Five Palestinian prisoners are currently engaged in an open hunger strike against Israeli policies of administrative detention without charge or trial and solitary confinement.
Sami Janazreh, 43, a Palestinian refugee living in al-Fuwwar refugee camp near al-Khalil, is on his 25th day of hunger strike, refusing food since 3 March in protest of his imprisonment without charge or trial under administrative detention. Janazreh has been imprisoned without charge or trial by the Israeli occupation since 15 November 2015.
Imad al-Batran, 41, imprisoned without charge or trial under administrative detention, has been on hunger strike since 25 February in protest of his administrative detention, according to a letter received by Mohja Jerusalem Foundation. (The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society reports that he has been striking since 15 March.) Batran has been held in Israeli prisons seven previous times and has served over seven years in Israeli jails. He previously waged a hunger strike for 105 days against his administrative detention without charge or trial in 2013. He was releaed following his strike but has been imprisoned again by the Israeli occupation since 27 April 2015.
Abdel Rahim Sawayfeh, 39, from Ithna near al-Khalil, launched a hunger strike on 24 March in protest of his administrative detention without charge or trial. He has been imprisoned by the Israeli occupation since 21 October 2015.
Joining the three administrative detainees are two Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in protest of the policy of isolation; their open hunger strike comes amid ongoing collective prisoner protests against the use of solitary confinement. Long-term solitary confinement is a form of torture, as affirmed by the United Nations’ special rapporteur on torture. 30 Palestinian prisoners from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Islamic Jihad carried out a two-day hunger strike as one step in ongoing protests against the policy; 30 more prisoners affiliated with Hamas will also carry out a limited-term hunger strike starting on Monday against isolation.
Nahar Saadi, 33, from Jenin, and Zaid Bseisi, 39, from Ramin near Tulkarem, launched an open hunger strike on 25 March in protest of isolation and solitary confinement. Both are long-time prisoners, serving life sentences for their role in the Palestinian resistance. Bseisi has been imprisoned since 2001 and Saadi since 2003; Saadi has been held in isolation for three years and is protesting his solitary confinement and the policy as a whole. Bseisi, a leader of Islamic Jihad, is demanding an end to the policy for over 14 isolated Palestinian prisoners.
Take Action
1. Protest at the Israeli consulate or embassy, G4S office or headquarters, or public square 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.
2. Contact political officials in your country – members of Parliament or Congress, or the Ministry/Department of Foreign Affairs or State – and demand that they cut aid and relations with Israel on the basis of its apartheid practices, its practice of colonialism, and its numerous violations of Palestinian rights including the systematic practice of administrative detention. Demand they pressure Israel to free the hunger strikers and end administrative detention.
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.
