Israel is sending me to prison for riding my bike – British companies need to cut ties with this oppressive regime

Two years ago I participated in the “Return Ride” alongside hundreds of Palestinian and international cyclists. The race went from Ramallah to Bil’in, all the way through Occupied West Bank.

As usual, the Israeli occupation forces raided the village even before the race began. I was holding my bike while I was arrested, where I was then thrown to the ground – at one point with tens of soldiers around me – when all I was doing was trying to ride my bicycle and explain to the soldiers that they were on my land. I was then held in detention for 11 days.

Unfortunately, but perhaps unsurprisingly, this wasn’t my first arrest. As a well-known human rights defender, I have in fact been arrested dozens of times for protesting non-violently against Israel’s racist policies. In 2008 I was awarded with the Carl Von Ossietzky Medal for outstanding service to the realisation of human rights in Berlin. European Union (EU) high representative Catherine Ashton said in August 2010 that the EU considered me to be "a human rights defender committed to nonviolent protest." But Israel persists in imprisoning me, punishing me and the community for our efforts to save Khan Al-ahmar, one of the 46 Palestinian Bedouin villages that Israel plans to demolish to build more illegal settlements. Palestinian resistance has, for the moment, postponed the demolition from happening.

Despite the persecution that we have faced, all of my trials have taken place under a military court, as is the norm for Palestinians in the West Bank, whilst Israeli settlers are judged in civilian courts. This double standard is just one example of the plentiful evidence that has led to the publication of a UN report on “Israeli policies and the Question of Apartheid”, which affirmed that Israel is indeed applying a regime of apartheid to the Palestinian people. (After criticism from the Israeli government who called the report “Nazi propaganda", it was later withdrawn by the UN Secretary General. Rima Khalaf, leader of the commission that published the report, then resigned in protest citing intimidation and pressure to withdraw the report, the contents of which she stood by).

And so I was saddened to learn that the British bank HSBC reportedly invests in companies arming Israel. But I was not surprised. It is through the complicity of other states and international companies that Israel is able to avoid accountability, paying no price for its violations of international law and Palestinian rights. States’ lack of sanctions against Israel’s racist policies, and companies’ profit-making from the violations of our rights, allow Israel to maintain its regime of apartheid, colonialism and occupation.

The companies that HSBC invest in include Elbit Systems, Israel's biggest private and military security company and a producer of white phosphorus, the use of which is banned against civilians. Meanwhile, Caterpillar is one of the main companies providing the Israeli military with bulldozers used to demolish houses and villages or to build illegal Jewish-only settlements such as Modi’in Illit.

As with all big companies, HSBC uses different marketing strategies to present itself. As one key example, HSBC is now the main sponsor of British Cycling – a clear attempt to “sportswash” its image. In the spirit of international solidarity, I personally call on cyclists across the UK to no longer accept HSBC’s sponsorship until they divest from companies arming Israel. These companies are profiting directly from developing weapons to maim or kill us and to consolidate Israel’s oppression over us.

My story and the story of every Palestinian must be heard as we resist under Israel’s oppressive regime. Even though I will most likely be sent to prison soon, I will keep on struggling for freedom, justice and equality for Palestinian rights, and I hope that as many people as possible across the world join me and my fellow Palestinians in this struggle. That’s exactly why no cyclists of conscience should accept the sponsorship of a company arming Israeli apartheid.