More than 1,500 Palestinians on hunger strike in Israel jails
‘Security prisoners’ call for end to Israeli detentions without court trial
RAMALLAH // More than 1,500 Palestinians in Israeli prisons began a hunger strike yesterday after calls from prominent prisoner Marwan Barghouti.
Activists said the Palestinian “security prisoners” joined the open-ended protest in the largest such strike in five years, led by Mr Barghouti, who is widely regarded as a possible future president.
The protests called for better conditions, more contact with relatives and an end to Israel’s detentions without trial, which have been applied against thousands since the 1980s.
If sustained, the hunger strike could mark a serious challenge to Israeli authorities. In the West Bank and Gaza, thousands staged solidarity marches in Palestinian areas yesterday to mark Prisoners’ Day.
Mr Barghouti, 57, is a prominent figure in president Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement.
Polls have indicated that he is the most popular choice among Palestinians to succeed Mr Abbas, 82, who has failed to groom a political heir.
Mr Barghouti was arrested by Israel in 2002 for his role in a violent Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation and is serving several life terms. He is one of the best known among thousands of Palestinians jailed for charges ranging from throwing stones and mem- bership in groups outlawed by Israel, to attacks that wounded or killed Israelis.
Mr Barghouti wrote in The New York Times, that Israeli prisons had become the “cradle of a lasting movement for Palestinian self-determination”.
“Decades of experience have proved 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, and using humiliating measures to compel subjugation,” he wrote.
“In spite of such treatment, we will not surrender to it.”
Issa Qaraqe, head of prison- ers’ affairs for the Palestinian Authority, said that about 1,300 Palestinian prisoners were on hunger strike and the number would rise.
Qadoura Fares, who runs the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club advocacy group, said more than 1,500 prisoners joined the strike and more were expected to follow.
Israeli prison service spokes- man Assaf Librati said about 1,100 said they would begin a hunger strike in several jails.
“The service has started taking disciplinary measures against the strikers and a number of prisoners have been transferred to separate wings,” Mr Librati said.
“It is to be emphasised that the prison service does not negotiate with prisoners.”
About 6,500 Palestinians are being held by Israel for a range of offences and alleged crimes.
Mr Abbas has called on the “international community to save the life of the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails”.
The hunger strike came ahead of commemorations this summer marking 50 years since the 1967 Six Day War and the start of Israel’s occupation, when it captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem.
Mr Abbas and his supporters seek a Palestinian state, according to pre-1967 lines. The Islamic militant group Hamas, which seized Gaza from Mr Abbas in 2007, has called for an Islamic state in historic Palestine, including in what is now Israel.
Hamas recently suggested it would support a smaller Palestine state, without specifying whether this would be a stepping stone to Israel’s destruction.
In Gaza City, about 2,000 people turned out for a march, raising flags of different Palestinian factions, while in the West Bank town of Ramallah Mr Barghouti’s wife, Fadwa, joined about 1,500 marchers. “This massive strike sends a strong message to the Israelis, after 50 years of occupation, suppression and oppression, that the prisoners will lead their people from behind bars,” she said.