I have received the following letter from Sarah Cobham
requesting action to support Sireen Khudairy.
I am contacting you because you signed my petition calling for the release of Palestinian teacher and human rights activist Sireen Khudairy earlier this year. Maybe you've met Sireen, or you oppose the actions of apartheid Israel, or you know the appalling conditions under which Palestinians are held. Whatever your reasons, I am asking you to take one more action in support of Sireen. Since her release from prison in August she has been harassed by the Israeli Occupation Forces, and so have her family. On 12th November she had to go into hiding following a night raid on her family home. Her family have appealed to all her Palestinian and International friends to take action contact their elected representatives, to put pressure on the Israeli government to stop this harassment now. You can find details of the harassment she's been subjected to, and how you can support her http://freesireen.wordpress.com/ Please do whatever you can, and share this appeal with others.” Sarah Cobham.
Sireen Khudairy Background
Sireen is active in the non violent campaign for human
rights in Palestine. She studied computer science at the Open University in
Tubas. During her studies she was actively involved in a twinning project
between Tubas and the University of Sussex, England.
On Tuesday 14th May 2013, Sireen was kidnapped by the
Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) whilst traveling home from Nablus to Tubas. As
well, the IOF raided Sireen’s family home whilst her father Khalid Sawafteh,
her mother, three brothers, sisters in law and their two young children were
sleeping. 25 IOF army jeeps entered the town of Tubas. 20 officers entered the
home and over 100 remained in the street cornering off the house. The family
and young children were all taken into one room whilst their home was
ransacked. The IOF took all the computers in the house leaving Sireen's
relatives in shock.
Tubas is located in Area A as designated under the Oslo
Accords, an agreement drawn up between the Palestinian Authority and the
Israeli government. 'Legally' it is under total Palestinian civil and military
control. Israeli civilians and military are prohibited to enter Area A and any
incursion into this area is considered a breach of this agreement. Despite
this, the IOF have continued to carry out 'operations' in Area A.
After her detention, Sireen was forcibly transferred out of
the Occupied Palestinian Territories to an Israeli prison in Haifa located in
the north of Israel, a practice illegal under international law.
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention states that
individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected
persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to
that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their
motive''. While Article 76 states clearly that 'protected persons accused of
offences shall be detained in the occupied country, and if convicted they shall
serve their sentences therein''.
Sireen appeared in court four times with her hands and legs
shackled. The spurious charge was internet activism, creating a Facebook page
which is considered a 'threat' to the 'security' of the region. Eventually she
was released on bail, but has since been subject to Israeli army intimidation .
Sireen Khuduairy urgently needs solidarity and publicity to
help her situation.
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