Commemorate Palestinian Prisoners Day

When a group of Minnesota legislators traveled to Israel in November, they visited the family of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier who was captured by Hamas. A lobbyist with the Minnesota Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) arranged for the Minnesota delegation to deliver your proclamations to the Shalit family recognizing August 26 and 28, respectively, as Gilad Shalit Days in the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul as a promotion of peace in solidarity with the people of Israel.

We remind you that you are the mayors of everyone who lives in Minneapolis and St. Paul. If you are concerned about the prisoners in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we urge you to be equally concerned that the more than $3 billion dollars of annual U.S. aid to Israel helps fund Israeli prisons and detention centers, where more than 7,000 Palestinian prisoners - including 340 children and 335 administrative detainees held without charge - are imprisoned in substandard conditions, subject to torture, and denied legal counsel, medical treatment, and family visits.
(source: http://www.ifamericansknew.org)

Since the beginning of its occupation of the Palestinian West Bank, Gaza, and East Jerusalem in 1967, Israel has detained more than 650,000 Palestinians, making Palestinians one of the most incarcerated populations in the world. (source: http://www.addameer.org)

We ask that you extend your promotion of peace and sign a proclamation declaring April 17 Palestinian Prisoners Day in Minneapolis and St. Paul. Each year the 17th of April marks the anniversary of the release of Palestinian prisoners in the first prisoner swap deal of 17 April 1974. This date is commemorated annually throughout the world in support of those Palestinians who remain in Israeli custody.

Additional information: Report by Defence for Children International
http://www.dci-pal.org/english/publ/research/CPReport.pdf