<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<br>
<div class="moz-forward-container">
<style type="text/css" media="all">
a:hover { color: red; }
a {
text-decoration: none;
color: #0088cc;
}
a.primaryactionlink:link, a.primaryactionlink:visited { background-color: #2585B2; color: #fff; }
a.primaryactionlink:hover, a.primaryactionlink:active { background-color: #11729E !important; color: #fff !important; }
/*
@media only screen and (max-device-width: 480px) {
.post { min-width: 700px !important; }
}
*/
</style>
<title>WordPress.com</title>
<!--[if gte mso 12]>
<style type="text/css" media="all">
body {
font-family: arial;
font-size: 0.8em;
}
.post, .comment {
background-color: white !important;
line-height: 1.4em !important;
}
</style>
<![endif]-->
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<table style="width: 100%; background: #DDDDDD;" bgcolor="#DDDDDD"
border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td> <span style="display:none !important"> samidoun
posted: "
Recently returned from a ten-day trip to the
Israeli-colonized Palestine, a US delegation of
anti-prison, labor, and scholar-activists has issued the
following statement to mark Palestinian Prisoners Day
2016. The delegation included three former US-he" </span>
<table class="subscribe-body" style="width: 100%; padding:
10px" align="center" border="0" cellpadding="0"
cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<div style="direction: ltr; max-width: 600px;
margin: 0 auto; overflow: hidden;">
<table class="subscribe-wrapper" style="width:
100%; background-color: #fff; text-align:
left; max-width: 1024px; min-width: 320px;
margin: 0 auto;" bgcolor="#ffffff" border="0"
cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<table class="subscribe-header-wrap"
style="width: 100%; background-image:
url(https://s0.wp.com/i/emails/stripes.gif);
background-repeat: repeat-x;
background-color: #43A4D0; height:
8px;"
background="https://s0.wp.com/i/emails/stripes.gif"
border="0" height="8" cellpadding="0"
cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><br>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table class="subscribe-header"
style="width: 100%; color: #08c;
font-size: 1.6em; background-color:
#EFEFEF; border-bottom: 1px solid
#DDD; margin: 0; padding: 0;"
border="0" cellpadding="0"
cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<h2 class="subscribe-title"
style="margin: .4em 0 .3em;
font-size: 1.8em; font-size:
16px!important; line-height:
1; font-weight: 400; color:
#464646; font-family:
"Helvetica Neue",
Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
margin: 5px 20px!important;
padding: 0;"> New post on <strong>Samidoun:
Palestinian Prisoner
Solidarity Network</strong>
</h2>
</td>
<td style="text-align: right;"> <img
moz-do-not-send="true"
class="head-avatar"
src="http://s0.wp.com/i/emails/blavatar.png"
alt="" style="vertical-align:
middle; margin: 5px 20px 5px
0; vertical-align: middle;"
border="0" height="32"
width="32"> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="width: 100%"
bgcolor="#ffffff" border="0"
cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<table style="width: 100%"
border="0" cellpadding="0"
cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td class="the-post"
valign="top">
<table style="width:
100%" border="0"
cellpadding="0"
cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width:
60px !important;
white-space:
nowrap;
vertical-align:
top;"> <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://samidoun.net/?author=1" style="text-decoration: underline;
color:
#2585B2;
display:
block;
margin-right:
10px;"><img
moz-do-not-send="true"
alt=""
src="http://1.gravatar.com/avatar/a7f0008f3cdc640796fa39814146e67a?s=50&d=identicon&r=G"
class="avatar
avatar-50"
border="0"
height="50"
width="50"></a>
</td>
<td>
<h2
class="post-title"
style="margin:
.4em 0 .3em;
font-size:
1.8em;
font-size:
1.6em; color:
#555; margin:
0; font-size:
20px;"><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://samidoun.net/2016/04/on-palestinian-prisoners-day-anti-prison-labor-academic-delegation-takes-stand-against-israeli-state-violence-affirms-solidarity-with-palestinian-people/"
style="text-decoration:
underline;
color:
#2585B2;
text-decoration:
none
!important;">On
Palestinian
Prisoners’
Day,
Anti-Prison,
Labor,
Academic
Delegation
Takes Stand
against
Israeli State
Violence,
Affirms
Solidarity
with
Palestinian People</a></h2>
<span
style="color:
#888;">by <a
moz-do-not-send="true" href="http://samidoun.net/?author=1"
style="text-decoration:
underline;
color:
#2585B2;
color: #888
!important;">samidoun</a>
</span> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<div
class="post-content"
style="direction: ltr;
margin-top: 1em;
max-width: 560px;">
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;"><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://samidoun.net/site/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/delegation-birzeit.jpg"
rel="attachment
wp-att-11170"><img
moz-do-not-send="true" class=" size-full wp-image-11170"
src="http://samidoun.net/site/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/delegation-birzeit.jpg"
alt="delegation-birzeit" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;
margin-bottom:
12px; clear:
both; display:
block; margin: 0
auto; padding:
4px;
background-color:
white; border:
1px solid #ccc"
border="0"></a></p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Recently
returned from a
ten-day trip to the
Israeli-colonized
Palestine, a US
delegation of
anti-prison, labor,
and
scholar-activists
has issued the
following statement
to mark Palestinian
Prisoners Day 2016.
The delegation
included three
former US-held
political prisoners,
and a formerly
incarcerated
activist, two former
Black Panther Party
members, university
professors, prison
abolition
organizers, and
trade unionists.
This was the first
US delegation to
Palestine to focus
specifically on
political
imprisonment and
solidarity between
Palestinian and US
prisoners. The
delegation also paid
special attention to
the recent labor
organizing in the
West Bank and the
efforts of
Palestinian scholars
and activists to
reclaim the history,
political identity
and culture of the
Palestinian people.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">In
recognition of
International Day of
Solidarity with
Palestinian
Prisoners, the US
Anti-Prison, Labor,
and Academic
Delegation is
demanding freedom
for the 7,000
Palestinian
political prisoners
currently held in
Israeli jails and
all those fighting
for justice
everywhere,
including political
prisoners in U.S.
prisons.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Reflecting
information,
analysis, and
testimony gathered
from meetings with
close to 100
Palestinian
activists,
advocates,
organizers, and
former political
prisoners from many
social justice,
human rights, labor,
education, and
political
organizations and
institutions, the US
delegation’s
statement concluded:</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;
padding-left:30px;">We
feel an urgent sense
of responsibility to
pressure the United
States to stop
funding Israeli
crimes against
humanity. We express
our support for the
struggle for a free
Palestine as a
central struggle in
the worldwide
movement against
U.S. imperialism. We
are committed to
employing a variety
of tactics in
solidarity with
Palestine, including
Boycott, Divestment
and Sanctions, and
we condemn Israeli
and Zionist attacks
against advocates
for justice for/in
Palestine in our
communities and on
our campuses. We
connect prisoner and
labor movements
across the borders;
and apply the spirit
of sumud to all our
struggles for
liberation within
the United States.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Photo: <a
moz-do-not-send="true" style="text-decoration: underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/Pal/Images/">Delegation
Images/Freedom
Archives</a>. US
Prisoner, Labor and
Academic Delegation
with colleagues
from the Institute
for Women's Studies
at Birzeit
University,
Birzeit, Palestine,
March 29, 2016</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Full
statement follows:</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;"><strong>We
Stand with
Palestine in the
Spirit of “</strong><strong><em>Sumud</em></strong><strong>”</strong></p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;"><strong>The
U.S. Prisoner,
Labor and Academic
Solidarity
Delegation to
Palestine </strong></p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;"><strong>March
24 to April 2,
2016</strong></p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">At a
moment of growing
resistance to state
violence and
injustice the world
over, a delegation
of nineteen
anti-prison, labor
and
scholar-activists
from the United
States traveled to
Palestine in March
2016. Our delegation
included former
U.S.-held political
prisoners and social
prisoners, former
Black Panther Party
members, prison
abolitionists, trade
unionists and
university
professors. We are
the first U.S.
delegation to
Palestine to focus
specifically on
political
imprisonment and
solidarity between
Palestinian and U.S.
prisoners. Our
delegation also
focused on recent
labor struggles in
Palestine for bread
and dignity, and on
the struggles of
Palestinian
intellectuals to
assert the rightful
claims of Indigenous
Palestinians to
their land, culture
and history.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">On this
April 17, the
International Day of
Solidarity with
Palestinian
Prisoners, we demand
freedom for the <a
moz-do-not-send="true" style="text-decoration: underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://www.addameer.org/statistics">7,000
Palestinian
political
prisoners</a>
currently held in
Israeli jails and
all those fighting
for justice
everywhere,
including political
prisoners in U.S.
prisons.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">During our
ten-day trip, we
heard from diverse
groups of
Palestinians who
daily resist summary
executions, mass
imprisonment, land
confiscation, house
demolitions,
restrictions to
water access and
restriction of
movement. In the
face of Israel’s
system of racialized
terror, Palestinians
uphold their
commitment to “<em>sumud</em>.”
This Arabic word has
historical ties to
the Palestinian
anti-colonial
liberation movement
and is defined as
“steadfastness,” or
standing one’s
ground with
dignity—a form of
resistance. We saw
this resistance, and
were inspired by it,
over and over during
our visit.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Having
witnessed <em>sumud</em>
firsthand, we stand
in solidarity with
the Palestinian
anti-colonial
struggle and with
the liberation of
Palestine, including
the right to return,
the rights of
self-determination,
justice and peace.
We condemn the
shocking and
continuing human
rights violations
carried out with
impunity by Israel
with the full
strategic support of
the U.S. government.
We stand with the
growing worldwide
movement for <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="https://bdsmovement.net/">Boycott,
Divestment and
Sanctions</a>
(BDS) of Israeli
settler colonialism
and apartheid. We
learned from the
Palestinian movement
that steadfastness
is not only possible
but necessary,
especially under the
most oppressive
conditions.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Our
travels took us to
lands colonized by
Israel in 1948 and
occupied in 1967:
from Jericho and the
Jordan Valley to the
Naqab, Haifa, Yafa,
Jerusalem and
Nablus; from
Ramallah and
Bethlehem to Lydd
and Nazareth; and
from Dheisheh to Ayn
Hawd. We met with
dozens of former
political prisoners,
prisoner support
organizations and
human rights
advocates,
professors and
public
intellectuals,
political leaders,
members of Bedouin
and peasant
communities
threatened with
displacement, women
leaders, organizers
for gender and
sexual justice,
cultural workers,
and trade unionists
struggling for
dignified work
conditions.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Our hosts
insisted that we
examine the
harrowing conditions
of Palestinian life
not just in the
context of the
Israeli military
occupation of the
West Bank and Gaza
since 1967, but as
the consequence of
the Zionist invasion
and seizure of 1948.
The 1948 Nakba, or
“catastrophe,”
displaced 85% of
Palestinians from
their lands to the
West Bank, Gaza and
nearby Arab
countries of Jordan,
Syria and Lebanon.
Subjected to Israeli
military rule from
1948 to 1966,
Palestinians who
remained were
internally displaced
in their own
country, confined to
its poorest regions,
forbidden from
moving freely,
stripped of land
rights and subjected
to a brutal system
of racial apartheid.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Palestinian
residents in
territories
colonized by Israel
in 1948 continue to
live with many of
the same forms of
state terrorism that
are commonly
associated with the
military occupation
of the 1967
Palestinian
territories—an
Orwellian system of
laws and regulations
including racialized
arrest, segregation,
settler violence,
land confiscation,
forced relocation,
home demolitions and
civil rights
violations of all
kinds. We witnessed
the wholesale
project of Zionist <em>colonization</em>—the
greatest threat to
the life, security
and human rights of
the Palestinian
people.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">The aim of
the Zionist project
was—and remains—the
creation of an
exclusively Jewish
state through the
violent displacement
of Palestinians and
their replacement by
Jewish immigrants.
After 1948, Jews who
had been a numeric
minority became the
majority through the
calculated process
of massacres, forced
expulsion, Jewish
immigration from
Europe and land
confiscations by
Zionist settlers.
For these reasons,
Palestinians we
spoke to insisted on
framing the roots of
current-day problems
in the historical
context of Israel’s
settler-colonial
apartheid regime.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Time and
again, Palestinians
made clear the
distinction between
Zionism as a racist
and colonial
movement and Jewish
people. They
emphasized that a
free Palestine will
be a land of
religious pluralism
and respect of
diverse
spiritualities,
according to the
Palestinian National
Charter of 1969 and
the 1988 Palestinian
Declaration of
Independence.
Palestinians also
stressed that
historically and
contemporarily there
has not been a
homogenous stand of
Jews on Israel or
Zionism. In fact,
the intensification
of Israeli violence
and racism is
leading a growing
number of Holocaust
survivors as well as
younger Jews to
invoke “never again<em>
for anyone</em>”
and “not in my name”
to dissociate
themselves from the
Zionist state and
its racist and
genocidal policies.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">As
strongly as we were
compelled to examine
the shameful and
brutal history of
Zionist colonialism
in Palestine and the
harrowing conditions
of Palestinian life,
we were in turn
compelled to learn
about the continuous
resistance of the
Palestinian people.
Time and again,
people expressed
their commitment to
ensuring that
Palestine will be
free.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;"><strong>Israel:
A Colonial
Carceral State </strong></p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Aware that
Israel is the only
country in the world
that <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://www.dci-palestine.org/issues_military_detention">prosecutes
children in
military courts</a>,
our delegation
observed the
proceedings of three
Israeli military
tribunals against
Palestinian youth.
We witnessed a
16-year-old
Palestinian boy
tried as an adult
and accused of
running an Israeli
over in a vehicle.
The boy faced two
life sentences in an
Israeli adult
prison, and was
being tried with
evidence presented
in the form of a
video reenactment,
constructed from the
prosecution’s theory
of the act and with
details likely
coerced through
torture, a routine
practice of Israeli
military prison
administrators. <a
moz-do-not-send="true" style="text-decoration: underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=440537">More
than 99 percent of
all cases tried in
the military
courts end in
conviction.</a></p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Legalized
since 1987 by the
Israeli Supreme
Court as “moderate
physical pressure,”
Israeli torture
tactics can include
lengthy
interrogation
sessions, beatings,
the tying of
prisoners in “stress
positions,” sleep
deprivation, and
psychological abuse
such as threats to
harm or kill
prisoners’ family
members. Former
prisoners with whom
we met recounted
mock execution,
torture lasting up
to three months,
subsequent sexual
abuse, medical
neglect and solitary
confinement</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">The case
of child prisoners
is particularly
harrowing. Human
rights lawyers with
whom we spoke shared
the findings of
international
reports on the
treatment by Israeli
courts of
Palestinian
children, compared
to the treatment of
Israeli children.
Israel's racist
double standard
exempts Israeli
children from
prosecution as
adults until the age
of 18, while
Palestinian <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://www.addameer.org/the_prisoners/children">children
as young as 12</a>
are tried as adults.
Often charged with
stone throwing,
Palestinian children
are subjected to
lengthy sentences in
adult prisons. Legal
aid organizations
Addameer and Defense
for Children
International (DCI)
informed us that
children are often
taken from their
families in the
middle of the night,
then handcuffed and
blindfolded during
their transport to
torture sites, where
they are denied
legal representation
or access to their
parents for months.
A former political
prisoner told us
that his own
experience of
torture behind bars
was amplified when
he heard, in a
nearby cell, the
voice of a child
crying out for his
mother.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">For
Palestinians of any
age, the price of
resisting the
colonial apartheid
order is often
death. Between
October 2015 and
March 2016,
approximately 200
Palestinians,
including 41
children, have been
<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://www.dci-palestine.org/forty_one_palestinian_children_killed_as_period_of_violence_enters_sixth_month">extra-judicially
murdered</a> at
the hands of Israeli
military forces. We
met Palestinian
parents whose homes
were demolished and
who were levied
heavy fines for
their children’s
alleged actions. In
blatant violation of
international law
and human decency,
the Israeli military
has refused to
release their
children’s bodies,
which they continue
to hold in a state
of
suspension—literally
frozen—for over 6
months.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">A
Palestinian adult we
met in the old city
of Hebron <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/press-releases/2016/03/israel-suspected-extrajudicial-execution-of-palestinian-caught-on-video/">witnessed
and
video-recorded, in
late March, the
execution</a>, by
an Israeli military
officer, of a
wounded and
incapacitated youth.
<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/04/btselem-cameraman-palestinian-hebron-idf-shooting-settlers.html">This
witness was
subsequently
harassed by
settlers and
investigated by
the Israeli
military</a> while
we were still in
Palestine, a
chilling reminder of
<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://www.democracynow.org/2016/1/12/why_is_ramsey_orta_man_who">the
repeated arrests
in the United
States of Ramsey
Orta</a> after he
recorded the 2014
strangulation of
Eric Garner at the
hands of the police
in Staten Island,
New York.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Our visit
to Palestine made
clear that
incarceration is a
central feature of
the ongoing Zionist
settler-colonial
project. In meetings
with former
prisoners and legal
aid organizations
including Adalah,
Addameer and the
Arab Association for
Human Rights, we
learned that
Palestinians face
one of the <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="https://www.prisonlegalnews.org/news/2004/feb/15/palestinian-child-political-prisoners-detained-by-israel/">highest
per capita
incarceration rate</a>s
in the world: <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://www.addameer.org/advocacy/briefings_papers/general-briefing-palestinian-political-prisoners-israeli-prisons">one
in five</a>
Palestinians has
been imprisoned at
some point in his or
her life, including
<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://www.addameer.org/advocacy/briefings_papers/general-briefing-palestinian-political-prisoners-israeli-prisons">40
percent</a> of the
Palestinian male
population. Since
1967, Israel has
imprisoned
approximately <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://www.addameer.org/advocacy/briefings_papers/general-briefing-palestinian-political-prisoners-israeli-prisons">800,000
Palestinian
political
prisoners</a>.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">As in the
United States,
incarceration
imposes collective
punishment on
communities. The
families of the
incarcerated in
Palestine are forced
to travel long
journeys of up to 15
hours to visit their
loved ones. At the
prisons, visitors
are routinely
subjected to
humiliating,
full-body searches
and sexual
harassment by
Israeli prison
guards, a
humiliation that has
led some women to
discontinue their
visits. Once inside,
relatives are
allowed only a 30-
to 45-minute visit:
no contact,
separated from the
prisoner by
Plexiglas walls.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">In the
face of repression,
Palestinian
prisoners have
successfully
employed <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="https://electronicintifada.net/tags/hunger-strike">hunger
strikes</a> to
improve prison
conditions and win
the release of
prisoners, including
those held under
administrative
detention–prisoners
held without
charges, trial, or
conviction.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Inspired
by the Palestinian
people’s respect for
their political
prisoners and fallen
martyrs—reflected in
images on public
walls, in moments of
silence, in daily
conversations—our
delegation is even
more committed to
making known the
existence of dozens
of U.S. political
prisoners. Many U.S.
political prisoners
were given draconian
sentences for their
political activism
in the
anti-imperialist
struggles and
liberation movements
of racially
oppressed groups
during the 1960s and
1970s. Dispensing
with them as
“criminals,” the
U.S. government
refuses to
acknowledge the
political nature of
their incarceration.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Our
delegation builds on
the long history of
solidarity between
anti-colonial and
anti-imperialist
movements in the
United States and
Palestine, expressed
most recently in
2013 when thousands
of prisoners in <a
moz-do-not-send="true" style="text-decoration: underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="https://www.facebook.com/events/155689014612698/">Pelican
Bay, Guantanamo
and Palestine</a>,
all on hunger strike
at the time, issued
solidarity
statements with one
another. The
presence and the
histories of two
former Black Panther
Party members on our
delegation served as
a constant reminder
of the years of
solidarity between
the Black liberation
movement and
Palestine.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;"><strong>Colonial
Violence and
Indigenous
Resistance</strong></p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Israel,
which presents
itself to the world
as a nation of laws,
views civil society
organizers who bring
attention to its
crimes as a threat.
We were reminded
during our visit to
the offices of DCI
that one of the <a
moz-do-not-send="true" style="text-decoration: underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/nora-barrows-friedman/human-rights-defender-among-three-palestinians-killed-live-fire-west">organization’s
lead coordinators
was shot and
killed,</a>
execution-style, by
an Israeli military
sniper, as he
observed a
Palestinian protest
against the 2014
Israeli assault on
Gaza. We witnessed
firsthand the
escalating Israeli
terror against the
Palestinian people
when we heard on the
news—and discussed
with the Boycott
National
Committee—the <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://mondoweiss.net/2016/04/palestinian-reflections-on-israels-hysterical-attack-on-bds/">calls
by Israeli
Ministers for the
“civic”
assassination</a>
of BDS leaders. This
is an escalation of
state-sanctioned
terror that includes
the 2014 assault on
Gaza; the burning
alive of Palestinian
youth Mohammad Abu
Khdair at the hands
of settlers; the
burning alive of the
Dawabsheh family in
Duma Village by
settlers; and the
intensification of
detentions, land
confiscation,
displacement and
deportations. These
conditions have
driven Palestinian
youth to take
matters into their
own hands and engage
in acts of
resistance, which
many call a third
intifada. Reacting
to this resistance,
Israel has used the
uprisings as pretext
for intensifying
violence against
Palestinian youth.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">During our
visit, we heard the
same message from a
cross section of
organized forces:
that the 1993 Oslo
Accords have 1)
legitimized
continued state
violence and
re-created a
colonial
structure—camouflaged
as a model of
Palestinian
autonomy; and 2)
weakened the
Palestinian
anti-colonial
liberation movement.
Twenty-three years
after the failure of
Oslo, social,
cultural and
grassroots
organizations, as
well as
representatives of a
wide array of
Palestinian
political parties,
including those of
the mass
institutions of the
Palestine Liberation
Organization,
emphasized the need
to end political
divisions in order
to rebuild the
movement to free
Palestine.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">While we
focused primarily on
the experiences of
those held in
official prisons,
our visits to cities
in lands taken by
the Zionists in both
1967 and 1948 made
clear that—as in the
Gaza Strip, where
nearly two million
people are currently
held under
siege—much of
post-Nakba Palestine
is tantamount to an
open-air prison. In
cities like
Jerusalem (Al-Quds),
Lydd and Hebron
(Al-Khalil),
Palestinians
encounter
checkpoints,
omnipresent
surveillance, with
watchtowers on
virtually every
corner, a wall
choking off the
daily life of
Palestinians, racial
apartheid and
vulnerability to
extrajudicial
execution on a daily
basis. The old city
of Al-Khalil is the
epitome of an
open-air prison. How
else can one
describe a situation
in which children
must walk through
barbed wire-lined
streets with
soldiers training
machine guns on them
from watchtowers—or
in which the
Indigenous residents
of that city have
been forced to erect
mesh screens over
their marketplace to
protect themselves
from the trash,
urine and feces that
Zionist settlers
throw at them from
the windows of their
stolen apartments
above? We were
equally mortified to
see that a section
of the Israeli
apartheid wall has
literally cut this
historic Palestinian
neighborhood in
half. Consequently,
family members in
Al-Khalil are now
unable to see one
another without
going through a
military checkpoint.
Severe
travel restrictions
and street closures
have turned the
formerly vibrant
marketplace into a
ghost town,
as people are unable
to travel to the
market or even have
access to their own
homes.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;"><strong>Poverty,
Economy and
Palestinian
Workers</strong><strong>’</strong><strong>
Rights </strong></p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Settler
colonialism in
Palestine aims at
the destruction of
Palestinian life
through a complex
colonial network
that includes
refugee camps, the
siege and blockade
of Gaza,
imprisonment and
exile, and the
caging of
communities on all
sides by the
“Israeli West Bank
barrier”—more
realistically, the <a
moz-do-not-send="true" style="text-decoration: underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://www.stopthewall.org/the-wall">apartheid
wall</a>—that
snakes 280 miles
through the occupied
West Bank and
confiscates
Palestinian
residential and
agricultural lands
in its path. This
attempt at
destroying the
social and economic
fabric of the
Indigenous
population is the
modus operandi of a
Zionist state whose
goal is to maintain
a demographic Jewish
majority.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">The
exploitation of
Palestinian labor is
part and parcel of
the ongoing
colonization
project. Palestinian
trade unionists
detailed this
exploitation to our
delegation
historically and
contemporarily. They
explained that the
Histadrut—the
Israeli labor
federation that
enjoys a fraternal
relationship with
the AFL-CIO—has been
an integral part of
the Zionist movement
and the colonization
of Palestine even
before the creation
of the state of
Israel. The
Histadrut exploits
Palestinian workers
in Israel by
deducting a portion
of their salaries
for benefits they
never receive.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Palestinian
labor leaders also
shared the findings
of a draft report on
the horrifying
conditions of
Palestinian women
workers, including
those who are
employed in Israeli
settlements on the
West Bank and are
subjected to long
work hours, reduced
pay, and sexual
harassment at
checkpoints. None of
the Palestinian
workers employed by
Israeli businesses
enjoy the protection
of the Israeli labor
federation or
Israeli labor laws.
Palestinian trade
unionists called on
us to wage a
campaign among U.S.
trade unionists to
divest U.S. workers’
pension funds from
Israeli bonds.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Palestinian
trade unionists also
told us about the
devastating
socio-economic
conditions that have
been steadily
worsening since the
signing of the 1993
Oslo Accords. Oslo
legislated and
legitimized the
increasing
dependency of the
Palestinian
colonized economy on
the Israeli
colonizing power,
and has threatened
any potential for
the emergence of an
independent
Palestinian economy.
The continuing
blockade of Gaza and
the restrictions
placed on
Palestinian farmers
and small industries
have strangled the
Palestinian economy
and led to the
degradation of
living conditions,
leading to alarming
levels of poverty in
the 1967 occupied
Palestinian areas,
as well as among
Palestinians in the
areas seized by
Israel in 1948.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Palestinian
labor organizers
told us about the
crisis in
Palestinian refugee
camps produced by
cuts in the services
of the United
Nations Relief and
Work Agency for
Palestine Refugees
(UNRWA). Cuts in
UNRWA services in
education and
health, combined
with
institutionalized
discrimination in
healthcare,
education and
employment, have
created shocking
disparities. Life
expectancy for
Palestinians is, on
average, 10 years
lower than the
Israeli rate; infant
deaths are 18.8
compared to 3.7 per
1000 births; and the
death of Palestinian
mothers due to
complications of
pregnancy or labor
is 28 per 100,000
births compared to 7
for Israelis. These
conditions have led
to widespread
strikes by
Palestinian
employees who demand
equitable pay scale
and the restoration
of health and
education services.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Palestinian
trade union leaders
also expressed grave
concerns over the
diminishing
conditions of public
education in
Palestinian
Authority areas.
They echoed the
sentiments of
Palestinian
teachers,
administrators and
parents who <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://mondoweiss.net/2016/03/pa-continues-crackdown-on-west-bank-teachers-strike-as-anger-with-anti-democratic-palestinian-leadership-spreads/">protested
the worsening work
conditions for
Palestinian
teachers</a> and
insisted on joining
local and national
marches for a whole
month, despite
attempts by
Palestinian security
forces to suppress
their rallies.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Trade
union leaders also
highlighted the
apartheid conditions
in Israel, where <a
moz-do-not-send="true" style="text-decoration: underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://www.adalah.org/uploads/oldfiles/newsletter/eng/sep05/comi2.pdf">schools
are segregated</a>.
The ratio of
spending on
education in these
schools is 1:9, and
Palestinian students
living in Israel are
forced to learn a
curriculum that
denies their own
history and exalts
the misleading
history of the
colonizers.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">We join
hands with our
comrades in the
Palestinian labor
movement and salute
the struggle of
striking teachers,
labor organizers and
workers demanding
economic justice,
independence and
national
self-determination
from colonial
structures. We
further pledge to
campaign in the
ranks of U.S. labor
to divest from
Israeli bonds and
sever ties between
the AFL-CIO and the
Histadrut.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;"><strong>Dispossession
and Struggle for
Land and Return</strong>
<strong> </strong></p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">A
university professor
with whom we met
explained how the
system of Zionist
colonization is one
of the most
intensely
territorialized
systems of spatial
control the world
has seen. In 1948,
Israel <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://zochrot.org/en/site/nakbaMap">destroyed
at least 531
Palestinian towns</a>
and villages, and
within five years,
established 370 new
Jewish settlement
towns, 95% of which
were built on seized
Palestinian land.
The state of Israel
now controls 93% of
the land captured in
1948.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Today,
eight million
Palestinian refugees
are forbidden from
returning to their
homeland. Those in
the West Bank are
subject to the
ubiquitous system of
checkpoints that
severely restrict
their ability to
travel to work,
school, mosques and
churches, and to
hospitals for
medical treatment.
Under the Absentee
Property Law,
Palestinians can
lose their rights as
homeowners for any
number of reasons,
including renovating
or expanding their
homes to accommodate
a growing family.
The Israeli state
rarely grants
Palestinians
permission to build
or expand homes,
forcing them into
“illegal”
construction of
houses, which are
then subject to
demolition orders.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">In the
village of Ayn Hawd,
near Haifa, an elder
explained how Israel
confiscated the
homes of the
Palestinians and
turned the village
into a park and an
artists’ colony,
replaced the mosque
with a restaurant,
and protected the
settlement of
Zionists living in
stolen Palestinian
homes. We saw how
those settlers have
repeatedly trashed
and destroyed the
old
Palestinian cemetery.
There, as elsewhere,
we witnessed the
central role of the
Jewish National Fund
(JNF) in the ongoing
destruction of
Palestine.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">The sight
of bulldozers on top
of a hill signaled
the looming
destruction of the
village of Um El
Heran in the
Al-Naqab desert, a
territory colonized
in 1948. Um El Heran
is one of 46
“unrecognized
villages” that do
not exist on Israeli
official government
maps and are
therefore denied
electricity, water,
roads, schools and
all essential
services extended by
the state to nearby
“recognized” Israeli
towns of Jewish
settlers. Throughout
Palestine, we
observed water tanks
and solar panels
fastened to rooftops
to compensate for
Israeli restriction
of water and
electricity, while
the homes of Jewish
settlers enjoy full
state-sponsored
services including
swimming pools.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;"><strong>P</strong><strong>ublic
Intellectuals and
Anti-Colonial
Cultures of
Resistance</strong></p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Everywhere
we went in Palestine
we witnessed signs
of a culture of
resistance. Youth
activists in the
Naqab told us about
their use of poetry
to resist Zionist
attempts to uproot
them from their
lands. In the 1948
urban areas of Yafa,
Lydd, Haifa and
Nazareth we heard
about oral history
projects to counter
the systematic
program of cultural
and historical
erasure deployed by
Israel through the
outright destruction
of sites and signs
of Palestinian life,
their replacement
with invented maps
and road signs, and
the elimination of
the word
“Palestinian” from
school textbooks and
curricula. We also
heard from
grassroots
organizations and
activists about
campaigns to defy
Israel’s ban on the
commemoration of the
Nakba, about
projects, that bring
Palestinian children
to the sites of
their families’
destroyed villages,
and about others
that use oral
history to pass on
the collective
memories of a people
who refuse to submit
to a
settler-colonial
project aimed at
negating their
existence on their
land.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">We visited
the Ibdaa Arts
Center in the
Dheisheh refugee
camp and the Popular
Arts Center in El
Bireh and saw,
painted on interior
walls, murals that
defied the Israeli
occupation ban on
resistance art on
public walls.
Palestinian cultural
figures told us that
Israel continues to
shut down theater,
dance and music
performances that
challenge its
colonial rule. We
learned that, in an
attempt to end the
wave of protests
currently engulfing
Palestine, the
Israeli Prime
Minister demanded
that the Palestinian
Authority prohibit
taxi drivers from
playing Palestinian
music on their
radios.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">We
participated in two
conferences hosted
by the <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://www.birzeit.edu/news/7th-annual-%E2%80%98struggles-freedom%E2%80%99-conference-puts-palestine-international-context">Institute
for Women’s
Studies at Birzeit
University</a> and
the <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="https://www.najah.edu/ar/community/community-news/2016/04/04/lnjh-tstdyf-wrsh-ml-b-nwn-hry-khlf-lqdbn-tjrb-tqly-wndly-mqrn-mn-flstyn-wlwlyt-lmthd-lmryky/">An-Najah
National
University</a>,
both co-sponsored
with the <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://amed.sfsu.edu/">Arab
and Muslim
Ethnicities and
Diasporas Studies
at San Francisco
State University</a>.
We shared the
platform with
Palestinian
academics who are
engaged in the daily
struggles of their
people and who
insisted on defining
the academy as a
site of struggle for
the dignity of all
Palestinians. We
compared our
respective analysis
of the United States
and Israel as
settler-colonial
regimes intent on
destroying
Indigenous life and
the Third World
movements that have
arisen to challenge
colonialism and
imperialism.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Solidarity
was forged as former
political prisoners
in Palestine and
former US-held
political prisoners
in our delegation
discussed parallel
experiences.
Palestinian
audiences at both
conferences were
moved by the
messages we brought
with us in a
collection of
letters from
currently
incarcerated U.S.
political
prisoners—some of
whom have already
served 40 years and
more—to their
Palestinian sisters
and brothers. Our
colleagues at
Birzeit University’s
Institute for
Women’s Studies
translated the
letters into Arabic.
The solidarity was
palpable during the
final plenary of
Birzeit’s
conference, when the
phone rang and we
heard the voice of
U.S. political
prisoner <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://www.bringmumiahome.com">Mumia
Abu Jamal</a>.
Mumia was calling
from State
Correctional
Institution Mahanoy
in Pennsylvania to
express solidarity
with and love for
the people of
Palestine.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">We learned
that Palestinian
universities offer
free tuition to
former Palestinian
prisoners and that
every graduation
ceremony honors
Palestinian
students, faculty
and staff martyred
or imprisoned by
Israel during the
academic year. In
contrast, Israel has
banned access to
education for
Palestinian
prisoners, even
denying some the
possession of a
pencil and paper.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">Speaking
alongside members of
both campus
communities who were
imprisoned by the
Israeli colonial
state, and
witnessing how
Palestinian
universities honor
those who sacrificed
their lives for
their people
heightened our
commitment to insist
that our own
academic
institutions resist
the neoliberal
university, reclaim
the mission of
public education,
and restore the
gains for which
earlier generations
of
students—including
the Student
Nonviolent
Coordinating
Committee; Black
Student Unions; the
Third World
Liberation Front at
San Francisco State
University; Ocean
Hill-Brownsville;
the Open Admission
Strike of 1969 at
the City University
of New York—fought.
This struggle
continues today on
our campuses and
community spaces. We
also reject Israel’s
and the Zionist
movement’s attempts
to employ
McCarthyite tactics
to intimidate,
harass and silence
advocates for
justice in and
outside Palestine,
and activists and
scholars who stand
for justice on
university campuses,
public schools and
in public life the
world over.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;"><strong>Conclusion</strong></p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">We were
asked repeatedly to
bring these
Palestinian stories
of dispossession and
steadfast resistance
back to the United
States. Much of what
we saw in Palestine
called up images of
life in the United
States. Like Israel,
the United States is
a settler
colony—built on the
genocide and denial
of Indigenous
peoples’ rights; the
kidnapping and
enslavement of
Africans; the
colonization of
Mexico, Puerto Rico,
the Philippines,
Hawaii and Guam; the
exclusion of Chinese
people; the
incarceration of
Japanese people in
concentration camps;
and the rising
vilification and
criminalization of
immigrants from
Latin America and of
Arabs, Muslims and
Mediterranean and
South and Central
Asian people. Like
Israel, the United
States suppresses
resistance using the
cover of law. The
United States
continues to engage
in imperialist wars
and interventions in
the Third World,
while 2.3 million
people are
incarcerated in U.S.
prisons, young
Black, Latina/o, and
Indigenous people
are executed and
targeted while
educational
institutions become
increasingly
privatized and
corporatized. The
99% are getting more
impoverished while
the 1% is getting
richer.
Significantly, the
United States funds
Israel to the tune
of $4 billion
annually and
supports the
distorted ideology
of Zionism.</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">We
therefore feel an
urgent sense of
responsibility to
pressure the United
States to stop
funding Israeli
crimes against
humanity. We express
our support for the
struggle for a free
Palestine as a
central struggle in
the worldwide
movement against
U.S. imperialism. We
are committed to
employing a variety
of tactics in
solidarity with
Palestine, including
Boycott, Divestment
and Sanctions, and
we condemn Israeli
and Zionist attacks
against advocates
for justice for/in
Palestine in our
communities and on
our campuses. We
connect prisoner and
labor movements
across the borders;
and apply the spirit
of <em>sumud</em>
to all our struggles
for liberation
within the United
States.</p>
<ul style="margin: 0 0
1em 1em; padding: 0;
font-size: 14px;
line-height: 1.4em;
color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;">
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;">Support
Palestinian
people’s just
struggle for
self-determination,
return and
sovereignty, and
the struggle
against settler
colonialism in the
United States,
Israel and
elsewhere</li>
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;">Release
Palestinian and
all political
prisoners,
including those in
the United States</li>
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;">End
all U.S. military
and financial
support of Israel</li>
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;">Support
Boycott,
Divestment and
Sanctions (BDS) of
Israel</li>
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;">Reject
the new Israeli
and Zionist
McCarthyism that
seeks to
intimidate, harass
and silence
advocacy for
justice in
Palestine</li>
</ul>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">In Joint
Struggle,</p>
<ul style="margin: 0 0
1em 1em; padding: 0;
font-size: 14px;
line-height: 1.4em;
color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;">
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;"><strong>Rabab
Abdulhadi</strong>,
author and
professor, San
Francisco State
University*,
California</li>
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;"><strong>Diana
Block</strong>,
author and
activist,
California
Coalition for
Women Prisoners*,
San Francisco,
California</li>
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;"><strong>Susan
Chen</strong>, counselor
faculty,
member California
Faculty
Association - SFSU
chapter
Affirmative Action
Rep, San Francisco
State University*,
California</li>
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;"><strong>Dennis
Childs</strong>,
author and
professor,
University of
California*, San
Diego</li>
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;"><strong>Susie
Day</strong>,
writer, Monthly
Review Press*, New
York City, New
York</li>
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;"><strong>Emory
Douglas</strong>,
Revolutionary
Artist and
Minister of
Culture, Black
Panther Party,
1967-1982</li>
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;"><strong>Johanna
Fernández</strong>,
author and
professor, City
University of New
York-Baruch
College*;
Organizer,
Campaign to Bring
Mumia Home</li>
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;"><strong>Diane
Fujino</strong>,
author and
professor,
University of
California*, Santa
Barbara</li>
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;"><strong>Alborz
Ghandehari</strong>,
member of BDS
Caucus of UAW
2865, University
of California
Student-Workers
Union*</li>
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;"><strong>Anna
Henry</strong>,
activist and
member, California
Coalition for
Women Prisoners*,
San Francisco</li>
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;"><strong>Rachel
Herzing</strong>,
independent
scholar and
co-founder,
Critical
Resistance*,
Oakland,
California</li>
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;"><strong>Hank
Jones</strong>,
activist, former
US-Held political
prisoner and
member, Black
Panther Party, Los
Angeles,
California</li>
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;"><strong>manuel
la fontaine</strong>,
former US-held
prisoner and
member, All of Us
or None*, San
Francisco,
California</li>
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;"><strong>Claude
Marks</strong>,
Former US-held
political
prisoner, Freedom
Archives*, San
Francisco,
California</li>
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;"><strong>Nathaniel
Moore</strong>,
archivist, Freedom
Archives*, San
Francisco,
California</li>
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;"><strong>Isaac
Ontiveros</strong>,
member, Critical
Resistance*,
Oakland,
California</li>
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;"><strong>Michael
Ritter</strong>,
counselor faculty;
member
CSU Academic
Senate
& CFA Board of
Directors, San
Francisco State
University*, California</li>
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;"><strong>Jaime
Veve</strong>,
Co-Convener, Labor
for Palestine*,
New York City, New
York</li>
<li
style="line-height:
1.6; margin-left:
1em; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color:
#444; font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif;"><strong>Laura
Whitehorn</strong>,
Former US-held
political
prisoner, New York
City, New York</li>
</ul>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">*All
institutional and
organizational
affiliations are for
identification
purposes only</p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;"><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/Pal/Delegation.We.Stand.pdf"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/Pal/Delegation.We.Stand.pdf">http://www.freedomarchives.org/Pal/Delegation.We.Stand.pdf</a></a></p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">In Arabic:
<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/Pal/Delegation.We.Stand.ARABIC.doc"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/Pal/Delegation.We.Stand.ARABIC.doc">http://www.freedomarchives.org/Pal/Delegation.We.Stand.ARABIC.doc</a></a></p>
<p style="direction:
ltr; font-size:
14px; line-height:
1.4em; color: #444;
font-family:
"Helvetica
Neue",
Helvetica, Arial,
sans-serif; margin:
0 0 1em;">In
Spanish: <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/Pal/"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/Pal/">http://www.freedomarchives.org/Pal/</a></a><a
moz-do-not-send="true" style="text-decoration: underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/Pal/Delegation.We.Stand.SPANISH.docx">Delegation.We.Stand.SPANISH.docx</a></p>
</div>
<div class="meta"
style="direction: ltr;
color: #999;
font-size: .9em;
margin-top: 4px;
line-height: 160%;
padding: 15px 0 15px;
border-top: 1px solid
#eee; border-bottom:
1px solid #eee;
overflow: hidden"> <strong><a
moz-do-not-send="true" style="text-decoration: underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://samidoun.net/?author=1">samidoun</a></strong>
| April 16, 2016 at
10:37 am | Categories:
<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://samidoun.net/?taxonomy=category&term=news">News</a>,
<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://samidoun.net/?taxonomy=category&term=prisoners-day">Prisoners
Day</a>, <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://samidoun.net/?taxonomy=category&term=statements">Statements</a>
| URL: <a
moz-do-not-send="true"
style="text-decoration:
underline; color:
#2585B2;"
href="http://wp.me/p2cx3f-2U9"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://wp.me/p2cx3f-2U9">http://wp.me/p2cx3f-2U9</a></a>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table class="subscribe-footer-wrap"
style="width: 100%; background-image:
url(https://s0.wp.com/i/emails/stripes.gif);
background-repeat: repeat-x; background-color:
#43A4D0; height: 3px;"
background="https://s0.wp.com/i/emails/stripes.gif"
border="0" height="3" cellpadding="0"
cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><br>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<br>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<img moz-do-not-send="true" alt=""
src="http://pixel.wp.com/b.gif?blog=32539661&post=11169&subd=samidoun.ca&ref=&email=1&email_o=jetpack&host=jetpack.wordpress.com"
border="0" height="1" width="1">
<br>
<div class="moz-signature">-- <br>
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863.9977
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.freedomarchives.org">www.freedomarchives.org</a>
</div>
<br>
</div>
<br>
</body>
</html>