Palestinian Hunger Striking
Steadfastness: Palestinian Suffering Continues
22 December 2012
By Stephen Lendman
Palestinians are denied justice. Thousands are
lawlessly arrested. They're brutalized in Israel's
gulag. Prisoners committed no crimes.
Israel persecutes them for not being Jews. Praying to
the wrong God is criminalized. Hunger strikers defy
Israeli lawlessness. Abstinence is their only weapon.
Widespread actions persisted for weeks last spring.
Some lasted over two months. Miraculously no one died.
Victories remain elusive. Negotiations produced
Israeli promises to ease prison harshness. Most
strikers resumed eating.
Pledges made were broken. Israel's word is worthless.
Promises aren't worth the paper they're written on.
Imprisoned or free, Palestinians have no rights.
Racism is policy. So is institutionalized persecution
and violence. Arabs are despised. Israel calls them
sub-human.
Many end up lawlessly imprisoned. Some languish there
months or years uncharged. Rogue states ignore rule of
law principles. Israel is one of the worst. Democracy
exists in name only. State terror is official policy.
Palestinians endure extreme harshness.
Hunger striker Samer Al-Eesawy refused food for over
four and half months. He's been hunger striking for
justice.
Israel does nothing gently. Rogue governments inflict
pain aggressively.
On December 18, Samer was abusively brought to court
on a wheelchair. He's too weak to walk. He was
painfully cuffed and shackled. Prosecutors claimed he
"violated a legal order."
He was bogusly charged with "tr(ing) to manipulate
witnesses." Doing so from inside Israel's gulag is
impossible. Prisoners are largely isolated.
Samer tried to greet family members in court. Nachshon
Brigade forces attacked him brutally. They assaulted
his loved ones. They dragged him out of court. They
took him back to prison.
They raided his home. They arrested his sister, Shirin.
They detained her short-term. She's now under house
arrest.
Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) Legal Unit head
Jawad Boulos called this type viciousness "an act of
vengeance against the detainee and all striking
detainees."
Samer needs urgent medical care. He's physically
deteriorated. His life hangs by a thread. Boulos wants
him hospitalized. He suffers severe chest pain and
other symptoms. Bodily cuts need treatment.
A brief session was held. The judge acknowledged
Samer's "difficult" condition. He "needs to be seen by
a doctor," he said. He stopped short of ordering it.
On December 27, another session is planned.
Boulos also said soldiers beat Samer again when he
tried to talk to reporters. PPS head, Qaddoura Fares,
said Israel often attacks and humiliates detainees and
family members in court. Presiding military judges
don't intervene.
Israel brutalizes Palestinians. Justice isn't just
denied. It's trampled and stomped on ruthlessly.
Ayman Sharawneh refused food for over 170 days.
Palestine's Ministry of Prisoner Affairs said he
suffers from muscle spasms, memory loss, and severe
kidney and abdominal pains.
He and Samer refused Israel's release offer. It's
conditional on exile. Israeli prison services
spokeswoman Siwan Weizman dismissively said they were
"both fine."
In October 2011, they were freed as part of the
Israeli/Hamas prisoner exchange. Later they were
rearrested. They're hunger striking for long-denied
freedom and justice.
On November 22, Israel arrested Jafar Azzadine, Tarek
Qa'adan and Yousef Yassin. They've been hunger
striking for 22 days. They issued a joint statement,
saying:
"Our open hunger strike is to protest the Intelligence
and their policies. Our goal is not just to gain our
individual freedom but to end the practice of
administrative detention, the pointed sword on the
neck of the Palestinians."
"This is a battle in the fight for freedom and dignity
despite all the continuing pain and torments that
impair us, and despite all the pressure that we endure
and is practiced against us by the Israeli Prison
Service and Shabak to break our will from our
steadfastness."
"However, the cowardly enemy will never undermine our
steadfastness and our determination to achieve justice
and freedom for all our imprisoned and hunger striking
brothers, and the oppressed and those who were
tortured by the fiery tormentors for decades."
"We call on the sons of our people to stand by us and
to show responsibility for our fellow prisoners,
especially Samer Issawi and Ayman Sharawna who are
nearing death."
"We also call on all local and international
institutions and those that are specifically for human
rights to intensify their efforts and to raise our
voices high in international forums to expose the
barbaric occupation and its practices."
On December 19, Addameer provided additional
information. Israel detained 41-year old Jafar seven
times. He was last arrested on March 21. He was
detained uncharged.
On May 14, he began hunger striking. On June 19, he
was released. His ordeal took a horrific toll. He
suffers from low blood pressure, dizziness, headaches,
protein deficiency, and constant joint, knees, hands,
and spinal cord pain.
Since 1989, Israel detained Tarek 13 times. Its
lawlessness has no limits. Most recently, Israel
imprisoned him for 15 months. He was charged with
speaking at an American University of Jenin
commemoration event.
Earlier he hunger struck in solidarity with Khader
Adnan and Hana Shalabi.
Israel detained Yousef three times. He was last
arrested in February. Israel sentenced him to eight
months imprisonment. He, Tarek, and Jafar are
uncharged. They committed no crimes.
They're among thousands of other Israeli political
prisoners. They're held lawlessly. They're brutalized.
Torture is official Israeli policy. Nearly everyone
detained is affected. Children young as 10 are treated
like adults.
Addameer, other Palestinian human rights groups,
Israeli and international ones condemn Israeli
lawlessness.
On June 26 annually, the UN International Day in
Support of Victims of Torture, is commemorated. Global
victims and survivors are honored.
This year, a Detainees and Ex-Detainees Society report
discussed horrific Israeli torture, abuse and
humiliating treatment. It called Israeli policy
ethically and legally corrupt.
Photos showed brutalized children. Others displayed
handcuffed and blindfolded male and female prisoners.
They were in "disgraceful positions." Soldiers mocked
them. Excessive brutality is standard practice.
PPS head Qaddoura Fares said 178 UN decisions
condemned Israeli torture, abuse, and serious
mistreatment since 1967. Israel ignores them.
Brutality is institutionalized. Its official policy.
Palestinians bear the brunt of Israeli ruthlessness at
its worst.
On December 20, the Palestinian Center for Human
Rights (PCHR) appealed to international community
leaders to save Ayman and Samer. It urged they demand
immediate unconditional release.
PCHR holds Israel fully accountable. They've been
hunger striking for 174 and 144 days respectively.
Ayman began on July 1. Samer followed on August 1.
They're protesting lawless rearrest and detention
uncharged. In October 2011, both were part of the
Gilad Shalit prisoner swap deal.
Israel reneged on its promise. Released Palestinian
prisoners were ruthlessly harassed. Many were
rearrested.
Long hunger strikes cause considerable physical
deterioration. Both men now refuse water and other
liquids.
They lost considerable body mass. They suffer from
general weakness, anemia, protein deficiency, low
sugar, deteriorated vision, and considerable pain and
discomfort.
Their lives hang in the balance. Israel won't release
them. Adequate medical care is denied. Heavy pressure
is applied. Prisoners are told either resume eating or
face extreme harshness for refusing.
PCHR also expressed grave concern for thousands of
other mistreated Palestinian prisoners. Israel's gulag
assures brutalizing inhumane treatment.
Since 1967, over 700,000 Palestinians experienced it.
Over 20% of the population was affected. For males,
it's 40%. For women, it's about 10,000. For children
around 7,000 were imprisoned since 2000 alone.
No other country comes close to these figures. None
calling themselves democracies dare. With the world's
largest prison population by far, America comes
closest.
Both countries spurn rule of law principles. Both
institutionalized prison hell. Both prioritize pain
and suffering. Nothing too abusive is avoided.
Palestinians perhaps suffer worst of all. They endure
the worst forms of cruel, humiliating and degrading
treatment.
Israel spares nothing to inflict torment. Collective
punishment is official policy. World leaders able to
enforce accountability do nothing. Palestinian
suffering continues. It's unabated out of sight and
mind.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached
at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book is
titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized
Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"
http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html Visit his
blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to
cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on
the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive
Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and
Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are
archived for easy listening. http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour.
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