The Israeli occupation has long resorted to the policy of arrest as an instrument of oppression in its attempts to uproot the Palestinians from their own land, to break their ongoing resistance and limit their political and national will. However, the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails are still insisting on having their legitimate demands met, foremost of which is restoring regular visits, ending the policies of medical negligence, isolation in remote cells, “administrative detention” and allowing the entry of books, newspapers and satellite channels, in addition to other necessary life demands.
Such demands were politically laid out by the jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti in an article published in the New York Times on April, 16, 2017, where he explained the reasons behind the hunger strike declared by hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. Barghouti accused Israel of implementing judicial apartheid, saying “Israel’s courts are a charade of justice and instruments of occupation”. He added: “Israeli courts are politicised instruments of colonial and military occupation that seek to eliminate Palestinian aspirations for freedom and independence. It is not an impartial justice system in a democratic state that punishes those who commit crimes.
“Decades of experience have proved” he went to say, “that Israel’s inhumane system of colonial and military occupation aims to break the spirit of prisoners and the nation to which they belong, by inflicting suffering on their bodies, separating them from their families and communities, using humiliating measures to compel subjugation. Palestinian prisoners suffer from torture and medical negligence.”
It is well known that Barghouti is not referring to a small group only. Large sections of the Palestinian society have been affected by Israel’s arrest policy, including children, young men and women, elderly, mothers, wives, sick and people with special needs, labourers, academics, parliamentarians, ex-ministers and political, union and professional leaders. According to the Ministry of Palestinian Prisoners and Ex-Detainees, around 40 per cent of the Palestinian people faced incarceration at a certain stage since 1967. Since the start of 2017, 1597 Palestinians, including 46 women and 311 children, have been arrested. Such ugly practices and numbers are confirmed by continuous flow of reports published by Israeli and international human rights organisations.
What can we all actually do, not verbally or emotionally, to support these Palestinian prisoners?
At the level of Palestinians, we should exert more effort to reach free people around the world, human rights groups and civil societies that advocate respect of human rights in order to pressure the Israeli occupation authorities to respond to the prisoners’ demands. We need to work to expose the Israeli occupier and his crimes, voice solidarity with and support the prisoners by marches and other activities, so that the ‘we’re-with-you’ message reaches them in their battle for dignity and freedom. It is just as much important to motivate various factions and political groups as well as civil society organisations of Palestinian people for confrontation and tensions — mainly the flare-up that from time to time rises and subsides — on the streets in support of what Israel is trying to make us forget, i.e. the freedom of prisoners, the political vanguard of the Palestinian society.
The Palestinian leadership, whether represented by the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) or the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), has to increase movements in the global and regional arenas towards internationalising the prisoners’ issue as a global human case. Why not move the International Court of Justice in The Hague for a legal opinion on the legal status of the prisoners and detainees in Israeli jails? Why not request it to specify the legal obligations of the occupying state towards them and compel it to abide by the third and fourth Geneva conventions on the prisoners of war, and endorse them to preserve their legitimate status as legal fighters (for freedom). Of utmost importance in this confrontation is to beware of leaving the Palestinian divisions (especially between Fatah and Hamas) to cast their black shadows on the ‘empty stomachs’ battle. These ugly divisions are now threatening the entire national Palestinian plan.
The Arab states and their leaders must also work to strengthen solidarity and ensure a joint Arab action in order to crystallise a supportive Arab stance — signs of which began to appear with popular calls and with civil societies all over the Arab world conducting campaigns of solidarity with the “freedom and dignity” hunger strike carried out by the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. An Arab parliamentary movement should follow to communicate with European parliaments to put pressure on their governments, as well as in international forums.
International solidarity campaigns have started in several cities in the United States. These campaigns include protests and supportive stands as well as contacts with members of the Congress and the US State Department. The international community with its active institutions should be engaged to monitor Israel’s application of international laws on prisoners and hold it responsible for its violation of such laws. We know that international organisations and human rights groups can exert pressure on Israel and force it to abide by international law.
Professor As’ad Abdul Rahman is the chairman of the Palestinian Encyclopaedia.
