Thousands of Palestinian prisoners launch hunger strike protesting death of prisoner

4,500 Prisoners Refuse Food, Launch 3-Day Hunger Strike in Israeli Jails

http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/prisoners/4382-4500-prisoners-refuse-food-launch-3-day-hunger-strike-in-israeli-jails

On Wednesday 3rd April, around 4,500 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails sent back their food this morning as part of a protest launched following the death of their fellow prisoner, Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh, who suffered from cancer.

Palestinian prisoners also launched a three-day hunger strike following the death of 64-year-old Abu Hamdiyeh, who was serving a life term in Israeli prison.

An autopsy of Abu Hamdiyeh’s body was scheduled to take place Wednesday at the Institute of Forensic Medicine at Abu Kabir in Tel Aviv in the presence of a Palestinian observer. The body will then be transferred to the Palestinian Authority for burial.

Abu Hamdiyeh’s funeral was scheduled to take place Thursday in his hometown of Hebron.

Palestinian protesters hold up photos of Maisara Abu Hamdiyeh, a prisoner who died of cancer while in an Israeli jail.

Protests immediately erupted in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and in Israeli prisons on Tuesday over his death. More protests are expected to break out at his funeral in Hebron on Thursday.

Protestors and the Palestinian Authority (PA) blamed on Israel for medical negligence and bare Israeli authorities the full responsibility for Abu Hamdiyeh’s death. Abu Hamdiyeh was claimed a hero and a martyr. 

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Jail death sparks Palestinian protests

Jerusalem (CNN), April 3rd, 2013— A well-known Palestinian prisoner died of cancer in Israeli custody on Tuesday, sparking outrage among Palestinian groups who accuse Israel of denying him treatment.

Maysara Abu Hamdiya, 64, a retired Palestinian general, had been in Israeli prisons since 2002 and was serving a life sentence for alleged involvement in an attempt to bomb a Jerusalem cafe. He died Tuesday morning in an Israeli hospital after being admitted last week because of his deteriorating health, according to the Palestinian Authority’s Government Media Center.

West Bank protesters rally for release of deteriorating prisoners

19 February, 2013

[Palestinians throw stones towards Israeli troops during clashes that broke out after a rally in the West Bank city of Hebron to show solidarity with prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails February 18, 2013. (Reuters / Ammar Awad)]

Thousands demonstrated in Palestine’s two largest cities in support of hunger strikers in Israeli jails. Protesters called on the EU to take action to demand better treatment of the weakening prisoners and back their release.

­More than 1,000 people rioted in the West Bank’s two largest cities on Monday to collectively demonstrate their support for the four long-term hunger strikers imprisoned in Israel’s jails. Public anger has heightened over the uncertainty of the prisoners’ fates, and people took to the streets to both show their support and demand that the international community step in.

The protests flared in both Nablus in the north and Hebron in the south, prompting clashes with the army. Over 1,000 people gathered in Nablus, with a further 1,500 demonstrating in central Hebron. Palestinian youths also blocked the entrance to the UN offices in Ramallah, 10km north of Jerusalem. However, Palestinian police prevented them from entering the building, according to AFP correspondents.

178 International Decisions in Condemnation of Israel’s Mistreatment of Palestinian Prisoners

[This report not only details the widespread and long-standing recognition of the Israeli policies and practices on torture of Palestinian prisoners; it also reveals the inability and unwillingness of international agencies to address and solve these serious violations of human rights by the Israeli regime.  It remains to the revolutionary people themselves to bring liberation and justice to the long-suffering people of Palestine. — Frontlines ed.]

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Friday, 22 June 2012
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php/prisoners/2004-178-international-decisions-in-condemnation-of-israels-mistreatment-of-palestinian-prisoners

The 26th of June marks the anniversary of the International Day against Torture.

A report recently issued by Detainees and Ex-Detainees Society revealed that torturing Palestinian prisoners and humiliating them have become a form of ethical and legal corruption practiced by the Israeli occupation authorities.

The report also said that in the past few years, torturing prisoners has become a means for humiliating prisoners and depriving them of their humanity and dignity, and not a for interrogation purposes.

This is shown through pictures published by Israeli soldiers that show the soldiers both male and female posing with prisoners who are handcuffed and blindfolded in disgraceful positions, while the soldiers appear happy and proud of their handwork.

Palestine: Hunger-striker Bilal Diab writes will to family

Palestinian protesters hold up banners and portraits of a prisoners jailed in Israel,during a rally in solidarity with prisoners in Israeli jails, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, April 30, 2012 (APA images)

May 12, 2012 — JENIN (Ma’an) — Hunger-striker Bilal Diab has sent a will to his family in the northern West Bank on his 75th day without food, relatives said on Saturday.

Diab, 27, has refused food since Feb. 29 to protest his detention without charge in Israeli jail.

His family, from Jenin-district town Kufr Rai, said they received his will on Saturday detailing his wishes in case of his death.

“We will have victory, but only through either martyrdom or immediate release — not any partial solution as claimed by the prisons administration,” Diab wrote.

Last week, representative for Fatah prisoners Jamal al-Rjoob said detainees affiliated to Fatah had accepted half the proposals offered by Israeli authorities in response to the strike.

But Yousef Rizqa, political adviser to Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniyeh, warned on Monday that Israel was trying to use party affiliations to sow rifts between the hunger-strikers.

“On the 75th day of my hunger strike, I am still determined, patient and focused on continuing against conspiracies, threats and solitary confinement by the fascist Israeli prison administration,” Diab wrote.

Diab instructed his family keep his grave at ground level, in accordance with Islamic teaching, and distribute sweets at his funeral as a sign of celebration.

He asked his brother Homam to perform prayers for him, and freed hunger-striker Khader Adnan to lower him into his grave.

The young hunger-striker thanked all Palestinians, and Arab and Islamic nations for their support.

Palestinian Detainees Might Launch Irish-Style Hunger-Strike

December 31, 2011 13:51

by Saed Bannoura – IMEMC & Agencies

Leaders of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement in Israeli prisons and detention facilities stated that the situation all political detainees are facing is at its worst, adding that, right now, detainees sentenced to life-terms are thinking about launching an Irish-Style Hunger-Strike, while the rest of the detainees likely to follow their lead.

Cartoon By Umayya Juha

In a statement that reach the Palestinian Ministry of Detainees, the detainees stated that their conditions are declining from bad to worse, and that their issue, and their release, must be a top priority to the Palestinian Authority.

They said that Israel must be held responsible for its ongoing violations, ongoing attacks and illegal conditions it imposed on the detainees, especially since International Law and all related human rights resolutions guaranteed the rights of all political prisoners.

They added that they support the stance of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in refusing to resume peace talks with Israel until it stops its violations and settlement activities, and that the Palestinian leadership must always act on ensuring the release of all Palestinian detainees without any preconditions.

In their letter, they also stated that “the battle of empty bowels is the most effective method the detainees can use to achieve their legitimate rights”, and that they are willing to sacrifice and risk their own lives by launching an open-ended hunger strike based on the Irish style in order to achieve the following rights;

1. Israel must treat us as prisoners of war, in accordance with the Fourth Geneva Conventions.

2. We support the position of the PLO in refusing to resume peace talks with Israel until it stops its violations and settlement activities, and we affirm the right of all detainees to be released, especially those who spent many years behind bars.

3. We refuse any attempt to delay talks on the detainees’ issue until the final stage of peace talks.

4. Our case is a top priority, and no final peace agreement should be reached without our release.

5. We demand a fair resolution to our cause, especially the old detainees, those who spent years behind bars, and we demand that the leadership should not resume peace talks unless our issue is resolved.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Minister of Detainees in the West Bank, Issa Qaraqe’, warned that Israel is planning further attacks against the detainees at the Negev Detention Camp, where 1200 Palestinians are held, adding that Israel is planning to vacate the detention camp after confiscating all belongings of the detainees and sending them to other detention facilities.

Support grows for Palestinian’s prison strike

10 Oct 2011

Activists start open-ended hunger strike in support of prisoners in Israel fasting against “worsening jail conditions”.

Sangwon Yoon, Al Jazeera

At least 60 activists in the occupied West Bank, Gaza and Israel have started an open-ended hunger strike in support of Palestinians already fasting in Israeli jails against allegedly worsening conditions.A solidarity camp by youth was launched in the Israeli city of Haifa on Sunday in a “spontaneous response” to the detainees’ strike that was declared two weeks ago, organisers said. “We mainly have two reasons: to support the prisoners and raise their morale [in continuing their hunger strike] and to raise awareness of the Palestinian political detainees,” Muhannad Abu-Gosh, an organiser of the Haifa camp, told Al Jazeera. Some 50 Palestinian political prisoners began a ongoing hunger strike on September 27. Other prisoners have since joined in. As of Sunday, 234 inmates were fasting, Sivan Weizman, the spokeswoman for the Israeli Prison Service, said in a statement.

Palestine: Five Wounded, Four Arrested in West Bank Protests in Solidarity with Hunger-Striking Prisoners

PNN

October 8, 2011

Weekly protests erupted around the West Bank on Friday, resulting in two injuries and the arrests of at least three Palestinians and one German solidarity activist. Demonstrations were held in solidarity with Palestinian political prisoners entering their eleventh day of hunger strikes in Israeli prisons. In the southern West Bank village of al-Walajeh, a few kilometers west of Bethlehem, Israeli soldiers shot tear gas canisters to suppress a demonstration of about 50 people, mostly youths. Hosam Odah, Mohammed al-Jawarish, and Hamzah Sarasreh, ages unknown, were arrested as well as German solidarity activist Amr Mohammed. In nearby al-Ma’sara village, two Palestinians named Mahmoud Ala’adin and Mahmoud Zawahireh were injured when Israeli soldiers suppressed a protest. Their injuries were described as “moderate.” In the central West Bank village of Bil’in, popular committee media coordinator Ratib Abu Rahma said that the Israeli army shot tear gas canisters, sound bombs, and rubber bullets at demonstrating Palestinians. He explained that dozens of Palestinians suffered from “severe tear gas inhalation,” including Palestine TV cameraman Ali Dar Ali and photographer Mohammed Radi. Violent clashes were also reported in the central West Bank village of al-Nabi Saleh, where three Palestinians were hit by Israeli tear gas canisters. Reporters claimed that in violation of Israeli army open-fire regulations, soldiers fired the canisters directly at protestors instead of over their heads. Palestinian prisoners in Israeli military prisons have been refusing to eat since September 27 in protest of worsening prison conditions. The strike includes at least 500 people as of Friday, about 7% of the 7,500 total prisoners. It was called after Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu authorized a tightening of prison restrictions designed to force the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, held by Hamas in Gaza since 2006.

Israel: Undercover Troops Break Into Asqalan, Nahfa Prisons, attack Palestinian hunger strikers

October 04, 2011

by Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center Editorial Group

In an attempt to prevent the detainees’ hunger strike from spreading to all Israeli prisons and detention facilities, undercover forces of the Israeli Army broke into the Asqalan and Nafha prisons.

Palestinian detainees in several Israeli prisons started their hunger strike seven days ago, demanding the internationally guaranteed rights of prisoners and an end to Israeli attacks and policies of solitary confinement.

The Waed Society for Detainees reported on Monday evening that the Matzada and Nahshon military forces in charge of all detention facilities broke into section 13 of Nafha prison.

In Asqalan, the army attacked detainees’ rooms after blacking them out, and fired dozens of gas bombs.

The Matzada forces also broke into the rooms of old detainees, including the seriously ill detainee Akram Mansour, who suffers from a tumor and requires urgent attention. He recently started going in and out of coma, as he remains deprived of specialized medical treatment.

Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike continues – now is the time for international solidarity!

The Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat
www.freeahmadsaadat.org + info@freeahmadsaadat.org
Twitter: http://twitter.com/freeahmadsaadat

As Palestinian prisoners’ hunger strike enters its second week, international solidarity is needed now, more than ever. Prisoners are being sent to isolation in increasing numbers, family visits are being denied, families threatened and identity cards conficated, lawyer visits denied, and belongings and clothing confiscated.

International solidarity to support Palestinian hunger strikers is also growing:

• éirígí, an Irish republican socialist political party, has called for a vigil at the Israeli embassy in Dublin on October 5 to support hunger strikers; the Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat encourages all to attend!
• The International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network has issued a strong call for solidarity with the Palestinian hunger strikers, and the striking prisoners in California, including a highlight of the case of Ahmad Sa’adat. We encourage all to sign on.
• A number of international organizations, including the Platform in Solidarity with Palestine, the Irish Republican Socialist Committees, and others, have issued statements and calls in solidarity with the prisoners.
• The website mobilizing solidarity with the California prison hunger strike – where prisoners have also been denied legal visits, lawyers threatened, and retaliation used against prisoners – has also provided information in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners. We urge people to follow the California strike and provide support and solidarity!
• There is a new Campaign to Free Ahmad Sa’adat flyer for download and distribution – download the flyer here and distribute it in your community, at a protest at the Israeli embassy and at local events.
• In Canada, Voice of Palestine Radio will feature an interview with a prisoner support activist live from Ramallah. The show will air at 8-9 PM Pacific Standard Time and can be heard on  Vancouver Cooperative Radio (CFRO) 102.7 FM live at that time for people in Vancouver, Canada. People outside of Vancouver can listen to the show live on the Internet http://www.coopradio.org/content/listen.

Facebook Scandal Escalates as Israeli Human Rights Group Posts New Photos

By Ma’an news

18 August , 2010
Ma’an news

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — An Israeli human rights group has released pictures of Israeli soldiers and border guards alongside blindfolded and handcuffed Palestinian detainees — some of them dead.

Breaking the Silence set up a group on Facebook entitled “the norm denied by Avi Benayahu,” an Israeli military spokesman who described the recent release of photographs by an ex-soldier next to detainees as exceptional.

“The new campaign came into being in the wake of the publication of Eden Abergil’s photos, in order to show the prevalence of this phenomenon among IDF ranks,” Breaking the Silence said in a statement to the Israeli news site Ynet.

“The photographs that had been published are merely the tip of the iceberg. Many people possess thousands of photos, but only a small part is being published … we turned Eden into a scapegoat, while the norm is what needs to be targeted.”

Abu Ghraib, Israeli Style

Storm over Israeli Abuse Photos

Eden Abergil’s pictures of Palestinian prisoners have sparked controversy in Israel

A former Israeli soldier has sparked controversy after posting pictures of herself on Facebook posing with bound and blindfolded Palestinian prisoners.

The photographs show Eden Abergil positioned provocatively with the men, prompting lurid comments from other users of the popular social networking site. The pictures, which were uploaded into a folder entitled “Army – the best time of my life,” and associated comments were discovered by bloggers, who circulated them on the internet on Monday.

Palestinians have long claimed that they are subject to humiliating and degrading treatment while held in Israeli custody, but Israeli authorities have always rejected such allegations.

The Israeli military has sought to distance itself from the controversy, saying Abergil is no longer a serving member of the country’s army. “This is shameless behaviour by the soldier,” a military spokesman told Al Jazeera. “In light of the fact that she was discharged last year, all of the details have been turned over to the commanders for further attention.”