Hunger Strike Updates: Abdullah Barghouthi in health crisis; cameras installed in prisoners’ hospital rooms

7 July 2013

A Palestinian lawyer who visited Abdullah Barghouthi in Afula hospital on July 6, as he entered his 67th day of hunger strike, reported that he has entered an extremely dangerous phase, that his liver, blood vessels and irregular heartbeat pose a threat to his life. He noted that the hospital has a committee studying the health and legal status of Barghouthi, one of five Palestinian political prisoners holding Jordanian citizenship on hunger strike for their rights as Jordanians, including to be transferred to Jordan. The other four strikers, Muneer Mar’i, Mohammad Rimawi, Alaa Hamdan and Hamza Othman al-Dabbas, have also been on strike since May 2, for 67 days, and are facing severe health threats, in particular Mohammad Rimawi.

In addition, Ayman Hamdan and Imad Batran, Palestinian administrative detainees who have been on hunger strike for 71 and 62 days, respectively, protesting their administrative detention without charge or trial, have now had surveillance cameras installed inside their hospital room at Assaf Horofa Hospital in apparent retaliation for their hunger strike. Palestinian Prisoners Society lawyer Jawad Boulos also reported that they have 6 guards in their room with them who eat and drink inside the room. Both of them have their right hands and left feet chained to their hospital beds, despite their poor health as they consume only water, salt and glucose. Hamdan and Batran are among a number of Palestinian hunger strikers challenging administrative detention, including Ayman Al-Tabeesh and Adel Hareebat, both of whom have been on hunger strike for 46 days.

Also on hunger strike are Hussam Mattar, demanding his release; Ghassan Elian, protesting his re-arrest after release in the prisoner exchange; Mohammed Al-Tabeesh, in solidarity with his brother Ayman; and Ahmed Hamdan, brother of Ayman Hamda.

Eyad Abu Khudair of Gaza continues his hunger strike for release; he has been detained beyond the end of his sentence and occupation officials refuse to release him, saying he has no identity papers. Khaled Hroub is on hunger strike demanding to be placed with his brother, Younis, and Awad al-Saidi is striking demanding an end to his isolation.

The Prisoners’ Society urged the broadest popular support for the striking prisoners and ill prisoners.

See the following chart (data from Palestinian Prisoners Society) on the hunger strikers and the date they launched their strikes:

Palestinian prisoner’s name	Date of Hunger Strike
Ayman Issa Hamdan	04/28/2013
Muneer Mari	05/02/2013
Abdullah Barghouti	05/02/2013
Alaa Hammad	05/02/2013
Mohammad Rimawi	05/02/2013
Hamza Othman Al-Dabbas	05/02/2013
Imad Batran	05/07/2013
Adel Hareebat	05/23/2013
Ayman Al-Tabeesh	05/23/2013
Hossam Mattar	06/01/2013
Ghassan Elian	06/10/2013
Mohammed Al-Tabeesh	06/12/2013
Khaled Hroub	06/15/2013
Eyad Abu Khudair	06/17/2013
Ahmed Hamdan	06/24/2013
Awad Al-Saidi	06/25/2013

Child prisoners suffer from spread of skin disease in Hasharon

7 July 2013

Children and youth prisoners at Hasharon prison reported on Saturday, July 6 that skin diseases were spreading throughout their ranks in the prison, calling for intervention by international medical and human rights organizations.

In a message leaked from inside the prisons, Wael Fakhri Turkman, a prisoner held in Hasharon, said that the youth prisoners in Hasharon were being denied legal and medical visits after the dramatic spread of the infectious skin diseases.

There are dozens of child and youth prisoners in the section, Turkman said, and he called upon all human rights, humanitarian and medical associations to work to introduce medications to eliminate this disease.

There are 234 Palestinian children and youth held as prisoners in Israeli prisons, reported Palestinian researcher Abdel Nasser Ferwana.

31 Palestinians seized in ongoing occupation raids throughout West Bank

7 July 2013

raidz Ma’an reported on the ongoing mass arrests and raids throughout the West Bank in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 7, 2013, in which 31 Palestinians were forcibly detained.

Soldiers detained eight Palestinians in Nablus, a military spokesman said.

Locals said Israeli military jeeps raided Nablus’ Old City at around 3 a.m as well as the al-Maajin neighborhood. Soldiers detained
Musab al-Shami, Mahmud al-Shami, Mohammad al-Aboud, Khalid Abu Zarour, Karm Mansour, Mohammad al-Natour and Ahmad al-Natour, locals told Ma’an.

Israeli forces also raided several areas around Ramallah, detaining five Palestinians in Deir Abu Mashal and one in Jalazun refugee camp, the military spokesman said. Soldiers detained two Palestinians in Bilin and two in Nilin, villages which hold weekly protests against Israel’s separation wall.

Forces also detained two Palestinians in Beit Ummar, near Hebron, another site of weekly protests, as well as two from Hebron, two from Idhna, northwest of the city and three from al-Arrub refugee camp, north of Hebron.

Soldiers detained one Palestinian in Bethlehem and two in Abu Dis, north of Bethlehem, and one Palestinian in Birqin, near Jenin in the northern West Bank.

The army spokesman said the detainees were taken for security questioning.

Freed prisoner Mohammed al-Taj launches hunger strike for health care action from PA

7 July 2013

Freed Palestinian prisoner Mohammed Al-Taj declared he would go on hunger strike on Sunday, July 7 demanding action around his medical treatment. Hilmi Al-Araj, the director of Hurriyat (freedoms) center, said in a press release on Saturday that Taj has waited for two and a half months to be treated, since his release on medical grounds on April 18, 2013, after his lungs failed, but there has been no action except bureaucracy from the Palestinian Authority’s health ministry, and he has also called upon the office of the PA presidency for action but had achieved no results.

Taj, who suffers from pulmonary fibrosis, is in need of lung transplant operation after he was released from Israeli jails due to his serious condition. Without a lung transplant, his lifespan is estimated to be about eight months.

Araj said that Taj should be transferred to a European country as 85% of his lungs are not working and he is in urgent need of specialized medical care. Taj was detained in 2003 and was serving a 15-year sentence; he was released, with no treatment, by the occupation prisons shortly following the death of Maysara Abu Hamdieh and widespread protests across Palestine against the medical mistreatment and abuse in occupation prisons.

Palestinian researcher: 5000 Palestinian prisoners, including 234 children, in occupation prisons

6 July 2013

Former prisoner, researcher and analyst, Abdel Nasser Farwana, reported that since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada on September 28, 2000 until today, there were over 78,000 Palestinians arrested from all sectors of Palestinian society.

Among these arrests included over 9,000 children under 10, and nearly 60 Palestinian legislators and ministers in addition to numerous journalists, academics, and hundreds of political leaders.

Ferwana said that at the present time, Israel is holding approximately 5000 prisoners in 17 prisons and detention centres in harsh condition, and that the prisoners lack the minimum human rights stipulated in international law and human rights instruments. In particular, he pointed to the continued policy of medical neglect and abuse and physical and psychological torture.

83.5% of the detainees are from the West Bank, 8.7% from Gaza, and 7.8% from Jerusalem and Occupied Palestine ’48. Most prisoners are held in Negev, Eshel, Nafha, Ohla Kedar, Ramon, Gilboa, Shata, Ofer, Asqelan, Hadorim, Hasharon, Ramle, and Megiddo.

29.6% of prisoners are married, and 70.4% are single. There are 234 children, 15 women prisoners, 14 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, and 153 administrative detainees. 51 of the child prisoners are under 16. Among the women prisoners, Lena Jarbouni has been held for over 11 years.

There are 537 prisoners serving one or several life sentences.

There are 103 prisoners who are “veteran prisoners,” held before the Oslo agreement, including 83 prisoners who have been held for 20 years, among them 24 who have been held for over 25 years. Karim Younes has been detaines for over 30 years.

Since 1967, 204 prisoners have died in occupation prisons due to torture, medical neglect, or beatings, the latest of which were Arafat Jaradat and Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh, in addition to hundreds of prisoners who died after their liberation from prison due to the impacts of torture and medical neglect.

Ferwana called on all Palestinians, national and Islamic forces and political parties and social institutions to activate and raise the level of their solidarity to befit the sacrifices of the prisoners, the role of their cause, and put an end to the violations committed against them on the road to freedom and liberation for all prisoners.

Palestinian prisoner Hussam Mattar penalized for hunger strike

6 July 2013

Palestinian prisoner Hussam Mattar, from Jerusalem, has been on hunger strike since June 1, 2013 and is currently suffering from pain throughout his body. Mattar’s wife reported that the prison administration is imposing severe penalties on her husband in order to pressure him to suspend his hunger strike.

Fines have been imposed upon him, he has been barred from family visits, and transferred from prison to prison.

She reported that he has been transferred from isolation in Nafha, to Ohla Kedar in Bir Saba, where he was held for four days, then returned back to Nafha for one night, then back to Ohla Kedar for one night, and then to isolation in Asqelan prison.

The cell is only two meters by 1.5 meters, lacking the minimum necessities, and is infested with insects and cockroaches, with surveillance cameras inside the cell. Mattar’s lawyer reported that he is suffering from severe head, muscle and kidney pain and has lost 22 kg during his strike. Mattar was arrested on October 19, 2007, sentenced to life imprisonment, and is the father of 2 children, Saqr (7) and Nasrallah (5). He is demanding his freedom, and to be recognized as a prisoner of war.

Ill Palestinian prisoners in Ramle subject to abusive raids, Asqelan prisoners continue to boycott clinic

6 July 2013

Palestinian lawyer Hanan al-Khatib reported that a special repressive force called Masada stormed the prison clinic in Ramle at 7:30 pm on July 5, and remained, ransacking the prisoners’ areas, for 6 hours, destroying many prisoners’ belongings.

Riad Amour, a representative of the ill prisoners, said that these “inspections” are common and provocative, many prisoners in the section have disabilities and use wheelchairs and are unable to protect themselves or their property.

16 ill prisoners in the clinic returned their meals in protest of the raid, saying that if these raids continue they will boycott their medicine, said Khatib. She warned that several prisoners ar not receiving their medicine, including Moqadah Mansour, who has a tumor on his neck that is feared to be cancerous, but the prison will not send him to an outside hospital for examination or treatment. She also noted the deteriorating conditions of other prisoners, such as Moatassem Raddad, who is a cancer patient who needs monthly injections, but only receives them every 2 months on the ground that they are too expensive. She also said that Nahed Aqrah’s health status is still difficult after his second foot was amputated, and the area continues to be inflamed and painful.

Reports also came from Asqelan prison that the number of ill prisoners continue to increase, as prisoners continue to boycott the prison clinic in protest of medical neglect and mistreatment.

Nasser Abu Hamid, representative of Asqelan prisoners, said through his lawyer that some prisoners have stopped taking medicine, such as Samer Abu Leila and Yousef Nadjah, in protest of medical mistreatment. Hazem Abu Eid, a prisoner from al-Khalil, arrested on June 26, 2013, is suffering an injury in his abdomen, knee, and right leg due to being shot, and needs knee surgery. There are 11 difficult cases in Asqelan prison, including Muhammed Brash, who is hard of hearing, his left leg has been amputated, and his vision in his left eye is severely impaired; Naim Shawamre, who has serious laryngeal problems; Hazem Abu Eid (above); Mohammed Daoud, with severe dental problems, high blood pressure, and psoriasis; Fouad Shoubaki, who has hemorrhoids and high bood pressure; Sharif Naji, with high blood pressure, stomach ailments and high cholesterol; Ahmed Al Jaafar, with diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease; Ahmed Shehadeh, with hypertension and diabetes; Muntasser Abu Ghalyoun, who has eye problems; Samer Abu Leila, who has high blood pressure and heart disease; and Othman Younes, whose fingers of his left hand were amputated and who suffers from intestinal problems.

Jordanian hunger strikers suffering medical crisis, demand action

6 July 2013

Palestinian lawyers reported on July 6 that the conditions of three Jordanian prisoners on hunger strike in Soroka Hospital, Mohammad Rimawi, Muneer Mar’i and Alaa Hammad, had become very serious.

Muneer Mar’i said that the Jordanian government bears responsibility for failing to communicate with the prisoners, intervene, or respond to their demands for freedom and return to Jordan, and called on the Jordanian government to put real pressure on the Israeli occupation to put an end to this ongoing situation that will not end inside the prisons.

Mohammad Rimawi is suffering serious chest pains and fever, has been vomiting blood, and is no longer able to walk. All of the strikers have lost significant weight and are bound to their hospital beds.

Rimawi, Mar’i and Hammad are three of five prisoners holding Jordanian citizenship on hunger strike. They have been on hunger strike for 66 days, alongside their fellow strikers Hamza Othman al-Dabbas and Abdullah Barghouthi. Barghouthi, who is held in Afula hospital, was severely assaulted earlier in the week by his jailers, who keep him chained to his hospital bed.

London: Activists protest in solidarity with Jordanian hunger strikers

6 July 2013

Inminds Palestinian Prisoners Campaign activists in London held their second protest outside the Jordanian embassy in solidarity with the Jordanian hunger strikers on Friday, July 5.

They had issued the following call for the protest. For more information, please see Inminds on Facebook.

“Friday 5th July will mark 65 days of hunger strike for 5 Palestinian political prisoners with Jordanian citizenship in Israeli occupation jails. The prisoners families are asking for the immediate release of all Palestinian political prisoners, and in the very least Israel be made to abide by its side of the shameful Wadi Araba normalisation agreement which King Hussein signed with Israel in 1994, under which Jordanian prisoners in Israeli jails should be transferred to Jordan to serve their sentences where at least the families of the prisoners can visit – Israel is at present preventing families of the prisoners from visiting them. The prisoners are also demanding Israel disclose the where about of 20 Jordanian prisoners who are missing, and to return the bodies of the prisoners who have died in Israel custody, which Israel has dumped in numbered graves, back to their families.

It should be noted that Jordanians have consistently demanded their government tear up the treacherous Wadi Araba peace agreement in which King Hussein sold out the Palestinians, and in return gained nothing other than shame for Jordan. Needless to say Israel has been a serial violator of the treaty from day one.. its assassination attempt of Khaled Meshaal in 1997 to its Judaisation of Jerusalem, and its restrictions on access to holy places in Jerusalem..

The five hunger strikers: Abdullah Al-Barghothi, Hamzah Al-Dabbas, Muneer Merei, Alaa Hammad and Mohammad Al-Rimawi have each lost over 18kg in weight. Some of the prisoners have lost their ability to walk and are confined to wheel chairs. Mohammad Al-Rimawi, who suffers from a heart disorder where sometimes his heart beat is 125 and sometimes it drops to 50 beats per minute, is being denied his medicine by the Israeli Prison Service until he agrees to stop his hunger strike. Prisoners are being pressured to stop their hunger strikes with their cells being raided and attack dogs being used in order to intimidate them. As the strike persists the methods employed by Israel are getting more violent. On 26th June 2013 Israeli guards attacked Abdullah Al-Barghouti in the hospital, they dragged him from his hospital bed to the concrete floor and kicked him in the face, causing bleeding.

There have been over 85 demonstrations in Jordan by the families of the prisoners – elderly mothers standing in the burning sun, at several protests each day! Even a 22km solidarity march from one city to another.. All of this falling on deaf ears with the Jordanian government shamefully abandoning the prisoners and according to some accounts even pressuring the prisoners to give up their hunger strike.

Terrified by the iron will of the families and friends of the hunger strikes to relentlessly carry on protesting everyday and the support and respect they garner in wider society and the resulting momentum building up to end the states total submission to every whim of the Zionist enemy, the Jordanian security services have come down very hard on the protesting families. Family members have been threatened with arrest if they persist to champion their loved ones in Israeli dungeons. They dragged away a 16 year old boy, a nephew of one of the hunger strikes, to prison and locked him up for 3 days – his crime was to hand out a leaflet about his uncles’ imprisonment in an Israeli prison. On another occasion, wearing military camouflage uniforms that have never seen service on the enemy front line, the security forces with batons drawn, attacked a peaceful protest with plain cloths security service personnel cowardly targeting hunger striker Muneer Meree’s brother, assaulting him before disappearing back behind the uniform lines.

Its with this backdrop of intimidation, that we made contact with activists in Jordan. The families and campaigners in Jordan courageously, at great personal risk to themselves, asked us to help internationalise the campaign by protesting in solidarity with them in London outside the Jordanian Embassy in a joint protest, with them protesting in Jordan outside the Royal Court (Central Government buildings) on the same day at the same time. That was last Sundays protest, this Friday we build on that success with another protest outside the Jordanian Embassy.”

PFLP prison branch rejects demands that Mohammad Rimawi end hunger strike

5 July 2013

The Israel Prison Services abruptly demanded to meet with the leadership of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine prison branch on Thursday, July 4, in an attempt to pressure them to convince PFLP leader and Jordanian hunger striker Mohammad Rimawi to break his open hunger strike that has now continued for 65 days. Rimawi is one of five Palestinian prisoners with Jordanian citizenship who have been engaged in a 65-day hunger strike, along with Abdullah Barghouthi, Muneer Mar’i, Alaa Hammad, and Hamza Othman al-Dabbas.

The IPS demanded the leadership of the PFLP inside the prisons call upon Rimawi to lift his strike, which they inside the prisons rejected, saying they stand fully with the Jordanian prisoners on hunger strike and particularly Rimawi.

The PFLP leadership emphasized their support for the demands of the Jordanian prisoners and the justice of their cause, warning the Zionist prison officials of the consequences of deterioriation in their health and the seriousness of their situation, particularly as some, including Rimawi, suffer from serious diseases.

The Front leadership in the prisons called on the Palestinian, Jordanian and Arab people to engage in the broadest campaign of solidarity with the prisoners on hunger strike, and called upon people around the world to pressure their governments to take action to save the lives of the hunger striking prisoners.

There were additional multiple reports that Abdullah Barghouthi’s health is significantly worsening after suffering multiple assaults by his jailors.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Committee in Nablus visited Beit Rima, the hometown of Mohammad Rimawi and Abdullah Barghouthi, after visiting the homes of imprisoned PFLP general secretary Ahmad Sa’adat and leader Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh. The delegation met with families of the prisoners in Beit Rima and emphasized the importance of supporting all prisoners and their families, especially those on hunger strike.

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