Two Palestinian prisoners — brothers from al-Khader, west of Bethlehem — have been on hunger strike for 29 days against their administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial. Ahmad Hussein Musa, 44, and his brother Adal, 34, went on hunger strike when they were seized by occupation forces on 6 August 2022 and have continued their strike since that time, after both were ordered to administrative detention (Ahmad for 4 months and Adal for 3 months.)
Both were previously detained; in 2019, Ahmad Musa launched a hunger strike for 29 days against his administrative detention without charge or trial. Adal has previously spent 7 years in occupation prisons, including 5 years in one sentence. Ahmad is married and the father of seven children, while Adal is also married and a father of two.
Ahmad has been moved to Kaplan hospital on several occasions from Ofer prison, where both he and Adal are detained. He is a heart patient who has undergone several heart surgeries in the past, but still committed himself to a hunger strike in order to fight back against the policy of administrative detention and demand freedom. He required hospitalization as he did not receive several medications that were necessary for his health, part of the systemic policy of medical negligence and neglect against Palestinian prisoners.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network urges all supporters of Palestinian liberation to organize and act to free Ahmad and Adal Musa, end the policy of administrative detention and free all Palestinian prisoners. Every day on hunger strike poses a further risk to the health and life of the Musa brothers as they take this brave resistance action behind bars for justice and liberation not only for themselves, but for Palestine from the river to the sea.
Their hunger strike continues as Palestinian prisoners continue to collectively resist behind bars. For 11 days, over 400 prisoners of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement in Ramon, Eshel, Nafha, Ofer, Hadarim and the Naqab desert prison have been held in “double isolation”; their sections are locked down and they are denied access to the daily recreation yard, marking the upcoming first anniversary of the Freedom Tunnel operation, in which six Palestinian prisoners liberated themselves from Gilboa Prison. The prisoners emphasized that these tactics will neither succeed in breaking their will or in dividing the prisoners from various Palestinian resistance organizations from one another.
What Is Administrative Detention?
Administrative detention was first used in Palestine by the British colonial mandate and then adopted by the Zionist regime; it is now used routinely to target Palestinians, especially community leaders, activists, and influential people in their towns, camps and villages.
There are currently approximately 650 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention, out of 4,450 Palestinian political prisoners. These orders are issued by the military and approved by military courts on the basis of “secret evidence”, denied to both Palestinian detainees and their attorneys. Issued for up to six months at a time, they are indefinitely renewable, and Palestinians — including minor children — can spend years jailed without charge or trial under administrative detention.
Download these distributable flyers and posters to highlight the case of Ahmad and Adal Musa and the struggle to free Palestinian prisoners:
- Poster/Sign: Free Ahmad and Adal Musa
- Poster/Sign: End Administrative Detention
- Poster/Sign: Free Hunger Strikers and All Prisoners
- Poster/Sign – End Administrative Detention (with Palestinian Flag)
1. Mobilize actions, demonstrations and creative interventions – Take to the streets to defend the Palestinian people and their resistance! As was made clear during the Unity Intifada/Seif al-Quds in May 2021, there is a vast depth of support for the Palestinian people everywhere around the world, including inside the imperialist powers. It is our responsibility to act and make it impossible to continue their support for the crimes against the Palestinian people.
2. Build the boycott of Israel – This is a critical moment to escalate the campaign to isolate the Israeli regime at all levels, including through boycott campaigns that target the occupation’s economic exploitation of the Palestinian land, people and resources as well as those international corporations, like HP and G4S, that profit from the ongoing colonization of Palestine.
