Editor’s Note: The following statement was released today by the Palestinian BDS National Committee. Mondoweiss occasionally publishes press releases and statements from organizations in an effort to draw attention to overlooked issues.
Today, Palestinian human rights defender and BDS coordinator Mahmoud Nawajaa was released by an Israeli military court, after 19 days of illegal detention without charges. Since his arrest on July 30, the Israeli internal security Shin Bet has failed to present any formal charges against him.
In his first reaction after being released, Mahmoud Nawajaa said:
“Pressure works. Sustained global pressure works even better. I thank Addameer for defending me against this military ‘justice’ system that is part and parcel of the apartheid and colonial regime against our people.
“I am deeply grateful to all those who pressured apartheid Israel to release me. From Europe and the Arab world, to Southern Africa, Latin America, North America and Asia, your solidarity gave me strength and kept alive my hope to be reunified with my loving family and my inspiring wider BDS family.
“I also thank Palestinian and international human rights organizations and networks, particularly the Palestinian Human Rights Organizations Council (PHROC), Front Line Defenders, Amnesty International and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), who have played a critical role in defending me as a human rights defender despite the fabricated ‘suspicions’ and lies propagated by apartheid Israel against me.
“BDS is an idea, and an effective, morally-consistent, anti-racist strategy of peaceful resistance and solidarity. They cannot break us because they cannot crush an idea or counter our strategy, despite all the financial, intelligence, political, diplomatic and propaganda resources they’ve invested in their war of repression against BDS.
“Let’s intensify our BDS campaigns to bring to an end this system of apartheid and oppression and free all 4,700 Palestinian prisoners. With our global networks of mutual solidarity with movements for Indigenous, racial, social, gender and climate justice, we can and we shall achieve freedom, justice and equality for our people and for all oppressed communities.”
In its statement calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Nawajaa, Amnesty International exposed attempts in the West, coordinated with Israel, to suppress BDS activism. It said:
“Advocating for boycotts, divestment and sanctions is a form of non-violent advocacy and of free expression that must be protected. Advocates of boycotts should be allowed to express their views freely and take forward their campaigns without harassment, threats of prosecution or criminalization, or other measures that violate the right to freedom of expression.”
Mahmoud Nawajaa’s arrest came at a time when Palestinian civil society is calling for effective international accountability measures, including lawful and targeted sanctions, to prevent Israel’s planned de jure annexation and to stop its apartheid regime and ongoing, de facto annexation.
As part of the international campaign to #FreeMahmoud, last Tuesday the Palestinian BDS National Committee, the largest coalition in Palestinian civil society, organized two protest rallies in Ramallah and Gaza in front of diplomatic missions of Germany, the current president of the EU Council. More than 150 representatives of Palestinian mass movements, trade unions, political parties and BDS activists joined the rallies, demanding that EU apply concrete pressure on Israel to release Nawajaa and respect Palestinian rights under international law.
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Israel & Zionism defined:
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/08/deaf-palestinian-shot-israeli-forces-checkpoint-200817094652324.html
“Deaf Palestinian shot by Israeli forces at checkpoint” Al Jazeera, Aug.17/20
“Israeli security guards have shot and wounded a deaf Palestinian who was not able to hear the orders to stop at an occupied West Bank checkpoint.
“Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said on Monday the 60-year-old man was walking in an area of the Qalandiya Crossing north of Jerusalem where only vehicles are permitted.
“Rosenfeld said security guards ordered the man to stop but he continued to ‘approach them suspiciously’.
“They then shot him in the legs. Rosenfeld said it was only then that the guards discovered the man did not respond because he ‘cannot hear or communicate’.
“The incident comes less than three months after Israeli police shot and killed a 32-year-old Palestinian with severe autism.” (cont’d)
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https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/editorial/palestinian-life-is-cheap-1.9077734
“For the Israeli Army, Palestinian Life Is Cheap and the Excuse Is Always the Same”
Haaretz Editorial. Aug. 17, 2020.
EXCERPT:
“Three months’ community service: That’s the punishment in Israel for a soldier who shot to death a Palestinian whose only crime was that he’d come to the aid of another Palestinian, who had himself been mistakenly shot by the same soldier. That’s the plea agreement that will come before the Jaffa Military Court on Monday for approval. Three months’ community service and a demotion for the killing of an innocent person.
“The Israel Defense Forces couldn’t be clearer in the message it’s delivering to its soldiers in the territories. Did you shoot a Palestinian for no reason? Not pleasant, but not terrible, either. If we were to judge by the punishment, from the IDF’s perspective this was no more than a tragedy of errors, even though we’re talking about a soldier who shot two people in one day.
“The excuse is always the same excuse: “A warning was received shortly before the shooting regarding the possibility of an attack in the area,” the IDF spokesman said. But from the indictment it’s clear that the primary mistake in this awful case was to be born Palestinian in the occupied territories.”
No doubt MW is happy to see another anti-semite being allowed to roam free.
Mahmoud Nawajaa has espoused antisemitic content. In one example, he shared an antisemitic
podcast called Radio Anti-Zionist on his Facebook page blaming the Zionist lobby with its support from foreign (Jewish) bankers etc.
Israel had him in detention this time for security reasons. Israel can take no risks.