CO Ajuad Zidan imprisoned by Zio-Nazi's for seventh time in a row

NOVANEWS

 

– Please distribute widely –

Dear Friends, 
CO Ajuad Zidan was sentenced to 20 more days of imprisonment on 21 Mar. for his refusal to enlist. This is now his seventh term in prison.
In our previous update on his case there was apparently an inaccuracy, as it appears his sixth term was shorter. He was released on March 18th. However, upon release he was again ordered to report at the military induction base, where he was sentenced again and returned to prison. This cycle is likely to continue after this term in prison too.
Ajuad Zidan is due to be released from prison on 7 April, and is likely to be imprisoned again afterwards. His address in prison is:

Ajuad ZidanMilitary ID 5810026Military Prison No. 6Military Postal Code 01860, IDFIsraelFax: ++972-4-9540580

Since the prison authorities often block mail from reaching imprisoned objectors, we also recommend you to send them your letters of support and encouragement via e-mail to: messages2prison@newprofile.org (hitting “reply all” to this message will send the message to the same address), and they will be printed out and delivered during visits.

Recommended Action

First of all, please circulate this message and the information contained in it as widely as possible, not only through e-mail, but also on websites, social networks, conventional media, by word of mouth, etc.

Other recommendations for action:

1. Sending Letters of Support

Please send Ajuad Zidan letters of support to the prison address above and to messages2prison@newprofile.org.

2. Letters to Authorities

It is recommended to send letters of protest on the objectors’ behalf, preferably by fax, to:

Mr. Ehud Barak,Minister of Defence,Ministry of Defence,Hakirya,Tel-Aviv 64743,Israel.E-mail: sar@mod.gov.il or pniot@mod.gov.ilTel.: ++972-3-6975540 or ++972-3-6975423Fax: ++972-3-6976711

Copies of your letters can also be sent to the commander of the military prison at:

Commander of Military Prison No. 6,Military Prison No. 6Military Postal Code 01860, IDFIsraelFax: ++972-4-9540580

Another useful address for sending copies would be the Military Attorney General:

Avichai Mandelblit,Chief Military AttorneyMilitary postal code 9605, IDFIsraelFax: ++972-3-569-45-26

It would be especially useful to send your appeals to the Commander of the Induction Base in Tel-HaShomer. It is this officer that ultimately decides whether an objector is to be exempted from military service or sent to another round in prison, and it is the same officer who is ultimately in charge of the military Conscience Committee:

Gadi Agmon,Commander of Induction Base,Meitav, Tel-HaShomerMilitary Postal Code 02718, IDFIsrael.Fax: ++972-3-737-60-52

For those of you who live outside Israel, it would be very effective to send protests to your local Israeli embassy. You can find the address of your local embassy on the web.

Here is a generic sample letter, which you can use in sending appeals to authorities on the prisoners’ behalf. Feel free to modify this letter or write your own:

Dear Sir/Madam,It has come to my attention that Ajuad Zidan from the town of Beit Jann (military ID 5810026), a conscientious objector to military service, has been imprisoned for the seventh time in a row for his refusal to become part of the Israeli army, and is held in Military Prison no. 6 near Atlit.The imprisonment of conscientious objectors such as Ajuad Zidan is a violation of international law, of basic human rights and of plain morals. This is especially clear in cases, such as Zidan’s, in which conscientious objectors are being sentenced repeatedly for their self-same decision to refuse enlistment.I therefore call for the immediate and unconditional release from prison of Ajuad Zidan, without threat of further imprisonment in the future, and urge you and the system you are heading to respect the dignity and person of conscientious objectors, indeed of all persons, in the future.Sincerely,

3. Letters to media in Israel and in other countries

Writing op-ed pieces and letters to editors of media in Israel and other countries could also be quite useful in indirectly but powerfully pressuring the military authorities to let go of the objectors and in bringing their plight and their cause to public attention.

Here are some contact details for the main media outlets in Israel:

Ma’ariv:2 Karlibach st.Tel-Aviv 67132IsraelFax: +972-3-561-06-14e-mail: editor@maariv.co.il	Yedioth Aharonoth:2 Moses st.Tel-AvivIsraelFax: +972-3-608-25-46	Ha’aretz (Hebrew):21 Schocken st.Tel-Aviv, 61001IsraelFax: +972-3-681-00-12
Ha’aretz (English edition):21 Schocken st.Tel-Aviv, 61001IsraelFax: +972-3-512-11-56e-mail: letters@haaretz.co.il	Israel Hayom:2 Hashlosha st.The B1 BuildingTel-AvivIsraele-mail: hayom@israelhayom.co.il	Jerusalem Post:P.O. Box 81Jerusalem 91000IsraelFax: +972-2-538-95-27e-mail: news@jpost.co.il orletters@jpost.co.il
Radio (fax numbers):Kol-Israel +972-2-531-33-15 and +972-3-694-47-09Galei Zahal +972-3-512-67-20	Television (fax numbers):Channel 1 +972-2-530-15-36Channel 2 +972-2-533-98-09Channel 10 +972-3-733-16-66

We will continue updating on further developments.

Thank you for your attention and action,