Palestinian prisoners refuse settlement as they set record for longest mass hunger strike

Palestinian prisoners refuse settlement as hunger strike sets record#PeaceProcess


An estimated 300 prisoners are participating in the hunger strike that is now the longest in Palestinian history

Palestinians hold portraits of detainees during a demonstration in Jerusalem in June (AFP)

Joe Catron
Tuesday 10 June 2014 23:13 BST

Topics:
PeaceProcess
Tags:
Hunger strike, Administrative Detention, Protests
0 comments


Palestinian prisoners participating in the longest mass hunger strike in Palestinian history have rejected a settlement proposed by the Israeli prison and intelligence services, incarcerated members of a Palestinian party tell MEE.

An estimated 300 prisoners are participating in the strike which started on 24 April to protest against administrative detentions by Israeli forces. On Tuesday, the strikers entered their 48th day, passing a record set in a 1976 strike, according to human rights associations.



- See more at: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestinian-prisoners-refuse-settlement-hunger-strike-sets-record/855621504#sthash.ptDi7deR.dpuf
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestinian-prisoners-refuse-settlement-hunger-strike-sets-record/855621504

G4S finally announces it will end all Israeli contracts within 3 years ( Inminds report)

Cautious Victory - G4S finally announces it will end all Israeli prison contracts within 3 years

7th June 2014, www.inminds.com

Yesterday the Financial Times reported that G4S has announced for the first time that it will end all its contacts with Israeli prisons within 3 years:


"G4S has confirmed that it will end all its Israeli prison contracts within the next three years after an annual general meeting that was severely disrupted by human rights protesters.. Mr Almanza said for the first time that the move would also include prison service contracts all over Israel."*



This follows last years announcement that due to "reputational dangers" to their business, mentioning the protests outside their London Headquarters, G4S would exit the contracts in the Occupied Palestinian Territories when they terminate in 2015. However, at the time they still maintained that they would continue their prison contracts in Israel.

We have held regular protests outside G4S HQ in London for nearly two years, since August 2012 when the Palestinian Prisoners Campaign was launched at Al Quds Day, with a protest at least every fortnight. Congratulations to all the dedicated activists who kept the pressure on G4S to finally force them to change their stated position and announce they will abandon all prison contracts in Israel.

Of course our campaign against G4S continues, this announcement on its own will not change anything other that ensure we go forward with extra vigour so that they follow-through on their promise. Our next protest will be next friday 13th June 2014 outside G4S HQ, the focus will be the Palestinian mass hunger strike against Israel's illegal practice of administrative detention where more than 2,000** Palestinians are caged every year without charge or trial for an indefinite period of time. This is another crime which G4S is inextricably complicit in, with 86% of administrative detainees caged in prisons they secure. Details for the protest will follow shortly.

Gates Foundation sells stake in G4S

Gates Foundation Sells Stake in U.K. Prison Operator G4S
By Tom Metcalf
June 06, 2014 12:46 PM EDT






The Gates Foundation Asset Trust, the entity that manages the investments for the $40.2 billion Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has liquidated its entire stake in G4S Plc (GFS), the world’s biggest security-services provider.

“Like other large foundations, the foundation trust evaluates its holdings regularly, both for performance and fit,” John Pinette, a spokesman for the Gates family, said in a statement. “As a result of this, the foundation trust no longer holds an investment in G4S.”

The Crawley, England-based company has attracted criticism for its contracts with the Israel prison system. The U.K.’s Guardian newspaper said in an editorial on June 4 that G4S should “end the corporation’s participation in Israel’s brutal occupation” in the West Bank.

Since 2011, G4S has conducted a series of reviews in relation to its business in Israel, according to the company’s website. Its latest investigation concluded there was “no plausible case against G4S on the ground of alleged war crimes commited by Israel.”

A regulatory filing on May 28 showed that the stake, held by the trust and Bill Gates’s investment company, Cascade Investment LLC, had fallen below three percent. The billionaire’s stake was first disclosed last June, when Cascade’s holding crossed the 3 percent threshold for the first time.

Adam Mynott, a spokesman for G4S, declined to comment.

Gates oversees an $81.7 billion fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He is almost $14 billion richer than Mexico’s Carlos Slim, the world’s second richest person.

Report from

http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-06/gates-foundation-sells-stake-in-u-k-security-company-g4s.html

Salt and Water

With Palestinian political prisoners now more than one month into an ongoing hunger strike, daily solidarity events and direct actions are being held across Palestine. The hunger strike began in April against Israel's continued use of Administrative Detention - a system of imprisonment without charge, trial or access to legal defence. A previous hunger strike in 2012 was ended after Israel agreed to limit its use of Administrative Detention, a false promise that never translated to action on the Occupation's part.

- See more at: http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/news/middle-east/11792-salt-and-water#sthash.qbXFkXdv.dpuf

Salt and Water

1,500 Palestinian detainees on hunger strike

RAMALLAH: The number of Palestinian detainees on hunger strike in Israeli jails reached 1,500 Sunday, a Palestinian NGO said.

"More non-administrative detainees have joined the hunger strike in solidarity with administrative detainees, bringing the total number of striking detainees to 1,500," the Prisoners' Club said in a statement.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Jun-01/258417-1500-palestinian-detainees-on-hunger-strike-ngo.ashx#ixzz33OOglZ2x
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)