Candlelit Vigil for Palestinian Hunger Strikers

On Wednesday evening [October 5] éirígí held a successful candlelight vigil in support of Palestinian prisoners who have embarked on a hunger strike in protest against the way in which they are being detained and treated.

Around 50 activists gathered outside the Israeli Embassy on Pembroke Road to express both their solidarity with the protesting prisoners and their revulsion at the treatment they are being subjected to. The hunger-strike was initiated by prisoners from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine [PFLP] on Tuesday 27th September but has now been joined by prisoners aligned to other Palestinian groups. Details are sketchy but it appears that the protest has spread right across the Israeli prison system and now involves hundreds of prisoners. The prisoners are protesting principally against the extent of the isolation and solitary confinement to which they are subjected.

According to the Israeli Human Rights Group B’Tselem, Palestinian prisoners are routinely subjected to far more widespread mistreatment that involves “sleep deprivation, tying a detainee to a chair in painful positions, beating, slapping, kicking, threats, verbal abuse and humiliation, bending the body in extremely painful positions, intentional tightening of handcuffs, stepping on worn manacles, application of pressure to different parts of the body, forcing the detainee to squat in a painful position, choking and other forms of violence and humiliation (e.g. spitting and pulling hair, solitary confinement, exposure to extreme heat and cold, continuous exposure to artificial light, and confinement in inhuman conditions.” The truth is that what this ‘treatment’ amounts to is in fact systematic torture.

Speaking at the protest, éirígí spokesperson Daithí Mac an Mháistir took the opportunity to express the party’s solidarity with the protesting prisoners and the PFLP. He noted the gravity of the situation and appealed for progressives to do all they can to bring attention to the plight of the prisoners.

Mac an Mháistir referred to the “long and painful history of hunger-striking in Ireland” and stated his “fervent wish that no Palestinian prisoners would have to die in the face of Israeli government intransigence just as happened in Ireland in 1981 when 10 men died on hunger-strike.”

He concluded by reiterating éirígí’s support for the “ending of the occupation of Palestine, which is the primary reason why an estimated 7,000 plus Palestinian men and women are in Israeli jails in the first place.”

Vigil for Palestinian Hunger Strikers at Israeli Embassy in Dublin

Palestinian prisoners associated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) began a hunger strike last week on September 27 against conditions imposed on detainees by the zionist regime.

The prisoners are calling for an end to the humiliating treatment and abuse of prisoners, and of those trying to visit them. They are also demanding an end to the solitary confinement of Ahamd Sa’adat, general secretary of the PFLP.

Sa’adat was arrested in January 2002 by Palestinian Authority security at the behest of Israel. He was held without charge or trial at Jericho prison until March 2006, when Israeli forces laid siege to the prison and kidnapped Sa’adat and several comrades.

The zionists eventually tried Sa’adat, convicting him of membership of a prohibited organisation [the PFLP], of holding a post in a prohibited organisation, and of incitement. For these ‘crimes’ he was sentenced to 30 years in December 2008, and has been held in solitary ever since. He has now joined the hunger strike as well.

The Israeli prison regime responded immediately by threatening to increase repression against striking prisoners, by moving them into isolation or to other prisons entirely. This prison transfer tactic has been used frequently by the regime to break up comrades and to disrupt the organisation of resistance within the prison system.

The prisoners answered by announcing that they will escalate their campaign by rejecting all prison orders and refusing to wear their uniforms.

As republicans mark the 30th anniversary of the ending of the 1981 Irish hunger strikes, we in éirígí extend our solidarity to the Palestinian prisoners who have been steadfast in their resistance to the attempts of the zionist regime to subjugate them. We also once more pay tribute to our comrades in the PFLP, who have taken this action for the sake of all prisoners of the Israeli occupation, and for their families and friends as well.

On Wednesday 5th October, éirígí will hold a candlelit vigil in support of the prisoners on hunger strike outside the Israeli embassy, Pembroke Road, Dublin. The vigil will begin at 6.30pm. Bígí linn.

We print below the prisoners’ statement announcing the commencement of the hunger strike.

 

“We, the comrades of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the Zionist prisons and detention centers, declare to the steadfast, struggling brave masses of the Palestinian people and to all free people in the world:

We announce that we will begin an open-ended hunger strike on Tuesday morning, September 27, 2011, in response to the official policies of the Zionist government and its fascist prison administration. We demand our rights and our dignity, as we struggle for the victory of our values and ideals.

Our goals for this hunger strike:

1. End the solitary confinement and isolation of our comrade, General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and the PLO Central Council, Ahmad Sa’adat, Abu Ghassan.
2. End the policy of isolation for all prisoners;
3. End the policy of systematic humiliation by the occupation army against the Palestinian people at checkpoints and crossings, particularly targeting visitors to prisons, and end the arbitrary denial of visits to the prisoners, especially the prisoners from the Gaza Strip. End the humiliation and abuse of prisoners during transfer.


The principles of our revolution include the rejection of all forms of injustice, and for us to struggle and confront the occupier in all areas and places in our own manner. Accordingly, we call upon all of the Palestinian and Arab people, political forces and institutions, human rights and civil society organizations, to raise their voices for us, so that we do not become easy prey for a vicious occupier. 


We promise to all of our people, and to the legacy of the martyrs of Palestine, that we will continue on our path until victory.
Great glory to the martyrs ...
Victory to the revolution ...
Victory is inevitable.”

 Click here for previous coverage of the issue of Palestinian prisoners including Video footage from a demo outside the Israeli Embassy in Dublin

PSNI - Different Name, Same Aim

The following article was written by former Republican POW and Blanketman Alec McCrory from Belfast.  It was written following a recent protest at Maghaberry prison in support of the Republican POW's

Returning from the protest several cars and a minibus were stopped on the Miora Road by the RUC/PSNI. There were 8 to 10 land rovers present and a few dozen of the meanest looking cops dressed like something out of a Star Wars movie. 

All the passengers on the minibus, including children, were ordered out of the vehicle onto the hard shoulder where they were searched and asked for their personal details. This was the second time in an hour that the bus had been stopped; the first being on the Donegal Road as it was leaving Belfast. In total upward to thirty people were stopped and searched in what was clearly an intelligence gathering exercise. The protest at the jail, attended by 500 people, was peaceful and orderly throughout. It now appears that anyone, regardless of age, participating in peaceful protest will be targeted by the state.

Earlier in the afternoon I was stopped on the Anderstown Road.  Two land rovers and an unmarked police car were at the scene which makes one wonder whether Baggot's claim to be under resourced isn't just a gimmick to squeeze more money from the public pot.  Any time I am stopped there would appear to be an abundance of resources on the ground.  

As I stood on the road watching them going through personal documents, which they are not entitled to do under the legislation, I noted the interest being shown by passing motorists and pedestrians.  A crowd of onlookers stood at the entrance of the Felons watching the proceedings with an enquiring gaze.  Long gone are the days when people would stop to show their disapproval of such policing tactics, however, a few horns were sounded as a small gesture of solidarity. 

Is there a growing tolerance within our communities for this type of policing?  Do people really believe that certain republicans deserve to be targeted by the state because of their political beliefs?  Felon setting is alive and well in some quarters.

Those who make excuses for political policing would do well to remember the not too distant past.  When the IRA was the nemesis of the British state thousands of republicans were imprisoned under emergency laws designed to crush dissent.  Under the guise of the international "War on Terror" laws protecting the human rights and civil liberties of citizens have been grossly undermined.  

The RUC/PSNI has greater powers today than before the signing of the Good Friday Agreement.  Anti-terror legislation is so wide-ranging that Marion Price was re-imprisoned for "encouraging support for terrorism".  It is no longer necessary to commit an offense to find oneself in prison.  The repressive arm of the British state will be used to silence all who continue to swim against the tide of normalisation. 

Beware of the wolf in sheep's clothing.

End Abuse of Political Prisoners in Maghaberry

éirígí Sligeach activist Gerry Casey has branded the continuing abuse of political prisoners in Maghaberry gaol by the prison authorities and the British government as a "massive violation of their human rights which must be brought to an immediate end."

Gerry Casey

 Casey was speaking following  a large demonstration which was held in support of the prisoners outside Maghaberry on Sunday [June 5].

He said:  "Political status continues to be denied to Irish republican prisoners.  Savage beatings and forced strip searches are a daily occurrence."

"Back in August an agreement was reached which appeared to resolve the prisoners campaign to be treated humanely.  However, the unionist sectarian thugs in the Prison Officers Association have continued to attempt to degrade, humiliate and brutally strip-search and assault prisoners. It is this continued abuse and breach of the agreement that has forced the prisoners back onto the no-wash protest."

"It is sad that 30 years on from the deaths of Bobby Sands and his comrades who died on hunger strike to achieve political status within Britain's prisons that this abuse and brutalisation of prisoners continues unabated." 

 

Casey concluded:  "All republicans, socialists and those concerned with human rights abuses, must stand up for these prisoners and help to bring an end to the savagery being inflicted on republican P.O.W's.  éirígí will continue to support the prisoners and their families in their struggle to have the August agreement re-instated, and to finally secure the political status that the hunger strikers died for thirty years ago."

Despite attempts by the political establishment and the corporate media to bury the issue, the plight of the political prisoners in Maghaberry jail is again raising concern on the outside.

On Sunday [June 5], around 400 people gathered in the Maghaberry car park for the short march to the prison’s perimeter, where they were addressed by a number of prisoners’ relatives as well as independent republican councillor for Newry Davy Hyland.

After folk singer Pól MacAdaim helped the assembled crowd belt out a number of songs by Bobby Sands for the benefit of the screws, the supporters marched towards the wing where the republican prisoners are currently being held.

There, despite the lashing rain and the yards upon yards of barbed wire and concrete, the prisoners could be heard shouting their appreciation while the protestors blew whistles, let off fireworks, beat pots and chanted slogans for political status.

The protest was ended with a cavalcade of nearly 100 cars encircling the prison entrance with horns beeping and music blaring.

Meanwhile, last night [Monday], in a further demonstration of the growing support for the human rights of the prisoners, Newry & Mourne Council unanimously agreed to send a delegation to Maghaberry to investigate the prisoners’ concerns. The instigator of the motion, Davy Hyland, pledged to make the council follow through on its promise as soon as possible.

Rúnaí ginearálta éirígí Breandán Mac Cionnaith, himself a former political prisoner, said: “The last number of days have seen a welcome spike in the support for the rights of the prisoners in Maghaberry."

“The agenda in Maghaberry is currently being set by the notoriously sectarian and thuggish Prison Officers Association. This situation is totally unsustainable."

“The British government needs to recognise that the August 12 agreement of last year presents the basis for resolving the conflict in the prison and face down the POA.”

Mac Cionnaith added: “éirígí extends its solidarity to the protesting prisoners in Maghaberry and pledges to continue supporting their struggle and that of their families until political status is secured. All those with an interest in human rights should do likewise.”

Support Protest for Political Prisoners

éirígí general secretary Breandán MacCionnaith has added the party’s support to this Sunday’s planned protest at Maghaberry prison outside Belfast.

Conditions for the republican prisoners held in the prison have deteriorated rapidly since the collapse of an agreement concerning their treatment earlier this year, leading the families and friend of the prisoners to call for support from the public.

MacCionnaith said: “The situation in Maghaberry jail has reached crisis point.  Republican prisoners are being brutalised and assaulted by gangs of prison officers on an appallingly regular basis – the latest victim being Harry Fitzsimons as recently as Monday.

“In contravention of the agreement that was reached in August last year, prisoners are regularly being subjected to humiliating strip searches and face the threat of beatings and the forced removal of their clothing when they refuse to consent to these searches.  The prisoners are subjected to 23-24 hour lock-up and many have been forced to begin a no wash protest."

“This is an intolerable situation that goes against not just the August 12 agreement but every notion of humane treatment.”

MacCionnaith continued: “Policy in Maghaberry prison is currently being dictated by the notoriously sectarian Prison Officers Association, with all the negative consequences that that entails.

“Pressure must be placed on the British government to face down these bigots and implement a humane prison regime, in line with the August 12 agreement.  Ultimately, only the full restoration of political status for political prisoners will resolve the conflict in Maghaberry.

“To begin building this pressure, éirígí is calling on republicans, socialists and all those concerned about human rights to take two hours out of their weekend and join the protest at Maghaberry this Sunday.”

People are asked to assemble at the Maghaberry prison car park at 3.30pm this Sunday [June 5].

Remember the Hunger Strikers

This day thirty years ago (March 1^st 1981), Bobby Sands  the Officer Commanding (OC) IRA prisoners in the H-Blocks of Long Kesh refused food and commenced on a hunger strike that led to his death and that of nine of his  IRA and INLA comrades. It was the second hunger strike undertaken by Republican prisoners in the six counties in the space of just six months in their struggle to secure political status and to defeat British attempts to criminalise the fight for Irish freedom and those engaged in it. 

On October 27^th1980 Brendan Hughes and six of his colleagues had started the first hunger strike and issued what became known as the Five Demands, which amounted to political status. 

On December 1^st, three Volunteers from Armagh Women's jail led by Mairead Farrell joined their comrades on the hunger strike. On December 18^th, as Sean McKenna was close to death, the strike was ended as the prisoners believed that a deal had been reached with the British. 

 

As it transpired following the halting of the protest, the British government proposals did not come near satisfying the five demands and were completely unacceptable to the prisoners. As far as they were concerned, another hunger strike was their only option. 

 

In a statement issued in February 1981 the prisoners outlined their plans:

“We the blanketmen, and we the women political prisoners in Armagh, have had enough of British deceit and of broken promises. Hunger-strikes to the death if necessary will begin commencing March 1st, 1981, the fifth anniversary of the withdrawal of political status in the H-Blocks and in Armagh jail. We are demanding to be treated as political prisioners which everyone recognizes we are. 

 

We call upon all those who supported us during the last hunger-strike to again rally to our cause and we call upon those who sat on the fence to now see the intransigence of the British and the justness of our cause."

At 1.17AM on May 5^th, after 66 days without food, Bobby Sands became the first of the hunger strikers to die. Nine more of his colleagues from both the IRA and INLA followed him to their deaths over the coming months before the end of the hunger strike on October 3 1981.

Today, throughout Ireland and indeed throughout the world, many people will remember with pride the bravery of these ten men and draw inspiration from their sacrifice. However, it is also tinged with sadness for the comrades, friends and families who watched their loved ones die an agonising death in defence of their fellow prisoners and in defence of the republican struggle and British attempts to criminalise it.

Sad too is the fact that thirty years on from the day when Bobby Sands made that momentous decision to refuse food and embark on a protest to the death, the British occupation continues while republican prisoners are currently denied political status and continue to be brutalised in prisons throughout the six counties.  The objectives that these men fought and ultimately died for have yet to be attained.

 

éirígí’s Pádraic Mac Coitir, who participated in the blanket and no wash protests during the struggle for political status which culminated in the 1981 Hunger Strike said it was a defining moment in Irish history.

 

“It marked a serious setback for British strategy in Ireland, unfortunately at a great cost to the republican prisoners and the nationalist community outside the prisons" he said.

He continued:  “What 1981 taught republican Ireland and, indeed, the British establishment was that a united, determined people cannot be criminalised, ignored, repressed out of sight or shot off the streets."

“The sacrifice the hunger strikers made in defence of their fellow prisoners and in defence of the republican struggle should never be forgotten. It should serve as an inspiration to all those who continue the struggle against injustice, in Ireland and beyond.”

Mac Coitir added: “It is important to remember that it wasn’t just the men in the H Blocks who fought against Britain’s criminalisation strategy. The struggle of the female prisoners in Armagh was every bit as crucial and served as a siren call, if one were needed, that women were equal participants in the fight for national independence."

“Equally importantly, there are republicans in prison today who are denied the political status that was won at such a high cost three decades ago. While these prisoners are denied their human rights and, indeed, while even a single person remains imprisoned as a result of the British occupation, the goals of the hunger strikers will remain unfulfilled."