Hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli jails begin hunger strike

[webfact]

Hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli jails begin hunger strike

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Ali Sawafta

REUTERS

 

Men play the role of jailed Palestinians and Israeli soldiers during a rally in support of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails, in Gaza City April 17, 2017. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

 

GAZA/RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli jails began a hunger strike on Monday in response to a call by prominent prisoner Marwan Barghouti, widely seen as a possible future Palestinian president.

 

Palestinians termed the open-ended strike a protest against poor conditions and an Israeli policy of detention without trial that has been applied against thousands since the 1980s.

 

Israel said the move by the prisoners, many of whom were convicted of attacks or planning attacks against Israel, was politically motivated.

 

The protest was led by Barghouti, 58, a leader of the mainstream Fatah movement of the Palestine Liberation Organization, serving five life terms after being convicted of murder in the killing of Israelis in a 2000-2005 uprising.

 

The strike, if sustained, could present a challenge to Israel and raise tensions between the two sides as the 50th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip approaches in June.

 

Israeli troops and settlers pulled out of the Gaza Strip, now run by Hamas Islamists, in 2005, but peace talks on the creation of a Palestinian state collapsed with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2014.

 

In an opinion piece in the New York Times on Monday, Barghouti said a strike was the only way to gain concessions after other options had failed.

 

"Through our hunger strike, we seek an end to these abuses ... Palestinian prisoners and detainees have suffered from torture, inhumane and degrading treatment and medical negligence. Some have been killed while in detention," he wrote.

 

Israeli and Palestinian media reports said Barghouti had been moved from the prison where he was being held in central Israel to another in the north and was isolated from other prisoners. The Prisons Service did not initially comment on his status.

 

FIELD HOSPITAL

 

Israel denies Palestinian inmates are mistreated, and Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said the Barghouti-led protest was "prompted by internal Palestinian politics and therefore includes unreasonable demands".

 

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement: "The Palestinian prisoners are not political prisoners. They are convicted terrorists and murderers. They were brought to justice and are treated properly under international law."

 

Palestinian officials said some 1,500 inmates affiliated with all political factions including rival Fatah and Hamas were taking part in the protest. An Israel Prisons Service spokesman said some 1,100 inmates at eight jails had joined the strike.

 

Almost 6,500 Palestinians are being held in 22 Israeli prisons, said Qadoura Fares, head of the Palestinian Prisoners' Club that advocates on behalf of the inmates.

 

The Prisoners' Club said a main demand was for Israel to halt detention without trial for some 500 Palestinians currently being held, and for an end to solitary confinement.

 

The strikers also want better medical treatment and that disabled inmates or those suffering chronic illness be freed, access to more television channels and more phone contact with relatives and more family visits.

 

The strike prompted a large rally in Gaza and a protest broke out near the occupied West Bank town of Bethlehem where Palestinian demonstrators clashed with Israeli forces.

 

Palestinians consider brethren held in Israeli jails as national heroes. Long-term mass hunger strikes by Palestinian prisoners are rare, but in past cases of individual inmates who stopped eating for weeks, detention terms were shortened or not renewed after they were hospitalised in critical condition.

 

Erdan said a field hospital would be erected next to one prison - an apparent move to pre-empt transfers to civilian medical facilities, which could draw wider media attention.

 

Abbas, 82, said in a statement that efforts would continue to secure prisoners' freedom. He condemned what he called Israel's intransigence in the face of "fair" prisoner demands.

 

(Writing by Nidal Almughrabi; Editing by Ori Lewis, Jeffrey Heller and Alison Williams)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-04-18

[crankshaft]

See big savings on the jail food bills...tax payers should be happy...

[pumpjack]

they shouldnt be given food anyway.   bye bye scumbags

[Jingthing]

43 minutes ago, pumpjack said:

they shouldnt be given food anyway.   bye bye scumbags

Well, that was clearly a mean spirited comment, but the prisoners are human beings, and it's a real ethical question whether to force feed hunger strikers if it gets to the point where they might die from that. It's a real lose lose. Force feed and critics cry brutality, let them die (voluntarily), doesn't look good either. 

[Blackheart1916]

Well they should go ok, they get a bit of practice at ramadan. I  know that there has been bad things on all sides during this never ever ever ending conflict, but a man doing 5 life sentences is the expected future leader!?!

[dexterm]

1 hour ago, Blackheart1916 said:

Well they should go ok, they get a bit of practice at ramadan. I  know that there has been bad things on all sides during this never ever ever ending conflict, but a man doing 5 life sentences is the expected future leader!?!

Marwan Barghouti, the political prisoner you refer to, is considered a unifying force for all Palestinians, and may well take over leadership from prison if Abbas stands down.His charisma could be very useful in an eventual peace deal, as was Mandela's and Gandhi's

 

One man's convicted felon is another man's freedom fighter is tomorrow's president. Such as 2 of Israel's Prime Ministers, Yitzhak Shamir and Menachem Begin, who once headed Jewish terrorist gangs, claiming the lives of hundreds of men, women and children.

 

http://www.haaretz.com/are-begin-and-shamir-also-considered-terrorists-1.369342  (well worth a read)

[pumpjack]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

Well, that was clearly a mean spirited comment, but the prisoners are human beings, and it's a real ethical question whether to force feed hunger strikers if it gets to the point where they might die from that. It's a real lose lose. Force feed and critics cry brutality, let them die (voluntarily), doesn't look good either. 

what would you do , feed them KFC bargain buckets and throw in a television with cable channels ?  

if they want to die then its their personal choice ( mai pen rai ) .

[Jingthing]

48 minutes ago, pumpjack said:

what would you do , feed them KFC bargain buckets and throw in a television with cable channels ?  

if they want to die then its their personal choice ( mai pen rai ) .

No.

Talking about a medical situation.

There are methods I think like intravenously but if the person is refusing, then the person needs to be restrained to take the treatment.

Also there is risk with eating after a long fast. People often die from that. 

It definitely gets deep into medical ethics. There may be a good case for just letting people kill themselves, but it's not an easy thing. 

I do think hunger strikes are a legitimate tactic of non-violent protest, in general.

It gets the world's attention without terrorism. 

Edited April 18, 2017 by Jingthing

[Blackheart1916]

1 hour ago, dexterm said:

Marwan Barghouti, the political prisoner you refer to, is considered a unifying force for all Palestinians, and may well take over leadership from prison if Abbas stands down.His charisma could be very useful in an eventual peace deal, as was Mandela's and Gandhi's

 

One man's convicted felon is another man's freedom fighter is tomorrow's president. Such as 2 of Israel's Prime Ministers, Yitzhak Shamir and Menachem Begin, who once headed Jewish terrorist gangs, claiming the lives of hundreds of men, women and children.

 

http://www.haaretz.com/are-begin-and-shamir-also-considered-terrorists-1.369342  (well worth a read)

Dexterm, couldn't agree more. Instances of same all through history, of course Mandela being one of the most significant and recent. My thought is that having been convicted and jailed already by Isreali authorities he has a slim chance of being freed and becoming leader, especially if the Isrealis think he can be a unifying force for all Palestineans.

[dexterm]

Palestinian prisoners have genuine grievances.

 

There are 6,500 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails.
300 are minors under the age of 18. The youngest is 12. Children under 14 can be sent to adult prisons.
536 are held under indefinite administrative detention, which allows the IDF to arrest Palestinians on "secret evidence" without charge and without the ability to defend themselves in court.

 

During interrogation, prisoners are routinely tortured. Some have even been raped.
They can be interrogated for 75 days, during which time they can be denied a lawyer for 60 days. 
Since 1967, 72 prisoners have died during interrogation.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/2017/04/means-palestinian-prisoner-israel-170417082716269.html
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2017/04/palestinian-prisoners-share-stories-170416132359955.html
(...both horrific reads)

 

"Despite Hundreds of Complaints of Shin Bet Torture, Israel Yet to Launch Single Investigation
.A special unit was created to investigation complaints against the Shin Bet, but employs just one investigator. Despite dozens of 'inquiries' opened in recent years, none developed into an investigation."
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.757404

 

Most are then tried illegally (under international law) in Israeli military courts, where conviction rates are 99.7 percent and where civilians' due process rights are routinely disrespected.

 

So much for the only democracy in the Middle East. This inhumane treatment is counter productive: it not only causes hatred in Palestinians but must be brutalizing Israeli society too in that it turns a blind eye if not participate in the injustice during army service.