Em Gunterby Em Gunter
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Photo Credit: Em Gunter
PALESTINIAN PRISONER’S DAY was commemorated in Taipei on Friday with a demonstration outside of the Israel Economic and Cultural Office in Taipei. The rally, organized by the Taiwan Alliance for a Free Palestine, was part of a global effort calling on nations to pressure Israel to release Palestinian prisoners and to halt Israel’s plans to execute Palestinians.
Approximately 30 people attended the rally where demonstrators held placards of Palestinian prisoners, banners, and Palestinian flags.
Photo credit: Em Gunter
The demonstration began shortly after 3 PM with moderator and organizer Yo-ling explaining the discriminatory death penalty law passed by Israel’s Knesset on March 30th of this year. Yo-ling also described the injustices Palestinians face within the Israeli legal system, citing that the vast majority of Palestinians are tried in military rather than civilian courts without appropriate due process and that Palestinians face a conviction rate in excess of 99%. Under the new law, the death penalty will be the default sentence handed down by military courts for Palestinians convicted of killing Israeli citizens within the Occupied West Bank. This law places strict restrictions on appeals and states that executions should be carried out within 90 days of conviction. The law does not impose the same penalty for Jewish Israelis convicted of killing Palestinians.
The international community and numerous human rights organizations have continuously spoken out against Israel’s new death penalty law since its introduction earlier this year with Israel’s own human rights organization, B’Tselem, issuing a statement saying, “The death penalty law will institutionalize a state mechanism for executing Palestinians.”
Organizers of the demonstration went on to explain why, apart from basic commitment to human rights, it is necessary for Taiwan to take a stand against Israel’s “racist apartheid prison system and death penalty law”. Media reports from early February 2026 indicated that a delegation from the Israeli Prison Service had already made plans to visit an undisclosed East Asian country to learn how to administer execution by hanging. Yo-ling explained that while the identity of that country has not been disclosed, publicly available information indicates that the country in question is either Japan—which has executed nearly 100 prisoners by hanging in the 21st century—or Taiwan, which has been the most enthusiastic in establishing bilateral relations with Israel in East Asia in recent years.
After reading out the demands of the Taiwan Alliance for a Free Palestine, slogans were chanted accusing Taiwan of supporting Israel’s “racist death machine” and the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people. The demonstration then transitioned to short statements from individuals and civil society groups.
Photo credit: Em Gunter
Gazan scholar Hazem Almassry shared a written statement, which was read aloud by the organizers, and called on attendees to remember the names of the nearly 10,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees being held in Israel. Almassry’s statement referred to the case of Walid Daqaa, who was arrested and imprisoned in 1986 at the age of 25. Daqaa died from cancer in 2024 as a direct result of the neglect he faced at the hands of the Israeli Prison Service. Almassry also referred to the famous Palestinian prisoner cases of Marwan Barghouti, who has been held in solidarity confinement since 2002, and Ahmad Sa’adat, who has also been held in solitary confinement since 2006. At the conclusion of Almassry’s statement, attendees took up his call to action and chanted the slogan “Justice for Walid Daqqa! Free Barghouti and Sa’adat!”.
Next, a representative from Amnesty International Taiwan shared a statement about how the law in Israel is used as a means of arresting Palestinians, including many children. A large number of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel are held without formal charge and face severe torture, sometimes leading to death. As of April 2026, there are currently more than 9,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Photo credit: Em Gunter
Secretary of the National Federation of Independent Trade Unions Zhang Zhong-fang (張仲方) shared that Palestinians in both the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem launched a general strike to oppose Israel’s racist death penalty laws, resulting the temporary closure of businesses, schools, and other institutions. Zhang related this to Taiwan’s history of authoritarian rule under the White Terror, where Taiwanese workers were arrested, tortured, and even executed for organizing unions. He explained that it took many years of struggle for Taiwanese workers to secure the legal right to strike. Zhang ended his statement by calling on Taiwanese workers to pay attention to and show solidarity with the strikes and resistance of the Palestinian people.
Photo credit: Em Gunter
The final speaker of the protest was a Jewish resident of Taiwan who voiced his condemnation of the state of Israel and its commitment to “the violence of Jewish supremacism.” He stated: “As a resident in Taiwan, I would like to see Taiwan’s government publicly distance itself from Israel and its brutal violence towards the Palestinians. I hope Taiwan rejects Israel’s annihilation project against the Palestinians and stands on the side of humanity, not on the side of a racial apartheid system built on Jewish supremacy.”
Photo credit: Em Gunter
At the beginning and end of the protest, the Taiwan Alliance for a Free Palestine re-iterated three demands:
- We demand that countries around the world, including Taiwan, pressure Israel to abolish its death penalty laws!
- We demand that Israel repeal all laws and measures that perpetuate the apartheid regime against Palestinians, and release all Palestinian hostages and detainees!
- We demand that the Taiwanese government take a clear stance against Israel’s establishment of a death penalty system and refuse to become an accomplice to Israel’s apartheid regime and massacre of Palestinians!