samedi 28 avril 2012

Surviving Israeli jail April 2012

A Must Read – “Surviving Israeli jail: Torture, humiliation and giving birth” | #PalHunger


Hamas militants stage a mock prison break during a rally, calling for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, in Jabalya, in the northern Gaza Strip, April 13, 2012 (Reuters/Mohammed Salem)

Hamas militants stage a mock prison break during a rally, calling for the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, in Jabalya, in the northern Gaza Strip, April 13, 2012 (Reuters/Mohammed Salem)

Thousands of Palestinians are on hunger strike in Israeli prisons – for over a week, they have been protesting against indefinite detention without charge and alleged ill-treatment. Some of those who got out, told RT about their life behind bars.
Human rights groups in the West Bank say 2,000 Palestinians have been on hunger strike for more than a week, and others are ready to join next week. At the moment there are an estimated 5,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails. Each year, 700-800 minors are arrested, and in all, 20 per cent of Palestinians have experienced Israeli prison.
Yahya as-Sinwar was arrested in 1988 and sentenced to 462 years in prison. He served 23 years and is now 50. He is one of the founders of Hamas and the Islamic University of Gaza.
Israel accused him of organizing and leading Hamas internal security unit MAJD and killing Palestinian traitors who spied for Israel. As-Sinwar says that they had no choice, because these people put the resistance movement in jeopardy.
Speaking about his years spent in an Israeli jail, as-Sinwar says different kinds of torture were routine practice.
“They kept me awake for 10 days in a row. Whenever I dozed off, they would pour ice-cold or boiling water on me – depending on their personal preferences. They would tie my arms behind my back, throw me on the floor, a prison guard would sit on my stomach or chest, apply pressure to the groin – the pain was excruciating,” Yahya as-Sinwar recollects.
According to as-Sinwar, the Shabak [Israeli General Security Service] handles torture during the investigation, and the Shabas [Israeli Prison Service] tortures sentenced prisoners. “They have two departments – Nahshon and Metzada – which are responsible for the total psychological destruction of a person. These methods are not used anywhere else in the world.”
He says Israeli prison guards could tie a prisoner to a child’s chair and make him balance on it for days; put a person in an ice box (after this the person’s limbs are usually amputated).
“They have this form of torture when they tie a prisoner’s hands and leave him hanging for 24 hours. Or they suffocate the prisoner, watch him turn blue, let him breathe for a bit, and then repeat this several times,” as-Sinwar told RT.  “When they tortured my close friend, they beat him on the back of the head with tightly rolled newspapers. A person has terrible headaches afterwards, becomes hysterical, all the internal organs get damaged.”
According to as-Sinwar, these kinds of torture leave no marks and even a very keen doctor would find it very difficult to discover any signs of abuse.
“They study the prisoners and come up with something especially humiliating for this particular convict. For a Palestinian it is easier to die than suffer humiliation – they know it very well and humiliate our people in a very cruel way.”
As-Sinwar says the prisoners could not get proper medical treatment in custody: “After long hours of waiting in pain, all you get is not a doctor but a nurse without any experience who gives you one cure for all conditions – a painkiller. They don’t care if a prisoner lives or suffers terrible pain.”
As-Sinwar believes hunger strikes are the only way for Palestinian prisoners to express their protest.
“Prisoners in Israel get 10 per cent of the amount of food served in the prisons of other countries. After many days of hunger strikes convicts look like the walking dead. Prison guards have to carry them to interrogation sessions on stretchers, and throw them on the stone floor in their prison cells.”
­

Cells space of 1.2 by 0.8 m

All the fences in the neighborhood around Ayman Hatem Afif al-Shakhshir’s house in Gaza are covered with citizens’ wishes of health and well-being to him.  He spent 19 years in an Israeli prison out of the 550-year term he was sentenced to, and was released in exchange for Corporal Shalit. Ayman Hatem Afif al-Shakhshir stems from a well-known Palestinian family. He was arrested at the age of 28. His three daughters grew up, and two of them got married and had children without him around.
Ayman was the head of one of the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. He was arrested on charges of taking part in assaults on Israeli military personnel deployed in Gaza.
“None of the detainees had a single visitor for five years since 2006. My father died without seeing me once in the last 10 years of his life. It was only through the Red Cross that I occasionally received letters – it was the only way to keep in touch with the family, while my children were growing up without me,” says Ayman.
He says his cell was not fit to hold people.
“It was a tiny cell measuring 1.2 by 0.8 m where one person could not lie down, or stand up or stretch his legs, it had no furniture, and food was given once a day, and it’s so bad you couldn’t eat it. I know three prisoners who spent 25 years each in such cells.”
“Israeli propaganda is advertising their prisons to the world as if they were five-star hotels – but this is all lies. And what they say about prisoners having the opportunity to complete their education in Israeli schools is also a lie.”
Ayman himself got his Bachelor’s degree in Social Defense through the remote education program from Gaza University. “Now prisoners are denied any education opportunities whatsoever. A whole system to break the prisoners’ will is in place, they get denied everything a person needs to feel connected with the outside world,” he says.
Ayman is convinced that meaningless imprisonment terms of many times a lifetime are given with the sole purpose of breaking the prisoner’s will.
“They want a person to sit in this stone well and know that this is where he is to die. But they are hugely mistaken. Each Palestinian has a hope for help from God, and there is no taking this away.”

Yahya as-Sinwar with his wife (Photo: Nadezhda Kevorkova, RT)
Yahya as-Sinwar with his wife (Photo: Nadezhda Kevorkova, RT)

Giving birth with hands and feet tied

Samar Isbeh was arrested when she was 22 following a student protest. She was sentenced to 2.5-year term in prison. She is now 28, and lives in Gaza, while her own and her husband’s families live in the West Bank.
“I was arrested three months after my wedding. I was the head of the student council at the Islamic University. We organized a protest against occupation. I was arrested in my husband’s home in Tulkarm. Two days later my husband was arrested too and sentenced to 9 months in prison, although they had nothing to charge him with whatsoever,” says Samar.

Samar Isbeh (Photo: Nadezhda Kevorkova, RT)
Samar Isbeh (Photo: Nadezhda Kevorkova, RT)

She has now been deported to the Gaza Strip and is denied entry to Tulkarm, so she can see neither her husband nor her children.
“I was in my fist weeks of pregnancy when I got arrested. I went through every kind of torture. They tortured me in an underground cell for 66 days. They made me balance on a children’s chair, they kept me in a freezing cold disciplinary cell,” says Samar.
“My hands and feet were tied when I was going through labor. They C-sectioned me, not because I required it but simply out of hatred. They let me have the child but treated him as a prisoner, too. They gave us no milk or diapers, or only expired ones. I was kept in terrible conditions during and after I gave birth. I wasn’t allowed to go out for fresh air. The only medicine they ever gave me and my child for any condition was Paracetamol.”
­

Pregnant on Hunger Strike

Patima Zakka is 42. She was released from an Israeli prison in exchange for a video tape featuring Gilad Shalit during his captivity. The video was passed by Shalit’s captors just before Patima was due to stand trial, and she was released one day short of the hearing. That is why she never received a sentence.

Patima Zakka with her son (Photo: Nadezhda Kevorkova, RT)
Patima Zakka with her son (Photo: Nadezhda Kevorkova, RT)

Patima had been charged with conspiring to suicide-bomb a bus full of Israeli military personnel. The prosecution had demanded a 12-year prison sentence for the mother of eight.
“I did not know I was pregnant before I got arrested,” says Patima. “A nurse found that out while I was in detention. My eight children were left without me at home. No one had instructed me to blow up anybody. It is true that they [Israelis] had killed my brother and a number of relatives – but that is the case with most people in Palestine.”
Patima says she was put through the full sequence of interrogation techniques.
“They tortured me while I was pregnant,” she says. “They kept me in an ice-cold cell, relocating me from one cell to another time and again. They wanted me to have a miscarriage. This mistreatment got me to the point of bleeding.”
This prompted Patima to go on hunger strike. She lasted 21 days.
“They did not leave me a choice,” she explains. “Allah be praised, I did not have a miscarriage. My son was born in jail. His name is Yusef.”
“The obstetrician yelled at me and treated me like I was an animal,” says Patima. “She refused to put me on an IV, and she denied me anesthesia. She was calling down terrible curses upon me. But you know, a punishment ensued for her right away: she hit her head real bad right in my cell. Allah helped me. She told me, “You are a terrorist, and your child will be a terrorist.” But I delivered my beautiful Yusef. And the real terrorists are those medics in Israeli prisons.” 

­Nadezhda Kevorkova, RT

jeudi 26 avril 2012

Addameer : 2000 prisonniers palestiniens en grève de la faim ! 2000 Palestinian prisoners on hungerstrike !


Source

Mass hunger strike grows despite Israel’s best efforts to repress it

The Palestinian human rights and prisoner advocacy group Addameer announced today that the mass, open-ended hunger strike in Israeli prisons which began on 17 April, Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, has now grown to an estimated 2,000 participants. 
Addameer renews its calls for action in support of the hunger striking prisoners.
Palestinian prisoners are protesting Israel’s practice of administrative detention — imprisonment without charge or trial — as well as solitary confinement, the denial of family visits and access to education, and other punitive measures of Israel’s system of arrest and detention which is designed to break the Palestinian struggle for freedom and liberation.

Israel trikes to break strikers’ will

The growth of the open-ended hunger strike is despite the Israeli authorities’ punishment of hunger strikers. According to Addameer, “Methods of punishment currently being employed against hunger striking prisoners include attacks on prisoners’ sections; confiscation of personal belongings; transfers from one prison to another; placement in solitary confinement; fines; and denial of family and lawyer visits.” The Israeli authorities are also reported to be confiscating salts for hunger strikers’ water — the only nourishment they are consuming.
Addameer reports today that hunger strikers include the 19 prisoners who have already been held in solitary confinement, including PFLP leader Ahmad Saadat, who has been held under lockdown for more than three years. According to Addameer, Saadat has already lost 6kg, or approximately 13 pounds.
Eight prisoners remain on extended hunger strikes begun before 17 April. These include Thaer Halahleh and Bilal Diab, whose appeals against their administrative detention orders were dismissed by a military judge on Monday despite their rapidly deteriorating condition. Seven of these men have been transferred to Ramleh prison medical center.
Halahleh and Diab are now into their 57th day of hunger strike. Halahleh has previously been held under administrative detention four times, and his 22-month-old daughter was born while he was behind bars, and he has never had a chance to meet or hold her. Meanwhile, Diab’s brother Azzam, also in Israeli prison, has embarked on a solidarity hunger strike.
According to Addameer, the remaining Palestinian women prisoners in HaSharon prison who are not on strike have announced that they will join the hunger strike beginning 1 May. Addameer’s full release is below.

Solidarity with Bahraini hunger striker

Meanwhile, in Bahrain, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja enters his 77th day of hunger strike. Al-Khawaja was jailed along with others for leading the pro-democracy uprising in the Gulf country.
Palestinian political prisoner Ameer Makhoul has issued a letter of solidarity to al-Khawaja and to the people of Bahrain. Makhoul stated from Gilboa prison: “When the will is free and the cause is just, and you embody both, the human is capable of making miracles happen, and no oppressive, tyrannical, murderous regime can harm it, not the Bahraini regime, subject to US colonial imperialism, or the Israeli colonial system in Palestine. It is the system of colonialism and its puppet regimes that have lost all legitimacy, while the people are legitimacy and its source.”
Here’s Makhoul’s full statement, rougly translated from Arabic.

Personalizing hunger strikers

The Electronic Intifada will continue to profile Palestinian political prisoners currently on hunger strike. Last week we published Rami Almeghari’s feature on Mahmoud Sarsak, a member of the Palestinian national football squad who was hospitalized after being on hunger strike for a month.
Meanwhile, Shahd Abusalama published on her blog today a translation of an Arabic-language diary published on Facebook by Loai Odeh, who participated in a 22-day hunger strike last September shortly before his release from Israeli prison. Odeh’s entries describe his experience on each consecutive day of hunger strike, so that others have a better idea of what hunger striking prisoners are going through.

Addameer’s full statement on Palestinian hunger strikers:

Ramallah, 25 April 2012 On 17 April 2012, Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons launched a mass hunger strike demanding an end to administrative detention, isolation and other punitive measures taken against Palestinian prisoners including the denial of family visits and access to university education.
Approximately 1,200 Palestinian prisoners from all factions began an open hunger strike on 17 April, with the campaign gaining further momentum over this past week and additional prisoners joining daily. Addameer estimates that the current number of prisoners engaged in open hunger strike is around 2,000. This number includes the 19 prisoners currently held in isolation for “security reasons.” Ahmad Sa’adat, the imprisoned Secretary General of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), who has been held in isolation for over three years, reported on 23 April that since the beginning of his hunger strike on 17 April, he had already lost 6 kg.
As during hunger strikes in the past, the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) has escalated its punishments of hunger striking prisoners in an effort to undermine the campaign. Methods of punishment currently being employed against hunger striking prisoners include attacks on prisoners’ sections; confiscation of personal belongings; transfers from one prison to another; placement in solitary confinement; fines; and denial of family and lawyer visits. Addameer lawyers have been denied access to all hunger striking prisoners.
Forty prisoners who began their hunger strike today in Ofer prison were informed that they will be transferred to another section of the prison and will not be permitted to bring with them any personal belongings except clothes. In Ashkelon prison, the 150 hunger strikers are experiencing daily raids and attacks on their rooms by Israeli special forces. In addition to all personal belongings being confiscated, the IPS also confiscated the hunger-striking prisoners’ only nourishment: salt for their water. Hunger striking prisoners in Nafha prison have also had their salt confiscated, raising serious health concerns for the prisoners engaged in hunger strike. Of the approximately 400 prisoners on hunger strike in Nafha, at least 40 were transferred out of their sections. Hunger strikers in Nafha have also been subjected to fines and electricity was cut in their rooms. On 23 April, six prisoners joined in the hunger strike in Naqab prison and were all immediately placed in solitary confinement. Female prisoner Lina Jarbouni also declared an open hunger strike on 19 April and was taken to solitary confinement on the same day. These aforementioned measures are only a few examples of the widespread punishments, particularly the use of transfers and solitary confinement, currently facing the hunger striking prisoners, as an attempt by the IPS to further isolate them from the outside world and from other prisoners involved in the campaign.
Meanwhile, eight prisoners, including five administrative detainees, remain on extended hunger strikes launched prior to 17 April. Seven of these prisoners have been transferred to Ramleh prison medical center. Thaer Halahleh and Bilal Diab are on their 57th day of hunger strike today. Despite their rapidly deteriorating medical condition, both of their appeals against their administrative detention orders were rejected by an Israeli military judge on 23 April. Yesterday, 24 April, Hassan Safadi’s petition to the Israeli High Court against his administrative detention was rejected. He is on his 52nd day of hunger strike. Administrative detainees Omar Abu Shalal and Jaafar Azzedine are on their 50th and 35th days of hunger strike respectively. Also now in Ramleh prison medical center are Mohammad Taj, on his 39th day of hunger strike demanding to be treated as a prison of war, and Mahmoud Sarsak, on his 34th day of hunger strike in protest of being held under Israel’s Unlawful Combatants Law. Lastly, Abdullah Barghouti, held in isolation in Rimon prison, is on his 14th day of hunger strike. Addameer reiterates its grave concern that these hunger strikers are not receiving adequate healthcare in the IPS medical center and that independent doctors are still being denied visits to them.
Despite the punitive measures being taken against hunger striking prisoners, the campaign of hunger strikes continues to grow. The six female prisoners in Hasharon who are not already on hunger strike have announced that they will begin an open hunger strike on 1 May. Additional prisoners are also expected to gradually join the campaign, including 120 in Ofer prison, who will start their hunger strike on 29 April. As the mass hunger strike picks up even more momentum, it will become that much more crucial for hunger striking prisoners to have unrestricted access to their lawyers and independent doctors.
In light of these developments, an upsurge of action at the international level is necessary to bring attention to the legitimate demands of Palestinian prisoners. Addameer therefore renews its call on all political parties, institutions, organizations and solidarity groups working in the field of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory and abroad to support the prisoners in their campaign of hunger strikes.

dimanche 22 avril 2012

Khader Adnan : un signal aux opprimés du monde


Palestine - 22 avril 2012

"La grève de la faim est un signal aux opprimés du monde" - Entretien avec Khader Adnan

Par Khader Adnan

21.04.2012 - Al Jazeera : Vous venez de vivre l'expérience la plus difficile de votre vie et vous avez été séparé de votre famille pendant plusieurs mois. Pourquoi vous êtes-vous arrêté d'abord auprès des familles des autres prisonniers avant de voir votre propre famille, et que ressentez-vous d'être à nouveau libre ?
Khader Adnan : Nous vivons chaque jour grâce à la Journée du Prisonnier et à sa symbolique particulière. Je suis allé voir les familles de ceux qui sont emprisonnés avant de voir la mienne en signe de reconnaissance pour leur soutien pendant mon incarcération et pour l'angoisse permanente que représente l'emprisonnement des bien-aimés derrière les barreaux de l'occupation israélienne.

'La grève de la faim est un signal aux opprimés du monde' - Entretien avec Khader Adnan
Khader Adnan accueilli chez lui à Arraba, près de Jenin, le 17 avril 2012, après sa libération des geôles de l'occupation sioniste. (AFP PHOTO/ SAIF DAHLAH)
Ma liberté n'est pas complète parce que j'ai laissé derrière moi des prisonniers. Nous saluons tous les prisonniers : Lina Jarbouni [la femme purgeant la plus longue peine], Sheikh Ahmad Hajj [le prisonnier le plus âgé en grève de la faim], Omar Abu Shalalah, Jaafar Ezzedine, Hassan Safadi, et bien sûr Thaer Halaleh et Bilal Thiab. La mère de Bilal Thiab m'a reçu à Kufr RaI [village voisin] et je lui ai transmis son message d'endurance et d'engagement dans la grève de la faim.

Après avoir refusé toute nourriture pendant 66 jours, vous avez passé 53 jours à récupérer. Le traitement des officiers israéliens pendant votre emprisonnement s'est-il amélioré après la fin de votre grève ?

Non, pas du tout. Jusqu'au dernier jour à l'hôpital de la prison, ils n'ont cessé de m'humilier, ouvrant la porte pour me regarde lorsque j'étais aux toilettes ou sous la douche.
Pendant que j'étais en grève de la faim, ils venaient exprès boire et manger devant moi. Ils m'ont insulté, m'ont traité de chien. L'un d'entre eux m'a dit que je n'avais encore rien vu. Leur comportement était tellement honteux.
Ils ont essayé de me provoquer en me répétant que ma femme était infidèle, et que mes filles n'étaient pas à moi. Que pouvaient-ils faire d'autres ? Ils ont empêché les médias de couvrir mon cas, preuve qu'ils ont peur de la vérité.
Même après que j'ai interrompu ma grève de la faim, alors qu'on me transférait de l'hôpital de Safat à Ramleh, ils ont fait en sorte que personne ne puisse me voir.
Ils m'ont kidnappé et m'ont poussé dans un garage. On a entendu mon appel jusqu'à la cafétéria de l'hôpital ! Israël a donc tellement peur de montrer son vrai visage au monde ?

Comment avez-vous réussi à trouver la résilience et la force de continuer votre grève de la faim, en particulier après les trois visites de votre famille ?

[Rires] Je ne sais pas. Toute la force vient de Dieu, et lorsque j'ai commencé ma grève de la faim, je savais que ce serait jusqu'à la liberté ou la mort... quelquefois je m'étonne moi-même !
Israël n'a pas autorisé ma famille à venir me voir par bonté d'âme mais parce qu'ils pensaient que voir ma famille serait suffisant pour me forcer à m'alimenter à nouveau. Ce fut l'effet inverse, et cela m'a donné encore plus de force pour défier mes geôliers.
J'ai passé de nombreuses nuits blanches tant mon corps était douloureux. Cependant, le bonheur de ma famille, le bonheur de mon peuple et le bonheur des gens libres dans le monde entier m'a fait oublier la douleur que j'ai ressentie tout au long de ma grève de la faim.

Mille six cents prisonniers palestiniens en sont à leur troisième jour de grève de la faim illimitée dans les geôles israéliennes pour exiger une amélioration de leurs conditions de vie, dont le droit aux visites familiales et de recevoir des photos de leurs familles. Cette tactique réussira-t-elle à se transformer en un mouvement de résistance populaire à l'extérieur des murs des prisons parmi les Palestiniens ?

Je serai toujours aux côtés des prisonniers, que ce soit à côté d'eux, derrière eux ou devant eux. De la Bande de Gaza à la Cisjordanie et aux Territoires 48 et en exil, les Palestiniens doivent rester unis.
Nous sommes tous les enfants de la même cause, et un seul peuple vivant sous occupation. J'ai vu tant de soutien de notre famille en Palestine 48, des médecins et des infirmières palestiniennes, des Palestiniens d'Haïfa, des écoliers de Nazareth qui ont fait un devoir sur moi... je n'oublierai jamais leur amour.
La grève de la faim massive est un signe à tous les opprimés et à tous les gens vulnérables, partout, pas seulement aux Palestiniens. C'est un message pour tous ceux qui souffrent d'injustice, sous la botte de l'oppression. Cette méthode réussira, si Dieu le veut, et nous obtiendrons les droits des prisonniers.
Je demande à Dieu de toucher les consciences des gens libres du monde entier. Je les remercie tous, en particulier l'Irlande, pour avoir été à mes côtés pendant ma grève de la faim. Je leur demande d'être solidaires avec tous les prisonniers palestiniens en grève de la faim par le passé, le présent et à l'avenir, avec notre peuple torturé et opprimé qui vit sous une occupation injuste jour et nuit.

En tant que prisonnier palestinien qui a fait la plus longue grève de la faim et qui a survécu, que ressentez-vous d'être devenu un symbole, non seulement de la détermination palestinienne mais de la résistance parmi les peuples opprimés ?

Pendant que je me trouvais à l'hôpital [Meir Ziv] à Safad, en Palestine occupée d'avant le partage, je me rappelai la sainteté et la gloire de cette terre. Etant proche des pays résistants du Liban et de la Syrie, cela m'a incité davantage à défier les autorités pénitentiaires israéliennes, que je ne reconnais pas.
Je n'ai pas fait un cadeau de grande valeur à la cause palestinienne. Je travaille dans une boulangerie et je vends du zaatar, et je continuerai à le faire pour rappeler à chaque Palestinien que ses racines sont profondément implantées dans cette terre, parmi les oliviers et le zaatar.


Nombreuses photos du retour victorieux de Khader Adnan ici.

samedi 21 avril 2012

Criminalité : fiction et réalité (Criminal Justice Degrees Guide US)

8 Real Cases That Made It Onto “CSI”

April 9, 2012
CSI and its spin-offs are often panned for not being realistic procedural shows. "The CSI Effect" is a term used to describe the problems that arise in public perception of the procedures and capabilities of real police work inasmuch as it’s affected by fictitious, television police work. And with investigative professionals and detectives performing raids on the show, the criticisms are not off the mark. But that’s only one side of the argument. Using real-life scenarios to fictionalize and dramatize has long been a mainstay of the cop show, and CSI is no exception. Ripped from the headlines, check out these eight real cases that made it onto CSI. Purists beware: spoilers within.
  1. Felonius Monk

    In this episode from season two of the globally popular show, a group of Thai Buddhist monks are shot in their Vegas monastery, ostensibly by a local gang.

    The Real Case:

    At a West Valley, Ariz., Buddhist temple, six monks (and three others) were massacred execution-style, after being forced to lie on the floor. The 1991 case proved to be a doozy, and a new trial was re-ordered in 2008 due to a probable false confession.
  2. Justice Served

    This season one episode’s case was about a runner who was killed by a dog in a park, and whose liver was surgically removed postmortem. The killer was a nutritionist, harvesting organs to treat a blood disorder.

    The Real Case:

    Richard Chase, (awesomely) nicknamed "The Vampire of Sacramento," killed six people in the capital of California. He also killed animals and drank his victims’ (human or otherwise) blood in order to treat a blood disorder. The blood disorder, by the way, was one that he had completely fabricated. Before becoming a serial killer, he was institutionalized for injecting rabbit’s blood into his veins, and was stopped by police, who found a bucket of cow’s blood in the trunk of his car.

    A Thought:

    Why didn’t the CSI people just do this exact case? Why the need to change anything? The guy may have been a sadistic necrophiliac cannibal, but he had a super-cool nickname. It’s ripe for TV! Why the fictionalizing, CSI? Also, is anyone else jealous that they didn’t do enough acid in the ’70s to become a serial killer with the words "vampire" and "Sacramento" in their nickname? No? OK, well. Just checking.
  3. Burked

    A Vegas casino owner’s young adult son is found dead on the floor of a hotel, and it looks like he’s been the victim of a sad drug overdose. The CSI pros reveal in this season two shocker that he did not overdose, but was murdered by a weird strangling procedure called burking.

    The Real Case:

    In 1998, a wealthy Las Vegas gambling executive (…they have those?) named Ted Binion was apparently murdered by burking. His girlfriend Sandra Murphy and her (other) boyfriend were convicted of the murders, but both were later acquitted upon appeal.
  4. Overload

    Season two’s "Overload" is the first time that CSI creators ordered the ol’ "fibers from the blanket fabric gave you away" trick. A young boy is undergoing a "rebirthing" treatment, and an unlicensed therapist smothers him to death. She claims that he had a seizure and hit his head, but in the end, the truth comes out. Thanks, hour-long crime dramas. Thanks a mint.

    The Real Case:

    Adopted 10-year-old Candace Newmaker of Colorado was smothered to death during one of these unconventional therapies in 2000. It’s an awfully sad story that received international media attention, and hopefully discouraged future "rebirthing" strategies for dealing with attachment issues. The young girl was wrapped in a flannel sheet, designed to emulate a womb. She was supposed to fight her way out of it, which was supposed to attach her to her (adoptive) mother. The story of the account is absolutely disgusting, tear-inducing, and grisly, but feel free to read it here.
  5. 35k O.B.O.

    A couple goes out to eat for their anniversary in this season one CSI episode, but they never make it past that. Someone steals their car, slits the woman’s throat, stabs the man, leaving them murdered in the street. Later in the episode, the SUV shows up with a body inside. A bloody handprint is the lynchpin in catching the killer.

    The Real Case:

    On Mother’s Day in 1995, the Universal CityWalk Murders occurred. Two women were stabbed to death and left at the top of a parking garage in Hollywood, Calif.. The twisted tale revealed the handprint as the key evidential factor.
  6. Double Cross

    This one’s fairly dark, and not just because Catholic clergy wear black. This season seven shockfest reveals a nun, murdered and crucified on a cross in a Catholic church. Two of her sister nuns found her, and the priest is the primary suspect. The CSI team reveals bruises that prove she was strangled with rosary beads.

    The Real Case:

    Father Gerald Robinson of Toledo, Ohio was accused and convicted (twice, and he’s appealing to Ohio’s Supreme Court) of the murder of Sister Margaret Ann Pahl in Toledo Mercy Hospital in 1980. Pahl was strangled and stabbed to death, and one can’t help but wonder if she was read her last rites…
  7. Shooting Stars

    UFO cults and mass suicides — what more could a CBS viewer ask for? In this episode of CSI, 11 members of a creepy UFO cult dump a body in a garden, and then off themselves in an abandoned military facility. The CSI team goes on the prowl, looking for the remaining two members of the group.

    The Real Case:

    In 1997, the Heaven’s Gate cult (also a UFO one) staged a mass suicide. Thirty-nine people were found dead because they believed that an alien space craft was coming to get them on the tail of the comet Hale-Bopp. The story was huge news, but for those of you that missed it, this was not the stuff of legend. Thirty-nine people killed themselves in San Diego because they believed that a UFO was following a comet, and they wanted to make contact. And this is the one that didn’t get made up in a room full of bored Hollywood writers with too much pot to smoke and an American public to impress. Makes it a little easier to understand how people get so swept up with Scientology. And not in a good way.
  8. I Like To Watch

    Why is every TV show about rape these days? In this garishly titled episode from 2006, a man pretends to be a fireman in order to gain access to a real estate agent’s apartment. He rapes her, and is later discovered and arrested by the CSI team.

    The Real Case:

    It’s virtually the same story, just without four well-planned commercial breaks. On Halloween in 2005, a New York City woman was viciously sexually assaulted by journalist and playwright Peter Braunstein, who posed as a fireman to get into her residence. Braunstein was dubbed the "Halloween rapist" and the "fake firefighter." Not as hardcore of a nickname as "The Vampire of Sacramento," but good enough to ridicule a criminal monster. His May 2007 trial lasted a staggering four weeks, and — believe us — it got really weird.

vendredi 20 avril 2012

DANK ! MERCI ! Voor uw steun voor de Palestijnse Gevangenen ! Pour votre soutien aux Prisoniers palestiniens ! (Nederlands, français)

(Nederlands)
Beste vrienden, chères amies, chers amis,

Ik houd eraan u allen te bedanken voor uw steun en mobilisatie, onder de een of de andere vorm, voor de samenkomst aan de Europese Commissie ter gelegenheid van de Internationale Dag voor de Palestijnse Gevangenen op 17 april 2012.
Méér dan honderd twintig personen waren aanwezig. Zij bleven twee uur ter plaatse. Sommigen kwamen voor een paar minuten langs tijdens de middagpauze op hun werk of school. Samen hebben ze van deze manifestatie een moment van warme solidariteit met de Palestijnse gevangenen gemaakt. U vindt onderaan enkele links naar de fotoreportages die gemaakt werden.
Dank om deze of enkele foto's verder te verspreiden onder uw leden, contacten en vrienden.

In het bijzonder wil ik Nadia Boumazougghe en Nordine Saïdi vermelden, de verantwoordelijken en deelnemers aan de Missie Welkom in Palestina, Welcome in Palestine, Bienvenu en Palestine. Zoals u weet zijn de deelnemers aan de Missie, op vraag van Israel, niet mogen vertrekken uit Brussel en werden zij bovendien het slachtoffer van brutaal politiegeweld op de dag van hun vertrek en in de dagen die volgden. De deelnemers aan Welcome in Palestine hebben aan de jaarlijkse manifestatie voor de gevangenen dan ook een heel bijzonder en heel tastbaar en voelbaar karakter gegeven.

Tot slot nog drie mededelingen.

Ik voeg U maar één mooie foto toe aan deze mail, die van de vrijlating van de Palestijnse gevangene Khader Adnan op 17 april 2012. Hij heeft de langste Palestijnse hongerstaking ooit op zijn naam staan. Zijn vrijlating is het bewijs dat de strijd van de gevangenen binnenin de gevangenissen, hand in hand met een internationale druk en solidariteit wel degelijk loont !

Palestina Solidariteit werkt aan een brochure over de Palestijnse Kindgevangenen. Indien u aan dit initiatief op de een of andere manier wil meewerken, contacteer dan An Peeters via secretariaat@palestinasolidariteit.be.

Op zondag 22 april nemen we deel aan de nationale betoging : Geen mens is illegaal. Indien er één volk zonder rechten en zonder papieren bestaat dan is het het wel het Palestijnse. We betogen voor hen en voor de hongerstakers aan de VUB.
Afpraak voor de hoofdingang van het Centraal Station in Brussel om 14 u.

Met solidaire groet,
Luk Vervaet.
Fotoreportages :

(français)
Chères amies, chers amis,
Je tiens à vous remercier tous pour votre soutien et votre mobilisation, quelle qu’en soit la forme, à l’occasion du rassemblement à la Commission européenne pour la Journée internationale des prisonniers palestiniens, ce 17 avril 2012.
Plus de 120 personnes ont répondu présentes et sont restées deux heures sur place. Certains ont consacré quelques instants de leur pause de midi au travail ou à l’école. Tous ensemble, ils ont fait de cette manifestation un moment de chaleureuse solidarité avec les prisonniers palestiniens. Vous trouverez ci-dessous les liens vers les reportages photos de cet événement.
Merci de les diffuser parmi vos membres, vos contacts et vos amis.
Je voudrais en particulier remercier Nadia Boumazougghe et Nordine Saïdi, les responsables et les participants à la Mission Bienvenue en Palestine. Comme vous les savez, les participants à cette mission ont été empêchés de partir de Bruxelles, sur ordre d’Israël et ont été en outre victimes de la violence policière le jour de leur départ et ceux qui l’ont suivi. Ces participants ont donné un caractère très particulier et très concret à cette journée annuelle de solidarité avec les prisonniers palestiniens
Enfin, trois communications.
Je ne joins à ce mail qu’une seule belle photo, celle de la libération du prisonnier palestinien Khader Adnan, le 17 avril 2012. Il a mené la plus longue grève de la faim palestinienne. Sa libération est la preuve que la lutte des prisonniers au sein des prisons, liée à la pression et à la solidarité internationales, peut obtenir des victoires.
Palestina Solidariteit travaille à une brochure sur les enfants palestiniens prisonniers. Si vous voulez soutenir cette initiative d’une manière ou d’une autre, contactez An Peeters via secretariaat@palestinasolidariteit.be .
Nous prendrons part, le dimanche 22 avril, à la manifestation nationale : « Personne n’est illégal ». S’il existe bien un peuple sans droits et sans papiers, c’est bien le peuple palestinien. Nous manifesterons pour lui et pour les grévistes de la faim de la VUB.
Rendez-vous à l’entrée principale de la Gare centrale à Bruxelles, dès 14 heures.
Solidairement,
Luk Vervaet.

Reportages photos :

A message from the International Campaign For Releasing Abducted MPs

Dear Mr. Vervaet

On behalf of the members of the International Campaign for Releasing the Abducted MPs, we thank you and Prisoner's Family & Friends Association for their grateful efforts in organizing the protest in front of the European Parliament in the day of the Palestinian prisoners and carrying the pictures of the Abducted MPs in the protest.

      We followed up the special protest which assured that there are liberal men in the world defending the oppressed detainees who are in open hunger strike to achieve their just demands. 

          Such activities had great impact on the abducted MPs and raised their spirits while the international community gives deaf ear  and blind eye to the Israeli crimes against them.

We, in the International Campaign , are full of hopes to keep in touch and wish to arrange a visit to Brussels as a specialized organization in the cause of the abducted MPs to discussed this serious cause with human rights organizations in Belgium. We hope to agree on practical steps to end this crisis which is not  only a Palestinian only but it is also an International Parliamentarian crisis.
Best Regards

International Campaign For Releasing Abducted MPs
Mohammed Radwan -Director

Collectif Vérité et Justice pour Jamal Ghermaoui


Vidéo réalisée par les membres du Collectif Vérité & Justice pour Jamal, autour des mobilisations qui ont suivi la mort de Jamal Ghermaoui (Ayr), 23 ans, tué par des agents pénitentiers de la maison d'arrêt de Nanterre.
En six mois, aucune enquête n’a été réalisée. Le procureur de la république a classé sans suite une enquête totalement bâclée, « menée » sans que personne ne soit interrogé (surveillants pénitenciers, proches de Jamal détenus, etc.). Nous refusons ce déni de justice.Une plainte a été déposée « contre X » par l'avocat de la famille Ghermaoui, pour « coups et blessures volontaires ayant entrainé la mort sans intention de la donner », avec constitution de partie civile.Un juge d’instruction vient d'être désigné.

L'expérience des luttes passées nous apprend que seule la mobilisation du plus grand nombre pourra les contraindre à ouvrir et mener sérieusement une enquête, jusqu’ici totalement inexistante.



Collectif Vérité et Justice pour Jamal Ghermaoui.

samedi 14 avril 2012

17/04/12 : International Day for the Palestinian Prisoners (fr, Nl, Engl)


Français, Nederlands, English

  Rassemblement devant la Commission européenne - Bruxelles (Rond-Point Schuman) de 12h00-14h00
et
Une soirée de solidarité avec film
« Libres dans la prison de Gaza » de Chris Den Hond et Mireille Court (25 min.) 2012) et des témoignages.
de 18h00-22h00
Rue du Chevreuil 8, 1000 Bruxelles



Un appel de :

Luk Vervaet, Prisoner's Family & Friends Association (PFFA), http://familiesfriendsassociation.blogspot.com/
Marijke Kruyt, Talliq - Recht voor Palestijnse Kinderen, www.talliq.nl
An Peeters, Palestina Solidariteit, www.palestinasolidariteit.be
Nordine Saidi, Mouvement Citoyen Palestine (MCP), http://mcpalestine.canalblog.com/
Inge Neefs, activiste voor Palestina,
Chris Den hond en Mireille Court, journalistes militants
Ludo De Brabander, Vrede, http://vrede.be/
Lieven De Cauter, BRussells Tribunal, http://www.brussellstribunal.org/
Mireille Rumeau, ISM-France, http://www.ism-france.org/
Nadia Boumazzoughe, BDS-Belgium, http://bds-belgium.be/
Yvonne Steur, Stop de Bezetting, http://www.stopdebezetting.com/
Marc Leblanc, Association Amitié Lille Naplouse (France),
http://lillenaplouse.unblog.fr/
Wim Lankamp, NPK, www.palestina-komitee.nl
Ameer Marzouq Khalil, General Union of Palestinian Students Belgium, http://gupsbelgium.webs.com/

Eric Goeman, Attac Vlaanderen, http://vl.attac.be/
André Posman, directeur De Rode Pomp, http://www.dewereldmorgen.be/blogs/Andreposman
Omer Mommaerts, Werkgroep Internationale Solidariteit van het ACV
 



En tant que responsable d'une organisation ou association vous pouvez vous joindre à cet appel en envoyant un émail à vervaetluk@gmail.com.


Appel à l'occasion de la journée internationale pour les prisonniers palestiniens du 17 avril 2012.


Nous demandons aux parlementaires européens de faire entendre leur voix face à ce constat alarmant : au 4 janvier 2012, 4417 prisonniers politiques palestiniens sont détenus dans les prisons israéliennes, incluant 170 enfants et 6 femmes. De la même façon que Khader Adnan ou de Hana Shalabi, 310 prisonniers sont détenus sans procès ni accusation sous le régime de la détention administrative avec parmi eux 20 élus législatifs.

Nous exigeons la libération immédiate de tous les prisonniers politiques palestiniens détenus par Israël, car ils sont victimes d’un système judiciaire illégal et injuste qui découle du système de discrimination raciale mis en place par Israël. En particulier, nous exigeons la fin des pratiques suivantes :

La détention administrative,
La torture et les mauvais traitements,
La détention en isolement,
L’usage, dans les territoires occupés palestiniens, de tribunaux militaires qui jugent illégalement des civils.
L’usage des « éléments de preuves à caractère secret » qui est une atteinte flagrante au droit à une procédure judiciaire régulière et équitable.
Les arrestations opérées au sein de catégories vulnérables de la population incluant les enfants, les handicapés, les personnes âgées et les malades. »

Depuis le 17 avril 2011, la résistance inouïe de la part des prisonniers palestiniens et l'engagement des organisations de résistance et de solidarité, ont remis la lutte pour la libération des prisonniers palestiniens au centre de l'attention mondiale.

Le 27 septembre 2011, des centaines de prisonniers palestiniens dans les prisons israéliennes ont commencé une grève de la faim contre la détention en isolement, dont celle de Ahmad Saadat, dirigeant du PFLP, et contre le refus de visites familiales et l'humiliation des prisonniers pendant les transferts.
Fin 2011, 1027 prisonniers palestiniens ont été relâchés en échange d'un soldat israélien dans un accord conclu entre Israël et le Hamas.
Le 17 décembre 2011, Khader Adnan, 34 ans, a commencé une grève de la faim qui a duré 66 jours après son arrestation et sa mise en détention administrative.
Hana Shalabi, 30 ans, une des prisonnières relâchées en échange du soldat israélien, a été à nouveau arrêtée le 16 février dernier, moins que quatre mois après sa libération. Elle a a commencé une grève de la faim qui continue jusqu'à ce jour contre sa détention administrative.

Par l'arme de la grève de la faim, l'arme de leur corps comme seul arme qui leur reste, et autres actions, les prisonniers palestiniens ont déclenché une vague de solidarité mondiale et ont rejoint les exemples héroïques les plus connus en Europe : celui de l'irlandais Bobby Sands et de ses camarades en 1981. Plus que jamais, les prisonniers palestiniens et leur lutte représentent l'unité et le droit et le devoir à la résistance du peuple.

Notre action à Bruxelles s'inscrit dans l'Appel lancé par les organisations Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Defence for Children International - Palestine Section, UFree Network, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, Free Ameer Makhoul Campaign et Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa'adat : « Le monde doit écouter et réagir à l’appel de Khader Adnan ».

(Nederlands)


Manifestatie in Brussel
dinsdag 17 april 2012
12u00-14u00
Europese Commissie te Brussel (Schuman-Rotonde)

en een


Solidariteitsavond

18 tot 22 uur
film (25 min.): "Libres dans la prison de Gaza"
Chris Den Hond en Mireille Court (2012)
Rue du Chevreuil 8, 1000 Brussel



Een oproep van :

Luk Vervaet, Prisoner's Family & Friends Association (PFFA), http://familiesfriendsassociation.blogspot.com/
Marijke Kruyt, Talliq - Recht voor Palestijnse Kinderen, www.talliq.nl
An Peeters, Palestina Solidariteit, www.palestinasolidariteit.be
Nordine Saidi, Mouvement Citoyen Palestine (MCP), http://mcpalestine.canalblog.com/
Inge Neefs, activiste voor Palestina,
Chris Den hond en Mireille Court, journalistes militants
Ludo De Brabander, Vrede, http://vrede.be/
Lieven De Cauter, BRussells Tribunal, http://www.brussellstribunal.org/
Mireille Rumeau, ISM-France, http://www.ism-france.org/
Nadia Boumazzoughe, BDS-Belgium, http://bds-belgium.be/
Yvonne Steur, Stop de Bezetting, http://www.stopdebezetting.com/
Marc Leblanc, Association Amitié Lille Naplouse (France),
http://lillenaplouse.unblog.fr/
Wim Lankamp, NPK, www.palestina-komitee.nl
Ameer Marzouq Khalil, General Union of Palestinian Students Belgium, http://gupsbelgium.webs.com/

Eric Goeman, Attac Vlaanderen, http://vl.attac.be/

André Posman, directeur De Rode Pomp, http://www.dewereldmorgen.be/blogs/Andreposman
Omer Mommaerts, Werkgroep Internationale Solidariteit van het ACV
 



U kan als verantwoordelijke van een organisatie of vereniging de oproep mede onderschrijven door een mail te sturen naar : vervaetluk@gmail.com

OPROEP

Wij eisen de onmiddellijke vrijlating van alle Palestijnse politieke gevangenen die door Israël worden vastgehouden. Zij zijn het slachtoffer van een onwettig en onrechtvaardig rechtssysteem, dat voortkomt uit het systeem van racisme en discriminatie in Israël.

In het bijzonder eisen we dat een einde gemaakt wordt aan volgende praktijken:

Administratieve detentie,
Marteling en mishandeling,
Eenzame opsluiting,
Het illegale gebruik, in de bezette Palestijnse gebieden, van militaire rechtbanken om burgers te veroordelen.
Het gebruik van "geheime bewijzen", hetgeen een flagrante schending betekent van het recht op een normale en eerlijke rechtspraak
De arrestaties onder de kwetsbare groepen van de bevolking, zoals kinderen, gehandicapten, ouderen en zieken.



Toelichting:

Op 4 januari 2012, bevonden zich 4417 Palestijnse politieke gevangenen in Israëlische gevangenissen, waaronder 170 kinderen en zes vrouwen. Net zoals dat het geval is voor Khader Adnan of Hana Shalabi, worden 310 gevangenen vastgehouden zonder proces of enige vorm van aanklacht, maar op basis van de wet op de administratieve detentie . Onder hen bevinden zich 20 parlementairen...

Sinds 17 april 2011 bracht het ongezien verzet van de Palestijnse gevangenen en de inzet van verzets- en solidariteitsorganisaties de strijd voor de vrijlating van Palestijnse gevangenen opnieuw in het centrum van de wereldbelangstelling.

Op 27 september 2011 begonnen honderden Palestijnse gevangenen in Israëlische gevangenissen een hongerstaking tegen de eenzame opsluiting, waaronder die van Ahmed Saadat, leider van de PFLP, en tegen het ontzeggen van familiebezoek en de vernedering van gevangenen tijdens de gevangenistranferts.

Eind 2011 werden 1.027 Palestijnse gevangenen vrijgelaten in ruil voor een Israëlische soldaat via een overeenkomst tussen Israël en Hamas. Inmiddels zijn een aantal van hen opnieuw gevangen genomen en duizenden andere Palestijnen gearresteerd.

Op 17 december 2011, na zijn arrestatie en zijn plaatsing in administratieve detentie, begon Khader Adnan een hongerstaking, die 66 dagen heeft geduurd. Hana al-Shalabi, een van de gevangenen die was vrijgelaten in ruil voor de Israëlische soldaat, werd opnieuw gearresteerd op 16 februari 2012, minder dan vier maanden na haar vrijlating. Ze is begonnen met een hongerstaking, die tot op de dag van vandaag doorgaat, tegen haar administratieve detentie.

Door het inzetten van het wapen van de hongerstaking, het wapen van hun lichaam, als enige dat hen nog rest, en het ondernemen van andere acties, hebben de Palestijnse gevangenen een golf van wereldwijde solidariteit losgemaakt. Niet voor niets groeide Khader Adnan uit tot de Palestijnse Bobby Sands. Meer dan ooit staan de Palestijnse gevangenen en hun strijd symbool voor de eenheid van het volk en voor het recht en de plicht om weerstand te bieden aan de onderdrukking.

Onze actie in Brussel onderschrijft de oproep voor 17 april 2012 van Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Defence for Children International – afdeling Palestina, UFREE Network, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoners Solidarity Network, Campaign Free Ameer Makhoul en Campaign Free Ahmad Sa'adat. Die oproep draagt de titel "De wereld moet luisteren en de oproep van Khader Adnan beantwoorden".

 




International Day for the Palestinian Prisoners
April 17, 2012 in Brussels :


Gathering before the European Commission - Brussels
(Schuman Rond Point)
12:00 pm. to 2:00 pm.

and

An Evening of Solidarity with movie
"Free in the prison of Gaza" by Chris Den Hond and Mireille Court (25 min.) 2012) and testimonies.
6:00 pm. to 10:00 pm.
Rue du Chevreuil, 8, 1000 Brussels


Appeal at the occasion of the International Day for the Palestinian prisoners on 17 April 2012.

We call on the MEPs to raise their voices against the following alarming and dramatic situation, that goes on for decades : on January 4, 2012, 4417 Palestinian political prisoners were detained in Israeli prisons, including 170 children and 6 women.
Like Khader Adnan or Hana Shalabi, 310 prisoners are detained under administrative detention without trial or charge, amongst them 27 elected members of the Palestinian Parliament.

We demand the immediate release of all Palestinian political prisoners held by Israel.
They are the victims of an illegal and unjust legal system, that stems from the system of racial discrimination established by Israel.

In particular, we demand the end of the following practices:

* the administrative detention,
* the torture and ill-treatment,
* the solitary confinement,
* the use, in the occupied Palestinian territories, of military courts who illegally judge civilians,
* the use of "secret evidence", which is a flagrant violation of the right to a due and fair trial,
* the arrests of vulnerable groups of the population, including children, disabled, elderly and sick persons.

Since April 17, 2011, the unprecedented resistance from the Palestinian prisoners within the prisons and the commitment of the resistance and solidarity organisations from the outside, have put the struggle for the release of Palestinian prisoners in the centre of the world's attention.

On 27 September 2011, hundreds of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails began an hunger strike against solitary confinement of Ahmed Saadat, leader of the PFLP, and other prisoners, and against the denial of family visits and the humiliation of prisoners during transfers.

End of 2011, 1,027 Palestinian prisoners were released in exchange for an Israeli soldier in an agreement between Israel and Hamas.

On December 17, 2011, Khader Adnan, 34 years old, began an hunger strike after his arrest and his administrative detention, that lasted 66 days.

Hana Shalabi, 30 years old, one of the prisoners released in exchange for the Israeli soldier, has been arrested again on February 16, less than four months after her release. She started an hunger strike against her administrative detention that lasted 43 days, until her banishment to Gaza for a period of 3 years.

By the weapon of the hunger strike, the weapon of their body as the only weapon left to them, and other actions, the Palestinian prisoners have sparked a wave of solidarity and joined the heroic examples of Bobby Sands and his Irish comrades in 1981 against the British occupation of Ireland. More than ever, the Palestinian prisoners and their struggle represent the unity of the people, and its right and duty to resist.

Our action in Brussels supports the Appeal "The world must listen and respond to the call of Khader Adnan", launched by Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Defence for Children International - Palestine Section, UFREE Network, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, Free Ameer Makhoul Campaign and the Campaign to Free Ahmad Saadat:

The organising committee :

Luk Vervaet Prisoner's Family & Friends Association (PFFA) http://familiesfriendsassociation.blogspot.com/
Marijke Kruyt, Talliq - Recht voor Palestijnse Kinderen, www.talliq.nl
An Peeters, Palestina Solidariteit, www.palestinasolidariteit.be
Nordine Saidi, Palestine Citizen Movement (MCP), http://mcpalestine.canalblog.com/
Inge Neefs, activist voor Palestina
Chris Den Hond in Mireille Court, journalists activists
Ludo De Brabander, Vrede, http://vrede.be/
Lieven De Cauter, Brussels Tribunal, http://www.brussellstribunal.org/
Mireille Rumeau, ISM-France, http://www.ism-france.org/
Nadia Boumazzoughe, BDS-Belgium, http://bds-belgium.be/
Yvonne Steur, Stop Bezetting, http://www.stopdebezetting.com/
Marc Leblanc, Friendship Association Nablus Lille (France),
http://lillenaplouse.unblog.fr/
Wim Lankamp, NPK, www.palestina-komitee.nl
Ameer Marzouq Khalil, General Union of Palestinian Students Belgium, http://gupsbelgium.webs.com/

Eric Goeman, Attac Vlaanderen, http://vl.attac.be/
André Posman, directeur De Rode Pomp, http://www.dewereldmorgen.be/blogs/Andreposman
Omer Mommaerts, Werkgroep Internationale Solidariteit van het ACV 


As head of an organization or association you can join the call by sending an email to vervaetluk@gmail.com .