Palestinian doctor Hani Abdeen was prohibited from visiting comatose hunger-striking prisoner Muhammed Allan on 16 August, violating an earlier agreement that would allow him to examine Allan today and report on his medical condition after over two months of hunger strike.
Issa Qaraqe, Minister of Prisoners Affairs, said that Allan is currently also suffering from a gallbladder problem – he has gallstones and fluid is leaking into his intestines and liver, threatening Allan’s life again through infection, noting that Allan may need urgent treatment.
Allan, 31, a lawyer from Einabous village near Nablus, was arrested by Israeli occupation forces in November 2014; he was forcibly taken to his law office and made to show the soldiers his client files. He was ordered to administrative detention without charge or trial; the order was renewed for an additional six months in May, prompting Allan’s strike.
Fellow Palestinian prisoner and administrative detainee waged a 55-day hunger strike that won his release from Israeli jails on 11 July, his second lengthy strike in three years. Adnan spoke to Gideon Levy of Ha’aretz in its 16 August issue; he had a message of support for Allan: “Today you are representing not only our people, you are representing all human beings in the world who love freedom and dignity. You are now an advocate not only for Palestinians, you are for everyone. I love life and so do you. To be released healthy or to be released as a martyr – that is freedom.”
Levy also penned his own piece in Ha’aretz, “Muhammad Allan’s Blood is on our hands,” holding the Israeli state responsible for Allan’s life. “He and his friends have called upon their private, non-violent, doomsday weapon – the hunger strike, because justice is on their side. Because there is no other justice that can excuse their detention, except the justice of the Ashkelon thugs and their ilk: freedom or death, and Israel should have bowed its head in admiration for their determination, their justness and their courage.”
Hussein Shabaneh, the chair of the Palestinian Bar Association, did visit Allan today, as Palestinian lawyers from Jerusalem or who hold Israeli citizenship protested outside Barzilai Hospital, where Allan is held in intensive care under armed guard.
Ahmad Tibi and Osama al-Saadi, Palestinian members of Knesset, were also denied access to visit Allan today along with Dr. Abdeen. Allan’s lawyer, Jamal al-Khatib, noted that before falling into a coma on Friday, 14 August, Allan rejected an offer to imprison him for two years under administrative detention without charge or trial, pledging to continue his strike for freedom.
**
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network reiterates its call for the broadest international action to free Muhammed Allan and his fellow Palestinian prisoners and prevent his torture through force-feeding. Events are upcoming in New York, Berlin, Vancouver and other cities and it is critical that people around the world make their voices heard to hold the Israeli state accountable for the life of Muhammed Allan and release him instantly.
The imprisonment and torture of Allan is part and parcel of the Israeli colonial policy of the mass imprisonment of Palestinians, the attack on the rights of Palestinian prisoners won by long struggle of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement, and the attack on Palestinian existence everywhere in Palestine: the denial of Palestinian refugees’ right to return, land confiscation, home demolitions, ethnic cleansing, siege, apartheid, occupation and settler-colonialism.
Muhammed Allan’s situation is an emergency that requires mobilization and action by all, including the escalation of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel on all levels: economic, military, cultural, academic, as urged by the Palestinian prisoners’ movement.
Take Action: Demand freedom – not force feeding – for Muhammad Allan!
1. Sign on: Send a letter demanding Allan’s freedom, and that he not be force-fed. Israeli officials must hear the voice of the world demanding that this threat of torture be stopped, and that Allan, imprisoned without charge or trial, be freed.
2. Protest at the Israeli consulate or embassy in your area. Bring posters and flyers about administrative detention and Palestinian hunger strikers and hold a protest, or join a protest with this important information. Hold a community event or discussion, or include this issue in your next event about Palestine and social justice. Please email us at [email protected] to inform us of your action – we will publicize and share news with the prisoners.
3. Boycott, Divest and Sanction. Hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law. Don’t buy Israeli goods, and campaign to end investments in corporations that profit from the occupation. G4S, a global security corporation, is heavily involved in providing services to Israeli prisons that jail Palestinian political prisoners – there is a global call to boycott it. Palestinian political prisoners have issued a specific call urging action on G4S. Learn more about BDS at bdsmovement.net.
