Palestinian prisoner Hisham Abu Hawash, jailed without charge or trial, is now on his 129th day of hunger strike. His family and fellow Palestinian prisoners are demanding immediate action for his release. Abu Hawash has been jailed under Israeli administrative detention orders, which have been renewed successively, since 27 October 2020. While he was on hunger strike, his detention was extended once again for four months — and the Israeli occupation refused to say that they would not extend it once more.
In the past days, Abu Hawash’s health condition has deteriorated significantly. Abu Hawash, 40 and the father of five children (Hadi, Mohammed, Izz al-Din, Waqas and Saba), has spent 8 years in total in Israeli occupation prisons. Of that time, 52 months — over half of his time behind bars — has been spent jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention orders.
The Israeli occupation has refused to transfer him to a civilian hospital, putting his life and long-term health in even greater jeopardy. He has been taken to civilian hospitals on multiple occasions, but every time, he is returned to the Ramleh prison clinic. Even the transfers are a form of pressure on his weakened physical condition and an attempt to force him to end his strike. Abu Hawash joins a long line of Palestinian hunger strikers who have put their bodies and lives on the line to demand their release and an end to the policy of administrative detention.
He launched his hunger strike on 17 August 2021, and since that time, he has been systematically deprived of family visits, and even his lawyer’s visits have been repeatedly obstructed. Abu Hawash’s family emphasized that he is being subjected to a “slow killing operation” implemented by the occupation. They also expressed their fear that the occupation would attempt to forcibly feed him or inject him with nutrients in an attempt to break his strike, warning that they and Hisham himself completely reject any such action. He has been denied visits for a specialist doctor for over one week.
Abu Hawash’s case has been repeatedly dismissed by the Israeli occupation courts, even on the matter of ordering him to a civilian hospital. It underlines the reasons why the administrative detainees have announced that they will launch a collective boycott of the Israeli military courts and appeals courts beginning on 1 January 2022, as the court system only gives a veneer of legitimacy to an illegitimate regime. The Israeli occupation is entirely responsible for the life and health of Hisham Abu Hawash, now in great danger after nearly four months on hunger strike.
Currently, approximately 500 out of the 4,550 Palestinian political prisoners are jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention. Administrative detention orders were first introduced to Palestine by the British colonial mandate and were later adopted by the Zionist project to target Palestinians. These orders are issued for up to six months at a time and are indefinitely renewable; consequently, Palestinians are jailed for years at a time without charge, trial or even knowing when or if they will be released.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all supporters of Palestine to take action to support Hisham Abu Hawash and all Palestinian prisoners struggling for freedom, for their own lives and for the Palestinian people. They are confronting the system of Israeli oppression on the front lines, with their bodies and their lives, to bring the system of administrative detention to an end. Take these actions below to stand with the hunger strikers and the struggle for liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea!
Download these signs for use in your campaigns:
- Poster/Sign: End Administrative Detention
- Poster/Sign: Free Hunger Strikers and All Prisoners
- Poster/Sign – End Administrative Detention (with Palestinian Flag)
TAKE ACTION:
Join the Social Media Campaign!
There is a growing social media campaign to #FreeThemAll #معركة_الامعاء_الخاوية Use these hashtags and the social media action sheet to post every day at 9 pm Palestine time (8 pm central Europe, 7 pm UTC, 2 pm Eastern, 11 am Pacific) on Twitter and Instagram. Post in all languages! Many people have been conducting online hunger strikes in solidarity with the prisoners. Take action and join the social media outrage and break the isolation imposed upon them by the Israeli occupation!
Take to the streets: Organize a protest in solidarity with Palestine!
Take to the streets and join the actions on our full list of events, which is constantly being updated as new actions are announced! Organize your own if there is none in your area, and send us your events at samidoun@samidoun.net.
Boycott Israel!
The international, Arab and Palestinian campaign to boycott Israel can play an important role at this critical time. Local boycott groups can protest and label Israeli produce and groceries, while many complicit corporations – including HP, G4S, Puma, Teva and others, profit from their role in support Zionist colonialism throughout occupied Palestine. By participating in the boycott of Israel, you can directly help to throw a wrench in the economy of settler colonialism.
Demand Your Government Sanction Israel!
The racist, settler colonial state of Israel and its war crimes against the Palestinian people are enabled and backed extensively by the over $3.8 billion each year given to Israel by the United States — targeted directly to support the Israeli occupation military killing children, women, men and elders throughout occupied Palestine. From Canada to Australia to the European Union, Western governments and imperialist powers provide ongoing diplomatic, political and economic support to Israel as well as selling billions of dollars of weaponry to the settler-colonial state. Meanwhile, they also purchase billions of dollars in weaponry from the Israeli state. Governments in league with imperialist powers, such as in the Philippines, Brazil, India and elsewhere, also buy weapons and “security” services — all “battle-tested” on the Palestinian population. Call your representatives, MPs, political officials and demand your government sanction Israel now, cut off all aid, expel its ambassadors, and stop buying and selling weapons!
