![Join USPCN this Thursday, February 25th, at 1 PM Eastern Time (8 PM in Palestine) for a two hour social media storm to demand that Israel release Palestinian cultural worker Ata Khattab from political imprisonment! […]](https://uspcn.ipower.com/wp/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/ata-1-big-620x300.jpg "#FreeAtaKhattab Social Media Storm")
Ata is a good friend of USPCN, a leading cultural worker in Palestine, and Head Dabke Choreographer & Trainer with El-Funoun Palestinian Popular Dance Troupe in El-Bireh, Occupied West Bank, Palestine.
He was abducted from his family home at 4 AM on February 2nd, and has been in Israel’s notorious Al-Moscobiyeh interrogation center ever since. Just this morning, the Israeli military court extended Ata’s interrogation by nine additional days. Israeli “law” states that he can be held with no charges for up to 78 days.
USPCN condemns the abduction and arrest of Ata and leads the call to #FreeAtaKhattab and ALL Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli and Palestinian Authority jails!
Israel’s occupation authority, with its daily human rights violations, land theft, and ethnic cleansing, has a history of targeting Palestinian cultural workers for arrest, including Ata’s sister, many of his colleagues, and just recently, two dabke performers with Wishah Popular Dance Troupe, also in El-Bireh.
Ata and his siblings have worked for many years with El-Funoun, a volunteer-based organization of over 220 members dedicated to the preservation of authentic Palestinian folklore song, dance, and theater. Its work centers on the unbreakable resolve of Palestinian resistance and joy in the face of constant adversity, empowering artists across generations as they produce awe-inspiring pieces for the community.
It is possible that Israel will force Ata into administrative detention, which, according to Addameer, the main political prisoners’ advocacy organization in Palestine, is a political imprisonment order issued without trial or charge for up to three months at a time, and one that can be indefinitely renewed. Palestinians routinely spend years at a time jailed under administrative detention.
Join our social media storm on Thursday, February 25th, at 10 AM Pacific, 12 PM Central, 1 PM Eastern, and 8 PM in Palestine!
Follow us on social media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) to share our posts during the storm, and visit bit.ly/AtaStorm for sample content to post yourself. On Twitter and Instragram, tag @uspcn.
And use these hashtags:
#FreeAtaKhattab
#FreeAllPalestinianPoliticalPrisoners
الحرية_لعطا_خطاب#
Participating endorsers (list in formation): Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Al-Awda NY, American Friends Service Committee, American Muslims for Palestine-NJ, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Break the Silence Mural Project, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, El-Funoun Palestinian Popular Dance Troupe, Existence Is Resistance, Fredwreck (prominent hip hop producer), Freedom Road Socialist Organization, GoodKids MadCity, Janna Jihad (youngest Palestinian journalist in the world), Jewish Voice for Peace, Mamas Activating Movements for Abolition & Solidarity (MAMAS), National Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, NY4Palestine, Samidoun – Palestinian Political Prisoners Solidarity Network, Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation, Wishah Popular Dance Troupe, Yalla Indivisible
Until Liberation & Return,
USPCN
