GAZA/WEST BANK: Hamas, Fatah and Islamic Jihad supporters rally together in support of hunger strike prisoner Khader Adnan

Record ID: 340648

  • Title: GAZA/WEST BANK: Hamas, Fatah and Islamic Jihad supporters rally together in support of hunger strike prisoner Khader Adnan
  • Date: 18th February 2012
  • Summary: GAZA CITY, GAZA (FEBRUARY 17, 2012) (REUTERS) VARIOUS HAMAS LEADER ISMAIL HANIYEH ARRIVING FOR FRIDAY PRAYERS VARIOUS OF IMAM DURING PRAYERS VARIOUS OF WORSHIPERS AT MOSQUE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HAMAS LEADER IN THE GAZA STRIP, ISMAIL HANIYEH SAYING: "The resistant brother Adnan's will, will win, as will the will of all of our prisoners and heroes and all of the Palestin
  • Embargoed: 4th March 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Gaza, West bank
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAC472042VFW00IKOT03KAKVVOG
  • Story Text: Several thousand Palestinians rallied in Gaza and the West Bank on Friday (February 17) in support of jailed Islamic Jihad leader Khader Adnan, who is on the 62nd day of a hunger strike to protest against his detention by Israel.
    "We are all Khader Adnan," chanted crowds gathered in the Gaza Strip, with activists from the main political parties joining forces in a rare display of Palestinian unity.
    Adnan, 33, has been refusing to eat since mid-December following his arrest in the occupied West Bank. He is being held under so-called "administrative detention" which means Israel can detained him indefinitely without trial or charge.
    The Islamic Jihad group, which advocates the destruction of the state of Israel, has said it would escalate violence if Adnan dies, following reports his health was deteriorating.
    The Physicians for Human Rights group in Israel (PHR), which visited Adnan in an Israeli hospital on Friday, said he was "in immediate danger of death", adding that he had suffered "significant muscular atrophy".
    "We hold the enemy fully responsible for threatening the life of jailed Sheikh Khader Adnan," the Islamic Jihad said in a statement.
    At least 5,000 Gazans, including leaders of the Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and of President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah factions and others joined the Friday's rally urging Adnan's release.
    Adnan has been for years an outspoken media official of the Islamic Jihad, who described him as a local leader in the West Bank.
    Hundreds of other prisoners in Israeli jails have gone on hunger strike in support of Adnan, including Hassan Salama, a senior armed commander of Hamas, who is serving life terms in jail on charges of killing dozens of Israelis in suicide bombings he had masterminded in 1996.
    Palestinian prisoners have used hunger strikes inside Israeli jails for decades as a weapon to gain better detention conditions and sometimes to protest military actions by Israel in Palestinian territories.
    They are seen as heroes by all Palestinians. A recent prisoners swap deal between Israel and the Islamist Hamas group which rules Gaza Strip brought joy in Gaza and the West Bank.
    "The resistant brother Adnan's will, will win, as will the will of all of our prisoners and heroes and all of the Palestinian nation with all of its parties (Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad) and the officials will never let down these prisoners." said Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh during a Friday sermon at Gaza's oldest al-Omari mosque.
    Top Islamic Jihad leader Nafez Azzam condemned the international and Arab silence at the continued detention of Adnan, vowing no let up in the fight against Israel.
    Demonstrators in the West Bank joined the Adnan protests, spraying effigies of the jailed Islamic Jihad leader on the Israeli separation barrier near the village of Bilin. Protesters threw stones over the barrier at Israeli soldiers who eventually responded with tear gas, stun grenades and foul smelling water.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register