- A previous article discussed his background, activism
and status in detail, accessed through the following link:
-
- http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/07/ahmad-saadat-palestinian-prisoner-of.html
-
- Extensive information on him can be found on:
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- http://www.freeahmadsaadat.org/
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- As General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation
of Palestine (PFLP), he was sentenced in 2002 to 30 years in prison "for
a range of 'security related' political offenses," including his prominence
in a prohibited organization.
-
- For over 40 years, Israel targeted him relentlessly,
subjecting him to numerous arrests, torture, false imprisonments, and isolation
for opposing occupation and wanting Palestine liberated.
-
- On December 28, 2008, he was sentenced to 30 years in
prison, Israel's harshest political punishment, though illegal under international
law. Refusing to recognize the court's legitimacy, he calls himself "a
prisoner for freedom."
-
- For nearly 700 days (since March 19, 2009), he's been
held in isolation with no family visits, reading material, or contact with
counsel, friends or fellow prisoners. On October 24, 2010, his status was
extended another six months until April 21, 2011 "barred from human
contact."
- The campaign to free him asks people of conscience everywhere
to speak out, demanding he and other political prisoners be released.
-
- Even in isolation, he's not silenced. In a statement
issued on January 15, he supported Tunisia's liberating struggle against
"a system of injustice, abuse and exploitation," urging democratic
forces unite to press for legitimate demands.
-
- A January 15 statement on the 9th anniversary of his
PA kidnapping headlined, "We Will Not Forget and Will Not Forgive,"
saying:
-
- "Today, the campaign in solidarity with Ahmad Sa'adat
(demands) accountability and punishment (for) perpetrators of this crime...."
Moreover, it rejects PA "cooperation with the enemy....under the pretext
of 'protecting the supreme interests of the Palestinian people (and) upholding
our commitment to signed agreements.' "
-
- "Meanwhile, every day, our people suffer from occupation,
poverty and siege. It is the duty of leaders and true (patriots) to protect
the Palestinian people and their land, resist the settlers, and champion
the people and their resistance, as Ahmad Sa'adat" did so heroically
and continues doing under harsh isolation conditions.
-
- On January 19, around 25 Dublin (socialist republican)
"eirigi" protesters held a candlelight vigil in front of the
Israeli embassy, highlighting the treatment and ongoing hunger strike of
Sa'adat and Hamas leader Jamal Abu Al-Haija. In solidarity with both men,
they pledged to keep focusing on their status, saying:
-
- "We in Ireland understand only too well the seriousness
of the situation when you have no option left but to use your body as a
weapon" for justice. They added that Palestinian supporters worldwide
"will hold the Zionist regime directly responsible for the well being"
of both men and all other Palestinian political prisoners.
-
- On January 21, the Campaign in Solidarity with Sa'adat,
in collaboration with French allies, "condemned French Foreign Minister
Ms. Michelle Alliot-Marie (during her Gaza visit), and demanded" she
apologize for calling Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit's detention a "war
crime," while ignoring the thousands of illegally held Palestinian
prisoners, including young children.
-
- Sa'adat in His Own Words
-
- Refusing to be silenced, one of many Sa'adat quotes affirmed
that:
-
- "I too possess a will obtained from the justice
of our cause and the determination of our people to reject any decision
from (Israel's) 'kangaroo court,' and to preserve a logical and cohesive
balance, and to continue my determination to resist your occupation alongside
the sons and daughters of our people, in spite of the limited space that
you impose on my already-limited movement as a 'prisoner for freedom.'
"
-
- The Friends of Ahmad Sa'adat, a "new international
network for coordination of support and solidarity activities" urges
activists everywhere united for Palestine's liberation "to come together,
network, and coordinate in order to educate and mobilize people around
the world to work for him and all illegally held Palestinian political
prisoners." More information is available through the following link:
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- http://www.freeahmadsaadat.org/friends.html
-
- In solidarity, get involved for justice denied him and
many others out of sight and mind to most people.
-
- Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at
lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com
and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the
Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays
at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs
are archived for easy listening.
-
- http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/.
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