Israel releases former Palestinian hunger striker Samer Issawi

By Activestills December 23, 2013 | Edit

Thousands gather in East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya to welcome the now-iconic hunger striker home.

Text by Michael Omer-Man
Photos by Oren Ziv and Tali Mayer / Activestills.org

Israel releases former Palestinian hunger striker Samer Issawi

Former Palestinian hunger striker Samer Issawi arrives home in his East Jerusalem village of Issawiya, December 23, 2013. Issawi secured his freedom after staging an intermittent hunger strike for nearly nine months. (Photo: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Former hunger striking Palestinian prisoner Samer Issawi was released to his home in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya Monday night, exactly eight months after he agreed to resume eating as part of a deal with Israeli authorities.

Issawi staged an intermittent hunger strike for nearly nine months until April 23, 2013.

Over 2,000 people awaited his release on the main road leading into Issawiya. Revelers carried him on their shoulders to the Issawi family home, where a tent was erected in the morning. Earlier in the day the family hosted guests who came to celebrate.

Israeli security forces visited the Issawi family twice in the past few days, warning them not to hold any celebrations.

Issawi was released as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange in October, 2011, having served 10 years of a 30-year sentence. He began his hunger strike nine months later, shortly after the IDF re-arrested him.

Issawi began his hunger strike to protest the legal mechanism that put him in prison without access to due process. He was re-sentenced by a military tribunal using secret evidence that neither he nor his lawyers were allowed to see, and therefore was unable to mount any defense in court.

Ultimately, he was convicted by a Jerusalem court for violating the terms of his release and a deal was reached that he would be released eight months later.

Last week, Israel released Mahmud Issa Abed al-Hamid Masalma after holding him in administrative detention for over 30 months.

On Sunday, two Palestinian brothers agreed to end a 38-day hunger strike in protest of their administrative detention, Ma’an reported. The pair reportedly reached a deal with Israeli authorities in which they will reportedly be brought to trial.

As of October, Israel was holding 140 Palestinians without charge in administrative detention, according to B’Tselem.

Former hunger-striking prisoner Samer Issawi arrives home in Issawiya, East Jerusalem, December 23, 2013. Some 2,000 people came out to welcome Issawi upon his release from Israeli prison. (Photo: Activestills.org)

Members of Samer Issawi’s family hear news that he has been released from prison and is on his way home, where some 2,000 people were gathered to receive him., Issawiya, East Jerusalem, December 23, 2013. (Photo: Activestills.org)

Members of Samer Issawi’s family rejoice after hearing news that he has been released from prison and is on his way home, where some 2,000 people were gathered to receive him., Issawiya, East Jerusalem, December 23, 2013. (Photo: Activestills.org)

Palestinians in Nablus celebrate the anticipated release of Samer Issawi, December 23, 2013. (Photo: Activestills.org)

Correction:
This article has been amended to reflect over 2,000 people welcomed Issawi, not 200. We regret the typo.

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TEST TEST GAL Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence. We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies. This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza. We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives. Can we count on your support? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.

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