To:
Presidency of the Council of the EU
President of the European Council, Charles Michel
President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen
President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola
We, the undersigned Members of the European Parliament, follow with deep concern the worsening situation of the thousands of Palestinian activists, including Palestinian parliamentarians, who are detained in Israeli prisons, subjected to a daily life of violence and deprivation of their most elementary rights.
Currently, over 5000 Palestinian activist prisoners are held in Israeli jails, among them 34 women and 160 children.
Particularly grievous is the case of the hundreds of Palestinians subjected to so-called administrative detention, which allows detention for an indefinite period, under the orders of an Israeli military commander and without prosecution or trials. According to organizations that follow Palestinian activist prisoners in Israeli jails, some 500 prisoners are currently under administrative detention.
Several protest movements by Palestinian activists held in Israeli prisons have constituted acts of resistance for the recognition of their rights, ranging from the refusal to appear before Israeli military courts to hunger strikes.
We demand respect for the rights of the Palestinian activist – men, women and young people – imprisoned in Israeli jails, including the immediate release of all those under administrative detention.
The undersigned Members of the European Parliament urge you to denounce this situation and to act in the international fora, as well as directly with the Government of Israel, demanding that Israel respects the just demands of Palestinian activist prisoners held in Israeli prisons, and their release, namely of those on hunger strike protesting the illegality of their continued arbitrary detention.
We urge you to effectively intervene to ensure respect for the Palestinian people’s rights, an end to the Israeli occupation, a viable and sovereign State of Palestine on the 1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital, guaranteeing the inseparable right of return for refugees, as enshrined in numerous United Nations resolutions.
Cordially,
MEP João Pimenta Lopes,
MEP Sandra Pereira,
MEP Giorgos Georgiou,
MEP Manu Pineda,
MEP Irena Joveva,
MEP Marisa Matias
MEP Niyazi Kizilyürek
MEP Pernando Barrena Arza
MEP Clare Daly
MEP Mick Wallace
MEP Javier Nart
MEP José Gusmão
MEP Chris Macmanus
MEP Marc Botenga
MEP Özlem Demirel
MEP Rosa D’amato
MEP Leila Chaibi
MEP Idoia Villanueva Ruiz
MEP Sira Rego
MEP Massimiliano Smeriglio
MEP Ignazio Corrao
MEP Miguel Urbán Crespo
MEP Martin Buschmann
MEP Milan Brglez
MEP Manuel Bompard
MEP Giuliano Pisapia
MEP Tineke Strik
MEP Sabrina Pignedoli
MEP Alex Agius Saliba
MEP Nicolae Ştefănuță
MEP Mounir Satouri
MEP Konstantinos Arvanitis
MEP Eugenia Rodríguez Palop