Prisoners of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in Ramon, Eshel and Negev prisons, anlong with comrades in Ofer prison, announced two days of hunger strike on 2 February and 4 February, in solidarity with hunger-striking Palestinian journalist Mohammed al-Qeeq and demanding an end to the isolation of their comrade Bilal Kayed, held in solitary confinement.
The Handala Center for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners reported that the prisoners are planning new protest steps if Al-Qeeq remains imprisoned and Kayed remains in isolation. An Israeli military court will convene against Bilal Kayed on Monday 8 February, accusing him of activism in prison. Kayed is the representative of PFLP prisoners in Megiddo prisoners in relations with the prison administration.
In an interview with the Handala Center, Allam Kaabi, a former prisoner released in the prisoner exchange with the Palestinian resistance, said that “these actions are banging on the walls of the tank inside the prisons,” in a reference to Ghassan Kanafani’s Men in the Sun; “the silence of the prisoners will not continue in the face of the ongoing violations and attacks against the prisoners’ movement,” said Kaabi.
“The PFLP prisoners have a clear analysis that the Prison Administration is seeking to strip away the gains of the prisoners movement through years of struggle, including many battles, protests and strikes….there is a need to preserve the achievements for which the prisoners’ movement has sacrificed so much…If there is no action in the coming days, the struggle will develop further,” said Kaabi.
He urged broad Palestinian and international support for the prisoners’ struggle, especially the strike of the imprisoned Palestinian journalist, Mohammed al-Qeeq, on his 70th day of hunger strike, saying that the struggle for his freedom must reach the level of his sacrifices.
