March 27, 2012
In News
How To Fight a Non Violent Resistance Movement such Hunger Strike? Do Israel strike the Fighters with Food?
We have invented the most powerful flying machine, the smallest medical devices, the most dangerous weapon we can imagine and being so advanced technologically we still can not comprehend in its entirely our humanity, but we are trying, little by little we understand more and more of us, our world become so important that we feel the necessity of help in the restoration and the unification of our human family.
What make us humans we ask ourselves? The Soul?, our Heart?, our feelings? what really do we have inside our bodies that make us compassionate or despicable beings? Does all the human beings are able to FEEL?. The Most Powerfull Weapon Our Humanity
Confronted by these questions we find people around the world that have reached that point where they need to become part of the solution, and they found the way to join the struggle in a pacific way, a way that can not be fought with weapons, or propaganda, the Non violent movement in Palestine is finding voices around the globe, making the Israel-Palestinians conflict a Matter of Global Affairs.
Sife Saleem a young journalist from Gaza brought to my attention Sandra Twang Letter to President Obama, a story that needs to be shared, it is very important for all of us in the US to raise our voices on the issues that matter to all of us. For one it is inhumane what it is happening in Palestine and second our money it’s being used without our consent.
Every year our congress allocate more than 3 billions of our tax money to send to Israel, it is not fair, not fair for us as a citizens of the US, being that the Government have cut so many social services and cut to education, and we do not give our permission for such transfer of money to a foreign country, that we know have spied on the US government, have killed Americans..and It is not fair for Palestinians, and it is illegal to be used against innocent civilians.
“When you see a foreign people supporting you and making stand with you, we feel happy specially when you look around, and you see your brother of the Arab world, who don’t look at you and pretend they ignore our struggles. The Solidarity is very helpful in the case of Palestine to let the world to know the Palestine case, it is strike for Israel because it loses international support, and that help us as Palestinians to share our case and present the right picture to the world.” Sife Saleem writer in Aljazeera Talk.
The first American Citizen to Join the Hunger Strike was Sandra Rose Twang on March 21, and Nancy Williams will join on March 30, 2011 in solidarity with Hana Shalabi.
“On March 30, 2012, I will begin my hunger strike for Palestine. The reason why I choose this date is because I cannot participate in the Global March to Jerusalem. I am a natural born citizen of the United States of America and I oppose the actions of the Israeli government towards the Palestinians. I also oppose the support that my government gives to Israel, while ignoring the fact that the Israeli government violates international human rights laws, on a daily basis. My government does not teach us the truth about what has happened and is still happening there, so I learned for the first time about Palestine in 2010. How I first learned was when I became contacts with someone in Khan Younis, who then told me about Ken O’Keefe. Then I became contacts with him and began following his experience, until now. Also, since 2010, I have been blessed by meeting and speaking with new friends in Palestine, who have shown me nothing but love. I cannot sit here, as an American citizen and not take action”. Nancy Williams
A Plea from an American Peace Activist Sandra Rose Twang to President Obama, announced on March 21 that she will join Hana Shalabi and 70 other prisoners in Israel Jails under administrative detention in a Non Violent Protest against Israel inhumane practice, Sandra Twang has expressed also her commitment to maintain her hunger strike in protest for President Obama public support for Israel crimes, and financial backing for a state that have violated every single International Law, and ignore numerous UN resolutions.
In her Letter from Sandra to U.S. President
“I am ashamed to say that my country in particular has acted in a most egregious way in its veto of any UN response in holding Israel accountable for its crimes.
But now I want to tell you what drove me to this hunger strike.
There is a young woman, Hana Shalabi, now imprisoned in Hasharon Prison in Israel, arrested on February 16, 2012 and is being held under administrative detention, detention without charge or trial. She is not allowed to know what she is accused of, to examine any of the evidence against her, thereby rendering her capability for due process null and void.” Sandra Rose Twang
Gandhi was not a pacifist; he believed in the right of those being attacked to strike back and regarded inaction as a result of cowardice to be a greater sin than even the most ill-considered aggression. Gandhi’s calls for the sacrifice of lives in order to shame the oppressor into concessions can easily seem chilling and ruthless.
But Gandhi’s insistence that, in the end, peaceful resistance will always be less costly in human lives than armed opposition, and his understanding that the role of a protest movement is not primarily to persuade people of something new, but rather to get them to act on behalf of what they already accept as right – these principles have profound resonance in both the Israel-Palestine conflict and the wider movement for justice and democracy that began to sweep the world in 2011.
Over 10,000 Palestinian women have been arrested and detained since 1967 under Israeli military orders, which govern nearly every aspect of life in the occupied Palestinian territory. There were 36 Palestinian female prisoners in Israeli prisons prior to the exchange deal concluded by the Israeli government and Hamas in October 2011. Hamas reported that Israel agreed to include all female political prisoners in the exchange deal. However, two women, Lina Jarbuni and Wurud Qassem, who have been in prison since before the first phase of releases on 18 October 2011, and an additional two women, Salwa Hassan and Alaa Jubeh, who were arrested before the second phase of releases on 18 December 2011, are still in Israeli detention.
UNITED NATIONS – A UN human rights expert Wednesday called on Israel to release Hana Shalabi, a Palestinian woman prisoner who has been on a hunger strike for nearly a month. “The situation of Ms. Shalabi is morbid and life-threatening,” said Richard Falk, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories. “This is an appeal to the conscience and to humanity and a desperate call to all of us.” Falk urged the international community to intervene on her behalf. “Israel ought to end its inhumane treatment of Ms. Shalabi. Release her immediately.”
Shalabi supporters join hunger strike, boycott courts
Ma’an News Agency, Mar 20, 2012
Thirty Palestinian prisoners have joined the hunger strike of Hana Shalabi, the head of the Palestinian Prisoners Society said Monday.PA Minister for Detainee Affairs Issa Qaraqe told Ma’an that Shalabi was hospitalized on Monday evening after consuming only water for 33 days. Her lawyers and doctors warned last week that she was suffering spells of dizziness, muscular wasting and loss of consciousness.Shalabi, who has been held without trial since Feb. 16, is protesting Israel’s practice of administrative detention.Prisoners in jails across Israel have designated different day-long strikes in addition to the continuous hunger strikers, prisoner society chief Qadura Fares told Ma’an.Israeli prison authorities transferred detainee Nael Halabi from Ofer prison to an unknown destination after he announced he had joined Shalabi’s hunger strike, a detainees center said Monday.Court boycottsIn Ofer jail, 70 administrative detainees have boycotted Israeli military courts since March 1, and detainees in Magido jail will join their refusal, as well as launching an open hunger strike, on April 1, representatives in the jails said.Fares said the society is working on an agreement for all administrative detainees to join the boycott by April 17, which is Palestinian prisoners day.Prisoners can either refuse to appear in court, or tell judges they refuse its authority, as academic Ahmad Qatamish did in his recent trial, the prisoners society chief said.Seeking compromiseA hearing on Shalabi’s case on Tuesday morning will try to agree a compromise deal as Shalabi’s health deteriorates. Fares said the Israeli judge wants to prevent a deal similar to former hunger-striker Khader Adnan’s, in order to preserve the credibility of the charges against the administrative detainees.Adnan was guaranteed early release and non-renewal of his detention order in exchange for halting his 66-day hunger strike in February.Shalabi refused a deal in early March to reduce her sentence by two months, saying she would continue her strike to end administrative detention.The Palestinian Authority minister of prisoners said on Saturday that Israel offered to deport hunger-striker Shalabi to the Gaza Strip, but the government rejected the offer.Israeli authorities say they have information she is a threat to Israel’s security and safety of its people.”If they are afraid of her returning to her Jenin community, she can come to Ramallah and work with us and register at the university,” the prisoners society head said on Monday.‘Fighting for dignity’
Shalabi is one of around 300 Palestinians jailed in Israel without trial.
PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Thursday expressed his support for Shalabi after meeting her parents at his office in Ramallah.
“She is fighting for her dignity,” the premier said.
Last month, Catherine Ashton, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, expressed “longstanding concern about the extensive use by Israel of administrative detention without formal charge.”
Ran Cohen, of Physicians for Human Rights in Israel, told Reuters TV on Friday that Shalabi could be risking her life if she remains on hunger strike.
I am ashamed to say that my country in particular has acted in a most egregious way in its veto of any any UN response in holding Israel accountable for its crimes.
But now I want to tell you what drove me to this hunger strike.
There is a young woman, Hana Shalabi, now imprisoned in Hasharon Prison in Israel, arrested on February 16, 2012 and is being held under administrative detention, detention without charge or trial. She is not allowed to know what she is accused of, to examine any of the evidence against her, thereby rendering her capability for due process null and void.
http://akashmanews.com/2012/03/26/second-american-citizen-to-join-hunger-strike-ghandinism/