A Union of Good Web site is reporting on a second European initiative described as a “broad campaign in solidarity with the prisoners in occupation jails.” According to the report, the initiative was launched at the recent Palestinians in Europe conference held in Denmark:
The General Secretariat of Palestinians in Europe launched a broad campaign in solidarity with the prisoners in occupation jails, aiming at pressuring the decision makers, the officials in the EU and the different European parliaments to intervene in order to support the prisoners’ cause. The European Campaign for the Defense of Palestinian prisoners affirmed in a statement on Tuesday, that it would send a petition, supported by more than ten thousand participants in the tenth Palestinians in Europe conference in Denmark last Saturday, to a large number of politicians and parliamentarians, including EU Commissioner Baroness Catherine Ashton. Thus, the campaign started sending urgent messages to the Secretary-General of the UN Ban Ki-moon, the British PM and his Foreign Minister, members of the European Parliament and British MPs as well as contacting dozens of Palestinians and activists in Europe to urge them to send an officially signed letter to members of European parliament and MPs of the countries that are members in the European Union. It is expected that this campaign will continue for an indefinite period in parallel with the ongoing prisoners’ strike to increase the solidarity and to draw the politicians’ and the media’s attention to captives’ strike, as activist Rami Abdo said. The chair of the Palestinians in Europe Conference and Director-General of the Palestinian Return Centre Majid Al Zeer as well as the Secretary General of the Palestinians Europe conference Adel Abdullah stressed on the importance to put pressure on the Israeli occupation to release the prisoners and meet their demands. The campaign emphasized that the prisoners’ issue reached a crucial stage that imposes an urgent European and international intervention, especially after launching a hunger strike by thousands of them.”
A post from last week that reported on the conference identified another new initiative described as follows:
The conference’s organizers also launched an initiative in which many European Communities will take part entitled ‘the wall and settlements’ removal’ and aiming at pressuring ‘Israel’. Meanwhile, a number of participants in the conference agreed unanimously on the key issues that must be supported, most importantly opposing the Judaization of AlQuds, the Palestinian prisoners’ issue and the internal situation stating that these issues can be solved only after a Palestinian reconciliation. However, Palestinian political activist Ibrahim Hamami noted ‘It seems that PA does not want Palestinian unity and is not interested in reconciliation.’ Mentioning all the agreements signed between Hamas and Fatah movement.
The Palestine Return Center (PRC), a co-sponsor of the Palestinians in Europe conferences, has strong ties to the global Muslim Brotherhood. Two PRC directors are also directors of the Muslim Association of Britain (MAB), generally regarded as part of the UK. Muslim Brotherhood. The PRC is also listed as an affiliate of the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) which frequently acts in concert with U.K. Muslim Brotherhood groups and PRC activities are frequently promoted by the MAB, MCB, and other U.K. Brotherhood organizations. PRC director Ghassan Four is also a Trustee of INTERPAL, a key member of the Union of Good and part of the Muslim Brotherhood Hamas fund-raising network . PRC director Zaher Birawi is a Trustee of Education Aid for Palestine (EAP), also a part of the Union of Good. Mr. Birawi is also head of programming for Al-Hiwar TV which frequently features MB/Hamas individuals and organizations and was founded by Azzam Al-Tamimi, a U.K Muslim Brotherhood leader and close to Hamas. An Israeli web site, known to be close to Israeli military intelligence, has reported that Mr. Birawi, along with another PRC Trustee are “past Hamas operatives who found refuge in Britain in the early nineties.” The executive director of the PRC is Arafat Madi (aka Arafat Madi Shoukri) who is also the chairman of the European Campaign to End the Siege of Gaza (ECESG), one of the main sponsors of the Gaza flotilla movement.