Hours before having to appear at the Israeli military court, social media activists have launched a Twitter storm in support of a prominent Palestinian anti-occupation activist, who has been convicted on six charges of "protesting without a permit," which could potentially leave him in jail
I am getting into the military court now, the sentence is today. I want to thank all my friends who are standing with me and with Palestine ??#Palestine #StandWithIssa #DropTheCharges #FreePoliticalPrisoners #endaparthied pic.twitter.com/W1viPyoJv6
— Issa Amro عيسى عمرو ?? (@Issaamro) February 8, 2021
Friends and online contacts of Issa Amro, in addition to pro-Palestinian Twitter users, have expressed their solidarity with Amro, the founder of Youth Against Settlements and the frequent speaker against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank.
Amro, a native of Hebron, has been quite known for his work against illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including his written works for international newspapers such as The Guardian, The Hill, and others.
However, the Israeli military court has summoned Amro on the basis of protests he organized in the West Bank without receiving special permits from Israeli authorities, which has urged his supporters to highlight his work against the Israeli control of Palestinian territories.
The 250 members of Brighton PSC send solidarity and support to Palestinian activist @Issaamro facing prison for his non-violent resistance to Israel's occupation.
— Brighton PSC (@BrightonPSC) February 7, 2021
?? #StandWithIssa
?? #DropTheCharges
?? #FreePoliticalPrisoners pic.twitter.com/fMvCMb1f8R
Support @Issaamro & all political prisoners!
— Natalie Strecker (@NatalieStrecke1) February 7, 2021
Apartheid is a crime, protesting it isn’t!#DropTheCharges #FreePoliticalPrisoners #StandWithIssa pic.twitter.com/R9R2BWIf2d
Social media users also argued that Israel is persecuting Issa Amro and other Palestinian activists for merely speaking up against the occupation and what they describe as the Apartheid system that Israel has imposed in the West Bank; referring to the binary systems installed in Palestinian territories, where Palestinians are denied the rights enjoyed by the Jewish population in the settlements, after being forced to live under Israeli military control since 1967.
Twitter storm in half an hour! Join us to call for international protection for human rights defender @IssaAmro who will be sentenced for peaceful protest tomorrow in an Israeli military court. #DropTheCharges #StandWithIssa #FreePoliticalPrisoners pic.twitter.com/iUFMT1UDXd
— Youth Against Settlements (@YASHebron) February 7, 2021
In recent weeks, Israel has faced tremendous international criticism over its COVID-19 vaccinations policies that provided jabs for more than 500k illegal settlers in the West Bank while the remaining Palestinian population was denied access to the vaccines. Only this week did Israel announce providing 5000 vaccine doses to Palestinian health workers, which did not calm criticism as it was compared to 5 million first doses that have been administered on Israeli citizens.
