Nakba Day protest near Ofer Military Prison, May 15 2012 (photo: Activestills.org)

Fed with lies? Almost eight weeks have passed since some 1,550 Palestinian prisoners ended their collective hunger strike in exchange for a series of steps to better their conditions, promised by Israel. Yet a new report recently published by Physicians for Human Rights, Al-Haq, Adalah, Addameer and other NGOs shows that the state has neglected to fulfill several of the more significant promises it made.

The prisoners’ hunger strike, which started on Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, was aimed at challenging steps taken by Israel in 2011 against the prisoners in order to promote the release of Gilad Schalit. While Schalit was released in a prisoner swap, conditions in Israeli prisons remained the same, leading to the prisoners’ struggle. The strike was also about demonstrating solidarity with several administrative detainees who have been on strike for longer periods, demanding to put an end to Israel’s use of draconic detentions without trial or charge. The deal reached on May 15 between the state and the leaders of the strike was supposed to begin a process whereby inmates regained their rights – but only few steps were actually taken by Israel in that direction since.

An end to solitary confinement, no change in conditions

According to the NGOs’ report, the Israel Prison Service held up its end of the deal by releasing 18 political leaders from solitary confinement, where some had been held for years simply for being recognized as leaders, and allowing them back into the common cells. Only Dirar Abu-Sisi, kidnapped by Israel in Ukraine, remains isolated, as are several inmates who have been sentenced to solitary confinement due to their behavior in prison, who were not included in the deal.

However, other parts of the deal were not fulfilled to the same extent. One of the most important of these was the demand to reinstate family visitations from the Gaza Strip, which was sealed off in 2007. According to the report, visitations were supposed to resume within a month, but inmates have still not seen any of their loved ones. A similar problem affects several prisoners from the West Bank whose families are barred from entering Israel– another problem not yet solved by authorities. IPS spokesperson has said in response that the coordination of family visitations is a complex process, involving the army, Shin Bet, police and the ICRC, and that a joint committee is due to finish its work on the matter shortly. A source in the IPS also told +972 that the committee’s work was delayed due to the recent escalation on the Israel-Gaza border.

Demonstration in support of prisoners, Nablus (Ahmad Al-Bazz / Activestills)

Other reasons for the strike included the prevention of higher education within prisons for Palestinian inmates only, periodic violent searches, and a lack of sufficient health care. The IPS denies that resuming access to the Open University courses was part of the deal, and states that the policy is not about to change. A petition by inmates on the matter is pending in the High Court of Justice.

Still held without trial or charge

A significant part of the report deals with the issue of administrative detainees. The NGOs strongly condemn the continued detention of Hassan Safadi, who was on strike for 71 days, promised a release on June 29, and is now once again refusing food due to a new detention warrant issued against him. Safadi has been in prison since June 30 2011, and had his detention prolonged twice with the broad accusation of his being “a threat to regional security” – a decision approved by the High Court. He is now on the 14^th day of a renewed hunger strike.

Meanwhile, administrative detainee Thaer Halahleh has been released as promised, after 77 days of hunger strike, and four other veteran hunger strikers are expected to be released within two months, including Palestinian National Football Team midfielder Mahmoud Sarsak, who was on strike for more than 90 days. The four are hoping that Israel keeps its word and doesn’t prolong their detention orders further, at least not without any charges or a proper trial.

The NGOs also warn that Israel does not seem to have reconsidered its policy of extensive administrative detentions – also not in accordance with promises made within the deal. The NGOs recommend EU intervention to end the draconic policy.

Demonstration in Nablus in solidarity with hunger strikers, yesterday (Ahmad Al-Bazz / Activestills)

PHR also mentions that three Palestinians are still on hunger strike in prison to this day. Akram Rikhawi is now on his 86^th day of hunger strike, and doctors fear for his life. Rikhawi was arrested in 2004, sentenced to nine years (for charges not mentioned by PHR, or found online), and is now protesting against an IPS committee’s decision not to cut a year off his sentence, due to his chronic asthma, diabetes and osteoperosis.

Two other inmates on strike are Safadi and Sammer Al-Burq, an administrative detainee now on his 46^th day of hunger strike. The IPS says the three are being taken care of in the medical ward, and on occasion transferred for treatment in civilian hospitals. PHR calls upon the IPS to transfer the three to a civilian hospital until they end their strike.

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Palestinian Prisoners’ Day: Hundreds join hunger strike

UPDATE: Prisoners agree to end hunger strike

Deal reached to free hunger striking athlete Mahmoud Sarsak

By Mosab Qashoo

Anyone following the Palestinian struggle will have heard about Mahmoud Sarsak, the imprisoned Palestinian footballer who this week ended a hunger strike of over three months. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) have been publicizing their upcoming meeting with the head of the Israeli Kadima party, Shaul Mofaz, leaving a striking absence of any official comment on Sarsak’s situation.

It seems very bizarre that the PA and PLO ignored one of their national heroes, a rising star in the society’s most popular sport, who was on the brink of death. He was the easiest person to defend. He has never been involved in politics, is not a member of a political party, and had all the necessary Israel-issued permits. He was one of the youngest people to make the Palestinian national soccer team. Above all, he has not been charged or convicted by Israel of any wrongdoing, although Israel held him for three years.

Even considering the PA and the PLO more cynically, any politician could have seen a man in such a situation as a gift from the political gods. Imagine the affirmation they would have received if they negotiated his release. Imagine the photo-ops of officials visiting the soccer team Sarsak was supposed to join when he was seized by Israel. They could have even organized children’s soccer games in his honor. Yet these authorities didn’t not take advantage of this opportunity, neither for selfless nor for self-serving gains.

According to his mother, Sarsak remains in Marash clinic in the Ramle prison, refused access to a proper civilian hospital. He has been refused family visits, which was a condition that Israel had agreed to in previous deals with other hunger strikers. Instead, he was allowed a three-minute phone call with his mother. His eventual release was negotiated so late that Sarsak easily could have died before agreeing to anything.

Most importantly, if Israel decides that he incited other prisoners to go on hunger strike or does any political organizing after his release, he will be arrested again. Agreeing to these terms indicates that the lawyers who negotiated his release, who are paid by the Palestinian Authority, seem to be more interested ending the hunger strikes rather than ameliorating the prisoners’ conditions. Instead of fighting for the rights of their clients, these lawyers appeared to pressure them into accepting whatever deal Israel presents.

Palestinian politicians continue to ignore the three remaining hunger strikers, Akram Rikhawi, Samer al-Barq and Hassan Safadi. Safadi quit his initial hunger strike after over seventy days. He resumed the strike after his administrative detention had been renewed, contrary to the deal he reached with Israel. If the PA really wanted to prevent their deaths, it would be campaigning for them now, not when they’re gasping for their last breath.

While all this might seem odd, it is actually quite a cunning move on the part of those bodies. The Palestinian Authority maintains its power by channeling Palestinian energy into creating a picture of normalcy. It provides the Palestinians in the West Bank with the symbolic functions that a real sovereign state would have, while behind the scenes, everything is controlled by Israel.

For example, the Palestinian passport, seen as one of the most important symbols of national identity, is still inscribed with the Israeli-issued military ID number assigned to that person. These celebrated symbols of statehood do have Palestinian colors and symbols on them but they are still functionally Israeli documents. In another example, the PA has created an official ministry for prisoners, which renders the occupation permanent while simultaneously normalizing the mass imprisonment of Palestinians by Israel.

While Palestinian officials pretend to make real changes, such changes are impossible to implement while Israel still occupies the territories and prevents the refugees from returning. The empty symbolic gestures of the PA and the PLO obscure the occupation from view as much as possible, especially within their “Ramallah bubble.”

The brave activism demonstrated by the various waves of hunger strikers is a direct threat to their scheme. They want Palestinians to forget the occupation and its brutality. The hunger strikers bring this to the front and center. They represent a decentralized and informal “people power” that cannot be easily contained and controlled, at levels unseen since the First Intifada.

The Palestinian Authority fears an intifada perhaps more than Israel, as another uprising would erase its final remaining excuse to stay in existence, as the symbol of a normalized Palestinian state with formal negotiators, armies and ambassadors.

In an intifada, the people speak and act directly for themselves. For Sarsak, each person could be his/her own prisoner minister. Most importantly, an intifada would present a direct confrontation with the occupation the PA is so desperately trying to imagine away. Thus the PA and the PLO have been silent for fear of awakening the people from their collective daydream of non-occupied life. The narrative of Mahmoud Sarsak, heroic national football star taking on the occupation armed only with an empty stomach, had the ability to bring the intifada back, and the PA knows it.

Mosab Qashoo grew up in an agricultural village outside of the West Bank town of Qalqilia, between the first and second intifadas. He studied Information Technology, Industrial Engineering & Conflict Management in the West Bank and London. He is currently based in New York City, where he is a food activist and founder of Palestine Farm Project, which provides support to farmers in order to create a sustainable agricultural economy in the West Bank.

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Deal reached to free hunger striking footballer Mahmoud Sarsak
Hunger striking Palestinian footballer at risk of death
Eric Cantona, FIFA head demand release of Palestinian footballer

Mohammad Jabarin, lawyer of hunger striking Palestinian national football team’s midfielder Mahmoud Sarsak, has told Ma’an news agency that Sarsak will be released from prison on July 10, after three years without charge or trial, during which he was considered an “unlawful combatant.” The deal was struck after 92 days of Sarsak’s hunger strike. Sarsak’s life was considered at serious risk, and Israel was facing growing international pressure – most recently expressed by Eric Cantona, FIFA President Sepp Blatter, and an Israeli conscientious objector who started a solidarity hunger strike in military prison. Sarsak will gradually start to eat in the coming days while still in the hospital ward in prison. It is yet unclear whether permanent damage has been caused to his muscles.

Demonstration in Ramallah in support of Sarsak, today (Ahmad Al-Bazz / Activestills)

This is the fourth concession of its kind that Israel has made in recent months, the first three with administrative detainees Khader Adnan, Hana Shalabi, Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh. The deal with Adnan was struck after the 66th day of his hunger strike, and with Diab and Halahleh after they both passed the 80-day mark. Several other administrative detainees are still on strike.

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Hunger striking Palestinian footballer at risk of death
Eric Cantona, FIFA head demand release of Palestinian footballer

A poster calling for the release of Mahmoud Sarsak

[UPDATE: BREAKING: Israel to free hunger striking footballer Mahmoud Sarsak]

The world renowned footballer Eric Cantona is calling upon the UEFA to cancel plans for Israel host the 2013 European Under-21 Football Championship due to its violation of human rights, and especially due to the ongoing imprisonment of the Palestinian national team’s midfielder, Mahmoud Sarsak, who is today on his 91^st day of hunger strike is at risk of death. “It is time to end the injustice, and insist upon standards of equality, justice and respect of international law – like we demand from any other country,” said Cantona, who is known for his socialist political views.

Cantona thus joins PLO’s Jibril Rajoub, who in turn joined Sarsak’s family in a call on UEFA to boycott Israel. FIFA President Sepp Blatter too has in recent days shown great concern for Sarsak’s deteriorating medical condition, and called upon the Israeli Football Association to use its influence on authorities and promote Sarsak’s release.

More pressure is now being exerted on Israel to put an end to the practice of holding administrative detainees for years without trial or charges as Israeli conscientious objector Yaniv Mazor - sentenced to 20 days in prison for refusing to do his reserve service - started a hunger strike of his own while in military prison, in solidarity with Palestinian detainees. Mazor’s attorney Michael Sfard told Haaretz journalist Amira Hass that Mazor’s goal is to raise awareness on the issue of administrative detention – and not to secure his own release. The Haaretz report also quotes Mazor’s interview with +972 in the moments before he entered prison.

Meanwhile, more and more demonstrations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are demanding Sarsak’s release.

Demonstration for the release of Sarsak, Nablus (Ahmad Al-Bazz / Activestills)

Mahmoud Sarsak, Palestinian national team’s midfielder, was arrested by Israeli forces on July 22, 2009, at the Erez checkpoint while en route from his home in the Gaza Strip to the West Bank– a journey for which he had a standing permit. Sarsak was branded an “unlawful combatant” – a legal status similar to that of administrative detainees, which allows Israeli security authorities to hold a person in detention without charge or trial for an unlimited amount of time, with military court supervision over the extension of the detention every six months. He has been held in prison since, and prohibited from seeing any of his family members in three years, as all visitations from the Gaza Strip are forbidden by Israel.

Today is Sarsak’s 91^st day of hunger strike in protest against his detention. As there is extreme fear for his life, Sarsak has agreed to receive an occasional IV and drink milk. Yesterday, a district court rejected a petition by Physicians for Human Rights to transfer Sarsak from the prison infirmary to a civilian hospital.

Read also:
Hunger striking Palestinian footballer at risk of death
Refusenik sentenced to 20 days in prison on his birthday

Palestinians in Nablus play football handcuffed in solidarity with Sarsak (Activestills)

Sarsak (25) is a resident of the Rafah refugee camp and a prominent player in the Palestinian national football team. On July 22, 2009 Sarsak arrived at the Erez checkpoint between Gaza and Israel with a valid permit to enter the West Bank, where he was seeking to advance his sporting career, after already having received offers from a German football team.

However, the permit didn’t help Sarsak, who was arrested on site and branded an “unlawful combatant” – a legal status similar to that of administrative detainees, which allows Israeli security authorities to hold a person in detention without charge or trial for an unlimited amount of time, with military court supervision over the extension of the detention every six months. The detainee has no way to know why he is held in prison – beyond a vague statement regarding his status as “a threat to regional security” – or if there is any evidence against him. Sarsak has also not been able to see any of his family in three years, as all visitations from the Gaza Strip are forbidden by Israel.

Poster for the release of Mahmoud Sarsak

In the beginning of 2012, several administrative detainees launched an unlimited hunger strike, following the successful strikes of Khader Adnan and Hana Shalbi, which led to their release. On Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, last April, the strike spread to more than 1,600 convicted prisoners, who wished to protest prison conditions. While most inmates stopped their strikes as a deal was struck last month – Sarsak and two others decided to continue with their protest.

Sarsak has now been on strike for 82 days, the longest Palestinian hunger strike in an Israeli prison. A Physicians for Human Rights report from earlier this week indicates that Sarsak’s condition is deteriorating and that there is a real threat to his life. Following the report, Sarak was taken to a civilian hospital, but then returned to the IPS medical ward. According to the physician who examined him, Sarsak has lost one-third of his body weight, he is suffering from repeated loss of consciousness, and his heart muscle is in immediate danger of collapse.

In reports in Palestinian media and in a clip released recently, Sarsak’s family members say that he was never involved in armed resistance against Israel, and that had he had any reason to fear arrest – he would never have voluntarily left the Gaza Strip for the Israeli-controlled Erez Checkpoint and West Bank. Other than the fear for his life, health and freedom – the family also fears for their son’s football career, and calls upon the International Olympics’ Committee to bar Israel from participating in the London games as long as it holds Sarsak in prison.

Sarsak’s current detention warrant is due to expire on August 22, but can be extended further indefinitely. With him on strike are prisoner Akram Rikhawi (58 days) and administrative detainee Samer Al-Barq (18 days). Israel currently holds some 4,500 Palestinian prisoners, and about 300 administrative detainees.