Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes Ghadanfar Abu Atwan on his victory over Israeli imprisonment after 65 days of hunger strike. Abu Atwan’s sister, Benazeer, and his lawyer, Jawad Boulos, confirmed that he will be released later today, 8 July, and the administrative detention order against him cancelled. His steadfastness and commitment to struggle, like that of his fellow Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, inspire all those around the world who support the Palestinian people and their just cause of return and liberation.
His family has confirmed that he will not end his strike until he is with his family and outside Israeli prisons and detention.
Abu Atwan, 28, from Dura near al-Khalil,, launched his hunger strike after the administrative detention order against him was renewed, demanding his freedom. He was seized by occupation forces in October 2020 and ordered to six months in administrative detention; his detention was then renewed for another six months, sparking him to launch his open hunger strike for freedom.
Administrative detention was first introduced to Palestine by British colonialism. These orders may be issued for one to six months at a time, and they are indefinitely renewable. As a result, Palestinians routinely are jailed for years at a time with no charge and no trial. Neither they nor their loved ones know when they will be released, and administrative detention serves as a form of psychological torture. The detained Palestinians and their lawyers are barred from seeing the “secret file” used to justify their imprisonment.
The use of administrative detention, already routinely used to arbitrarily detain Palestinians, has been escalating rapidly, with over 200 detention orders issued since the beginning of May 2021. There are currently over 500 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network sends its warmest congratulations to Ghadanfar Abu Atwan, his family, the Palestinian people and all friends of Palestine and forces of justice in the world on this occasion, many of whom organized, protested, launched solidarity hunger strikes, called their representatives and signed petitions to demand his release. His victory must inspire us all to continue the struggle to liberate all Palestinian political prisoners and to liberate Palestine, from the river to the sea.
