PYM urges release of Walid Daqqa infront of UN headqauarters in NY

The Palestinian Youth Movement has been organizing rallies and protests across North America and the UK in support of Walid Daqqa and urging the UN to exert the needed pressure for the release of the Palestinian prisoner as “Israel” has been implementing a medical neglect policy against him.

The Palestinian Youth Movement’s New York Chapter holds a rally in front of UN headquarters in support of Palestinian political prisoner Walid Daqqa, in New York, US, on July 7, 2023. (Palestinian Youth Movement)

Protests calling for the liberation of cancer-stricken Palestinian Prisoner Walid Daqqa have been organized by the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) across a number of cities in North America and the UK since early July.

In New York, protestors gathered in front of the UN headquarters and demanded Daqqa’s “immediate release from Zionist prisons” according to Kaleem Hawa from the Palestinian Youth Movement New York Chapter.

Hawa said the aim has been to push the UN to act and put an “end to the Zionist program of deliberate medical neglect intended to end Walid’s life.”

Over 100 people joined the New York PYM chapter in protest of the continued imprisonment of Daqqa.

According to a statement released by the movement, the US, Canada, and UK protests called on the UN to “Publicly condemn the Israeli regime for their unlawful treatment of Walid Daqqah and the policy of medical negligence inside of Israeli prisons at large,” as well as “Urgently form a medical team in communication with his family campaign and prisoners’ institutions to visit Walid, in order to break the medical blackout about his condition.”

Moreover, the statement also urged “the United Nations Security Council to take action by referring this grave violation of international law to the International Criminal Court.,” adding that “Israel’s medical negligence against Daqqah is a breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention which enlists the rights of prisoners in occupied territories,” underscoring that such actions “can be defined as a war crime or crime against humanity.”

Hawa told Al Mayadeen that the protests were all part of a “wider effort to email and petition key international organizations like the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, and Amnesty International demanding they escalate Walid’s case, given its urgency and importance.”

The activist also explained that the UN recognized the Nakba in May of 2023 but highlighted that “if the UN wants to commemorate the history of Palestinian dispossession, if the UN wants to remind the world of the crimes of Zionism, then they must also take active steps to address the ongoing Nakba—including the murderous policies of imprisonment, medical negligence, and administrative detention.”

PYM has firmly expressed, through their protests, that “the Palestinian youth of the far diaspora stand in a struggle with Walid and all our political prisoners.”

The Palestinian Youth Movement (#PYM), @palyouthmvmt, organized a series of demonstrations in the #US and #Canada, and participated in others in #Europe, to commemorate the 75th year of the #Nakba “to send a clear message to the Zionist entity and its colonial allies”, according… pic.twitter.com/LlTf42YA9t

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) May 15, 2023

Waed Association: Israeli Occupation seeks revenge against Walid Daqqa

The Waed Prisoners’ Affairs Association reported earlier, in June, that Walid Daqqa’s health continues to deteriorate as he remains bedridden at the Ramla Prison clinic as the Israeli Occupation rejected, once again, all efforts to release Daqqa, who had hopes of spending his final days outside the prison.

“The occupation’s insistence on rejecting all solutions comes in a clear context of vengeance against the prisoner Daqqa and settling their account with him.”

The association indicated that 17 prisoners in the Ramla Prison are currently ill and suffering from chronic illnesses. It also noted that adding Palestinian prisoner Asif Al-Rifai has been one of the most serious cases where cancer had spread throughout his body last month.

Daqqa’s condition worsened as cancer spread throughout his entire body. However, Daqqa’s health has worsened given the systematic medical neglect policy imposed by the Israeli Occupation. It is worth noting that Sheikh Khader Adnan was martyred in May due to the systematic medical neglect policies imposed by the Israeli Occupation.