Today, the 14th of May 2012, will be the 27th day of consequtive open ended hunger strike taken by more than 2000 political prisoners detained by terrorist state of Israel. Some of them has been on hunger strike for more than 76 days. They were all detained under the outdated draconian law called 'Administrative Detention Law'. The law states that a person under Administrative Detention could be hold without charge for 6 months and this detention period could be renewed many times over indefinitely. A number or prisoners has been detained for few years using the law.
It has been widely accepted that a hunger striker generally could not survive beyond 60 days of hunger. The body of a will start to break down stored fat at around day five and proceed to break down muscle and vital organs after 3 weeks. Simply said the body would consume itself. The courage and perseverance shown by the prisoners has surpassed even those of Mahatma Ghandi who hunger strike for 21 days as a protest to the British.
Israa Institution wants to express its full support for Palestinian Prisoners Mass Hunger Strike and we strongly urge the Israeli government to fulfil the hunger strikers’ key demands which include:
· Ending the policy of solitary confinement and isolation
· End to the use of administrative detentions
· The restoration of visitation rights to families of prisoners from the Gaza Strip, a right that has been denied to all families for more than 6 years
· Cancelling ‘Shalit’ Law which aims to punish Palestinian prisoners after Shalit’s capture by depriving them of family visits, education and holding them in solitary confinement
· Ending systematic humiliation, including arbitrary strip searches, night raids and collective punishment
We echo the statement by Hamas Leader Khalil al Hayya which said that there will be inevitable consequences to Israel if any of the Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike dies in jail. The detainees has legitimate demands in accordance to human rights declaration for treatment of prisoners.
Israa Institution also which to express disappointment in the lack of coverage on this issue by mainstream media. The mainstream media should give the same moral weight as it does to cover other issues.
Israa Institution also urge supporters to keep spreading the news by using social networking such as Facebook and Twitter. It has been known that Israel succumbed to detainee Khader Adnan’s demands after the news of his 66 days hunger strike gained the world attentions. The twitter hashtag #Khaderexists receive top rating around the world. To show support for the current mass hunger strike please tweet and retweet using hashtag #palhunger.
May Allah grant justice to the oppressed.
Prepared by
Azam Che Idris
Public Relations Officer
Israa Institution