25 August 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank
On Thursday August 23, Mumen Mahmoud Raja, 18, was arrested at his home by Israeli occupation forces at 2:30 a.m.
Around 2 a.m., some 60 Israeli forces invaded the Palestinian village of Burin, located south-west of Nablus. They arrived in 6 military jeeps, a truck, and 16 individuals by foot from the illegal colony of Givat Arosha, located atop a hill near the village, Mumen’s father estimates. 20 soldiers entered Mumen’s house, waking his family, including his 8 year old brother.
“We thought they wanted to arrest our other son, Montser, 19, who was arrested three months ago for 10 days. But then the soldiers began to demand Mumen, and took him away,” Mumens father recounts.
Mumen Mahmoud Raja
This family, like most families in Burin, endures the arrests of their children without being given a reason for their detention. At 3 a.m., the soldiers left the house after checking the identity of the remaining family members.
“It is the first arrest now that Ramadan is over, and we believe there will be more in the coming weeks,” says Ghassan Najjar, resident of Burin.
Since January 2012, Israeli forces have arrested 35 young men in Burin in night raids. Currently 16 of them are still imprisoned, aged between 15 and 32 years. Three of the current prisoners are minors; Walid Eid, 16, Eid Maomen, 16, and Qais Omran, 17.
Burin has been subject to many arrests on a daily basis for the past several years. The village is surrounded from all directions by three illegal Israeli settlements: Yitzhar, Bracha, and Givat Arosha. The Israeli military often patrols through the village at night raiding homes, and arresting members of Palestinian families without indicating a reason. The harassment and arrest of Burin’s youth, particularly those with a connection to the youth community centre in the village, is common.
Alma Reventos is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).
Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, Al-Haq and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-IL) are gravely concerned for the life and health of the three remaining Palestinian hunger strikers held by Israel. Of utmost concern is the health and life of administrative detainees Samer Al-Barq, today on his 70th day of renewed hunger strike, and Hassan Safadi who is on his 40th day of renewed hunger strike. Samer, whose current strike follows his previous 28-day strike and whose health continues to deteriorate rapidly, is only taking salts and vitamins and he is still being held in isolation.
Following the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) denial of access of an independent doctor to the hunger strikers Samer, Hassan and prisoner Akram Rikhawi, PHR-IL submitted three appeals to the district court of Petah Tekva requesting immediate access to independent doctors. On 23 July, the district court ordered the IPS to allow an independent doctor to see Samer no later than 1 August and to see Hassan and Akram within two days of the hearing.
Despite prior coordination with the IPS regarding a PHR-IL doctor’s visit to Ramleh prison medical centre on 25 July to examine both Akram and Hassan, the IPS informed the doctor on her arrival that Hassan had been taken to a court hearing and therefore only Akram could be examined. In clear breach of the court order, the IPS still ignores PHR-IL requests to allow the independent doctor visit to Samer and Hassan.
AkramRikhawi ended his hunger strike on 22 July after 102 days upon reaching an agreement with the IPS. According to the agreement Akram will be released on 25 January 2013 to his home in the Gaza Strip, which is six months prior to his original release date.
Following the visit to Akram, the PHR-IL doctor reported that though his general feeling has improved, he is still suffering from multiple conditions which have been left untreated. Akram’s asthma continues to be a cause for concern and is severely unstable despite treatment with steroids. The doctor also emphasized that asthma is a life-threatening illness that in the case of a severe attack could lead to death. Furthermore, the doctor also found that Akram suffers from unbalanced diabetes and recommended the renewal of his treatment which was stopped during the hunger strike.
Akram also suffers from severe weakness in his left foot with a lack of full sensation in his left thigh. As his condition has not improved since ending the strike, this would indicate progressive motor and sensory damage to the left thigh. The PHR-IL doctor recommended Akram’s immediate referral to a public hospital in order to identify the etiology and to perform a full neurological investigation.
It should be noted that in the two previous visits of the PHR-IL doctors to Akram, on 6 June and 5 July, both recommended further medical neurological investigation and warned of the danger of peripheral nerve damage. The doctors also recommended immediate examination by a lung specialist. To date, these recommendations have not been performed.
Hassan Safadi is on his 40th day of renewed hunger strike, after previously spending 71 days on prolonged hunger strike. His last administrative detention order was due to expire on 29 June and, according to the agreement ending the Palestinian prisoners’ mass hunger strike, he was supposed to be released on that date. However on 21 June he was informed of the renewal of his administrative detention order for a further six months, in violation of the agreement.
According to PHR-IL lawyer Mohamad Mahagni following his visit to Hassan on 22 July, Hassan is currently being held in an isolated cell. Hassan has reported escalating pressure from the IPS to end his hunger strike. Hassan further noted that his court hearing on 25 July has been delayed again until 07 August, stressing that he is in no condition to travel 15 hours every time for the court hearings. He also reported suffering from kidney problems, sight problems, extreme weakness, severe weight loss, headaches, dizziness and has difficulty standing.
Today represents Ayman Sharawna’s 30th day of hunger strike. Ayman was released as part of the prisoner exchange deal in October 2011, only to be re-arrested on 31 January 2012. No charges have been filed against him. Ayman has been recently transferred to Ramleh prison medical center due to the deterioration in his health.
While administrative detention is allowed under international humanitarian law, it must be used only under exceptional circumstances as it infringes upon basic human rights, including the right to a fair trial. Indeed, the denial of a fair trial constitutes a ‘grave breach’ of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Furthermore, the European Parliament called on Israel in a September 2008 resolution to “guarantee that minimum standards on detention be respected, to bring to trial all detainees, [and] to put an end to the use of ‘administrative detention orders”. The United Nations Human Rights Committee has stated several times that prolonged administrative detention is likely to result in the exposure of detainees to “torture, ill-treatment and other violations of human rights.”
In light of the further deterioration of the conditions of the remaining Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike, Addameer, Al-Haq and PHR-IL urge the international community to immediately intervene on their behalf and demand:
That the agreements reached on 14 and 15 May 2012 be respected, including the release of administrative detainees who were promised release at the end of their current orders, renewal of family visits and lifting of the punitive measures used against Palestinians in Israeli custody;
Unrestricted access for independent physicians to all hunger strikers;
The immediate transfer of Akram Rikhawi and Samer Al-Barq, as well as all other hunger strikers who have been striking to for more than 40 days to public hospitals;
That no hunger striker be shackled while hospitalized;
That all hunger strikers—especially those in advanced stages of hunger strike—be allowed family visits, while they are still lucid;
That all information regarding prisoners medical conditions be given to their families, in accordance with standards of medical ethics;
That Hassan Safadi, Samer Al-Barq and Omar Abo-Shalal along with all other administrative detainees, be immediately and unconditionally released;
The persistence of Palestinian hunger strikes shocks me for two reasons: that these extreme expressions of moral freedom alert all who choose to expose their consciousness to such realities of the severely abusive arrest, detention, and interrogation procedures that many Palestinians living under Israeli occupation must endure; that the world’s media, foreign governments, the UN, the Arab League barely acknowledge such events, which if they occurred in other countries would generate outpourings of outrage and sympathy, and depending on the geopolitical calculus, hypocritical calls for the application of the ‘responsibility to protect’ norm.
I post below a joint press release by respected NGOs of Palestine and Israel that summarize the desperate medical condition of Akram Rikhawi, who has continued his hunger strike for more than 85 days, an extraordinary display of discipline and resolve, the exemplary Palestinian virtue of samud (steadfastness). Mr. Rikhawi, whose home is in Gaza, has been held in prison since 2004 after being convicted to a nine-year term by an Israeli military court. He has been denied mercy by the Israeli authorities despite a present political atmosphere in which the Palestinian resistance has not been posing violent challenges to Israeli security behind the green line, and his condition would in any event make political activism an impossibility.
As a result of the ‘Shalit Law,’ a vindictive violation of international humanitarian law that retaliates against Palestinian prisoners because of the capture of Gilad Shalit an Israeli soldier who was released a year ago, Rikhawi has been denied family visits since 2006 despite being the father of eight children plus the five young children of his recently deceased brother. Yasmine, daughter of his brother, summed up Akram Rikhawi’s tragic situation: “My uncle made a decision and we support him because we live life once; we either live it with dignity or we die fighting for it.” No human being should be forced to face such a dilemma, and those that do deserve our compassion and support. Jasmine describes Akram Rikhawi as the main source of financial and emotional support of the entire family, which was the center of his life. She describes him as an avid reader who was constantly challenging the family to engage in serious discussions, including issues arising from his intense opposition to the occupation.
He suffers from multiple life-threatening ailments, including serious asthma and diabetes, and has been targeted for abuse since initiating this hunger strike as the following report makes clear.
Putting all the pieces together, including the realization that many hunger strikes have been in process since Khader Adnan had recourse to a hunger strike on December 17, 2010 in protest against his arrest and confinement as a result of an administrative detention decree, we can reach some tentative conclusions:
these brave acts of nonviolence have inspired Palestinians and some others, sustaining their dignity under the most difficult and inhumane of circumstances;
Western countries and Western NGOs, claiming to be champions of humanitarian diplomacy, have spurned the moral and political challenges posed by these hunger strikes;
despite such malign neglect, the hunger strikes have shined a bright light on the unlawfulness and cruelty of Israeli arrest and interrogation procedures and prison conditions that has increased awareness of this dimension of prolonged Israeli occupation of Palestine;
with such an awareness comes responsibility, including acting on the request of Addammeer and Phsicians for Human Rights-Israel that letters demanding Akram Rikhawi’s release be sent to listed Israeli officials.
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Concern mounts for the life of Akram Rikhawi on his 85th day of hunger strike
An independent doctor from PHR-IL visited Akram Rikhawi yesterday and an Addameer lawyer visited him today, along with Samer Al-Barq and Hassan Safadi. Samer and Hassan are still denied access to independent doctors.
Ramallah-Jaffa, 5 July 2012—Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-IL) and Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association are gravely concerned for the life of Akram Rikhawi, who is now on his 85th day of hunger strike. An independent doctor from PHR-IL visited Akram in Ramleh prison medical center yesterday, 4 July, which was made possible only after an appeal to the Israeli District Court, where the judge eventually ordered the Israeli Prison Service (IPS) to allow the entry of the independent doctor no later than 3 July.
Following the visit to Akram, the PHR-IL doctor reported the alarming deterioration of Akram’s asthma, which continues to be unstable. The doctor believes Akram has been given very high doses of steroids as treatment, which can cause severe long-term and irreversible damage. The doctor reiterated recommendation for immediate examination by a lung specialist, which was not performed as recommended after the last visit by an independent doctor on 6 June.
Akram also reported that he is experiencing severe dizziness, can no longer walk and is having difficulty standing. Even more troubling, Akram has not been given any assistance in these matters, leaving him vulnerable to the danger of falling, which could result in fatal injury due to his osteoperosis. The doctor further noted that Akram is experiencing tingling and numbness in his left thigh, which could indicate peripheral nerve damage, and recommended immediate examination in a public hospital, for fear of permanent neurological damage.
The IPS has continued to punish Akram for his hunger strike by confiscating his books and reading materials, isolating him from other prisoners and cancelling his daily break. He is also being held in a cell with no fan or air conditioning, despite the high humidity and how badly it affects his asthma.
Akram pointed out to the independent doctor and to Addameer lawyer Mona Neddaf in her visit today that he was recently hospitalized at Assaf Harofeh Hospital, but was shackled at all times to the hospital bed and felt his needs were mostly ignored by the medical staff. He emphasized to Ms. Neddaf his desire to have unrestricted access to the independent doctors from PHR-IL.
Ms. Neddaf also visited Samer Al-Barq, who is on his 45th day of renewed hunger strike in protest against the extension of his administrative detention. Ms. Neddaf noted that he seems significantly weaker than during her last visit on 25 June. He is consuming only water with glucose.
Samer’s family has reported that he suffers from kidney problems and high blood pressure and has lost more than 25% of his original weight. On 21 June, PHR-IL submitted a request to allow access for independent physicians. On 25 June the IPS denied this request without providing any reasons.
Hassan Safadi is on his 15th day of renewed hunger strike, after previously spending 71 days on prolonged hunger strike. His last administrative detention order was due to expire on 29 June and, according to the agreement ending Palestinian prisoners’ mass hunger strike, he was supposed to be released on that date. However, his lawyer was informed on 21 June of the renewal of his administrative detention order for a further six months, in violation of the agreement.
According to Ms. Neddaf after her visit with him today, Hassan’s lawyer submitted a request to the military judge that he review the agreement and consider his immediate release. The judge responded that he would give a decision on this matter in two weeks. Hassan stressed that he will not break his hunger strike until he is released to his home in Nablus.
Hassan was transferred to Ramleh prison medical center last week and is currently being held in an isolated cell. He is drinking water with salt and taking vitamins due to a low potassium level in his blood. He has lost approximately 8 kilos in weight since the beginning of his renewed strike. PHR-IL submitted a request to allow access for an independent doctor on 26 June and have not yet received a response from the IPS.
In light of the deterioration of the conditions of the remaining Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike, PHR-IL and Addameer urge the international community to immediately intervene on their behalf and demand:
unrestricted access for independent physicians to all hunger strikers;
the immediate transfer of Akram Rikhawi and Samer Al-Barq to a public hospital, and the transfer of all prisoners on hunger strike for more than 40 days to public hospitals;
that no hunger striker be shackled while hospitalized;
that all hunger strikers—especially those in advanced stages of hunger strike—be allowed family visits, while they are still lucid;
that all information be given to families as to the medical condition of their loved ones, which is the responsibility of hospitals and medical staff in accordance with standards of medical ethics;
that Akram Rikhawi be granted release on humanitarian grounds;
that Hassan Safadi and Samer Al-Barq, along with all other administrative detainees, be immediately and unconditionally released.
*Write to the Israeli government, military and legal authorities and demand that Akram Rikhawi be released immediately and receive adequate medical care.
Brigadier General Danny Efroni Military Judge Advocate General 6 David Elazar Street Harkiya, Tel Aviv Israel Fax: +972 3 608 0366; +972 3 569 4526 Email: arbel@mail.idf.il; avimn@idf.gov.il
Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon OC Central Command Nehemia Base, Central Command Neveh Yaacov, Jerusalam Fax: +972 2 530 5741
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Ehud Barak Ministry of Defense 37 Kaplan Street, Hakirya Tel Aviv 61909, Israel Fax: +972 3 691 6940 / 696 2757
Col. Eli Bar On Legal Advisor of Judea and Samaria PO Box 5 Beth El 90631 Fax: +972 2 9977326
*Write to your own elected representatives urging them to pressure Israel to release Akram Rikhawi.
Twenty Palestinian children, detained in Hasharon prison, launched on Tuesday June 12, an open hunger strike protesting the harsh prison conditions and the prison administration’s neglect of their demands.
A 17-years-old child Ahmed Lafi, who was one of the strikers, told the Ministry of the prisoners in Gaza that 20 detained children started an open hunger strike to protest the bad and deteriorating living conditions in the prison, where they are not allowed to visit each other and are deprived from their study.
He also revealed that “the prison administration continues to torture and humiliate the child prisoners even after the agreement signed between the strike leadership committee and the prison administration.”
Ahmed Lafi also stressed that the prison administration holds in solitary confinement every prisoner trying to demand his rights amid the bad conditions he witnesses in the jails.
He pointed out that Israeli intelligence use the most extreme torture methods to extract confessions from the children in violation of all international conventions and rights of children.
There are 190 Palestinian children under the age of 18 in occupation jails in very harsh conditions. These minors are treated the same way as adult prisoners; insufficient food, search raids on their rooms by intelligence officers, provocations, medical neglect and denial of education.
Palestinian fans hold the sign "Freedom for prisoners" during the opening match of the "Palestine Championship" between the local national team and Vietnam in the West Bank town of Al-Ram, between Ramallah and Jerusalem, on 14 May 2012 (photo: AFP - AHMAD GHARABLI)
During the latest wave of hunger strikes, many Palestinian movements emerged in support of the strikers’ struggle. It is clear that there is persistent action on the ground, but it is still limited to the active circles connected to the families of the prisoners.
At the peak of the strike, when it was crucial to have massive support, many voiced frustration with continued Palestinian apathy, especially when in Scotland and Spain, for instance, thousands marched for the prisoners. Meanwhile, in Ramallah and Nablus, only hundreds bothered to demonstrate.
Despite the long history of Palestinian resistance, current popular action remains limited to small-scale participation. One has to ask, what went wrong?
Before discussing the major factor influencing every single aspect of Palestinians’ lives – the Israeli occupation, one needs to look at the process Palestinians went through since the Oslo Accord of 1993 and the subsequent creation of the Palestinian Authority (PA) that contributed in many ways to Palestinian apathy. Although those who signed Oslo thought they were heading in a positive direction, it is clear today that what they received was a lie. In lieu of a contiguous sovereign Palestinian state, Oslo has given the PA glorified local governance over disconnected city centers. In hindsight, Oslo has been a disaster for the Palestinian cause. The agreement gave much to the Israelis – the colonizers – with minimum concessions, while giving little to the Palestinians – the colonized – while extracting maximum concessions.
One cannot examine the absence of a massive movement on the ground without also taking into consideration the context of separation and division. At present, Palestinians are a separated and divided people. Half of the Palestinian population live in the diaspora and exile, the vast majority in squalid refugee camps in neighboring countries, denied their right of return to their homes and villages. Gaza, ruled by Hamas, and the West Bank, ruled by Fatah, are separated by the occupation. Within the occupied West Bank, divisions also exist. Jerusalem is isolated from the surrounding Palestinian population due to Israeli settlement expansion and occupation. Palestinians with Israeli citizenship were also ignored by Oslo and live in continued isolation from their brethren while suffering daily discrimination in the Jewish “democracy.” Accomplishing the physical unity of Palestinians as a nation to fight apartheid is, thus, difficult. And it’s difficult not only as a result of Israeli policies, and internal division, but also due to Arab countries that host Palestinian refugees, but do not allow them to resist from their borders.
Oslo’s implications pertain not only to geography, demography and land. There were also implications for Palestinian civil society in the occupied territories. Civil society began to be transformed from being part of the liberation movement to “development.” The phenomenon of “NGOzation” has infiltrated Palestinian society. International funders too often dictate to Palestinians their agendas and priorities, killing the spirit of the freedom fighters and resistance in the process.
The Oslo agenda was designed in a way that those trapped in it would have little or no interest in challenging it. Oslo has created the illusion of a “state,” a state for people with no rights and no sovereignty over their borders, resources or fate.
Any decision to dissolve the PA or change its mandate, especially to put an end to the security coordination with Israel, should be made outside the framework of the Palestinian leaders who have vested interests and are terrified at the prospect of losing them. The sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people as a whole, the PLO, is the body to make such decisions. The PNC (Palestinian National Council), the legislative body of the PLO, had its last meeting in 1996, where its members were appointed, not elected as they should have been according to the PLO constitution. Since Oslo, the PLO has lost its mandate and rebellious identity to the “quasi-state” of the PA. We should not expect that the same heads of the PLO, who also run the PA, would want to voluntarily surrender their power. The PLO is occupied by the same faces who have sat there for decades, stifling all sense of change, snuffing out the resistance element of the Palestinian cause. We should not expect such an ossified institution to bring a new vision.
Apathy, therefore, became a natural result of the frustration at the unchanged leadership. This leadership lacks any strategy or comprehensive vision, except the ultimate soap opera of “negotiations.” Furthermore, the security coordination with Israel is designed to ensure Israelis’ “security” not Palestinians’. In many cases, it also impedes the people from challenging the occupation with its security forces that sometimes block protesters from reaching checkpoints and have no tolerance toward anyone who dares to criticize Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas). It creates confusion; where do we start our fight? Against the PA leaders who failed the people but still hold on to power? Or the Israeli occupation forces that have trapped the PA in such a role and still control Palestinian lives? In order to fight, you need to set your target with clear eyes.
That is relevant to the West Bank under the PA and Fatah, however, Palestinians under Hamas in Gaza face similar challenges, and a regime even more oppressive toward critical voices that might challenge its rule.
Some also have concerns based on their experiences of the second intifada, where an unorganized armed resistance led to armed militias and security chaos. Many Palestinians are afraid an uprising will spiral out of control, and the same chaos will return.
Yet, the main reason for the Palestinian apathy and fatigue remains the occupation and colonization that has not relented since the creation of the PA in Oslo.
Israel attempts to crush peaceful resistance with no regard for Palestinian lives. And that, naturally, deters people from participation. When people go to participate in a protest against the occupation, they take the risk of getting shot, beaten, or arrested. Two-hundred and seventy-five Palestinian martyrs have been killed by the Israeli army since 2000 in popular resistance rallies. (Information taken from the Popular Resistance Coordination Committee).
Arrest means a verdict in a military court. Imprisonment is a near certainty and is far more of a persecution than prosecution. The system is heavily stacked against a fair day in court for Palestinians. According to Haaretz, in 2010, 99.74 percent of the trials of Palestinians in Israeli military courts ended in convictions. Arrest and then charges means a “security file” will accompany any attempt to travel, whether for leisure or studies. It kills the already near-impossible chance of getting a permit, either for work in Israel or to visit family or friends. Arrest means one becomes a target – and in many cases one’s family does as well.
Palestinians have sacrificed much for their steadfastness and resistance, with tens of thousands killed, hundreds of thousands jailed, arrested or tortured, and many others losing their homes or lands or source of income. Their sacrifice is met with non-stop Israeli colonization, their resistance is met with brutal Israeli repression, and their screams met with international silence. Combined, it has made Palestinians question the worth of their sacrifice.
Israel has “architectured” the Oslo agreement to make the occupation more efficient. To Palestinians in city centers, the occupation has become slightly less direct. There, you will hardly feel the occupation, unless you have to go through checkpoints every day or you see the Israeli army raiding your neighborhood at night to arrest your neighbor. Many people abandoned the option of filing for a permit to enter “Israel” to visit friends or family or simply Palestine. Many people gave up the idea of traveling abroad because they would need permission from Israel and they would need to cross Israeli “border” points. Most Palestinians have a “security file” in Israel and, if not them, a family member surely does. People just continue to live their lives, adapting to the reality, with the Israeli occupation sapping their will to resist. They fear losing the little they have left if they challenge the status quo.
Understanding this complexity under which Palestinians live post-Oslo explains the current situation where the will to resist has been drained from the people of resistance. In order to break down Palestinian apathy and fatigue, one will have to break down the many reasons that led to it, starting with Oslo.
Abir Kopty is a Palestinian blogger. Follow her on Twitter @abirkopty.
