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ABOUT PALESTINIAN PRISONERS
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"PRISON CELL" BY PALESTINIAN POET, MAHMOUD DARWISH
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It is possible...
It is possible at least sometimes...
It is possible especially now
To ride a horse
Inside a prison cell
And run away...
It is possible for prison walls
To disappear,
For the cell to become a distant land
Without frontiers:
What did you do with the walls?
I gave them back to the rocks.
And what did you do with the
ceiling?
I turned it into a saddle.
And your chain?
I turned it into a pencil.
The prison guard got angry.
He put an end to the dialogue.
He said he didn't care for poetry,
And bolted the door of my cell.
He came back to see me
In the morning.
He shouted at me:
Where did all this water come from?
I brought it from the Nile.
And the trees?
From the orchards of Damascus.
And the music?
From my heartbeat.
The prison guard got mad.
He put an end to my dialogue.
He said he didn't like my poetry,
And bolted the door of my cell.
But he returned in the evening:
Where did this moon come from?
From the nights of Baghdad.
And the wine?
From the vineyards of Algiers.
And this freedom?
From the chain you tied me with
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TWITTER HANDLE AND HASHTAGS
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The official twitter account for the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation is @KathradaFound. Join us and the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation online by using the hashtags #MarwanBarghouti, #PalestinianPrisoners, and #BoycottG4S. |
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DONATE TO
BDS SOUTH AFRICA
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JOIN BDS SOUTH AFRICA'S EMAIL MAILING LIST
To join BDS South Africa's email mailing list (& receive these newsletters) send a blank email message to alerts@bdssouthafrica.com
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This Sunday, the 27th October, the international "Free Marwan Barghouti and all Palestinian Political Prisoners" campaign will be launched from the historic South African landmark of Robben Island, where anti-apartheid struggle icons Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki, Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada and others were imprisoned during Apartheid.
The Palestinian based Popular Campaign for the Release of Marwan Barghouti and all Palestinian Political Prisoners and the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation are the primary organisers of the Robben Island launch event. Ahmed Kathrada launched the "Free Nelson Mandela and all South African Political Prisoners" campaign in 1962, just prior to his own arrest and subsequent imprisonment with Nelson Mandela and others on Robben Island (click here for a short YouTube video by Morgan Freeman on the life of Ahmed Kathrada). Now half a century later, the 84-year-old anti-apartheid struggle veteran, is launching yet another campaign for an iconic freedom fighter, Marwan Barghouti, commonly dubbed "Palestine's Mandela". Barghouti is one of the most prominent --of over 5000-- Palestinian political prisoners currently detained in Israeli prisons and jails (see left hand column).
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PALESTINIAN POLITICAL PRISONER SOLIDARITY EVENTS TAKING PLACE ACROSS SOUTH AFRICA (27 OCT - 02 NOV)
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Following Sunday's Robben Island launch, public events will be held in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.
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LAUNCH OF "FREE MARWAN BARGHOUTI AND ALL PALESTINIAN POLITICAL PRISONERS" CAMPAIGN AND BDS-SA ANNOUNCEMENT OF "G4S BOYCOTT"
WHERE: Robben Island, Cape Town, South Africa
WHEN: Sunday, 27 October 2013
TIME: Starting from 09h00
RSVP: Event full.
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CAPE TOWN PALESTINE PRISONER SOLIDARITY RALLY
DAY: Sunday, 27 October
TIME: 18h00
WHERE: Drommedaris Hall, Good Hope Centre
ADDRESS: Christiaan Barnard Street, Cape Town
CONTACT: 0823731143 / info@kathradafoundation.org
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DURBAN PALESTINE PRISONER SOLIDARITY RALLY
DAY: Tuesday, 29 October
TIME: 19h00
WHERE: Durban Art Gallery, Durban City Hall
ADDRESS: 2nd Floor, Durban Art Gallery, Durban City Hall, Anton Lembede Street (Smith St.), Durban
CONTACT: 0823731143 / info@kathradafoundation.org
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DURBAN PALESTINE PRISONER FUNDRAISING DINNER
DAY: Wednesday, 30 October
TIME: 18h30
WHERE: NMJ Hall
ADDRESS: Mountain View Avenue (off Hendry Road), Morningside, Durban
COST: R300 pp
CONTACT AND RSVP: 0823731143 / 0827757860
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JOHANNESBURG PALESTINE PRISONER SOLIDARITY RALLY
DAY: Thursday, 31 October
TIME: 18h30
WHERE: Baitun Noor Centre
ADDRESS: Topaas Street, Extension 5, Lenasia
CONTACT: 0823731143 / info@kathradafoundation.org
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JOHANNESBURG PALESTINE PRISONER & HUMAN RIGHTS SYMPOSIUM
DAY: Saturday, 02 November
TIME: 09h00
WHERE: Constitutional Hill, Braamfontein
CONTACT: 0823731143 / info@kathradafoundation.org
HOSTS: The Foundation for Human Rights, Constitutional Hill and the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation
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The Robben Island launch and follow up events in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg will be addressed by Ms. Fadwa Bargouti (wife of Marwan Barghouti and head of the Palestinian based Popular Campaign for the Release of Marwan Barghouti & All Palestinian Political Prisoners), Azzam Ahmad (Former Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the Palestinian delegation to the international Inter-Parliamentary Union), Qaddura Fares (Former Palestinian Minister of Detainees), Majed Bamya (Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Shawqi Issa (Director of Ensan, the Palestinian Centre for Democracy and Human Rights), Sahar Francis (Director of Addameer, the Palestinian Prisoner Support & Human Rights Association), Helmi Al Araj (Director of Hurriyat), Nasser Alrayyes (Al Haq, the Palestinian Human Rights Organization), Yasser Amouri (Birzeit University) and Luisa Morgantini (the former Vice President of the European Parliament). The Palestinian delegates will be accompanied by Ahmed Kathrada and a host of other former South African political prisoners.
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G4S AND ITS COMPLICITY IN ISRAEL'S PRISONS, TORTURE CENTRES AND DETENTION FACILITIES
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In 2007 the international security company, G4S, was contracted to provide and maintain Israeli prisons, torture centres and detention facilities. G4S also provides equipment and services to Israeli checkpoints and Israel's illegal Jewish-only settlements in the occupied Palestinian West Bank . More information on the South African boycott against G4S together with campaign material and ways in which members of the public can get involved will be distributed shortly after the Robben Island launch and official announcement of the South African "G4S Boycott" campaign...
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