Occupied Ramallah, 5 May 2013 - Addameer is pleased to announce that our director Sahar Francis will be conducting a speaking tour in the United States in the month of May.
 
This tour comes at a crucial moment: Over 4,900 Palestinians are detained by Israel, including 236 children, 14 elected members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and 170 administrative detainees held without charge or trial. Since 1967, over 52 prisoners have died from medical neglect and 73 from torture during interrogation, most recently 64 year old Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh who was denied cancer treatment. Since 2011, Palestinian political prisoners are continuously on hunger strike to protest their arbitrary arrest and detention, including Ayman Abu Daoud, who has been on hunger strike for over 3 weeks.
 
Meanwhile in the United States, 166 prisoners are still detained in Guantanamo Bay, many of them on hunger strike to protest their extrajudicial incarceration, especially those who have served years without being charged. African-American children in Cook County, Illinois make up 71% of youth arrests despite only being 32% of the total population. At Pelican Bay Maximum Security Prison in California, mass hunger strikes regularly erupt in protest of the inhumane conditions.
 
Spanning seven major cities across the United States, Addameer seeks to build bridges between our shared struggle against oppression by finding commonalities and strategizing ways to resist the institutionalized systems of control.
For more information: info@addameer.ps
                                                                                                                                                              
MONDAY 6 May 2013 - Irvine, California
 “Cruel and Unusual Punishment” Lecture
*Part of Resisting Zionism: The Palestinian Narrative Week* 
Time: 7:30PM – 9:00PM
Location: Crystal Cove Auditorium in the University of California, Irvine Student Center
Sponsored by: UCI Muslim Student Union
 
TUESDAY 7 May 2013 - Los Angeles, California
Palestinian Political Prisoners: The Intersection of International Law and the Palestinian Struggle
Time: Refreshments 6:30PM, Lecture 7:00PM-9:00PM
Location: United Methodist Church, 4464 Selpulveda Blvd. Culver City, CA 90230
Sponsored by: Jewish Voices for Peace, Palestinian American Women’s Association, UCLA Students for Justice in Palestine
$10 Donation Requested, No one turned away for lack of funds
 
THURSDAY 9 May 2013 – San Francisco, California
Keynote Speech at the opening of “From Pelican Bay to Guantanamo to Palestine” Conference
Time: 4:00 PM -6:30 PM
Location: College of Ethnic Studies, San Francisco State University, 1600 Holloway Ave, EP 425, San Francisco, CA 94132
Sponsored by: Al-Awda: Palestinian Right to Return Coalition; All of Us or None; Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas Initiative-SFSU; Arab Resource and Organizing Center; Black Student Union (BSU)-SFSU; California Coalition for Women Prisoners; Center for Race and Gender, UC-Berkeley; Committee to Stop FBI Repression; Critical Resistance; Freedom Archives; Friends of Sabeel, Northern California; General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS)-SFSU; International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network; La Raza Student Organization-SFSU; League of Filipino Students (LFS)-SFSU; Malcolm X Grassroots Movement; Movimento Estudiantil Chicano/a de Aztlan (MeCHA)-SFSU; Middle East Children’s Alliance; Muslim Student Association (MSA)-SFSU; Muslim Women Student Association (MWSA)-SFSU; Project Rebound-SFSU; Race and Resistance Studies-SFSU; Richard Oakes Multicultural Center, Cesar Chavez Student Center; Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network; Student Kouncil of Inter-tribal Nations (SKINS)-SFSU; United States Palestinian Community Network; US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel; War Times/Tiempo de Guerras.
$10 Donation Requested, No one turned away for lack of funds
 
Meet and Greet at the Arab Cultural and Community Center
Time: 7:00 PM -9:00 PM
Sponsored by: Arab Cultural and Community Center (In Arabic with Simultaneous Translation)
 
SATURDAY 11 May 2013 – Chicago, Illinois
Juvenile Injustice: Criminalization of Youth in Palestine and Chicago
Time: Lunch served at 12:30PM, Program starts at 1:00PM
Location: Alhambra Palace Restaurant, Chicago 1240 W. Randolph St.
Hosted by:Arab Jewish Partnership for Peace and Justice in the Middle East
Co-sponsored by: American Friends Service Committee, Arab American Action Network, Chicago Faith Coalition on Middle East Policy, Community Justice for Youth Institute, Arab American Democratic Club, Precious Blood Ministry of Reconciliation, The Institute on Public Safety and Social Justice, Children and Family Justice Center of Northwestern University Law School, Committee for a Justice Peace in Israel and Palestine, Students for Justice in Palestine – UIC, Juvenile Justice Initiative of Illinois, Black Youth Project.
$25 Donation Requested
 
SUNDAY 12 May 2013 - Chicago, Illinois
Annual Outdoor Nakba Day Event-Our Identity, Our Dream, Our Future
Sahar to speak after 4PM
Time: 2:30PM-7:30PM
Location 7361 W. 93rd St. Bridgeview, IL
 
MONDAY 13 May 2013 – Chicago, Illinois
Lecture for the Arab Women’s Committee (in Arabic) 
Time: 10:00AM – 2:00PM
Location: TBA
Sponsored by: Arab American Action Network
 
From Puerto Rico to Palestine: Colonial Domination and Political Prisoners featuring Sahar Francis, Jose E. Lopez and Jan Susler
Time: 4:00PM – 6:00 PM
Location: John Marshall Law School, 304 S. State St, Room 420
Sponsored by National Lawyers Guild Chicago‘s The United People of Color Caucus and Palestine Solidarity Committee
Please register online at http://tinyurl.com/cleprtopalestine  
Free for those who do not want CLE credits.
2 CLE Credits available – $20. Pay online http://tinyurl.com/paypalcleprtopalestine or pay at the door.
 
THURSDAY 16 May 2013 – Washington DC
Incarceration and Community Resistance: From DC t o Palestine
Time: 6:30 PM
Location: Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ
5301 North Capitol Street, NE Washington, D.C. 20011
Sponsored by: US Campaign tp End Israeli Occupation, Codepink, USPCN, USACBI

SATURDAY 18 May 2013 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Ending Mass Incarceration: From Palestine to Pennsylvania
Time: 6:30 PM – 9:00 PM
Location: Friends Center, Philadelphia  1501 Cherry St., Philadelphia
Sponsored by the American Friends Service Committee
 
SUNDAY 19 May 2013 - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Prison Jusitce in Palestine: A Conversation with Sahar Francis
Time: 2:00 PM - 3:30 PM
Location: St. Aspha Church, Conshohocken State Rd, Bala Cynwyd, PA
Sponsored by Middle East Study Group
 
SUNDAY 19 May 2013 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
A General Overview of Prisoners (Lecture in Arabic)
Time: 7:30 PM
Location: Alhidaya Mosque , 123 Luzerne St.
 
TUESDAY 21 May 2013 – New York City, New York
Calls to Conscience: Prison Resistance in Palestine, Guantánamo, the U.S. and Iran
Time: 7:30 PM
Location: The Brecht Forum, 451 West Street
Sponsored by: The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), Adalah-NY: The New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel, and Havaar: Iranian Initiative Against War, Sanctions, and State Repression
 
FRIDAY 24 May 2013 - Detroit, Michigan
Time: TBA
Marygrove College, Detroit
 
 
Since 2006, Sahar Francis has been the General Director of Ramallah-based Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, a Palestinian NGO providing legal and advocacy support to Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli and Palestinian prisons. An attorney by training, she joined the association in 1998, first as a human rights lawyer, then as head of the Legal Unit. With over sixteen years of human rights experience, including human rights counseling and representation, Ms. Francis also sits on the Board of Defense for Children International – Palestine Section.