On Saturday, 29 August, the Free Palestine Front organized an event in Beirut’s Lebanese National Theater in Hamra, in support of the Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners, towards building a stronger collective front for their liberation. The hall was decorated with historical and new posters highlighting the struggle of the prisoners in occupation prisons, as well as the posters of the 36 known Lebanese prisoners in occupation jails. (Download the prisoners’ posters here.)
The event aims to build a strong popular movement in support of the prisoners’ liberation, especially when their fate is threatened by the ongoing Zionist/U.S. occupation and aggression against Lebanon, as well as the negotiations under the so-called “framework agreement,” which links the dozens of Lebanese suffering in occupation prisons to illegitimate Zionist demands to obtain the bodies of Lebanese Jews killed in the Civil War — a matter over which the Zionist entity has no legitimate interest — and dead occupation soldiers from over 30 years ago.
The event began with a speech by the Free Palestine Front, followed by a speech by Fatima Karaki, sister of wounded Lebanese prisoner Hussein Karaki and daughter of the martyr Tamara Shahimi, which included her poetry addressing her brother, on behalf of the families of the Lebanese prisoners in occupation jails. Lawyer Samah Mahdi spoke on behalf of the Committee of Prisoners and Freed Prisoners, detailing the legal rights of the prisoners and the ongoing severe violations of the Zionist regime, as well as proposing legal strategies to confront the occupation.
Journalist Hussein Chaabane spoke on behalf of the Call for Freedom Campaign, while Dr. Marwa Deeb spoke for the Khiam Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Torture. Several liberated prisoners spoke, including Anwar Yassin and Khadija Harz, who had been held in the infamous Ansar prison camp in south Lebanon.
Several interventions took place over video, including remarks by liberated Palestinian prisoners Mahmoud al-Arda, leader of the Gilboa “Freedom Tunnel” operation of 2021, in which six Palestinian prisoners freed themselves from a Zionist high security prison prior to their recapture, and Abdel-Nasser Issa, leading Palestinian prisoner who spent over 30 years in occupation prisons before his liberation in Toufan al-Ahrar. Jaldia Abubakra, speaking on behalf of the Alkarama Palestinian Women’s Movement, also addressed the event over video from Spain.
The event was widely attended, including by freed prisoners like Georges Abdallah, Mohammed Hashishu of the Popular Democratic Party, longtime Palestinian struggler Munir Shafiq, and a strong delegation of Palestinian activists and organizers from Bourj al-Barajneh camp with the Palestinian International Center.
