families of the prisoners.
Comrade Mohammad al-Saqqa spoke on behalf of the PFLP, holding the Nazi government of Israel fully responsible for the life of Comrade Sa'adat and demanding that the Palestinian Authority assume its responsibility toward the prisoners, the representatives and activists of all of our people, and make the utmost effort to protect them and prioritize work supporting the prisoners. He also demanded that all security cooperation with the occupation and all suppression of resistance be immediately ended, noting that this policy was part and parcel of the imprisonment of Comrade Sa'adat.
Comrade al-Saqqa called upon international human rights organizations to support the struggles of the brave prisoners for their rights, won through years of struggle, and guaranteed to them under international laws and conventions. He greeted the prisoners and saluted their leading role in the national movement and in building national unity to struggle together in the liberation movement.
Ramallah
On Monday, June 15, 2009, the PFLP in Ramallah, along with popular organizations in support of prisoners, held a protest and sit-in in front of the ICRC building in Ramallah.
The protestors spoke against the use of the isolation policy in an attempt to break the prisoners' steadfastness and called for the utmost of solidarity with comrade Sa'adat and his steadfastness, and the struggle of all of the prisoners for freedom.
The protesters called upon all national forces to put the file of the prisoners at the highest priority and to demand their immediate release without restriction.
