Understanding solidarity with political prisoners

Dear friends,

Last week, I wrote to remind us all about our ability to do something to get in the way of the genocide machine. Today, I’m writing to you with updates from Palestine and around the world, along with some action items and resources.

On October 6, 2023, there were approximately 5,250 Palestinian prisoners being held in Israeli prisons. This was already a serious injustice; indigenous Palestinians are unjustly subjected to Israel’s system of colonial laws and policies which are built to imprison, eliminate, and erase them in order to build the state on top of their homeland. The occupier has no right to enforce its laws on the indigenous Palestinian people.

Today, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club announced that the total number of known Palestinian prisoners has risen to 11,100. This includes 3,577 administrative detainees, who are held indefinitely and without charge, 2,662 detainees classified as “unlawful combatants”, and 400 children. I note these are the total number of known prisoners because it is not known how many Palestinians from Gaza have been abducted and continue to be held in Israeli army camps.

The number of Palestinian prisoners has doubled in less than two years while conditions inside of these centers have only continued to get worse. Prisoners released from occupation custody bare the marks of abuse and neglect on their often emaciated bodies; their words only elaborate on the horrors they have experienced. Palestinian prisoners report severe torture, regular beatings, a policy of starvation and denial of water, medical neglect and abuse, sexual abuse, inadequate clothing and sleeping arrangements, horrific cell conditions, and even a policy of applying electric shocks. Since 1967, 320 Palestinian political prisoners have died or been killed in Israeli jails. 76 of these political prisoners have been killed in less than two years.

Tahani Abu Samhan, 33, gave birth to her son inside of an Israeli jail a few days ago.

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Recently, Tahani Abu Samhan, a 33 year old teacher from al-Zarnuq, near Nablus, gave birth to her son in Damon Prison. She was abducted and has been detained since June 2025, spending her last months of pregnancy under torturous conditions. She named her son Yahya. Today, he is the world’s youngest prisoner.

Baby Yahya is a reminder of the martyr Yousef al-Zaq, who was also born inside occupation prisons in 2008 during Israel’s detention of his mother, Fatima al-Zaq. They were liberated during a prisoner exchange in 2009, but Yousef was murdered at 17 when Israeli forces struck his family’s home with a drone equipped with a missile in Gaza City this July.

In other parts of the world, prisoners who have been imprisoned for their solidarity with Palestinians and against genocide also face punitive treatment. T. Hoxha, a prisoner held for her alleged participation in a Palestine Action raid on an Israeli weapons firm in Filton, England, is completing her 25th day of hunger strike following the prison’s politically-targeted abuses against her. Casey Goonan, a diabetic political prisoner in California, and their cellmate, have now joined Hoxha’s hunger strike in solidarity with her efforts to regain her job in prison and receive the mail that has been sent to her.

While we read about the horrific conditions Israel imposes on Palestinian prisoners, support the fundraisers of families in Gaza, and organize to make a just future in Palestine, we cannot forget about the most vulnerable in our own communities. You can read more about T. Hoxha’s case below, and take action to support her in receiving medical care and have her demands met by taking a few minutes to carry out the actions detailed here. It shouldn’t take more than a few minutes.

Thank you for reading and intervening.

Until liberation and return,

Lara Kilani

Resources

Action Items for T. Hoxha

Read more about T. Hoxha and Casey Goonan

Sign up for workshop or buy a book to support Palestinian families in Gaza

Check out this livestreamed event on Sept 7 and buy a ticket in solidarity with Palestine