Blogs

Shawan Jabarin, director of human rights group Al-Haq, is to be allowed to travel to Geneva for a meeting with the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, for the first time since Israel imposed a travel ban on him six years ago.

Visualizing Palesine is new project whose website is yet to fully launch but already they have used their Twitter account to release this amazing graphic. It combines a history of hunger strikes around the world with a factual illustration of what Palestinian political prisoner Khader Adnan must have been going through since he started the 66-day hunger strike that concluded yesterday after a deal to release him in April was reached.

Amnesty International called on Israel to immediately release Khader Adnan, who announced an end to his historic 66-day hunger strike today, as “Israeli authorities have revealed no evidence justifying his continued detention.”

US jazz vocalist Cassandra Wilson has canceled her gig this weekend at the Women’s Festival in Holon, following appeals by boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) activists encouraging her to respect the Palestinian call for boycott.

War on Want condemns British company JCB after Israel used the company’s machines to destroy the only playground in the Silwan neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem. Meanwhile, a JCB bulldozer was used in the demolition of Palestinian property in the occupied south Hebron hills on 15 February.

Yesterday, I published a piece in Al-Akhbar English about the twitter campaign to get more people to learn about and support khader Adnan’s hunger strike. Last night, hashtag #HungerStrikingfor65days was the strongest hashtag yet, thousands tweeted using that hashtag and it remained #1 globally trending topic for over an hour. Twitter has got millions of people to pay attention to Khader Adnan’s case online.  Read my piece below for more on this virtual protest.

Lawyers for Khader Adnan have reached a deal with Israel for Adnan to be released on 17 April, Addameer announced today via Twitter. Khader Adnan has agreed to end his hunger strike. Addameer said the deal appears to meet minimum conditions Adnan had previously communicated to lawyers.

Khader Adnan, the Palestinian who has been on hunger strike for 66 days against his detention without charge or trial is in high spirits and sends greetings to all who support him, despite signs of further decline in his health according to a lawyer who visited him on Monday.

Khader Adnan is fighting for rights that should be guaranteed to all prisoners. Organizations from all over the world have launched a call to make Palestinian Political Prisoners’ Day, 17 April 2012, a day of international action.

On the occasion of Valentine’s Day, Palestine solidarity activists in Chicago attempted to deliver a giant heart-shaped petition to Obama’s campaign headquarters in Chicago which called for an end to US aid to Israel.