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Ramallah, the occupied West Bank– On Wednesday, dozens of Palestinians staged a protest in the al-Manara square in the center of Ramallah, calling for the release of six prisoners who had gone on hunger strike in Israeli prisons, some of whom were in imminent danger of death.
The six prisoners began an unrestricted hunger strike to protest the “administrative detention” order-Israel’s policy allows Palestinians to be detained indefinitely based on “secret information”-without formal charges or trial.
Families of prisoners from various cities in the occupied West Bank, as well as local civil society and prisoner groups participated in the demonstrations.
The head of the Palestinian Prisoners Association (PPS) Kadura Fares said, “The battle our hero is going through is a battle for every Palestinian.”
“We are facing a very dangerous scenario today. We call for national mobilization-in the occupied West Bank, Gaza, Jerusalem and the territories occupied in 1948,” he said during the protest.
“Israel wants to turn us into a group of people demanding civil rights rather than national rights,” Fares said, adding that hundreds of prisoners threatened to participate in an unrestricted strike starting Thursday.
The brother of hunger strike prisoner Kayed Fasfous spoke during the protest, saying that his family was worried about the safety of their son’s life [Al Jazeera]On Tuesday, prisoner Miqdad al-Qawasmi, who had refused food for 91 days, was transferred to the intensive care unit of the Kaplan Hospital in Israel near Ramle. His lawyer, Jawad Bulous, said his health was rapidly deteriorating and he “faced a sudden death.”
Kawasmi’s father said that his son is on a hunger strike to ensure his liberation. “The hunger strikers are the epitome of freedom,” he said.
‘Edge of death’
The 75-day prisoner Alaa al-Araj and the 65-day Hisham Abu Hawwash were also transferred from the Ramle prison clinic to an Israeli hospital on Tuesday after their health deteriorated. Their whereabouts are still unknown, even for their families.
“Yesterday when we heard that Allah was transferred to the hospital, we couldn’t sleep all night,” his mother Nabila Allaj told Al Jazeera during the protest.
“He is dying,” said Nabila from the northern town of Tulkarem.
She said that Allah is the father of a 5-year-old boy who is suffering and “cannot stand, talk and see”, and explained that the doctor is particularly worried about his nervous system.
Since his son was arrested on June 30, Israeli authorities have prevented his family from meeting with him.
“Is the whole world waiting for them to bring my son back after he died?” she asked.
Alaa al-Araj’s mother, Nabila, calls for the immediate release of her son who has been on hunger strike for the past 75 days [Al Jazeera]Nabila said her son was “top of the class” before being arrested. He graduated from al-Najah University in Nablus with a degree in civil engineering.
On Tuesday, an Israeli court rejected a lawyer’s petition to freeze Alaa’s administrative detention order.
Israel currently holds 520 Palestinian prisoners in administrative detention, a practice that can be traced back to when the British occupied Palestine.
Kayed Fasfous has been on a hunger strike for the longest time-98 days-and is being detained by Israel at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.
During the protest, his brother said that Kayed was in a “very dangerous state” and could die at any time.
“Cade is an outstanding athlete. Before the hunger strike, he weighed 95 kilograms (209 lbs). He has lost more than half of his weight now,” Cade’s brother said, explaining that he refused any form of medical examinations and vitamins. Or supplements.
He and other families sent a message to Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, saying “Our son is your responsibility.”
“We want our sons to shoulder the responsibility of victory and return to their families and lives. We don’t want our sons to be martyrs,” said Kayed’s brother.
The other two prisoners on hunger strike were Shadi Abu Aker, who was detained in Ramle Prison Clinic for 57 days, and Ayyad al-Hraimi, who was detained in Ofer Military Prison for 27 days.
punishment
Since the beginning of September, the issue of Palestinian prisoners has become a focus, when six prisoners managed to Escape from the Gilbo Prison in Israel Before being arrested again.
The escape is widely hailed as a victory by the Palestinians, most of whom regard the detainees in Israeli prisons-4,650 Palestinians including 200 children-as detained due to Israeli military occupation or resistance political.
Since then, there have been tensions and collective punishment policies against Palestinian prisoners in prisons, especially members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) party, where 5 of the 6 escaped prisoners belonged to the party.
After the escape, the Israeli prison authorities moved PIJ prisoners on a large scale and separated them forcibly. Some were imprisoned in solitary confinement, while others were interrogated.
Yousif Ghawanmeh’s son was one of the prisoners who was transferred from the Offer prison near Ramallah and was held in solitary confinement. He has been in administrative detention for nearly a year.
He told Al Jazeera that his son Ghawanmeh, a 21-year-old Muslim, had been quarantined for 25 days and appeared three days ago, calling this period “very difficult” and saying that he was “severely abused.”
Yousif said that PIJ prisoners are prohibited from talking to each other while they are in the yard, and if they do, they will be fined.
When the family went to visit Muslims on Sunday, the prison authorities stopped them and told them that they were not allowed to visit PIJ prisoners-a collective punishment that has been taken since the escape. “They also confiscated the money we bought him from the cafeteria,” Yusuf said.
Prisoners need to buy necessities such as toothpaste and soap in the cafeteria.
“I came here today as a released prisoner, and united with the prisoners,” Yusuf said during the protest. “The prisoner problem is beyond imagination-administrative detention for decades.”
He said his son and 14 other prisoners threatened to go on a hunger strike.
“No one knows the difficulty of a hunger strike unless they have experienced it,” Yusuf said.
“People will not make this decision unless they are living in a worse state than a hunger strike.”
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