Prisoners to go on hunger strike
Detainees in Israeli jails to protest against harsh measures as they mark Prisoner's Day
Ramallah More than 1,600 Palestinian prisoners in various Israeli jails will start a hunger strike today to protest against their conditions.
Since the Palestinian Prisoner Movement and Palestinian factions have not reached an agreement on the strike, only about one-third of the prisoners will take part in the strike which coincides with Prisoner's Day, an annual event during which people hold demonstrations and rallies of solidarity with the estimated 4,700 Palestinian inmates being held by Israel.
Speaking to Gulf News, Qadourah Fares, who heads the Palestinian Prisoner's Club, said that the prisoners have signed a document to honour the strike till all their demands are met.
"The document of honour obliges that they continue the strike till the Israeli Prison Service meets all their demands," he said.
Family visits
Their demands include allowing family visits for Gazan prisoners who have been denied the right for the past few years.
He added that the hunger strike mainly aims at protesting against the Shalit Law which imposed harsher measures for the prisoners. The law was named after Gilad Shalit, who was captured by Palestinian fighters in 2006 and released last year in a prisoner deal. The law should be shelved as Shalit was freed.
Fares said that some 10 Palestinian prisoners are already on a hunger strike. Both Thaer Halalah and Bilal Diab have been refusing to take food for 49 days. He said that Mohammad Al Taj, Jaafar Ezz Al Deen, Oday Darghmah, Abdullah Al Barghouti, Omar Abu Shallal, Hassan Al Safadi, Ahmad Saqr Nabhan, and Fares Al Natour have all been on a hunger strike for different periods.
Fasting prisoners
He said that the Israeli Prison Service has already referred four of the fasting prisoners including Halalah, Diab, Shallal and Al Safadi to Al Ramallah Hospital where their condition is said to be critical.
Addressing a press conference at the Government Media Centre in Ramallah yesterday, Eisa Qaraqei, the Palestinian Minister of Detainees' Affairs, called for local, Arab and international participation in marking the Prisoners' Day whose activities will last until the beginning of May.
Hunger strike
Qaraqei urged the Palestinian Prisoner Movement to handle the planned hunger strike as a strategic move and to show unanimous agreement on it.
"The planned hunger strike should not be handled within partial or factional framework to bring success," he said.
"It is with regret that the Palestinian Prisoner Movement did not come up with a unanimous position regarding the planned hunger strike," he said.
