Help Hana Shalabi!

Let's open up this blog post with a quote from Hana's parents:

“We call upon the Palestinian National Authority, the Palestinian national factions, and all Palestinians to take to the streets on Saturday, March 17 and to demonstrate in support of our daughter Hana Shalabi and all administrative detainees.
Pressure on the Palestinian street is imperative in achieving Hana’s immediate release, as well as support for her open hunger strike [that began on February 16, 2012]
We as Hana’s family continue to support her hunger strike, and we want to let our daughter know that we are with her in every step of her hunger strike until she achieves her immediate release from the Israeli occupation jails.
Finally, we call upon all administrative detainees to join Hana’s hunger strike until they achieve their own release and to put an end to the unjust Israeli policy of adminstrative detention, which violates human rights and international law.”

Her parents were quoted saying the above on Hana's 29th day on hunger strike.  As I've said before, her health is still deteriorating; she's rapidly losing weight, has extreme muscle weakness and aches, dizziness, and increasling low blood sugar. 

Hana isn't just striking for her own freedom and unlawful imprisonment.  She's protesting the unjust treatment of all Palestinian prisoners.  Hana has already had to suffer through Isreal's prisons once before.  Her second stint and the hunger strike are truely showing her strength and determination.  Her sentence has already been reduced, but Hana refuses to stop fighting until she has won the war, not just the battle (classic metaphors). 

Hana Shalabi is an inspiration for the other detainees.  After watching Khader Adnan's 66 day long hunger strike, she was inspired to go on her own after her rearrest.  And through her own determination, she has brought others to her cause.  Bilal Diab and Thair Halahleh declared hunger strikes on March 1st, and a few days later other prisoners joined in the cause. 

The hunger strikers are fighting for their freedom in the ownly way they can. They've been beaten down, humiliated, and have lost their rights.  Hana and others are controlling their fates in the only non-violent way they can: by slowly starving themselves.  They are still managing to keep their fates in their hands, even though in doing so Hana and company are dying.

Khader Adnan (yes, he's still doing alright.  should be released in a few weeks!) is very invested in Hana's story.  He along with other activists are organizing protests, twitter trends where we tweet at the media to try and bring attention onto the hunger strikers.  Here's a list of the people we want to contact today about Hana:

 "In addition to twitter, we'd like you participate in an email campaign for Hana, you can use the following talking points and suggested email addresses for Consulates and Missions in Occupied Palestine are below:

- Hana Shalabi is on day 29 of her hunger strike, she is protesting being held without charge for the second time.

- First time she was held without charge or trial for 25 months.

-She was sexually assaulted by Israelis who went unpunished because it's the norm in Israeli prisons.

-Physicians for Human Rights recently saw her and said her health was deteriorating.

-Administrative detention allows Israel to keep Palestinian prisoners jailed indefinitely--without charge, without trial.

-What is your position on administrative detention and if you are opposed to it why hasn't your office issued a statement.

-More talking points can be found here : http://www.addameer.org/etemplate.php?id=161

U.S.
UsConGenJerusalem@state.gov

U.K.
webmaster.telaviv@fco.gov.uk

Argentina
embarg@netvision.net.il

Armenia
ahconsul@netvision.net.il

Australia
telaviv.embassy@dfat.gov.au

Belgium
jerusalem@diplobel.fed.be

Canada
taviv@international.gc.ca

European Union delegation
delegation-israel@eeas.europa.eu

France
diplomat@france-jeru.org

Greek
greconje@netvision.net.il

Ireland
telavivembassy@dfa.ie

Italy
stampa.telaviv@esteri.it

South Africa
http://www.safis.co.il/site/contact-us/

Turkey
turkemb.telaviv@mfa.gov.tr

 You don't have to send out the email, but you can still help us get more attention to Hana's cause so she can be free again!


Also, I'm not neglecting Abdulhadi Alkhawaja; I'm just tweeting about him more than I'm blogging about him.  Actually, today's twitter trend is also being run by his support/freedom group.  They and Khader are working to get both people noticed and released from jail as their hunger strikes only go on and worsen.


That's all I have to say for now.  Leslie, signing off.
@see_you_sLATER
Please, comment, tweet, give us feedback! Or talk about us with you're friends! Hana needs help, and she can't get there alone when the government is ignoring her!