INCARCERATED AND

Palestinians in Israeli jails are going hungry for better conditions, but their jailers are trying to break their spirit

E are engaged almost two years now, and I’ve only seen him three times. I still remember the first time I saw him, after he got arrested. It was March 3, 2016, exactly one year after he got arrested. He was under administrative detention for more than a year without any reason! At the court, I saw him, first time in the whole year… but, just for less than two minutes,” said Sam (not her real name), whose fiancé is in prison, charged with “alleged attack” against the Jewish people in 2015 without sufficient proof.

Traditionally, Palestinian women marry their fiancé after being engaged for half a year. For Sam, it has been more than 1½ years of waiting for her fiance’s release so they can get married.

Similar cases like Sam’s happen almost every day in Palestinian families. They are forced to separate because family members get arrested, with no reason given, and are placed under detention for an indefinite duration.

This is why now, one of the biggest mass hunger strikes in history, is taking place among Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

This week, the mass open-ended hunger strike has entered its fourth week since April 17.

Led by jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti, who is touted as a successor to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, the strike is joined by some 1,500 Palestinian prisoners from all factions. They are uniting for one reason: their rights and dignity.

Their demands include better conditions, better medical care, an end to solitary confinement and undefined administrative detention periods.

Most important of all, they are

FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017