Month: October 2011

Hebron in solidarity with prisoners on hunger strike for rights

3 October 2011| International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On the sixth day of the hunger strike of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, major political factions joined in Hebron and united in support for human rights for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, victims of Israeli collective punishment tactics.

On Tuesday the 27th of September, an open-ended hunger strike was initiated until the fulfillment of 9 demands by Palestinian prisoners, which include the right to family visits, end to the use of isolation as a punishment against detainees, and profiteering of Israeli prisons from financial penalties charged against prisoners.

Approximately 3000 prisoners are taking part in the strike including all the different political fractions from eight different prisons.

On Sunday solidarity tents with the prisoners were positioned in the center of all the main cities in the Palestinian occupied territories, and there are plans for actions such as demonstrations and public street theater throughout the entire week in Hebron and the rest of the territories in support of the prisoners strike.

Amjad Najjar the media spokesperson for the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society and head of the Palestinian Prisoners Club in Hebron said, “The strike is a reaction towards the collective punishment imposed on the prisoners that have been further increased after the UN bid for Palestinian statehood. The strike is a reaction towards the humiliation that the Palestinian prisoners are exposed to.”

Najjar elaborated that the conditions for prisoners are much worse in present days, and it is one of the negative byproducts of the Oslo agreement, since prisons are placed outside regions Palestinians have access to, complicating the possibility of family visits. He continued to explain that payment for visits by families as well as fines against all prisoners have developed a prison industrial complex from which Israel is profiting.

The hunger strike in Israeli prisons is a political method used through history to gain certain rights and traces back to the first Intifada. In May and June two prisoners, Attif Uridat Said and Yussif Aleskaffi, who both have medical issues conducted a hunger strike for 34 days in protest of Israel’s denial of medical aid for Palestinian prisoners.

Nablus joins West Bank and Gaza in support of prisoner strike

by Alistair George

3 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Hundreds marched in Nablus today to protest against the harsh conditions endured by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and to show solidarity with over 150 prisoners currently on hunger strike.

Prisoners from the leftist PFLP (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine) movement began open-ended hunger strikes – eating no food and drinking only salted water – on 27 September 2011 in several Israeli prisons, including Nafha, Askhalan and Ramon.

Palestinian prisoners issued a statement on 25 September 2011 demanding the Israeli authorities end solitary confinement for all prisoners and “end the policy of systematic humiliation by the occupation army against the Palestinian people at checkpoints and crossings, particularly targeting visitors to prisons, and end the arbitrary denial of visits to the prisoners, especially the prisoners from the Gaza Strip.”

Protesters are also demanding access to secondary and higher education in prisons – according to Addameer Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association there are at least 340 Palestinian children being held in Israeli prisons and protesters claim that many have been refused education and denied books whilst in Israeli prisons.  According to protesters, prison authorities have frozen the accounts of some inmates, which they use to buy food and other supplies.

The protests have gathered momentum in the past week, spreading to several other prisons.  Prisoners allied to other political parties have begun ‘limited’ hunger strikes – accepting no food from prison authorities and fasting for 2-3 days a week.  Several people began a hunger strike today in Nablus in solidarity with family members in prison.  They plan to stay in tents in Duwar, central Nablus, from the 4 October 2011 onwards as part of their protest.

Protesters converged outside the Red Crescent building in Nablus at 11:30 am today where several speakers, including the Mayor of Nablus and the Chairman of the Popular Committee to Support Palestinian Rights, spoke from a makeshift stage mounted on the back of a truck to call for Israeli to recognise the Geneva Conventions and respect prisoner rights in accordance with international law.  They also called on the international community and Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, to pressure Israel to end the illegal occupation of Palestinian territory.

Protesters chanted and called for solidarity with political prisoners in Israeli jails and urging them to continue to resist.    Many waved flags and held up photographs and placards bearing the faces of political prisoners.  After the speeches were finished protesters marched past the western cemetery through the centre of the city Duwar, where the protest ended.

A significant number of the protesters were allied to the leftists group PFLP, alongside many supporters of Fatah and members of humanitarian organisations such as the Palestinian Prisoners Society. There were dozens of female protestors, many of whom were clutching photographs of family members currently incarcerated in Israeli prisoners.  Protestors allied to Hamas and the smaller political parties were also present.

One female protestor, who declined to give her name, said that she was protesting to support the prisoners on hunger strike.

“I have a son in prison, he is serving a life sentence as he was a fighter with the PFLP.  He has been on a hunger strike for seven days and he is in solitary confinement, but I have not been allowed to see him”.

Tahani Al-Shati’s husband has served 11 years of an 18 year sentence for being a fighter in the PFLP.

She said, “ I am worried about my husband as I heard today that he has been taken to an isolation cell because he began a hunger strike.  Me and my children are very upset about this so I came to protest and to be in the struggle with the families of other prisoners.”

Bassam Gyias and Wafa Gyias were protesting to show support for their son Hassan who has served 3 ½ years of a 5 year sentence and began a hunger strike last week in protest at prison conditions.  Yesterday, Hassan was transferred to an unknown location, along with 27 other prisoners affiliated to the PFLP.

Bassam said that they “are suffering because he hasn’t eaten anything for a few days; we feel sad but appreciate his resistance.”

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics there were over 7,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails in 2010.

Myassar Atyani is the Director of the Cultural Committee in the PLO’s General Women’s Union and has campaigned on behalf of political prisoners from all parties for six years.  She spent a month in solitary confinement in 2009.

“It was very small, dirty and cold.  It was winter but they put a fan at the window and I was only given one blanket.  I was shivering all the time.  The tap constantly dripped, which gave me a headache and I couldn’t sleep as it was so noisy; either the guards were shouting or the Israeli prisoners were shouting, laughing or singing.”  She says that being held in solitary confinement took a huge psychological toll on her; in addition to not being able to communicate with anyone, she was disturbed by a mirror placed in her tiny cell, which distorted her reflection.  Atyani was only allowed to see her lawyer after eight days in prison – twice in total during the month.

Atyani says that prisoners in isolation cells are usually allowed one hour’s exercise a day, taken alone.  She was not allowed any exercise whilst in prison and the cell was underground, so it was hard to tell whether it was day or night.  Atyani says she kept track of the time through meal times and through the daily ritual of being made stand to attention in her cell at 6am, 10am, 6pm and 10pm.  She scored marks into the walls to keep track of the days. She was only taken from her cell for interrogations, during which she sat in silence and picked at her nails.

She says that she was on hunger strike for a month, only having coffee and water with salt.  “I was very ill; eventually I couldn’t stand or talk.  I also had a severe earache whilst in prison and the Israeli’s didn’t let me have my medicine.  Now, if there are loud noises, I find it hard to hear well and follow conversations”.

Atyani was released after a month; however her brother, who was arrested at the same time as her, was kept for a year in administrative detention – a practice in complete violation of human rights as sentences are based on confidential material kept from the detainee and their lawyer.  According to Addammeer there are at least 750 Palestinians currently detained in Israeli jails without charge or trial.

Atyani is hopeful that the hunger strikes will help to unite different Palestinian factions; “Outside the prisons we need to be united and be stronger across all political parties so that the prisoners will also be strong.”

She is also keen to raise awareness abroad of the plight of Palestinian prisoners – “Some prisoners have been in solitary detention for 15 years and no one hears about this.”

 

Alistair George is an activist with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Gaza protest supports Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike

3 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, Gaza

Today over a thousand Palestinians converged on the International Committee of the Red Cross building in Gaza, Palestine, continuing a tent protest that began outside the walled compound yesterday and bolstering a weekly sit-in by the families of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.

These events began a week of action in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on their seventh day of an escalating hunger strike against the inhumane conditions in Israeli prisons. 35 Palestinian activists joined the prisoners in their open-ended hunger strike and a number of others, including the Gaza leaders of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, announced their participation in a one-day strike.

“I was in prison from October 15, 2003 until December 31, 2005,” said Mohammed Abu Uda, one of the many former prisoners in Gaza. He was arrested because someone had mentioned his name under torture, claiming that he was part of the resistance. He was taken to the prison in Ashkelon, where he was subjected to 68 days of investigation. “I was kept in solitary confinement for 30 days, I went out only for questioning. These interviews lasted from 8 to 24 hours, periods in which I could not eat nor drink nor sleep. Once I was questioned for 64 hours straight.”

Abu Uda was held from October 15, 2003 until December 31, 2009, serving a year beyond his initial sentence.

Abu Hamza, one of the organizers of the garrison to the Red Cross, explained that Palestinian prisoners “are kept in isolation, they are prevented from communicating with family or with anyone.” He also mentioned Palestinians like Abu Khaleel Khandeeja, Haragano Ishaq, Ali El Jaafri, and Elraiy Ibrahim, who have died in Israeli prisons due to torture, the denial of medication, and previous hunger strikes.

Israel currently detains over 6,000 Palestinians, including about 270 held under “administrative detention” without charge or trial.

A land divided: Gate closures for Salim’s olive harvest by IOF

3 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

For more pictures of Salim's olive harvest ordeal, click here.

As Palestinians in Salim began the first day of their annual olive harvest this morning, October 2nd, Israeli Occupation Forces locked the gate which gives those living in Salim access to their olive trees. The gate was unlocked at 7:00am to allow farmers to reach their trees, but shortly afterward, soldiers locked the gate for purported ‘security reasons’ around 9:00am according to many reports. When passing shortly after 8:00am, four ISM volunteers reported no problems with two soldiers guarding the gate. Sporadically throughout the day, the gate was opened a few times to allow access to the olive trees or village center. From 9:00am until 5:00pm, there was only a possibility for those living in Salim to reach their land through the single entrance/exit.

The village itself is divided — the settler only road has carved the land in two and beyond the road lies the majority of the olive trees which are adjacent to the illegal Israeli settlement, Elon Moreh. After the al-Aqsa Intifada, the gate was built not only to restrict movement for Palestinians in Salim to reach their land where the majority of trees are growing, but also to continually keep the residents of Salim completely enclosed. The gate now serves as the only entrance and exit for those living in Salim to reach their olive trees, many of which have been overgrazed by settler’s sheep.

Seven years ago, 100 sheep were stolen by settlers from Salim’s Abu Sultan while he and his family were bound up inside their home. Those sheep, now belonging to the Eskali family, graze on the lower branches of the trees belonging to the Ahmed Abul-Jabar’s family which then leave them barren, dried out, and unable to grow olives. It isn’t just overgrazing, however — the farmers from Salim are only able to tend to their trees twice a year due to the Israeli occupation and annexation of their historic land. In April, Palestinians are allowed to till the land and ensure the trees are ready to grow. The next time they are able to reach the groves is October when harvest season begins. Palestinians are restricted from being able to access their land in order to properly irrigate, prune, and care for the olive trees. Today, family members all remarked how poor this season was in particular due to these problems from the illegal Israeli occupation.

This morning marked the first of four allotted days Palestinians in Salim for the olive harvest. Before the Intifada, Salim’s farmers could spend a month properly picking the olives. Now, after applying for a permit through the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Agriculture which secondly gets approved through the Israeli District Coordination Office, residents of Salim are only given four days.

Many farmers today reported being frightened and scared of being threatened by the settlers surrounding Salim or being intimidated by the Israeli soldiers. While there were no clashes with settlers today as in the past, the closure of the main gate proved troublesome for many looking to access their land. Soldiers reluctantly unlocked the gate when Palestinians and ISM volunteers asked only to lock it again shortly after.