Hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are now on their 12th day of hunger strike in the “Strike of Dignity and Freedom.” Approximately 1500 Palestinian prisoners began the strike on 17 April, Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, for a series of demands, including an end to the denial of family visits, appropriate medical care for sick prisoners, and the end of solitary confinement and administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial.

A general strike throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Thursday, 27 April stopped commerce, labor and government activities as people showed broad solidarity and support for the Palestinian prisoners.

Inside Israeli prisons, Palestinian prisoners continued to face repression. Hunger strikers have been repeatedly transferred from prison to prison and many thrown in isolation, in an attempt to stress and demoralize the hunger strikers while making it very difficult to obtain accurate information from inside the prisons. In addition, aside from some prisoners in Ofer and two visits in Ashkelon, hunger striking prisoners have been denied legal visits since the beginning of the strike. Prisoners’ personal belongings have been confiscated, including their clothing and blankets, and they have been denied recreation and Friday group prayer. In addition, many prisoners have reported the confiscation of salt, which prisoners consume with water during the strike.

On Thursday, repressive units continued to invade prisoners’ sections in Ramon prison following a raid on striking prisoners’ sections in Ashkelon prison on Tuesday, when striking prisoners were assaulted for refusing to stand up for inspection.  Palestinian lawyer Karim Ajwa reprted that five prisoners were wounded in the face and head and taken to the prison clinic. Ajwa also said that internal disciplinary hearings were conducted against the hunger strikers and sanctions imposed on them as well as fines of 500 NIS ($125) each; he said that salt was also taken from the prisoners in an attempt to break the strike. After 11 days of denials, Ajwa finally obtained a legal visit with Nasr Abu Hmeid and Said Musallam, who also reported that the striking prisoners are boycotting medical examinations and that there are serious health concerns for the ill prisoners participating in the hunger strike.

Despite the risks, two more sick prisoners, Mutawakkil Radwan and Khalil Shawamrah, announced their participation in the ongoing hunger strike.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Society and Adalah petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court for legal visits to hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners which have been repeatedly denied, with the only exceptions being several visits to prisoners in Ofer and now two visits to prisoners in Ashkelon.

The International Committee of the Red Cross also reported meeting with hundreds of hunger strikers in Gilboa prison on Thursday; the ICRC stated that they would arrange additional visits in the coming days. “We are fully aware that we are currently the only contact point with the outside world for detainees on hunger strike,” said an ICRC spokesperon, noting that the priority was placed on exchanging verbal messages between Palestinian prisoners and their families.  However, it should be noted that one demand of the hunger strike – for the restoration of twice-monthly rather than once-monthly family visits – is a demand on the ICRC to stop its “cost-cutting” measures that have further isolated Palestinian prisoners.

In the protests to support the strikers on Thursday, 500 Islamic Jihad cadres in Gaza engaged in a one-day hunger strike in Gaza City in support of the strikers, amid large marches and demonstrations organized by all Palestinian political parties. In Rafah, hundreds of lawyers and other activists participated in a human chain in support of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike, urging international action to defend the rights of the prisoners.

Meanwhile, in Nablus, Palestinian former prisoners and long-term hunger strikers Khader Adnan and Mohammed Allan, as well as Palestinian Prisoners’ Committee coordinator Maher Harb, were attacked and then detained for several hours by Palestinian Authority security forces before being released, as they participated in a march to support the prisoners.  The prisoners of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Islamic Jihad issued a message from Israeli prisons in support of Khader Adnan, denouncing “desperate attempts by some parties to incite against the activist Khader Adnan as a prelude to physical tageting,” and saying that Adnan is a symbol of unity and resistance who is threatened by the occupation.

As part of the protests on Thursday in support of the prisoners, Israeli occupation forces shot two Palestinians in the legs and wounded dozens more due to tear gas inhalation in al-Khalil on Thursday as Palestinian youth protested in support of hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners. In Issawiya, occupation forces dismantled the solidarity tent set up in the village in support of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike, storming it and then confiscating the materials.  In Shuafat refugee camp and Silwan, Israeli occupation forces attacked protesting Palestinian Jerusalemites supporting the hunger striking prisoners. One shop owner was reportedly seized by Israeli forces in the city of Jerusalem after Israeli occupation forces attempted to forcibly compel shop owners to break the strike and open their doors, which they refused.

Dozens of Palestinians in Jerusalem gathered at the headquarters of the ICRC in support of the hunger strikers, carrying posters and photos of the imprisoned Palestinians. A delegation from the families of prisoners from Jerusalem also delivered a message to the European Union mission in Jerusalem, urging immediate action to provide support for imprisoned Palestinians.

International actions also continued in support of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike. A number of Egyptian parliamentarians announced a symbolic hunger strike to support the Palestinian prisoners on strike, denouncing the ongoing international silence and complicity in the ongoing violation of prisoners’ rights. The parliamentarians urged fellow parliamentarians around the world to uphold their responsibilities to support justice for the Palestinian people.  In the European Parliament, a number of deputies associated with the GUE/NGL (European United Left/Nordic Green Left) bloc stood in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike on Thursday.

In the United States, lawyers, legal workers and law students associated with the National Lawyers Guild carried out a one-day hunger strike in support of Palestinian prisoners, while students at the University of Manchester in the UK launched a solidarity strike with Palestinian prisoners. Events, protests and actions took place in Vancouver, Donegal, Armagh, Tampa, London, Siena, Vaxjo and elsewhere in support of the prisoners. Hundreds of members of the legal community also issued a statement in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners, urging the immediate implementation of their demands.

Large protests are expected to continue today, Friday, following Friday prayers in Palestinian city centers and public squares with marches and demonstrations.  Internationally, protests are scheduled for Belfast, Girona, Brussels, Dublin, New York City, London, Parma, Berlin, Montreal, Copenhagen, Albany and elsewhere in support of Palestinian prisoners.

As Palestinian prisoners entered their 11th day of hunger strike in the Strike for Freedom and Dignity, they were joined by a mass general strike for commerce, labor, governmental and educational sectors throughout the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Palestinian streets were almost empty of cars and passers-by, reported Ma’an News, throughout cities, towns, villages and refugee camps.

Shops, banks, factories, government institutions, universities are all closed; the only exceptions to the strike are high schools and emergency medical services and hospitals.

Over 1,500 Palestinian prisoners launched the hunger strike on 17 April, Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, to achieve a series of demands, including an end to the denial of family visits, the right to education, appropriate medical care for Palestinian prisoners and an end to solitary confinement and “administrative detention,” imprisonment without charge or trial.

Additional prisoners continued to join the strike on Thursday, as former long-term hunger striker Samer Issawi and six of his comrades from the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine joined the strike in the Negev desert prison.

The strikers have been met with significant repression from the Israeli prison administration, including the denial of legal visits from Palestinian lawyers. Of all the hunger striking prisoners, only three prisoners in Ofer prison have successfully received legal visits – all others have been denied. This ongoing practice has sparked a boycott of Israeli military courts by Palestinian lawyers from the Prisoners’ Society and the Prisoners’ Affairs Commission, in protest of the ongoing denial of visits.

Adalah has highlighted the illegality of this measure, representing seven lawyers in a letter to the director of the Supreme Court Department in the Israeli State Attorney’s office, demanding that the Israel Prison Service allow hunger strikers to meet with their lawyers.

In addition, several prisoner support organizations, including the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society and the Prisoners’ Affairs Commission, have advanced a preliminary motion to seek visits with their hunger-striking clients.  A motion has also been filed to allow visits for Karim Younes, the longest consecutively-held Palestinian prisoner, who has served 34 years in Israeli prison.

Younes, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, is a leader of the strike and is held in solitary confinement in Jalameh prison, with other strike leaders including Marwan Barghouthi, the jailed Fateh leader, Kamil Abu Hanish of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Anas Jaradat, Wajdi Jawdat, and other leading hunger strikers. A large demonstration gathered outside Jalameh prison organized by Palestinian organizations in occupied Palestine ’48, in support of the hunger strikers on Wednesday, 26 April.

In addition to the transfer and isolation of hunger strike leaders, hunger strikers have been repeatedly transferred and moved in arduous journeys from prison to prison, often moved into isolation sections. Their personal belongings have been confiscated as well as most of their clothing; many have been denied recreation, access to the “canteen” (prison store) and group prayer on Fridays.  The transfers have continued; on Thursday, Asra Voice reported that the prison administration has transferred around 40 striking and non-striking prisoners from Nafha, Ramon and Negev prisons to Ohli Kedar prison. There, the prison administration emptied section 8 and transferred the prisoners there into a section without necessary basic supplies or furnishings.

Hunger-striking prisoners are consuming salt and water; in various prisons, there are reports of Israeli prison guards and repressive forces seizing salt supplies, refusing to provide the standard drinking water, and engaging in violent nighttime raids on strikers’ sections.

For the first time since the beginning of the strike, the International Committee of the Red Cross visited striking prisoners in Nafha prison on Wednesday, 26 April. They collected verbal message from the prisoners there to deliver to their families. The ICRC has stated that it has elevated its alert level since the launch of the strike; it should be noted that one of the prisoners’ demands actually addresses the ICRC, demanding it restore twice-monthly prison visits coordinated by the ICRC for prisoners’ families.

A series of solidarity hunger strikes are also taking place today in conjunction with the Palestinian general strike. In Beita municipality, the municipality is organizing a one-day strike; in Gaza, 400 cadres with Islamic Jihad announced that they would engage in a one-day strike on Thursday, 27 April.

In al-Khalil, an open solidarity strike was announced by a number of activists involved in the #DismantleTheGhetto campaign, including the recently-released #AlKhalil4, Badee Dwaik, Anan Dana, Ishaq al-Khateeb and Younes Arar, along with Hisham Sharabati and Bassam Shwaiki.

Internationally, the National Lawyers Guild is organizing a one-day hunger strike of lawyers, legal workers and law students in cities across the United States in support of Palestinian prisoners. In the city of Tampa, Florida, activists are organizing a one-day strike, while student organizers at the University of Manchester in the UK are launching an ongoing hunger strike in solidarity with the prisoners and for a series of demands from their own university.

In support of the actions in Palestine and the hunger strikers’ ongoing struggle, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network has called for organizing actions from 27-30 April 2017 internationally. Events and actions are scheduled in Vancouver, New York, Gothenburg, London, Berlin, Tampa, Donegal, Armagh, Manchester, Dublin, Belfast, Siena, Brussels, Girona, Parma, Paris, Padua, Athens, Liege, Turin, Stuttgart and more cities.

We urge all supporters of Palestine and friends of justice to come together to take action from 27 April to 30 April and stand with Palestinian prisoners striking for freedom and dignity!

TAKE ACTION

Materials to support your events and organizing are available for download here: https://samidoun.net/2017/03/call-to-organize-palestinian-prisoners-week-of-action-14-to-24-april-2017/ Please contact samidoun@samidoun.net or reach out to us on Facebook for questions or to share your actions.

1) Organize or join an event in support of the hunger strikers. Protest outside your local Israeli embassy, consulate or mission, or at a public square or government building. You can drop a banner or put up a table to support the prisoners and their strike. See the list of current international events here, and add your own: send your events and actions to us at samidoun@samidoun.net, on Facebook, or use the form to tell us about your actions.

2) Hunger Strike for Justice! Join the Palestinian hunger strikers to support their demands with a symbolic one-day hunger strike in your community or on your campus. Tell us about your solidarity strike at samidoun@samidoun.net, on Facebook, or use the form.

3) Call your government officials and demand action.  Call your foreign affairs officials – and members of parliament – and urge action for the Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike.

Call your country’s officials urgently:

• Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop: + 61 2 6277 7500
• Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland: +1-613-992-5234
• European Union Commissioner Federica Mogherini: +32 (0) 2 29 53516
• New Zealand Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully: +64 4 439 8000
• United Kingdom Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson: +44 20 7008 1500
• United States President Donald Trump: 1-202-456-1111

Tell your government: Palestinian prisoners are on hunger strike for their basic human rights – for family visits, medical care, and freedom from imprisonment without charge or trial. Governments must pressure Israel to recognize the prisoners’ demands!

4) Take action on social media! Support the hunger strike on social media. Post a picture of yourself with a sign saying you support the Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike! Include the hashtag #DignityStrike when posting your photo to Facebook or Twitter. Share and re-share information about the strike with the #DignityStrike hashtag.

5) Build the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Campaign! Join the BDS Movement to highlight the complicity of corporations like Hewlett-Packard and the continuing involvement of G4S in Israeli policing and prisons. Build a campaign to boycott Israeli goods, impose a military embargo on Israel, or organize around the academic and cultural boycott of Israel.