Letter from BDS Italy to the Ambassador of Palestine to Italy

Dear Ambassador,

We are writing to you as BDS Italia to express our shock and profound concern over the arrest of four of our fellow BDS activists, Zaid Shuaibi, Fajer Harb, Fadi Quran and Abed al-Fatah Hamayel, by Palestinian Authority security officials in Ramallah on April 12.

On that occasion, the four Palestinian BDS activists did nothing more than what we ourselves have done many times, peacefully protesting an event that failed to respect Palestinian civil society’s call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. The activists, who agreed to leave the event after exercising their right to freedom of expression, were then assaulted by Palestinian police and detained overnight with no access to an attorney.

Rather than investigate the assault on the activists, which was corroborated by a number of eyewitnesses, we have learned that charges of “disturbing the peace” and “provoking a riot” have been brought against the activists, with the first hearing on the case set for May 28.

As activists fully committed to the struggle for Palestinian human rights, including the meaningful exercise of self-determination, who recognize the BDS campaign as the most effective means for advancing those rights, we are alarmed at this turn of events. We expect that our fellow activists in Palestine be guaranteed the right to freedom of expression without intimidation, fear of punishment or oppression.

We demand that the charges against the activists be dropped immediately. The right to freedom of expression as established under Palestinian and international law must be strictly respected.

We urge you, as a representative of the Palestinian Authority, to take all necessary measures to ensure that the activists in question, as well as the greater BDS movement, suffer no consequences from this grave incident.

Furthermore, we urge you to fully support the BDS movement, in Palestine and abroad, which has proven itself time and again as a highly effective means to advance Palestinian rights.

We stand in solidarity with our fellow Palestinian BDS activists and will continue to support all Palestinians struggling for their rights.

Please find attached statements from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, which include detailed reports on the incident as well as eyewitness testimony.

We look forward to receiving your urgent reply on this matter. Please do not hesitate to contact us for further clarification of our position.

Best regards,

BDS Italia
bdsitalia.org