The Palestinian Captive Movement announces the beginning of an open hunger strike starting Thursday, the 14th of September.
A woman carries a poster bearing the image of a Palestinian prisoner in an Israeli prison during a demonstration marking Palestinian Prisoners’ Day in Ramallah on April 17, 2022. (AFP)
The head of the Office of Martyrs, Prisoners and Wounded in Hamas, Zaher Jabarin, stated that Palestinian prisoners will not yield to the decisions of Israeli occupation Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, stressing that the Palestinian people will stand behind Palestinian prisoners during their hunger strike.
In a press release, the Hamas official affirmed that the open war against the prisoners through criminal Zionist government decisions will not break their determination or affect their morale. He also noted that the occupation will have to face prisoners who “do not accept injustice” in Israeli prisons and will resist by all means possible.
Jabarin further expressed confidence in the prisoners’ ability to achieve victory against the enemy and force it to yield to their legitimate rights and have it restore their seized ones.
In a separate statement, Yaser Mazhar, the Director of the Communications Department of the Muhjat Al-Quds Foundation, confirmed that Palestinian prisoners are facing a significant battle starting on the 14th of this month in opposition to the decisions made by Itamar Ben-Gvir‘s extremist government.
Mazhar emphasized the importance of safeguarding the achievements of Palestinian prisoners and called for the cessation of all decisions and policies that aim to restrict the prisoners’ basic rights. He also underscored the demand for the restoration of their seized ones.
On its account, the Supreme Emergency Committee for Palestinian Prisoners said the prisoners announced that they would initiate an open hunger strike on the 14th of September in response to the recent policies of the Israeli prison administration. The Committee also called for solidarity and support for the Palestinian prisoners in their struggle for freedom and justice.
This is happening as four Palestinian prisoners are on hunger strike in protest of their detention at the hands of the Israeli occupation, most notably the administrative detention of three of them.
The Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike are Kayed al-Fasfous, 34, Sultan Khalouf, 42, Abdulrahman Iyad Baraqah, 24, and Maher al-Akhras, 52.
Beirut – Bahrain’s political prisoners are jointly leading a protest against arbitrary restrictions in Jaw Prison. The hunger strike launched on August 7 is perhaps the loudest expression of discontent against the conditions they’ve endured and with which they refuse to live.
The prisoners’ demands are simple. However, the prison administration’s response suggests that the outcome of the affair may not be favorable to the detainees.
It’s always been the same domination and arrogance. There’s also been a shy recognition of the protest by this disadvantaged group. But that recognition falls short of an interaction worthy of the prisoners’ suffering.
The issue of political prisoners in Bahrain is linked to a 12-year-long crisis dating back to when the regime decided to neglect and restrict dissenting voices. About 1,300 detainees are languishing in Jaw Prison over purely political charges.
Some are sentenced to death, while others are wasting their youth behind bars. Opposition figures and leaders are in the same situation – imprisoned based on unjust politically-motivated sentences.
The authorities’ disregard for the suffering of the prisoners
How the authorities from the top of the pyramid to the bottom are dealing with the current hunger strike clearly underscores the extent of disregard for this humanitarian issue. It is evident that the entire file is not on the priority list for the authorities.
Initially, the developments in Jaw Prison were ignored by the state-run media, until the news spread throughout the foreign press. Bahrain’s tightly controlled media was eventually forced to acknowledge that a hunger strike was being staged.
The prisoners’ protest expanded from 400 hunger strikers to more than 800. A total of 79 local figures wrote to Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad and complained to him in the hope of seeing justice. He met with the Minister of Interior, Rashid bin Abdullah, the custodian of prisons, who in turn met with the head of the National Institution for Human Rights, the Prisoners’ Rights Commission, and the Ombudsman.
So, what happened?
The Minister of Interior issued a statement that appears to respond to the demands of prisoners. It touches on health services provided to inmates by government hospitals, while mulling an increase in the duration of visitations, considering amending the conditions for the visitor list, in addition to raising the time inmates are allowed outdoors and facilitating coordination with the Council of Higher Education to enroll 180 inmates into postgraduate programs.
The prison administration also told AFP that care and counseling were provided to the prisoners.
Lying is the metal of the interior ministry
The situation on the ground refutes the aforementioned claims. Bahraini sources keeping up with the prisoners’ strike confirmed to al-Ahed News that everything that came out from the regime’s meetings does not correspond to the reality in the cells. Nothing has changed yet. There is no change in any procedure of the administration in Jaw Prison that could be understood as responding to the prisoners’ demands.
According to the sources, matters will not go beyond the limits set by the meeting between the Crown Prince and the Minister of Interior and their glorification of the role of the security services.
Therefore, the Ministry of Interior will continue lying and will not fulfill the demands of the prisoners, but will merely raise the time inmates are allowed outdoors from one to two hours. It may employ a frequently used method of filming tours of officers inside one of the buildings in Jaw Prison that appears clean and devoid of any bad features to corroborate its claims.
Revelations about prisoners having their hands cuffed behind their backs while being transported to the clinic are further proof that the Ministry of Interior is lying.
As such, one can understand Tuesday’s statement by the hunger-striking detainees, in which they said that they will continue their protest and that claims by the Ministry of Interior do not meet their very simple demands.
Our sources do not rule out strict measures against the prisoners even if they decide to end the hunger strike. Guards will use trivial pretexts and claim false violations by inmates to restore the situation to what it was before the protest.
A comprehensive political solution can resolve the ongoing crisis
A leading figure and media officer at Bahrain’s opposition Al-Wefaq Society, Sayyed Taher Al-Moussawi, approaches the file that relates to the lives of hundreds of people, from a humanitarian angle.
In an interview with Al-Ahed News, Al-Moussawi describes the government’s handling of the prisoners’ hunger strike as “irresponsible and unprofessional.”
“The way the government is dealing with the strike is an extension and reflection of all the political, human rights, and security crises that have not subsided for the past 12 years. It is an expression of indifference to the issues, concerns, and demands of the Bahraini people and all their basic requirements,” he added.
Al-Moussawi believes that “the prisoners’ file is linked to the political crisis. Faith in the demands of the pro-democracy uprising has only strengthened over the years amid a decline in freedoms as well as living and economic conditions.
“Providing humanitarian conditions inside the prison and basic needs such as medicine, exposure to sunlight, the right to perform religious rituals and education are not issues that require dialogue. Prisoners negotiate to remain alive and healthy, and this reflects the depth of the problem.”
“Following the course of the meetings between the prison administration and the political prisoners, the degree of seriousness and professionalism on the part of the political prisoners in negotiating is clear, and so is their patience, vigor, and the high spirit they enjoy as they fight this noble battle.”
Based on his experience and understanding of the mentality of government officials, Al-Moussawi explains that “international opinion takes precedence over concerns about the local situation, and the government’s seriousness in negotiating with prisoners can only be evaluated after the latter’s demands are met accurately and continuously.”
Al-Moussawi says the situation for the prisoners remains stagnant. An official position characterized by national and humane responsibility towards the prisoners is yet to be offered. Meanwhile, there are fears about the regime toying with time given the stressful and difficult conditions the hunger strikers face more than three weeks into their protest.
From Al-Moussawi’s point of view, the appeal by the 79 Bahraini local figures broke the barrier of fear, since the signatories are professional and academic elites and belong to political, human rights, and legal currents inside the Kingdom. However, the government has not responded positively to this appeal so far.
“The prisoners’ demands are clear, precise, and related to detailed needs that are not secondary. Rather, they constitute an urgent and necessary human need that is not a subject of division and fragmentation and doesn’t require half-solutions. The concerned government institutions seem to agree on one unified narrative, and this is evidence that they are institutions integrated in escaping from the basic challenges of prisoners.”
“The positions announced by the National Institution for Human Rights, the Prisoners’ Commission, and the Ombudsman’s Office are in line with the statements and positions of the Department of Correction and Rehabilitation and the Ministry of Interior since all these institutions follow the same reference and have the same goals and objectives, with different methods and roles concerning human rights and freedoms and the prisoners in Bahrain.”
“Bahrain’s prisons lack the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners that were adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015, which are known as the Nelson Mandela Rules. Responding to the precise demands of prisoners requires a clear program, a regular plan, and an agreement with the prisoners.”
“When the prisoners announced the hunger strike, the date they set for stopping would be the one when the demands are met. […] What is happening to the detainees represents one scene of the crisis that the people of Bahrain are suffering from. The 2011 crisis left behind great suffering in prisons, with more than 21,000 detainees arrested and released.”
“The movement inside prison remains active. More than 340 female detainees have entered prison in recent times, while the crisis involving young convicts continues to escalate, with more than 110 children and youngsters jailed.”
Al-Moussawi concludes by saying, “All the crises resulting from the 2011 uprising, including the prison crisis, will only end through a comprehensive political solution in reaching a political constitutional consensus through a democratic political process that responds to the Bahrainis’ demands for political participation, social justice, and building a state that embraces all.”
The Zionist circles expected that the Palestinian prisoners may resort to the hunger-strike policy in order to follow the victorious path of the released prisoner Hisham Abu Hawash.
The Zionist media reflected the enemy’s frustration about the success of Abu Hawash and the Palestinian resistance in imposing the release decision on the occupation court.
The Zionist occupation court decided on Tuesday the release of Abu Hawash, who concluded a 141-day hunger strike. It is worth noting that the Israeli court had suspended his administrative detention on December 26, 2021, without releasing him, which was rejected by Abu Hawash.
The Israeli circles considered that Abu Hawash has become a symbol of steadfastness for the Palestinians, adding that the Palestinian resistance, which threatened to fire missiles at the occupied territories if he dies, managed to impose its conditions on Tel Aviv.
The Zionist media considered that the ongoing tensions pertaining the prisoners may enhance a prisoner swap deal between ‘Israel’ and the Palestinian resistance.
Al Mayadeen correspondent reports that hunger-striking Palestinian prisoner Hisham Abu Hawash has seized his freedom from the Israeli occupation.
Palestinian prisoner Hisham Abu Hawash is finally free
Hunger-striking Palestinian prisoner Hisham Abu Hawash is expected to end his hunger strike in the coming hours, Al Mayadeen correspondent reported.
“Abu Hawash’s decision to end his hunger strike comes after reaching an agreement that stipulates that he would be freed on February 26,” our correspondent added.
Al-Khalil, West Bank, is seeing several celebrations over Abu Hawash’s victory in the battle of empty stomachs.
Abu Hawash’s freedom marks another milestone in the battle of empty stomachs, which saw six Palestinian prisoners gaining their freedom from the Israeli occupation after the latter administratively detained them.
This comes after the Palestinian resistance factions warned the Israeli occupation of repercussions if anything happens to Abu Hawash.
“Any harm done to the life of prisoner Hisham Abu Hawash would constitute an offensive action and aggression against our people, and the resistance will remain the shield and sword defending our prisoners,” the factions said Tuesday.
Senior leaders from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad held talks to discuss the latest developments on the case of hunger-striking prisoner Hisham Abu Hawash on Monday.
The Palestinian Prisoners Media Office announced on Tuesday that Palestinian prisoner Hisham Abu Hawash would continue his hunger strike for the 141st consecutive day, despite his dangerously critical health condition.
On Monday, the European Union expressed its concern regarding Abu Hawash’s critical health condition, calling on “Israel” to end the policy of administrative detention.
Hisham’s brother, Imad, had said he stopped taking saline, which poses a serious threat to his intestines and could cause them to rot.
His family voiced grave concern over his life, saying the battle for his freedom became one of breaking his will to stop individual hunger-strikes, “Even if it is at the expense of Hisham’s life.”
Imad Hawash said his brother’s lawyer, Jawad Boulos, conveyed a very worrying image about Hisham, saying he was not moving, could barely hear those talking to him, and was barely able to say a few words.
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