Action Alert

Join Amnesty International in calling to #FreeMahmoud

Take action, as Amnesty calls for international pressure to free Mahmoud Nawajaa and protect BDS campaigners globally

As Israeli authorities continue to deny Palestinian human rights defender and BDS Coordinator Mahmoud Nawajaa his right to see his lawyer, keeping him in their interrogation dungeons,  Amnesty International calls for international pressure to #FreeMahmoud and to protect BDS campaigners globally. Please use and share this statement widely, including media, and mobilize pressure on governments and parliaments to demand from Israel to #FreeMahmoud.

Today, Amnesty International issued a statement that said:

Israeli authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Palestinian human rights defender Mahmoud Nawajaa, 34, the General Coordinator of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).... He has been detained solely for exercising his rights to freedom of expression and association and is therefore a prisoner of conscience.

Rhetorical condemnation, Amnesty said, only entrenches Israeli impunity. The statement said:

the international community as a whole has generally failed to take concrete action to pressure Israel to stop such practices. This has been interpreted by Israeli officials as a green light to continue them. The international community should make it clear that Israel’s attacks against human rights defenders and other voices who criticize Israel’s occupation will not be tolerated.

Amnesty concluded:

Advocating for boycotts, divestment and sanctions is a form of non-violent advocacy and of free expression that must be protected. Advocates of boycotts should be allowed to express their views freely and take forward their campaigns without harassment, threats of prosecution or criminalization, or other measures that violate the right to freedom of expression.

Israeli soldiers arrested Mahmoud Nawajaa from his home during a night raid on July 30. Israel has denied his right to consult with his lawyer since his arrest.

Here’s what you can do to help us #FreeMahmoud:

  1. Use the Amnesty International statement to strengthen our campaign: 

  1. Use this sample letter to write to your government’s foreign office/ministry and ask them to urgently: 

  • Take all actions at their disposal to ensure Israel’s immediate release of Palestinian human rights defender Mahmoud Nawajaa.
  • Publicly condemn Israel for its arrest of Palestinian human rights defenders, like Nawajaa, and demand Israel’s respect of their right to operate freely. 
  • Ensure that BDS activists are allowed to take forward their non-violent human rights campaigns without harassment, threats of prosecution or criminalization.
  1. Mobilize support from human rights organisations, political parties, members of parliament, trade unions, as well as church, feminist, antiracist and LGTBQAI+ groups, asking them to help you put pressure on your government.

  2. Raise awareness on social media, use the hashtags, #FreeMahmoud, #LibertadParaMahmoud.

  3. Strengthen your BDS campaigns and your planned actions calling for lawful and targeted sanctions, including military embargoes, to stop Israeli annexation plans and apartheid, and include the demand to #FreeMahmoud and to end Israel’s attempts to silence Human Rights Defenders.

Help us call for effective international pressure to secure Mahmoud Nawajaa’s immediate release.


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