Malmö 18-19\6\2022

Your Excellency Mr. Ramzi Rabah, member of the Executive Committee of the PLO
Dr. KHALED HAMAD, Coordinator of the European Alliance in Defence of Palestinian Detainees (Germany)
MS. UMIHANA RASOBIC KASUMOVIC, Swedish left Party
Esteemed Conference Members, Speakers and Participants from Palestine, Europe and Sweden
On behalf of our conference, allow me to start by extending a message of respect and solidarity to our Palestinian heroes in Israeli prisons and detention centers and to reaffirm our full support to their / our just cause. It is also a fitting occasion to remind everyone that no matter how long their sentences are, freedom will be waiting for them despite all attempts by the occupying power to demotivate and diminish their resilience.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As of 12 June 2022, the number of political prisoners exceeded 4700, including more than 640 in administrative detention. Included in these figures, which increase on a daily basis, there are more than 450 detained children, 32 female prisoners, 7 parliamentarians, in addition to 25 prisoners dating back to before the Oslo accords, 551 serving life sentences, and 37 prisoners serving sentences exceeding 25 years.
The Israeli military orders related to the arrest, detention and prosecution of Palestinians are numerous, the first of which is Military Order 101 issued in August 1967, two months after the beginning of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian land. This order criminalizes civic activities including: organizing and participating in protests; taking part in assemblies or vigils; waving flags and other political symbols. We consider all Israeli military orders as nul and void, the occupying power cannot exercise the role of occupier and judge at the same time and we have no tolerance whatsoever to any illegal measure imposed by the occupying power throughout the occupied territory the State of Palestine, and all Israeli measures which are illegal should be reversed .
Distinguished Guests,
Occupation is the ugliest form of racism; Israel, the occupying power, continues its systematic and grave violations of international law, international humanitarian law, and the Third and Fourth Geneva Conventions with regards to Palestinian prisoners. The occupying power continues to disregard all international treaties and conventions that categorize and qualify these Israeli acts as crimes against humanity.
With more than 750 sick detainees in Israeli prisons, of which 23 have some sort of cancer, 88 are suffering from various physical disabilities, and more than 4 with half their bodies paralyzed, we can see a clear reflection to the real face of occupation.
Arbitrary arrests are considered a regular practice in the occupied territories of the State of Palestine. Some of these arrests are random and collective and there is no talking about law enforcement in the presence of the Israeli occupation forces, due to the fact that they forcibly arrest Palestinian citizens as part of their occupying policies.
Esteemed Audience,
We renew our call upon the international community to recognize and address the root causes entrenching persecution and apartheid over the Palestinian people as a whole, and to end all forms of individual and collective punishments. It is about time to ensure accountability and justice for my people.
The systematic and organized violations against the Palestinian people in the form of detentions, torture, sieges, imposing hunger, displacing people, demolishing homes, confiscating lands, expanding settlements, imposing the apartheid wall, in addition to hundreds of illegal practices, are all breaching international laws and human rights principles.
From Malmö, again we call upon the international community to provide the necessary support in line with their legal obligations to release Palestinian prisoners and detainees, particularly the sick and elderly. Also I would like to echo the call by different International NGOs to dispatch an international fact-finding medical team to examine and review the conditions of prisoners’ in Israeli jails and submit their reports to the relevant UN and international organizations, and follow up on their findings through concrete measures that will affect their lives and future.
Have you heard of detaining dead bodies, yes, Israel continues to detain tens of Palestinian corpses for many years now, and we demand their release and the return of their bodies to their families. No one can possibly imagine such cruel and inhuman behavior but Israel adopts this practice as part of their policies. In Palestine, the father and the son share the same cell in Israeli prisons, in Palestine, in Gaza, a whole population is placed in an open prison, in Palestine, children and women are detained, in Palestine there is only one option and that is to resist, to be resilient and to continue our peaceful struggle to end the occupation towards a free and democratic State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its eternal capital.
I take this opportunity to thank the organizers, the participants, the speakers and the supporters of this important conference and we look forward to its outcome and conclusions.
Finally, I convey to you the greetings of H.E. Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine, and Chairman of the executive committee of the PLO and his colleagues who wish you a successful conference.
Thank you Malmö for hosting this conference, long live Palestine and the Palestinian people.
Thank you