The sponsorship of Palestinian political prisoners is a solidarity approach aimed both at calling up and raising awareness on the issue, but also at expressing an actual solidarity toward the prisoners by showing them direct support and by highlighting their situation at international level. This campaign must in particular impose an international pressure upon the Israeli authorities so that they fulfill the legitimate claims of the Palestinian political prisoners.
Practically :
With Salah Hamouri’s help, we have put together a database including the list of 4581 Palestinian prisoners. Based on these data, individual notes have been written for each prisonner (name and first name, date of birth, town, arrest date, jail, release date, and when possible, a picture). These notes will be updated insofar as possible, and along with the informations provided by the prisoner defence organisations and/or their families.
Each sponsor
commits to write each month to the prisoner(s) whom he(she) sponsors. The aim is to provide the prisoners with a breath of air by sending him(her) a postcard, a picture, or even a magazine. English or arabic are preferred languages. One should not expect the prisoners to reply since they are only allowed two letters a month and only for local destinations. The sponsors must not indicate their address outside the enveloppe otherwise the mails will be returned immediately by the jail authority.
commits to contact his(her) elected representatives and other authorities about the case of the sponsored prisoner as well as about the situation of the prisoners in general.
It is also of major importance to give a media coverage to the action.
The AFPS also conducts specific sponsorship actions for Legislative Council members/ elected representatives in Israeli jails. In particular they can be sponsored by European PM or academics.
For more informations concerning these specific sponsorships, please contact us.