- Title: WEST BANK: Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons begin hunger strike
- Date: 29th September 2011
- Summary: JENIN, WEST BANK (SEPTEMBER 27, 2011) (REUTERS) WIFE AND SON OF HAMAS MEMBER JAMAL ABU AL HIJA, A PRISONER IN AN ISRAELI PRISON, SEATED IN THEIR HOME UM ABDUL SALAM JAMAL ABU AL HIJA, WIFE OF HAMAS PRISONER JAMAL JAMAL ABU AL HIJA, SITTING
- Embargoed: 14th October 2011 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: West bank, West bank
- City:
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
- Reuters ID: LVA19GAXASQYY6VSUKWI334XDRP2
- Story Text: Thousands of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisoners began a mass hunger strike on Wednesday (September 28), the Palestinian minister of prisoner affairs said.
A handful of Palestinian prisoners in several Israeli prisons began the hunger strike three days beforehand to demand their release from solitary confinement so they could join the main body of prisoners in the jails in which they were being held.
Palestinian authorities said the thousands of remaining Palestinian prisoners in all Israeli prisons then joined the hunger strike on Wednesday in support of those held in solitary confinement, and in protest against what they say are increasingly harsh measures adopted against them by the Israeli Prison Service authorities.
One of those to start a hunger strike three days ago is Jamal Abu Al-Hija, who is being held in solitary confinement in Israel's Nafha prison.
He was arrested in 2002 and convicted on charges of being a leader of a Hamas military brigades cell which carried out attacks against Israel. He received nine life sentences.
Jamal Abu Al-Hija's wife says she has not been allowed to see him since he was imprisoned almost 10 years ago.
"My husband Abu Abdel Salam has been on hunger strike for three days in isolated confinement in Nafha prison. He is striking to demand he is let out of solitary confinement, and also to demand we be given a chance to see him. We have not seen him since he was arrested ten years ago," Um Abdel Salam Abu Al-Hija, told Reuters Television.
Palestinian Minister of Prisoners Affairs Issa Qaraqi said some prisoners are on an open-ended hunger strike, while others would stage their hunger strikes on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays of every week until their demands are met.
"Today I can confirm that all the prisoners without exception have started a hunger strike. Some are on an open-ended hunger strike, and some are on a limited hunger strike which they have started as a warning and message to the (Israeli) Prison Service, in protest against their situation which has become intolerable in the occupation prisons," Qaraqi told reporters during a news conference in Ramallah.
According to Qaraqi, the Israeli Prisons Service started employing harsher measures on Palestinian prisoners after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a change of prison policy on June 23.
The Israeli Prison Service has imposed total or partial bans on prisoners' access to education, books and family visits, and uses solitary confinement and fines as punishment, Palestinian activists say.
The prisoners say they are also often shackled when meeting with lawyers or family members.
Detainees have also said they will institute a campaign of disobedience, including refusal to wear prison uniforms and participate in daily roll call.
Relatives of prisoners stages a sit down stike outside the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Wednesday.
The Palestinian Ministry for Prisoner Affairs says some 7,500 Palestinians, including 310 children and 34 women, are being held in 30 Israeli prisons and detention centres.
Dozens of the prisoners have been held in jail for more than 25 years.
Israel terms Palestinian Prisoners in Israeli jails "security prisoners," but they are seen by many Palestinians as symbols of resistance to the Israeli occupation. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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