The following alert was issued on March 22 by the Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid in Toronto. Samidoun encourages all supporters in Canada to take this action:
Hana Shalabi, 30 years old and resident of Burqin village near Jenin, was arrested on 16 February 2012 and is being held under Administrative Detention in Hasharon Prison, Israel. She has been on hunger strike since 16 February in protest against her violent arrest, the harmful and degrading treatment she suffered following her arrest and her administrative detention. She was previously held for over two years in administrative detention and released in the prisoner exchange on 18 October 2011.
She has never been charged or gone to trial. According to Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile.”
Administrative detention is a procedure that allows the Israeli military to hold prisoners indefinitely on secret evidence without charging them or allowing them to stand trial. Approximately 309 Palestinians are currently held in administrative detention in Israeli prisons. The use of administative detention and the prison system is central to maintaining the Israeli Apartheid system. We recommend you readthis article by Ameer Makhoul a Palestinian civil society leader and political prisoner at Gilboa Prison for background on the role of the prisoners campaign in the struggle against Israeli Apartheid.
Hana Shalabi is challenging the walls of silence and international complicity, she is refusing indignation and the violations of basic human rights from a state that many Canadian politicians insist on calling the only democracy in the Middle East. Languishing under severe hardship in Israel’s notoriously inhumane prisons, Hana Shalabi and all Palestinian political prisoners implore international civil society to act. Following yet another successful Israeli Apartheid Week, we urge people to join the BDS movement to assure that Hana Shalabi’s courage translates to effective international solidarity.
The Palestinian prisoners’ movement has always been at the forefront of the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice and self determination. We must hold Israel accountable for its crimes against Palestinian political prisoners and the Palestinian people at large by intensifying BDS campaigns to pressure both Israel and the Canadian government which offers Israel uncritical support.
Actions that you can take to help free Hana Shalabi and Palestinian Political detainees:
*********************
ATTEND THE VIGIL IN TORONTO in support of Palestinian Political Prisoners, especially Hana Shalabi, this Friday evening:
23 March 2012
In front of the building housing the Israeli consulate 180 Bloor Street West Toronto: Northwest corner of Bloor and Avenue Rd. Across from the ROM
*********************
SEND AN E-MAIL TO Canadian Minister for Foreign Affairs, John Baird, demand that he protest the Israeli government’s abusive use of administrative detention and that they release Hana Shalabi and all other Palestinian Administrative detainees. See one minute action below.
We also encourage you to copy and paste this letter and send it to your Federal MPs email address. You can find it here.
Thank you for taking action. This campaign is now closed.
