Ceremony to be held to grant Human Rights Award to Shireen Issawi

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Source: Human Rights Defenders – Lawyer Shireen Issawi has been held captive in the prisons of the Israeli occupation since March 6 of this year. She was accused together with five other attorneys of working against the Israeli state with hostile parties. Shireen is well-known for having been the spokeswoman and one of the main protagonists of the campaign calling for the release of her brother Samer Issawi, the man who waged the longest ever hunger strike.

She was arrested after the release of Samer Issawi, as an act of revenge against her and her family, most members of which have been imprisoned before, and one of whom was martyred during the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre. Three siblings of the family are still imprisoned: Shireen, who has been held in isolation since May this year, her legendary brother Samer who is in a bad state of health, and their brother Medhat Issawi.



After the arrest of Shireen Issawi, the International Free Shireen Issawi Campaign was started in the beginning of April, and managed to organize a number of activities in several parts of the world, among them Beirut, London, Barcelona, Buenos Aires and Palestine, among others. The campaign also managed to appoint a specialized lawyer for her defense, with the help of an organization that helped cover the legal expenses, as well as campaigning by means of writing countless letters to human rights organizations worldwide in order to get them to pressure ‘Israel’ for her release.

In honor of Shireen Issawi and in recognition of her efforts, the Geneva-based Alkarama organization has decided to grant her the Alkarama Human Rights Award on the International Day of Human Rights. A high-profile ceremony is being planned for this purpose.

Badee DwaikBadee Dwaik, coordinator of the Free Shireen Issawi Campaign, called for the internationalization of the prisoners issue, and for pressure on ‘Israel’ to treat Palestinian political prisoners as POW’s, as well as for an end to the practice of administrative detention without accusation. He expressed a need for international protection for the Palestinian people.

Previously, the campaign had issued a press release stating: “This award is a badge of honor for Shireen, her family, Palestinian political prisoners fighting for freedom in Israel’s military occupation prisons and all political prisoners around the world fighting for justice and freedom for their people.

Whilst this is an honor for the International Free Shireen Issawi Campaign, affiliated to Human Rights Defenders in Palestine, the real honor will come when Shireen is free to receive the award herself in Geneva and when all political prisoners are free from Israel’s military occupation prison system.”

The International Free Shireen Issawi Campaign was formed in order to exert international pressure upon ‘Israel’ to release Shireen Issawi and in order to increase international awareness about the issue of political prisoners in Israeli occupation jails. It is a campaign affiliated with the League of Human Rights Defenders. This  non-factional league aims to mobilize and lead the Palestinian people in its unarmed popular resistance, and to document the violations of the Israeli occupation by peaceful means.

(Translated from Arabic by Tariq Shadid)

 

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Doc Jazz

Doc Jazz is a Palestinian musician, currently based in the United Arab Emirates. He was born and raised in the Netherlands, which is where he started his first musical endeavors. He works full-time as a surgeon, and produces his songs in his free time. He usually does all the instruments and vocals in his recordings by himself. His music, which covers a wide variety of genres ranging from funky pop and jazz all the way to rap and Arabic music, has been featured on many media outlets in the Netherlands, in the Middle East, and elsewhere. The Palestinian cause plays a big role in the themes of his songs.

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