Tag: Prisoner

Beit Ummar steadfast in supporting prisoners despite LRAD and teargas

7 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Beit Ummar solidarity with prisoners - Click here for more images
Beit Ummar solidarity with prisoners – Click here for more images

On the tenth day of the hunger strike of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, a crowd of around a hundred people took to the streets for a planned demonstration in the village of Beit Ummar, Hebron.

This was one of a number of recent demonstrations across the West Bank supporting the 9 demands of Palestinian prisoners, which include the right to family visits, end to the use of isolation as a punishment, and an end to the profiteering of Israeli prisons from financial penalties charged against prisoners.

The Beit Ummar protest began after the congregational noon prayer of Muslims with a peaceful march through the village, but  later there tear gas canisters, sound bombs, and for the first time in recent months the Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD), created by the American Technology Corporation, were used against protesters in clashes continued until 2:30 PM.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhUnWK–A4g&feature=related

A Palestinian man, Abdellah Slibi was detained. Slibi, 22, is reported to suffer from learning disabilities and was observed by an international peace activist being blindfolded during the arrest. He was later released. A British peace activist was struck on the leg by a tear gas canister, but was not seriously hurt.

The Israeli apartheid legal system allows for Palestinian people to be held under administrative detention for up to six months without trial, based on confidential materials that are kept from the detainee and their lawyer, a violation of international law.

Students march to Ofer Prison in solidarity with hunger strike

by Alistair George

5 October 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Over 100 students from Bir Zeit University marched to the gates of Ofer Prison, near Ramallah today, to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails.

Prisoners in several Israeli jails began hunger strikes on 27 September 2011 to to protest against solitary confinement, restricted visiting hours and harsh conditions. The protests have since gathered momentum, with Reuters reporting that there are around 500 prisoners currently on hunger strike in Israeli prisons. It is thought that there are around 9 or 10 prisoners in Ofer prison on hunger strike.

The protesters assembled in front of the prison gates at around 1:15pm today, facing Israeli soldiers standing a few metres away just inside the prison compound. The protesters peacefully chanted slogans in support of the prisoners; however, after the majority of protesters had left, a minority of youths threw stones at the Israeli soldiers inside the prison compound. The military responded by deploying tear gas to drive the remaining protesters several hundred meters away from the prison.

The students’ protest followed an earlier demonstration at the prison at 12:00 today, which eyewitnesses claimed was attended by around 200 people and ended in a similar manner; with a minority of Palestinian youths throwing stones and the Israeli military responding with tear gas.

A young female protester from Birzeit University had been protesting peacefully and was hit in the back by a tear gas canister but was unharmed. She expressed concern about the Israeli military’s practice of filming peaceful protests; “I live in Jerusalem and I worry that they will identify me and cause problems for me when I travel through the checkpoint.”

One of the protesters was the mother of a 23 year old Palestinian man who is a student at Birzeit University and is currently being held in an Israeli prison. She said that her son was arrested eight months ago and has spent the last nine days in solitary confinement as punishment for participating in the hunger strike. She also claimed that prison authorities have ruled that prisoners will be denied visitors for one month for every day that they spend on hunger strike.

When asked about the prisoners on hunger strike she said, “They won’t stop until their goals are reached.”

She expressed defiance against the Israeli occupation.

“I’ve lived under occupation for more than 40 years–I am not scared.”

 

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

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.

Fathers speak on the mass arrests in Hebron

15 September 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On Sunday the 21st of August the Israeli army carried out arrests in al Khalil (Hebron) on a scale not seen since 2003.  Around 120-200 people were kidnapped from their homes in pre-dawn raids and following the release of some, the final number in Israeli custody stands at 50. Interviews with local residents and families of those arrested indicate that the arrests were carried out for political reasons and were not based on new evidence or any security threat. Though the scale of the operation is unusual, Israel’s mode of operation with complete disregard for human rights and fair judicial process is institutional and routine.

We spoke with the father of Ali Natsheh, a 22-year-old law student who was arrested during the raid. At approximately 1:30 am Ali Natsheh’s 8 year old sister awoke to the sound of the Israeli army smashing the windows of her family home. She woke her father as the Israeli army surrounded and entered the house. His son was not home at the time of the raid so the army separated Ali’s father from his daughter and took them away from the house he was made to contact his son, who immediately returned home. Ali’s father explained.

“He knew that if he did not give himself up they would make problems for the family or even shoot him as a fugitive,” he said.

Smashed windows by Israeli military at the Natsheh home

Upon returning to his home, where the army were waiting, neighbors witnessed the army stripping and beating Ali Natseh before handcuffing him and taking him away in a jeep. Natseh’s father told us that his son had been arrested almost 3 years ago for involvement with Palestinian resistance groups but had since become a law student at Al Quds University and had no affiliation with any political groups. He was extremely worried about his son’s treatment. The last time Ali was detained, he became ill as a result of being kept for days in isolation in a freezing cold cell without medical treatment. He has suffered from long-term health problems since.

The arrest of Amer Abu Arafe is quite similar in that he too had been imprisoned in 2007 for involvement in resistance groups but had since completed a degree in media and became a journalist, his father Abdel Halim said. He said Amer was no longer involved with any political or resistance groups and was certainly not a security threat. Though he could think of no reason for his son’s arrest he was not particularly surprised as arbitrary arrests are a disturbingly routine feature of Palestinian life. 40% of the male Palestinian population have been detained by the Israeli army at some point in their life, and there are around 6,000 Palestinian political prisoners currently in Israeli custody.

Badran Jaber, a lecturer at Hebron University and friend of many of the families of those arrested, was highly skeptical that the arrests were for security reasons or based on new evidence. He argued these arrests constituted collective punishment of Palestinians for the attack in Eilat on August the 18th.

“Israeli authorities wanted large numbers to be arrested for political reasons: it does not matter to them whether they are innocent or guilty.”

A lack of evidence to support these arrests is inconsequential when you have a judicial system where military officers serve as judges and operate in collusion with military prosecutors without a jury or adequate provision.

The result of this system is a conviction rate of 96.7% mostly based on signed confessions written in Hebrew. A recent report by Israeli human rights organization B’tselem acknowledges that torture such as stress positions, sleep depravation, exposure to extreme temperatures, painful handcuffing and long periods of solitary confinement are used routinely and systematically to obtain these confessions and more violent forms of torture such as beatings still occur though are less common.

As of July 2011 Israel was holding 243 Palestinian prisoners under administrative detention, which allows for them to be held indefinitely without trial or even any knowledge of why they are being detained.

Despite the fact that it is widely acknowledged that Hamas was not behind the attacks that occurred in Eilat, Israel exploited the events to carry out air strikes on Gaza. The escalation of violence in Gaza and the mass arrests in Al Khalil are emblematic of Israel’s recurring policy of collective punishment, in which the only necessary criteria for being found guilty is being Palestinian.