According to sources in the prisoners movement, a meeting was held in Ramon prison between the Prison Service and two members of the Higher committee of the Leadership of the Strike, Jamal al-Hur and Mohannad al-Shraim. The two leaders said that the hunger striking prisoners are holding to their demands at all costs, saying that the hunger strike has reached a point of no return unless the strikers’ demands are met.
Meeting between Prison Services and Strike Leadership; strikers insist on demands
Former prisoner Sumoud Karajeh joins solidarity strike as several protesters in Gaza hospitalized
Solidarity hunger strikes continue to take place throughout Palestine. Sumoud Karajeh, freed prisoner, is now on her 6th day of hunger strike. She said that she “is proud to be engaged in this strike for prisoners who have given their youth to the occupation prisons,” saying she would continue to strike until all of the demands of the prisoners were met, calling for the broadest solidarity with the prisoners.
The Palestine Information Centrereported that five solidarity strikers in Gaza, Amal Abu Sbeitan (40 years), striking for 16 days, Ahmed Shahwan (40 years), Fateh Khalf Allah (50 years), and Salah Abu Samaan (35 years) were taken to the Shifa state Hospital due to the deterioration of their health condition, and after fainting as a result of their participation in the open hunger strike since seven days, in solidarity with prisoners who have launched the strike 19 days ago. Former captive leader Rouhi Mushtaha was taken to Shifa Hospital in Gaza on Saturday, for the second time in less than 12 hours.
Sa’adat rejects attempts to meet with him, demands the prisoners’ leadership be respected
Ahmad Sa’dat, isolated prisoner for over three years, and imprisoned general secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, refused attempts by the Israel Prison Services to meet separately with him to negotiate regarding the hunger strike, reported Addameer Association and the Mandela Associaiton.
Sa’adat told Buthaina Duqmaq, President of the Mandela Foundation, that a delegation of security and intelligence officials had come to his prison hospital bed in Ramleh, asking about the strike. Sa’adat told them that there is a Higher Committee to speak on behalf of the strikers.
Sa’adat reported that “the delegation replied that they wanted to talk with me as human beings, and I said that this is not a dialogue, that there are demands presented by the prisoners which must be met, including ending the prohibition of visits for prisoners from Gaza, ending isolation, and ending collective punishment.” Sa’adat said that there have been prisoners held in isolation for over 10 years without any reason and stressed that the abolition of isolation is essential.
Sa’adat emphasized that there is a Higher Committee responsible for the prisoners’ demands, who is the appropriate party to meet with.
Duqmaq also reported that Ramleh prison hospital is now blocking lawyers until further notice by demanding prisoners in hospital stand to engage in lawyer meetings. She said that this was part of a mechanism to pressure Palestinian prisoners with their deteriorating health.
Duqmaq reported that Sa’adat has lost 9 kilograms of weight, and said that he confirmed that the prisoners are firmly committed to their demands and not to concede on them. He called on the Palestinian people, the Arab nation, and all democratic and progressive forces in the world, to “rally around the struggle of the Palestinian people,” also demanding that the Palestinian Authority and Palestinian leadership uphold their responsibility to the prisoners’ movement and to a political program based on resistance, not on futile negotiations..
Palestinian striking prisoners face medical neglect; independent physicians denied access
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel told CNN that there is “no recorded case” of prisoners surviving on hunger strike past 75 days without supplements or minerals, urging that Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh be released on their 70th day of hunger strike. The last time PHR was able to visit Diab and Halahleh, they chronicled an increasingly desperate medical situation for the two. In the meantime, the other long-term hunger strikers:
Hassan Safadi- Day 64 of hunger strike
Omar Abu Shalal- Day 62 of hunger strike
Mohammad Taj- Day 51 of hunger strike
Jaafar Azzedine- Day 47 of hunger strike
Mahmoud Sarsak- Day 46 of hunger strike
Abdullah Barghouti- Day 26 of hunger strike
have been continually denied outside medical support. PHR reports that it is pursuing 3 cases today in court seeking access to hunger striking prisoners.
10 prisoners from Negev prison have been taken to hospital, one reporting partial paralysis due to hunger strike and medical neglect. In addition, imprisoned member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Mohammed Jamal Natsheh, after being on an open hunger strike since 20 days, called urgently to be sent specialist doctors to see his deteriorating health condition. Natsheh’s family demanded all official, human rights and international bodies to intervene immediately in order to save the MP’s life endangered due to the strike.
Nafha prisoners: We will start second stage of our strike
RAMALLAH, (PIC)– Palestinian prisoners who are on hunger strike in the Israeli Nafha jail said in a message that they would start on Monday the second stage of their hunger strike.
They said in a message on Sunday that after 20 days of “legendary steadfastness” they decided to start the second stage of their hunger strike, which, they said, would contain a lot of surprises for the “Zionist enemy”.
They said, “We started our battle of empty stomachs on 17 April to let the world know of our tragedy and to demand our humanitarian rights”.
The prisoners said that the Israeli responses to the strike did not meet the minimum of their demands, affirming that they would proceed in their battle till those demands were met.
For its part, the Palestinian ministry of planning and foreign affairs in Gaza charged the Israeli occupation authority (IOA) with exercising the most “brutal forms of repression” against the Palestinian prisoners.
The ministry said in a statement on Sunday that the IOA practices are in violation of the international law and international agreements.
It said that the IOA was banning lawyers from visiting hunger strikers, quelling more and more of them in isolation cells, and cracking down on the solidarity rallies in addition to spreading rumors and waging psychological warfare against them.
Pointing out that more than 3000 Palestinian prisoners were on hunger strike, the ministry asked the Arab League, the world community, and human rights groups to seriously act to stop the IOA violent quelling measures and to provide a dignified life for those prisoners and to seek their release the soonest.
Statement No. 4 of the Hunger Strikers’ Leadership
Statement No. 4
by the Higher Committee of the Leadership of the Strike
We vow to live with dignity or die – to our steadfast Palestinian people…
We are in a dangerous and sensitive situation, and run the risk of losing our lives for our dignity. Nevertheless, we will not end our strike without achieving our demands, the most important being to end the policy of isolation and to permit the family visits from Gaza that have ben banned.
Therefore, it is absurd to think our demands, our strike, our empty stomachs and our hunger, which enter our twentieth day, could be used to achieve personal or partisan interests to this or that prisoner, regardless of their positions in their parties. Any attempt to use the strike in this way is a betrayal, a stab in our backs, and a conspiracy against this strike.
We read false and illegitimate stories in the press attributed to one or more individuals who are in different locations, claiming that the management of the Prison Service and some sort of committee has agreed to a certain percentage of our demands. These attempts to lie and deceive at this stage are attempts to evade the strike launched by more than 1600 Palestinian prisoners. We are committed to this struggle, our demands are fair, and we reject this kind of cheap begging.
To Free People…
We call upon news agencies to verify all news prior to publication, and call on our brothers in the Ma’an News Agency in particular to dismiss such false reports and inform the Palestinian people with coverage of our strike and the support for it.
Finally…
At this stage we note that if some insist on deception we will have to clarify things and set the record straight and expose any conspiracy to undermine our battle of empty stomachs and our destiny, and the dignity of our prisoners.
We will live with dignity or die
Higher Committee of the Leadership of the Strike
5/4/2012
Statement: Israel government should free Ameer Makhoul on the second anniversary of his arrest
More than 25 organisations around the world have combined to urge Israel to free imprisoned human rights defender Ameer Makhoul on the second anniversary of his arrest.
Ameer has been in prison since May 2010. On 1 May 2012, Ameer was transferred from Gilboa prison to another jail in Majido, allegedly as punishment for participating in a hunger strike to highlight the conditions of political prisoners in Israel. His family was not informed, and only found out about the move when they tried to visit him at Gilboa prison. The transfer of Ameer to Majido adds to the harassment being faced by his family by making it difficult for them to reach him.
Ameer has been Director of Ittijah: Union of Arab Community-Based Associations since it was established in 1995. He has also served as Chair of the Public Committee for the Defence of Political Freedoms of Arab Citizens in Israel, in addition to being a prolific writer on political, social and civil society issues in Israel.
The circumstances surrounding Ameers arrest by Israels Shin Bet security agency, and the consequent failure by the Israeli government to follow the due process of law immediately after his arrest, smack of harassment and political interference.
On 6 May 2010, 16 agents from Shin Bet burst into Ameers home in the middle of the night, searched it and confiscated laptops, hard drives, cell phones and a camera belonging to his family. Following his arrest, Ameer was detained incommunicado for 12 days, given no explanation of the charges against him and denied access to a lawyer. His detention was later extended by a court order and he was granted access to his legal team only after they threatened not to attend his detention extension hearing in court.
Ameer was subjected to intense interrogation sessions and charged with assisting an enemy in time of war, and contact with a foreign agent, which he denied. Under severe pressure from Israeli agents, in October 2010, Ameer entered a plea bargain stating that he contacted a foreign agent and conspired to assist an enemy [Hezbollah] in a time of war. As a result of the plea bargain, the more serious charge of assisting an enemy in war which carried a life sentence was withdrawn by the prosecution. He was sentenced to nine years in prison with an additional years suspended sentence.
We believe that Ameer Makhoul is a prisoner of conscience whose work to defend human rights in Israel has been wrongly curtailed. As such he should be immediately and unconditionally released to prevent the continuation of this travesty of justice.
Issued on behalf of:
- Les Alternatifs, France
- Arab NGO Network for Development, Lebanon
- Associacion pro Derechos Humanos de Andalucia, Spain
- Association des Travailleurs Maghrebins de France, France
- Association France Palestine Solidarite, France
- The Association of NGOs, the Gambia
- Une Autre Voix Juive, France
- Bahraini Transparency Association, Bahrain
- Campagne Civile pour la Protection Internationale du Peuple Palestinien, France
- CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
- Collectif Judo Arabe et Citoyen pour la Paix, France
- The Committee on Justice and Peace in Palestine and the Middle East of the 5th Arrondissement of Paris, France
- Frantz Fanon Foundation
- The Gathering of the CSOs in Saida, Lebanon
- Mouvement Contre le Racisme et pour l’Amiti entre les Peuples, France
- Nigerian Network of NGOs, Nigeria
- Pakistan NGO Forum, Pakistan
- Palestinian NGO Network, Palestine
- Le Parti Communiste Franais, France
- Plataforma de Solidaridad con Palestina de Sevilla, Spain
- Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations, UK
- Sudanese Civic forum, Sudan
- United Civilians for Peace
- Union Juive Francaise pour la Paix, France
- Union Syndicale Solidaires, France
- United French Jewish for peace, France
- Women in Black, Strasbourg, France
- Workers’ Communist Party of France, France
CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation is a global movement dedicated to strengthening citizen action and civil society across the world.
Oberlin Students for Free Palestine to fast in solidarity May 7-11
Oberlin Students for a Free Palestine will be holding a solidarity fast from May 7 to May 11. This action is intended to raise awareness of the two thousand plus Palestinian prisoners who are currently on hunger strike in Israeli administered prisons.
Palestinian hunger strikers are refusing food in order to protest the Israeli government’s ongoing unjust practices and to focus international attention on these violations, including violent arrests, imprisonment outside of the occupied territories, solitary confinement, denial of access to medical care, torture, and the policy of administrative detention which enables Israel to hold prisoners indefinitely without a charge and without any access to a trial.
In particular two individuals have emerged as leaders of this movement, Khader Adnan and Hana Shalabi, both of whom have spent years of their lives in and out of Israeli prisons under the administrative detention policy. Neither were ever charged with committing a crime, yet they were both forcibly separated from their families and communities. Although they have both been released in recent weeks, hundreds of their fellow prisoners remain on hunger strike and even more remain in administrative detention, including two hundred and three children.
These hunger strikes are a part of a deeper history of Palestinian non-violent resistance to Israel’s occupation and appropriation of Palestinian land. This tactic was used widely during the first Intifada in concert with consumer boycotts, labor strikes, and popular demonstrations.
These hunger strikes are also part of a wider history of liberation struggles throughout the world. Many people are familiar with those carried out by Northern Ireland in the 1980s by IRA prisoners such as Bobby Sands, but hunger strikes have also been used in situations around the world, including detainees at the US prison in Guantanamo Bay, prisoners in solitary confinement in Pelican Bay, California, La Mujer Obrera from El Paso, in addition to many other activists and prisoners whose efforts are less widely recognized. Currently this tactic is being used by political protesters in the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa, such as Abdulhadi al-Khawaja in Bahrain who has been on hunger strike since February 8.
In solidarity with these prisoners, members of Students for a Free Palestine and other organizations, including Student Labor Action Commission, Filipino American Students Association, the Middle East Peace Forum of Northeast Ohio, Al-Awda of Cleveland, the Greater Cleveland Arab Americans Association, and many individuals have chosen to undertake fasts where they will not eat any food for a day. In an effort to educate and engage students in dialogue about this action, SFP will set up tables around campus to be available for conversation. We hope this initiative will give Oberlin students a greater awareness of the many instruments of repression Israel employs to suppress Palestinian freedom and to perpetuate the illegal occupation. We also hope to make people aware of some of the creative, resourceful and nonviolent ways that Palestinians have adopted in order to resist this oppression and demand their freedoms.
We would like to stress that in our position as student activists we do not claim to speak for Palestinians or share their struggle. Instead we aim to make their voices heard. Unlike the hundreds of prisoners who remain confined to Israeli jails, we have chosen to fast without facing any potential consequences to our health or freedom, and we would therefore like to acknowledge our privileged position. We also wish to emphasize that Palestinian hunger strikers are not victims; we fast in order to honor their act of resistance and steadfastness, an act which demonstrates their continued agency in the face of ongoing challenges to their basic freedom and dignity.
Hunger strikers denied access to independent doctors: Action Alert from Amnesty
Omar Abu Shalal and Hassan Safadi have been on hunger strike for 60 days and have not been seen by any independent doctors. They have been denied all visits by independent doctors, despite the fact that their hunger strike is in an extremely critical stage.
Amnesty International has issued an action alert about the denial of independent doctors to Palestinian hunger strikers:
http://www.amnesty.org/fr/library/asset/MDE15/023/2012/fr/f0f4c163-0f33-4313-ac38-2974e6e2e8fc/mde150232012en.pdf
“Their fate is in our hands” – a call to action for the striking prisoners by Khader Adnan
Khader Adnan writes in gratitude for the support he was given while on hunger-strike and calls for solidarity with the prisoners:
In the name of Allah, Most Compassionate, Most Merciful,
Praise be to Allah, and peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.
Dear free people of the world. Dear oppressed and disenfranchised around the globe. Dear friends of our people, who stood with me with a stern belief in freedom and dignity for my people and our prisoners languishing in the Occupation’s prisons.
Dear free women and men, young and elderly, ordinary people as well as intellectual elites everywhere – I address you today with an outpouring of hope and pain for every Palestinian that suffers from the occupation of his land, for each of us that has been killed, wounded or imprisoned by the state of terror, that denies anything beautiful in our lives, even the smile of our children and families. I am addressing you in my first letter following my release – praying it will not be the last – after Allah granted me freedom, pride and dignity. I was an “administrative detainee” in the jail of occupation for four months, out of which I have spent 66 days on hunger strike.
I was driven to declare an open-ended hunger strike by the daily harassment and violation of my people’s rights by the Israeli Zionist occupation. The last straw for me were the ongoing arrests, the brutal nighttime raid on my house, my violent detention, during which I was taken to the “Mavo Dotan” settlement on our land occupied 1967, and the beatings and humiliation I was treated to during arrest interrogation. The way I was treated during the interrogation at the Jalameh detention center, using the worse and lowest verbal insults in the dictionary. After questioning, I was sentenced to imprisonment under administrative detention with no charges, which proves mine and others’ arrests serve only to maintain a quota of prisoners, to harass us, to restrict our freedom and to undermine our determination, pride and dignity.
I write today to thank all those who stood tall in support of my people, with our prisoners, with Hana al-Shalabi and with myself. I call on you to stand for justice pride and dignity in the face of occupation. The assault on the freedom and dignity of the Palestinian people is an assault on free people of the world by a criminal occupation that threatens the security, freedom and dignity of all, no matter where.
Please, continue in exposing this occupation, boycotting and isolating it internationally. Expose it’s true face, the one that was clearly exposed in the attack of an Israeli officer on our Danish cohort. Unlike that attack, the murder our people is a crime that goes by unspoken of and slips away from the lens of the camera. Our prisoners are dying in silence. Hundreds of defenders of freedom are on hunger strike inside the prisons, including the eight knights, Bilal Diab and Thaer Hlahalh, who are now on their 61st day of hunger strike, Hassan Safadi, Omar Abu Shalal, Mahmoud Sarsak, Mahmoud Sarsal, Mohammad Taj, Jaafar Azzedine (who was arrested solely for standing in solidarity with myself) and Ahmad haj Ali. Their lives now are in great danger.
We are all responsible and we will all lose if we anything happen to them. Let us take immediate action to pressure the Occupation into releasing them immediately, or their children could never forgive us.
Let all those free and revolutionary join hands against the Occupation’s oppression, and take to the streets – in front of the Occupation’s prisons, in front of its embassies and all other institutions backing it around the world.
With deep appreciation,
Khader Adnan
