Earlier this week, Al-Ahrar Toronto attended and tabled at Palestine Action Canada & Toronto Against CANSEC’s joint film screening of To Kill A War Machine.
To Kill A War Machine documents Palestine Action’s series of direct actions that successfully shut down Elbit Systems arms factories across the U.K.. The film also chronicles the imperialist state repression Palestine Action has faced as a result of their brave accomplishments– from arrests to house raids to being proscribed as a “terrorist” organization.
To conclude the evening, attendees had the amazing opportunity to hear from an ex-Palestine Action U.K. member, Mona, about her experiences as an actionist and the prison conditions of her comrades who remain incarcerated.
Umer Khalid (@freeumerkhalid on Instagram), a 22 year old disabled prisoner of the Brize Norton 6, is facing particularly harsh conditions. Imperialist prison systems are already extremely disabling on their own, so with an existing disability the prison becomes and even more oppressive place to exist within.
Umer has had to crawl across the floor to access toilet facilities, mobility aids are being withheld, he is facing gross medical neglect, and there is profound deterioration in his overall health as a result of incarceration.
During the Q&A, Mona told us that there are legal conditions on her incarcerated comrades that make it so any other prisoners associating with them results in their punishment. The British prison system is using their age-old colonial strategy of divide and conquer within prison walls to isolate Palestine Action strugglers.
Mona also informed us of the stigma associated with so-called “terrorist” charges that has thwarted people on the outside from supporting Umer and other incarcerated comrades.
It is clear that now more than ever, it is crucial that we remain united and stand with all prisoners of the Palestinian liberation struggle no matter their charges. It is also vital that we specifically reject the imperialist concept of “terrorism” and its characterizations that so severely impact Palestine organizing.
Free all prisoners of the Palestinian liberation struggle!
Free all Palestinian, Lebanese, and Syrian prisoners in Zionist jails!
Free them all!
Stay tuned for the next film screening by following @pal_action_canada on Instagram 🇵🇸
