As Palestinian Hunger Strikes Come To A Head, World Begins To Take Notice

[Purveyor]

All anyone in Israel has spoken about for the past week is ‘Prisoner X,’ the Jewish-Israeli-Australian Mossad agent held secretly by his own country, who supposedly took his own life in prison two years ago. But only a few miles from Israeli newsrooms in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, outrage over a different type of prisoner in Israeli jails has been mounting for months and is coming to a head.

Four Palestinian men in Israeli prisons are currently in the late stages of prolonged hunger strikes protesting the legal basis of their imprisonment: administrative detention and military committee sentencing decisions based on secret evidence. Both amount to imprisonment without knowledge of what they are accused and without the right to a trial.

In recent days, at least one of the prisoners reportedly intensified his hunger strike, refusing all medical treatment, including vitamins and minerals. Their health is said to be deteriorating.

Thousands of Palestinians have taken to the streets throughout the West Bank in recent weeks, leading to violent clashes with the IDF and including protests that shut down the Ramallah offices of the Red Cross and UN.

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http://972mag.com/as-palestinian-hunger-strikes-come-to-a-head-world-begins-to-take-notice/66264/

[Peregrine]

1. so

They dont know why they are there. Bullshit

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

2. From the article.

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and Quartet envoy Tony Blair have both called on Israel to respect the human rights of Palestinian prisoners in accordance with its obligations in international law. Responding to the hunger strikers’ deteriorating health condition, Ashton said Saturday, “Under international law, detainees have the right to be informed about the reasons underlying any detention and to have the legality of their detention determined without undue delay.”

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The longest of the hunger strikes is reported to be around 200 days, although it was not clear if it has been continuous. Samer Issawi was released as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange in October, 2011, having served 10 years of a 30-year sentence. He began his hunger strike nine months later, shortly after the IDF re-arrested him. Issawi is protesting the legal mechanism that put him in prison without access to due process. He was re-sentenced by a military committee using secret evidence that neither he nor his lawyers can see, and therefore cannot mount a defense in court.

[azurnoir]

3. there is also widespread use of

'administrative detention' used against Palestinian protest leaders and others that can not be defined as terrorists

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

4. If they're not terrorists yet then it is up to Israel to

make an example of them.