Palestinian activists charged by Israeli military to speak in London

Two Palestinian activists currently facing charges in Israeli military courts are set to speak in London next week, at an event organised by Amnesty International and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).

Issa Amro and Farid Al-Atrash will speak alongside Baroness Tessa Blackstone at Amnesty UK’s headquarters on Monday.

Both men face charges “related to their involvement in protests, including one in February 2016 – the ‘Shuhada Street protest’ – against restrictions placed by the Israeli military on the movement of Palestinians in the West Bank city of Hebron.”

In addition, earlier this month, Amro was also arrested and charged by the Palestinian Authority, over “alleged cybercrimes after writing about the arrest of a Palestinian journalist on Facebook”.

Read: Amnesty slams charges brought against human rights defender by Palestinian Authority

According to a press statement, the event, “50 Years of Occupation – 50 Years of Repression of Peaceful Protest”, is “part of Amnesty’s campaign to highlight human rights violations in the context of Israel’s half-century of occupation of Palestinian territory”.

#FreedomOfExpression

In June, Amnesty issued a call on all governments – including the UK – to ban the import of goods produced in the illegal Israeli settlements.

The panel will include Amro, Al-Atrash, Baroness Blackstone, as well as PSC chair Hugh Lanning, and Ashira Ramadan, Israel/Palestine researcher at Amnesty International.

The event is free, but places can be reserved here.