‘Our people won with their will’
AMMAN: In the early hours of Saturday, following a grueling 20 hours of negotiations Palestinian prisoners announced the suspension of their hunger strike that began on April 17.
As information about what was agreed to slowly filtered out, with the main humanitarian demand of two visits per month being clinched, prisoners’ families — who have been holding continuous protests in tents throughout the occupied territories — broke out in cheers and celebrations.
What is important to note is that this was a hunger strike that Israeli political leaders and pundits had argued would fail. They said it was nothing more than a political effort by prison leader Marwan Barghouti to improve his standing within the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) leading Fatah movement.
The prisoners’ success was the headline of the independent website Maan, which read: “The prisoners have won and have suspended their strike.”
Similarly, former Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad tweeted: “The prisoners won with their will and this is the forerun- ner for the victory of our people.” He followed his tweet with the now- popular hashtag #IndependenceAndDignity.
Naser Laham, Palestinian columnist and editor of the Maan website, quickly added his commentary to the prisoners’ success, saying they had turned down a quarter of a million meals and collectively lost 40,000 kilograms. Laham said in the initial weeks many pitied the hunger-strikers, but the pity should now go to leaders who were complacent.
The lessons from the hunger strike are many. The prisoners agreed on a known and tested leadership, presented reasonable and achievable goals, planned all aspects well, refused to be dissuaded from their goals, and succeeded in revitalizing local, regional and international support for their cause and that of Palestinian rights.
Agreeing on a leadership committee headed by Barghouti was sensitive because it allowed opponents to claim this was a personal crusade. The prisoners agreed on one of their own, which gave them a level of comfort that allowed them to make the risky sacrifice of abstaining from food en masse.