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28 Feb 2012
By Stephen Lendman
Behind bars, prisoners have few ways to resist
injustice. Refusing food's a common tactic. Khader
Adnan's the latest detainee to attract attention. His
heroism made it worldwide.
After 66 days, he began eating after a deal was agreed
to release him in April. It's not without strings, may
unravel, or find him again unjustly detained.
Israel's a rogue terror state. It can't be trusted.
Its word lacks credibility. It spurns rule of law
principles. It imprisons innocent victims like Khader
and many others unjustly. If freed, Adnan risks
re-arrest. He was wrongfully detained nine times. Is
number 10 next?
Monitoring his health,
Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I) said he's
"expected to go through a complex recovery process and
will have to undergo a variety of medical procedures,
some of them risky."
PHR-I's committed to help him struggle to live. His
condition remains precarious. He's now slowly eating
three meals daily in small amount portions.
Safed Hospital said:
Remaining cautious is important. "(E)ach day of
recovery holds major risks due to the complexity of
balancing all of his needs and the potential failure
of his heart. He is still suffering from extremely
weak muscles, preventing him from being able to walk."
In an unprecedented decision, potentially affecting
other Palestinian prisoners, an Israeli District Court
ordered his shackles removed, effective February 23.
Judge Avraham Tal's opinion said:
"In light of the petitioner's medical condition,
shortly after a hunger strike, shackling him to the
bed during all hours of the day and night, even only
by one limb, is not proportional."
Tal's ruling permits shackling Adnan by one limb in
the presence of visitors "not authorized by the IPS
(Israel Prison Service) or the medical staff that
treats him."
He, PHR-I and the Addameer Prisoner support group fear
he'll be transfered back to prison too soon. Both
groups expressed dismay that "no effective change has
been made" for hundreds of other administrative
detainees.
In fact, during Adnan's strike, their numbers
increased. Hana Ash-Shalabi's among them. In October
2011, she was the first female detainee released in
exchange for Gilad Shalit after being imprisoned
without charge for two and half years.
On February 16, she was re-arrested and again
administratively detained without charge. Numerous
others released like her suffered the same fate.
They've been hounded, persecuted, and again
imprisoned.
She hunger struck in protest. In Ha-Sharon Prison,
it's now ongoing 11 days. Inspired by Adnan, she said
she'll refuse food until released.
Hamas Detainees Minister Atalla Abu As-Sabah said
already her health's deteriorating. Isolation in
solitary confinement exacerbates her condition.
Shalabi's elderly parents said they'll fast in protest
against Israel's abusive treatment.
Her father Yahya said soldiers assaulted Hana and
ransacked their home. It's standard Israeli arrest
procedure. It happens virtually multiple times weekly,
including for children young as 10, and at times
younger.
Addameer highlighted two "currently longest-held
administrative detainees." For Ahmad Saqer, it's since
November 2008. In June 2011, after three and a half
years, Ayed Dudeen was released. In August he was
re-arrested. He's still lawlessly held without charge.
So are 24 Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC)
members. As a result, the body can't convene to
conduct parliamentary functions. Israeli state terror
prevents it.
They protest abusive treatment nonviolently. They're
most effective when publicized. Most take liquids but
not solid food. The longer they continue, the greater
the health risk. Bodies need sustenance to stay
healthy. Too long without it risks death.
Previous strikers died after 52 to 74 days. Starvation
deteriorates muscles and vital organs until they
entirely break down.
Perhaps Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi was history's most
noted hunger striker. Against Britain's Raj, he
resisted nonviolently, including non-cooperation as a
political weapon.
Imprisoned four times in 1922, 1930, 1933 and 1942, he
hunger struck in protest. His world stature made
Britain loathe to let him die. He used Satyagraha, a
philosophy of nonviolent resistance. For Gandhi, it
went beyond passivity. He said:
"Truth (satya) implies love, and firmness (agraha)
engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force.
I began to call the Indian movement Satyagrapha, that
is to say, the Force which is born of Truth and Love
or nonviolence, and gave up the use of the phrase
'passive resistance,' in connection with it, so much
so that even in English writing we often avoided it
and used instead the word 'satyagraha' itself or some
other equivalent English phase."
He also stressed patience and said "vindication of
truth (comes) not by infliction of suffering on the
opponent, but on oneself."
Numerous Palestinians also hunger struck in protest.
Some didn't survive. They include Abdel Qader Abu
Elfahm (1970), Rasem Abu Elhalawak (1980), Rasem Ali
Jaafari (1980), Mamoud Fritkh (1984), and Hussein Nemr
Obaidat (1992).
Palestinian hunger strikes began in 1968 in Nablus
Prison. Protesting against abusive and humiliating
treatment, it lasted three days. Numerous others
followed. Some include:
At the time, other incarcerated Palestinians
participated supportively. Israeli authorities tried
forcing liquids into strikers. Two deaths resulted -
Ali Al-Ja'fari and Rasim Halawah.
At the time, the Palestinian prisoners ministry
spokesman said:
"Palestinian prisoners in all Israeli jails were the
target of an unprecedented terrorizing campaign of
repression, isolation, and transfer from one prison to
another over the past few weeks."
"The campaign peaked with the beating of the oldest
serving prisoner Nael al-Barghouthi, which prisoners
condemned as a violation of all red lines, along with
the isolation of many prisoners serving high
sentences."
Many dozens, perhaps hundreds, of individual hunger
strikes also occurred. They always protest abusive,
negligent, humiliating treatment, including torture,
isolation, and denial of medical treatment.
Israeli authorities want them suffering out of sight,
mind, and public consciousness. In 2004, former
Israeli internal security minister, Tzahi Hanegbi,
said:
"They can strike for a day, a month, until death. We
will (act) as if it never happened. (F)or all I care,
they can (all) starve to death."
Throughout its history, that mindset's been Israeli
policy. Heroic freedom fighters resist. Many
imprisoned hunger strike.
For now, Khader Adnan's courage aroused worldwide attention. Sustaining it for justice is vital until Palestine's again free.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also 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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