Munther Amira must be released! NOW !
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Early in the morning of December 18, Israeli occupying forces arrested Palestinian activist Munther Amira at his home in the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem.
Munther Amira is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Aida Refugee Camp Youth Center, a local organization that provides support to children and young people in the camp.
He is also involved in the Coordination Committee for Popular Resistance (CCRP), a group of grassroots activists in the West Bank. As such, Munther Amira is a leading representative of non-violent popular resistance in the West Bank.
At 3 a.m., Israeli soldiers broke down the door of his house and beat his brother, Karim, for 15 minutes. He is currently hospitalized due to the severity of his injuries. The soldiers then beat Munther violently, tied up his sons and locked his wife and children in a bedroom. Munther was then blindfolded and the soldiers left him in the street for an hour before taking him to the military camp.
This is not the first time Munther has been targeted for his activist work. In 2017 he was arrested for taking part in a peaceful protest that demanded the release of prisoner Ahed Tamimi, then a child. Munther was sentenced to 6 months in prison for “disturbing public order” and “participating in an unauthorized demonstration”.
Since October 7, the Israeli army has arrested at least 4,450 Palestinians. Innocent men, women and children are locked up simply because they are Palestinian or, like Munther, because they speak out against the occupation. They are tortured and held in unacceptable conditions inside overcrowded prisons. We are therefore concerned for Munther’s safety.
He needs special care and medication following injuries inflicted by the occupying army a few weeks ago. He is deprived of it. At this time no one knows where he is.
The AFPS, both at the national level and through some of its local groups, has worked with Munther Amira for a long time, both in terms of its commitment to popular resistance and for the actions carried out within the framework of the Youth Center in the Aida camp. In 2022 he participated in a tour during which he testified about the situation in occupied Palestine and the resistance of the Palestinian people.
The AFPS would like to express its full solidarity with the Youth center of the Aida refugee camp, with the CCRP and all the actors of the popular resistance of which it is an essential element and of course with Munther’s family and to denounce the inhumane and violent conditions of his arbitrary arrest.
Munther has committed no crime and should not be in custody. Like all Palestinian political prisoners, Munther must be released now!
We call on the French authorities, who are perfectly aware of the quality of the work done by the Youth Center within the Aida camp and the role of Munther within the popular resistance, so that they do everything in their power to ensure that Munther regains freedom.
The AFPS National Office
December 18, 2023
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