Palestinian administrative detainees said to start hunger strike

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man April 25, 2014 | Edit

Strikers claim Israel reneged on a 2012 agreement to limit the use of administrative detention, a legal tool under which they are all being held, Palestinian rights group says.

Illustrative photo of Palestinian prisoners in an Israeli military prison (By ChameleonsEye / Shutterstock.com)

Over 100 Palestinian administrative detainees have started a hunger strike in Israeli prisons, Palestinian prisoner support and human rights group Addameer reported on Thursday.

The strike comes in the context of an agreement that Israel made to end a previous mass hunger strike in 2012, in which it agreed to limit its use of administrative detention, according to Addameer. The prisoners say that Israel has reneged on that agreement.

At the time, I reported that then public security minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch essentially admitted administrative detention was being used far beyond even Israel’s own stated security needs.

The hunger striking prisoners, who have since been isolated from the general prison populations, are being held in three prisons in Israel and the occupied West Bank, the rights group reported. A number of the detainees are set to be moved to other prisons, according to IMEMC.

According to Addameer, there were 183 Palestinians being held under administrative detention as of March 1, 2014, including nine elected members of the Palestinian parliament.

Administrative detention is a practice used by Israel to detain Palestinians without ever charging them with a crime, and sometimes as a preventative measure, all without ever informing them or their lawyers of what they are accused.

A number of high-profile Palestinian hunger strikers have won their freedom in recent years as a result of hunger strikes. Among the more well known of the past hunger strikers have been Khader Adnan and Samer Issawi.

V1 Journalism against apartheid

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.

Make a Donation

End of article module for Members

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.

Make a Donation

End of article module for Registered users

Make a Donation