{"id":1516,"date":"2026-04-19T11:40:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T08:40:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/republicpalestine.com\/en\/?p=1516"},"modified":"2026-04-19T11:40:31","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T08:40:31","slug":"palestinian-prisoners-day-event-held-in-a-brussels-church-despite-restrictions-on-organizers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/republicpalestine.com\/en\/?p=1516","title":{"rendered":"\u201cPalestinian Prisoners\u2019 Day\u201d Event Held in a Brussels Church Despite Restrictions on Organizers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Despite multiple venues refusing to host the event, a church in the Belgian capital, Brussels, opened its doors to a political and human rights gathering marking Palestinian Prisoners\u2019 Day, held under the title: \u201cJustice for Prisoners \u2013 You Are Not Alone.\u201d The event delivered a clear message: attempts to silence solidarity will not succeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The gathering brought together prominent international lawyers and human rights activists, including Abdelmajid Mraari, known for pursuing legal action against Israeli officials before the International Criminal Court, and Haifa-based lawyer Hassan Abbadi, a long-time defender of Palestinian prisoners\u2019 rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also participating was Belgian human rights lawyer Alexis Deswaef, widely recognized for his strategic use of Belgian and European legal frameworks to challenge Israeli crimes. Deswaef has been actively involved in solidarity movements and public mobilizations, and recently took part in the \u201cGlobal Sumud Flotilla\u201d to Gaza. He was detained by Israeli forces and held for five days alongside Palestinian prisoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During the event, special tribute was paid to Deswaef for his commitment and presence on April 18, 2026, in Brussels, as a symbol of legal and grassroots solidarity with Palestinian prisoners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Participants also highlighted the role of journalist Sami Karmal Al-Saie, describing his work as instrumental in breaking the silence and fear surrounding prisoners\u2019 issues. Through sustained media engagement, he has helped expose systemic abuses and challenge attempts to politically exploit the prisoners\u2019 cause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Belgian lawyer John Vervloet also contributed a significant legal intervention, stressing the urgent need to confront impunity and activate European and international legal mechanisms to hold perpetrators accountable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speakers emphasized that the issue of Palestinian prisoners has evolved beyond a national cause into a global human rights concern, particularly in light of ongoing violations inside Israeli occupation prisons, including administrative detention, torture, and medical neglect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They further underscored the critical role of international solidarity movements in breaking the isolation imposed on prisoners and sustaining legal and political pressure for accountability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The event concluded with a powerful musical performance, blending political expression with cultural resistance, and reaffirming that the voice of freedom persists despite all attempts at suppression.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Despite multiple venues refusing to host the event, a church in the Belgian capital, Brussels, opened its doors to a political and human rights gathering marking Palestinian Prisoners\u2019 Day, held under the title: \u201cJustice for Prisoners \u2013 You Are Not Alone.\u201d The event delivered a clear message: attempts to silence solidarity will not succeed. The gathering brought together prominent international lawyers and human rights activists, including Abdelmajid Mraari, known for pursuing legal action against Israeli officials before the International Criminal Court, and Haifa-based lawyer Hassan Abbadi, a long-time defender of Palestinian prisoners\u2019 rights. Also participating was Belgian human rights lawyer Alexis Deswaef, widely recognized for his strategic use of Belgian and European legal frameworks to challenge Israeli crimes. Deswaef has been actively involved in solidarity movements and public mobilizations, and recently took part in the \u201cGlobal Sumud Flotilla\u201d to Gaza. He was detained by Israeli forces and held for five days alongside Palestinian prisoners. During the event, special tribute was paid to Deswaef for his commitment and presence on April 18, 2026, in Brussels, as a symbol of legal and grassroots solidarity with Palestinian prisoners. Participants also highlighted the role of journalist Sami Karmal Al-Saie, describing his work as instrumental &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1517,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.8 (Yoast SEO v24.8.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\u201cPalestinian Prisoners\u2019 Day\u201d Event Held in a Brussels Church Despite Restrictions on Organizers - Republic Palestine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/republicpalestine.com\/en\/?p=1516\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cPalestinian Prisoners\u2019 Day\u201d Event Held in a Brussels Church Despite Restrictions on Organizers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Despite multiple venues refusing to host the event, a church in the Belgian capital, Brussels, opened its doors to a political and human rights gathering marking Palestinian Prisoners\u2019 Day, held under the title: \u201cJustice for Prisoners \u2013 You Are Not Alone.\u201d The event delivered a clear message: attempts to silence solidarity will not succeed. The gathering brought together prominent international lawyers and human rights activists, including Abdelmajid Mraari, known for pursuing legal action against Israeli officials before the International Criminal Court, and Haifa-based lawyer Hassan Abbadi, a long-time defender of Palestinian prisoners\u2019 rights. Also participating was Belgian human rights lawyer Alexis Deswaef, widely recognized for his strategic use of Belgian and European legal frameworks to challenge Israeli crimes. Deswaef has been actively involved in solidarity movements and public mobilizations, and recently took part in the \u201cGlobal Sumud Flotilla\u201d to Gaza. He was detained by Israeli forces and held for five days alongside Palestinian prisoners. During the event, special tribute was paid to Deswaef for his commitment and presence on April 18, 2026, in Brussels, as a symbol of legal and grassroots solidarity with Palestinian prisoners. Participants also highlighted the role of journalist Sami Karmal Al-Saie, describing his work as instrumental &hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/republicpalestine.com\/en\/?p=1516\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Republic Palestine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-19T08:40:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-19T08:40:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/republicpalestine.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/Screenshot_\u0662\u0660\u0662\u0666\u0660\u0664\u0661\u0669_\u0661\u0661\u0663\u0669\u0665\u0660_Gallery.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1078\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"693\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"RepublicofPalestine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"RepublicofPalestine\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/republicpalestine.com\/en\/?p=1516\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/republicpalestine.com\/en\/?p=1516\",\"name\":\"\u201cPalestinian Prisoners\u2019 Day\u201d Event Held in a Brussels Church Despite Restrictions on Organizers - 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