ACTION ALERT: SFP LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN CALLING FOR THE IMMEDIATE RELEASE OF DR. YOUSEF ABDUL HAQ
URGENT APPEAL

Dr. Yousef Abdul Haq held without charge or trial
“Stay Humanized”
Dr. Yousef

Solidarity Movement for a Free Palestine (SFP) and the Tanweer Cultural Centre are demanding the immediate, unequivocal and safe release of Dr. Yousef Abdul Haq. Known for the phrase “stay humanized” Dr. Yousef lived by this philosophy despite Israel’s attempt to silence him.
On 26 August 2014 73 year old Dr. Yousef Abdul Haq, a retired Economics Professor at An-Najah National University, was arrested from his home in Nablus by the Israeli Army. The soldiers ransacked Dr. Yousef’s home, which he shares with his only daughter.
Dr. Yousef was taken from his home at approximately 02:30am and transferred to Huwwara Military Camp, just south of Nablus city. 7 days later Dr. Yousef appeared before an Israeli Military Court where a Judge consented to Dr. Yousef’s detention, without charge, for 4 months.
Dr. Yousef is known to his friends and the community as a gentle, wise and considerate man. In 2005 he co-founded the Tanweer Cultural Forum where youth and the community gather to organize cultural events, such as poetry readings, filming showings and community volunteering. Dr. Yousef has also been an inspiring and integral member of SFP, resisting the illegal Occupation of his land through non-violent methods.
This is not the first time Dr. Yousef has been interned by Apartheid Israel. He has been arrested 3 times, the last being in 2010 when he was held for 4 months. In total Dr. Yousef has spent nearly 3 years in Israeli Apartheid prisons.
Born in the village of Deir Istiya in Salfit district of the occupied West Bank area of Palestine, Dr. Yousef became a lecturer in Law and Economics at Palestine’s biggest and most prestigious University, An-Najah National University, Nablus. Dr. Yousef was fondly thought of by his students at An-Najah National University in Nablus, where he taught Economics and Law for many years prior to his retirement.
Dr. Yousef had returned to the West Bank area of Palestine in 1993, with the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and the signing of the Oslo Accords. Despite being Palestinian he had been prevented from returning to his homeland, living in exile with the PLO in Tunis. Since then he has also been preventing from visiting his capital city, Jerusalem, by his Occupiers.
Dr. Yousef has worked tirelessly for his people, his community and Palestine. As a result he has been a constant target of the Occupation. Now in his seventies he is suffering from high blood pressure and should be at home enjoying his retirement and his only grandchild.
SFP and Tanweer demand his release and would ask people around the world to assist in our campaign in the following ways:
Please sign and share the petition demanding the release of Dr. Yousef and the end of the use of administrative detention. Please click here to sign the petition and share widely.
Write to your local representative and raise the issue of Dr. Yousef’s case, requesting they raise it with the Government. A template letter can be downloaded here.
Write to your Foreign Minister and demand they raise the case with the Israeli Ambassador and the EU Foreign Secretary. A template letter can be downloaded here.
Write to the Israeli Commander and demand Dr. Yousef’s immediate release:
Letters should be addressed to Lt. Colonel Sharon Afek Legal Advisor to the Israeli Army in the West Bank Chief Military Attorney:
P.O. Box 10482, Beit El, West Bank
Tel: 972-2-997-7071, Mobile: 972-50-551-1782
Fax: 972-2-997-7326
Write to Baroness Ashton, EU Foreign Secretary. A template letter can be downloaded here.
Join and promote the Palestinian call for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Apartheid Israel. To read the call and learn more please click here.
Join and/ or step up actions against the enablers and profiteers of the Occupation, particularly G4S, which provides much of the prison infrastructure for Apartheid Israel. For some ideas please visit here.
If you would also like to contribute a message of solidarity for Dr. Yousef’s family, SFP are collating messages that we will pass on. Please email your messages here.
http://solidaritymovementsfp.wordpress.com/2014/09/02/action-alert-sfp-launches-campaign-calling-for-the-immediate-release-of-dr-yousef-abdul-haq/