Dear friends,
How should we start our first message to the prisoner whose contact details have been provided by the ‘Prisoners’ AFPS working group.
One of the main instruction is not to refer ever to politics in general and to the Israelo-Palestinian conflict in particular, as the guards read all the letters and would not let them in .
But one should also try to figure out the reaction of the recipient when receiving a message from somebody he(she) has never heard of.
Based on recommendations from a Palestinian friend, we have made some suggestions.
The first letter or postcard could start with the sentences below, and continue with a few personal informations, to be supplemented in future letters.
For a letter in arabic, one can usually find an Arabic-speaking person to help translate within solidarity organisations.
Warmly yours, لكم تحياتي مع
AFPS ‘Prisoners’ Working Group
soutienprisonniers@gmail.com
Suggested letter begginning
Dear Mr(Mrs) [first name and name],
Some French people in solidarity with Palestine gave me your name and the address of your prison. I feel a deep sympathy for the resistance of your people and I want to correspond with you. I know that you probably cannot answer me, don’t worry about it.
My name (or my first name if you do not wish to give your name) is … and I live … [etc.]
سيدي العزيز ]الاسم واللقب[
متضامنون فرنسيون مع فلسطين، قدموا لي اسمك وعنوان السجن الخاص بك. أشعر بالتعاطف
العميق مع صمود شعبك، وأود أن أتواصل معك عن طريق الرسائل. وأنا أعلم أنك ربما لا تستطيع الإجابة
عليها، لا تقلق بشأن ذلك.
اسمي ... وأنا أعيش ... ]الخ[.
