Fighting Israeli detention, Palestinians resort to hunger strike

[Scurrilous]

Palestinians protesters demonstrate with their hands chained during a procession in the West Bank city of Jenin on Friday in support of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails.

<snip>

"Few people in the West would recognize the names Bilal Diab or Thaer Halahleh.

After all, they didn’t seek refuge in an American embassy beyond the reach of a repressive government or publicly decry the behavior of America’s adversaries.

However, their names have become a rallying cry for human rights activists, lawyers and millions of Palestinians fighting against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Halahleh and Diab are in custody in Israeli jails and have been on a hunger strike for 74 days as of Friday, protesting what they say is their illegal detention. And now an estimated 1,600 other Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have joined them in refusing nutrition, this time in protest against the way they have been treated while in custody.

In recent days, Halahleh and Diab’s conditions have worsened and their deterioration has once again triggered international debate over Israel’s practice of “administrative detention” and the tools available for Palestinians to protest the policy."

http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/05/11/11664498-fighting-israeli-detention-palestinians-resort-to-hunger-strike?lite


Palestinians starve for freedom as Nakba anniversary approaches - Richard Falk

<snip>

Is the mass Palestinian prisoner hunger strike the beginning of the Palestinian Spring?

"Can anyone doubt that if there were more than 1,500 prisoners engaged in a hunger strike in any country in the world other than Palestine, the media in the West would be obsessed with the story? Such an obsession would, of course, be greatest if such a phenomenon were to occur in an adversary state such as Iran or China, but almost anywhere it would be featured news, that is, anywhere but Palestine. It would be highlighted day after day, and reported on from all angles, including the severe medical risks associated with such a lengthy refusal to take food, with respected doctors and human rights experts sharing their opinions.

At this time there are two Palestinians who were the first to start this current wave of resistance to the practice of administrative detention, Thaer Halalheh and Bilal Diab, enduring their 70th day without food. Both men are reported by respected prisoner protection association, Addameer and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel, to be in critical condition with their lives hanging in the balance. Examining doctors indicated recently that both detainees were reported to "suffer from acute muscle weakness in their limbs that prevents them from standing" and are under the "dual threat" of "muscle atrophy and thromohophilia, which can lead to a fatal blood clot."

Despite this dramatic state of affairs, until today there has been scant notice taken by Western governments, media and even the United Nations of the life threatening circumstances confronting Halalheh or Diab, let alone the massive solidarity strike that is of shorter duration, but still notable as a powerful expression of nonviolent defiance.

In contrast, consider the attention that the Western media has been devoting in recent days to a lone blind Chinese human rights lawyer, Chen Guangcheng, who managed to escape from house arrest in Beijing, find a safe haven at the U.S. Embassy, arrange a release and then seek an exit from China. This is an important and disturbing international incident, to be sure, but is it truly so much more significant than the Palestinian story as to explain the total neglect of the extraordinary exploits of thousands of Palestinians who are sacrificing their bodies, quite possibly their lives, to nonviolently protest severe mistreatment in the Israeli prison system, and by extension, the oppressiveness of an occupation that has gone on for 45 years?"

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[oberliner]

1. Total BS in your "Arab American News.com" article

From your second article (courtesy of Arab American News.com):

"Can anyone doubt that if there were more than 1,500 prisoners engaged in a hunger strike in any country in the world other than Palestine, the media in the West would be obsessed with the story? Such an obsession would, of course, be greatest if such a phenomenon were to occur in an adversary state such as Iran or China, but almost anywhere it would be featured news, that is, anywhere but Palestine."

These are from just the past two days:

MSNBC: Fighting Israeli detention, Palestinians resort to hunger strike
‎
Chicago Tribune: Palestinians escalate hunger-strike in Israel jails

ABC News: With Palestinian Hunger Strikers Near Death, Fear of Violence

KC Star: Palestinians press case of hunger strikers in Israeli prisons

Miami Herald: Palestinian leader warns Israel over hunger strike

NPR: Palestinians Rally Around Prisoners On Hunger Strike

AZ Daily Star: Hunger strikes spread in Israeli prisons

Washington Post: Palestinian prisoner refusing food for 71 days taken to the hospital

MSNBC (2nd article): Palestinians escalate hunger-strike in Israel jails

CBS News: Palestinian prisoners on mass hunger strike

NBC News: As Palestinian hunger strikers starve, a mother waits

Fox News: Second Palestinian on hunger strike hospitalized

LA Times: Fears grow for health of Palestinian hunger strikers

[Scurrilous]

2. More:

Administrative detainees Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahlah are near death after 70 days of their hunger strike

<snip>

Israel is currently holding 308 Palestinians in administrative detention

"Today (7 May, 2012) Israel’s High Court of Justice rejected appeals by Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahlah against their continued administrative detention, and ruled that a hunger strike cannot determine the duration of administrative detention. The ruling followed a report by Physicians for Human Rights-Israel that both prisoners are near death. Diab, age 27, who is from Kafr Ra’i near Jenin, has been in administrative detention for 8 months on the basis of his alleged membership in the Islamic Jihad. Halahlah, age 34, who is from Khirsan near Hebron, has been in administrative detention since June 2010 for his alleged activism in Islamic Jihad. Halahlah’s only daughter who is now 20 months old, was born after his arrest and he has not been permitted to see her. Diab and Halahlah began a hunger strike on 1 March 2012 in protest of the renewal of their administrative detention. They are now hospitalized at Assaf Harofeh Hospital in Rishon Lezion. PHR-Israel has requested that their independent physicians be permitted regular visits to the strikers, since examination by an independent physician promotes the trust required in a relationship between a doctor and a hunger striker.

The most current data received by B’Tselem from the Israel Prisons Services (IPS) shows that as of the end of April 2012, there were 308 Palestinians in administrative detention. Since December 2010, the number has risen from approximately 204 to more than 320. IPS data also indicate that as of the end of April 2012, some 31 percent of administrative detainees have been held for six months to one year, and another 34 percent for one to two years. Thirteen prisoners have been detained continuously for two to four and a half years, and two prisoners had been held continuously for over four and a half years.

Administrative detention is detention without trial, intended to prevent a person from committing an act that could endanger public safety. Such a detention is inherently problematic since, unlike a criminal proceeding, administrative detention is not intended to punish someone for an offense already committed, but to prevent future danger. The manner in which Israel uses administrative detention is patently illegal. Administrative detainees are not told the reason for their detention or the specific allegations against them. Although detainees are brought before a judge to authorize the detention order, most of the material submitted by the prosecution is classified and not shown to the detainee or his attorney. Since the detainees do not know the evidence against them, they are unable to refute it.

The detainees also do not know when they will be released. Although the maximum period of administrative detention is six months, it can be renewed indefinitely. In fact, of the administrative detainees held in December, over 60 percent had their detention extended at least once beyond the first detention order."

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[Scurrilous]

3. Israel facing major West Bank uprising over Palestinian hunger strike

Israel has been warned that it faces a major uprising in the West Bank after six Palestinian prisoners taking part in one of the largest and most protracted hunger strikes ever staged in its jails were said to be close to death.

<snip>

"Palestinian militant groups and moderate politicians alike have predicted that years of relative tranquility could be brought to an abrupt and violent end if any of the 1,600 inmates now refusing food were to starve to death.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said this week that the six inmates who have declined sustenance the longest are "at imminent risk of dying."

None of the six, who have all been admitted to prison hospitals, has eaten for the past 50 days. But the greatest concern is directed at two men, Thaer Halahleh and Bilal Diab.

By Thursday, both men had refused food for 74 days, one more than managed by Kieran Doherty, the longest surviving of the 10 Irish militants who died during the Maze Prison hunger strike of 1981. Bobby Sands, the best known of the prisoners and the first to die, succumbed after 66 days."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/9258264/Israel-facing-major-West-Bank-uprising-over-Palestinian-hunger-strike.html

[oberliner]

4. Even the right-wing Telegraph has been covering this story

Contrary to the article you posted above about this story being ignored in the Western media.