+972 Magazine » palestinian prisoners

Samer Issawi accepts deal to end his hunger strike

Michael Omer-Man — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 22:50:25 +0000

After staging an intermittent hunger strike for some nine months, hunger striking Palestinian prisoner Samer Issawi agreed to start eating again, pending the signing of a deal later in the day. The deal would see him released to his home in Jerusalem in eight months.

Palestinian hunger striker Samer Issawi is taken to his court hearing in the Magistrate Court in Jerusalem, February 19, 2013. (Photo by: Oren Ziv/ Activestills.org)

Update (April 23, 4:10 p.m.): Issawi has signed the deal and ended his hunger strike, Maan reports. He is expected to be released in late December of this year.

Palestinian hunger striking prisoner Samer Issawi has agreed to end his hunger strike, and will be released to his home Jerusalem in eight months’ time, Reuters reported late Monday night.

The details of the deal were not immediately clear, but Issawi has insisted all along that he would not agree to be exiled, like other released prisoners have. Read more background: here, here and here.

Demonstration in support of Samer Issawi in East Jerusalem last month (Oren Ziv / Activestills)

Updated:

Samer 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 in the summer of 2012.

In February, the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court sentenced him to eight months in prison for violating the terms of his release, with credit for time served. According to that conviction and sentencing, he was to be released on March 6. However, he still faced the re-sentencing hearings in military court.

Activists in Jaffa have been holding daily protests in solidarity with Samer Issawi, a Palestinian on hunger strike held in an Israeli medical detention center, February 4, 2013. (Photo by: Shiraz Grinbaum/Activestills.org)

Issawi announced this week that he would boycott the military court proceedings against him and that he refused to recognize the legitimacy of the courts.

Issawi’s lawyer, Jawad Boulous, told Haaretz that the agreement will see him serve a total of 18 months (from his arrest in July).

The full details of the deal were expected to be announced later Tuesday, Maan reported.

From prisoner protests to the Boston bombings: A week in photos – April 11-17

Activestills — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 12:06:19 +0000

Activists tear down pieces of barbed wire from the separation wall surrounding the village of Rafat near Ofer military prison in commemoration of the death of Bassem Abu Rahmah (“Phil”) and Palestinian Prisoners Day, April 17, 2013, Rafat, West Bank. Bassem Abu Rahmah was hit with a tear gas canister shot directly at him at close range by Israeli army forces during a demonstration against the separation barrier in Bil’in, on April 17, 2009. (Photo by: Activestills.org)

A Palestinian girl who handcuffed herself holds the picture of her jailed uncle during a protest in support of the Palestinian prisoners in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, April 11, 2013. (Photo by: Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

Palestinian women holding framed photos and posters of imprisoned relatives during a rally commemorating ‘Palestinian Prisoners Day,’ April 17, 2013, Ramallah, West Bank. April 17 marks the annual ‘Palestinian Prisoners Day.’ It was established to remind the public of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, where they are routinely exposed to torture and other inhumane treatment. (Photo by: Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

On Palestinian Prisoners Day, Palestinians celebrate the recent release of several prisoners held in Israeli jails, Bethlehem, West Bank, April 17, 2013. (Photo by: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)

Israeli activists hold a symbolic hunger strike in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners in front of Kirya military base on April 18, 2013. The activists intent to hold the strike for a week. (Photo by: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

Activists put up a street photo exhibition in solidarity with ‘Palestinian Prisoners Day’, West Jerusalem, April 17, 2013. The exhibition was put up in various locations in West Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. (Photo by: Activestills.org)

People holding candles at a vigil for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings at Boston Common, Tuesday, April 16, 2013. Twin explosions near the marathon’s finish line killed three people and wounded more than 170 on April 15, 2013. (Photo: Tess Scheflan/Activestills.org)

People console each other during a vigil for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombings at Boston Common, Tuesday, April 16, 2013. (Photo: Tess Scheflan/Activestills.org)

Around 10,000 people take part in the 16th annual March of Return in the displaced and demolished village of Khubayza, northern Israel. Although the Nakba memorial day is commemorated on the 14th of May, the March of Return occurs parallel to the day in which Israel celebrates Independence Day, April 16, 2013. The march demands the Right of Return for the Palestinian refugees who were forcefully displaced from their homes and lands during the 1948 war that followed the creation of the State of Israel. (Photo by: Shiraz Grinbaum/Activestills.org)

An Israeli activist from Zochrot (“Remembering”) organization, shows Israelis a map highlighting the Palestinian villages destroyed during the 1948 Nakba, in the midst of the Israeli Independence Day celebration, in central Tel Aviv, April 16, 2013. Zochrot launched the first project in Hebrew mapping all the Palestinian villages destroyed by Israeli forces from the beginning of the Zionist movement and until the 1967 War. (Photo by: Oren Ziv/ Activestills.org)

Palestinians throw stones towards an Israeli army jeep during clashes in protest against the expropriation of Palestinian land by nearby Israeli settlement of Ofra in the West Bank village of Silwad, east of Ramallah, on April 12, 2013. (Photo by: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

A Palestinian reads words written on an Israeli soldier’s riot shield by activists at a previous protest: “Israeli occupation forces”, and “I hate occupation,” during a weekly demonstration against the occupation and separation wall in the West Bank village of Al Ma’asara, April 12, 2013. The Israeli separation wall, if built as planned, would cut off the village from its agricultural lands. (Photo by: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)

Weekly demonstration in Kfer Qaddum, a West Bank village located east of Qalqiliya, April 12, 2013. There have been regular demonstrations in Kfer Qaddum since July, 2011, protesting the blocking of the main road east of the village which used to link it to Nablus. (Photo by: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

Activists protest the use of drones by American armed forces, April 13, 2013 in downtown Boston, MA. The protest came as part of the “April Days of Action,” a national campaign of counter-drone protests. (Photo: Tess Scheflan/Activestills.org)

Israeli police arrest a Jewish Israeli woman during a prayer at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, April 11, 2013. The prayer session was organized by the ‘Women of the Wall’ group, which calls for women’s rights to pray without restriction the Jewish holy site. In the past months, Israeli police have arrested women who attended. (Photo by: Oren Ziv/ activestills.org)

A Palestinian child shows shell casings and rubber-coated steel bullets collected during a day of clashes with the Israeli army in Aida Refugee Camp, Bethlehem, April 10, 2013. This was the fourth day in a row that Israeli soldiers entered the camp, which is in Area A, provoking clashes with Palestinian youths. (Photo by: Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

PHOTOS: Street exhibition confronts Israelis on Palestinian Prisoners’ Day

Activestills — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 07:49:20 +0000

Members of Activestills posted a public street exhibition on the streets of West Jerusalem and Tel Aviv of photos that bring attention to Palestinian Prisoners Day.

Photos by: Ahmad Al-Bazz, Shiraz Grinbaum, Keren Manor, Anne Paq, Ryan Rodrick Beiler, Yotam Ronen, and Oren Ziv

A relative hangs a photo of Haled Muheisen prior to his release from an Israeli jail on October 17, 2011, in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Issawiya.

The following text, in Hebrew, accompanied street exhibitions of the photos from this essay which were posted in public places in West Jerusalem and Tel Aviv the night before Palestinian Prisoners Day, April 17, 2013. Images of the street exhibitions, some of them later defaced, follow below:

April 17 commemorates Palestinian Prisoners’ Day. As of February 2013, there are 4,713 Palestinian men and women held in Israeli prisons. Of these, 169 are administrative detainees, held without an indictment; 235 are minors. Since the occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in 1967, more than 700,000 Palestinians have been imprisoned by Israel. To this day, dozens of Palestinians are taken away from their homes, workplaces, schools, and from different checkpoints on a weekly basis. Some are detained for days, some for weeks, and some imprisoned for unlimited periods of time.

The hunger strike is a protest tactic that started as an unorganized form of resistance to Israel’s use of administrative detention, torture, humiliation, and other forms of abuse that Palestinian prisoners experience in Israeli prisons.

In 2012 and 2013, nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners went on hunger strike, some of whom reached the military medical center after dozens of days without food. Thousands of Palestinians have joined protests outside the prisons’ walls. Protest tents, strikes, and other solidarity demonstrations with the hunger strikers in the West Bank and Israel have been brutally suppressed by Israeli forces, resulting in scores of casualties.

Samer Issawi has been on hunger strike for more than eight months, and other prisoners are joining him. They only ask for a fair trial. Their medical condition is deteriorating by the minute.

Palestinian hunger striker Samer Issawi is taken to his court hearing in the Magistrate Court in Jerusalem, February 19, 2013. Some 800 Palestinian political prisoners imprisoned in Israeli prisons were refusing food in solidarity with four fellow inmates, Ayman Sharawneh, Samer Issawi, Tareq Qa’dan, and Ja’far Aiz Din.

Tariq Issawi holds a photo of his wife visiting their son Samer Issawi, who has been on a hunger strike in Israeli prison, October 10, 2012. Samer Issawi was one of more than 1000 Palestinians released in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in October 2011. He was re-arrested for allegedly violating the terms of his release which stated that he remain in Jerusalem, but has been held under administrative detention since his re-arrest. He began his hunger strike on August 1, 2012.

Palestinians waiting outside Ofer military prison for the prisoner exchange to take place. October 18, 2011.

Demonstrators dressed as Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan, who had been on hunger strike, march during a protest to mark seven years of struggle against the wall in the West Bank village of Bil’in, February 17, 2012.

Activists demonstrate solidarity with Samer Issawi and other Palestinian political prisoners, in Damascus gate, outside the Old City, Jerusalem, March 12, 2013.

Israeli soldiers arrest a Palestinian activist during a demonstration in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners, Ofer Military Prison, February 28, 2013.

Palestinians celebrate the arrival of released Palestinian prisoners at the Presidential Compound in Ramallah, December 18, 2011. Israel released 550 Palestinian prisoners in the second and final phase of the Gilad Shalit swap with Hamas.

Demonstration in front of Ramle prison in solidarity with Palestinian prisoner Samer Issawi, February 2, 2013.

A relative of the deceased Palestinian prisoner Arafat Jaradat holds his photograph as she and other family members wait for the autopsy results in their home, Sa’ir, West Bank, February 24, 2013. Arafat Jaradat, 30, from the Palestinian village of Sa’ir died on February 23, 2013 in Israel’s Megiddo prison. According to human right reports, Jaradat died either during or shortly after he was interrogated.

Poster showing Palestinian prisoners at a demonstration in support of Palestinian hunger-striking prisoners in front of Ramle Prison, Israel, May 3, 2012.

Hana Shalabi inside the solidarity tent in Gaza city, Gaza Strip, May 7, 2012. Hana Shalabi, from the West bank village of Burqin near Jenin was exiled to the Gaza Strip for three years by the Israeli authorities as part of a deal which ended her 43-day of hunger strike protesting her administrative detention without charge.

Khader Adnan plays with his daughter on his first day out of Israeli jail in the West Bank village of Araba, near Jenin, April 18, 2012. Israeli authorities released Khader Adnan on April 17, 2012, from administrative detention after he was held in an Israeli jail for four months without trial. Adnan protested his imprisonment and was on hunger strike for 67 days.

Graffiti painted to welcome Khader Adnan is seen in the West Bank village of Araba, near Jenin, April 18, 2012.

A Palestinian doctor checks Thaer Halahleh, a former Palestinian administrative detention prisoner, in a hospital in the West Bank city of Hebron, June 6, 2012. Israeli authorities released Halahleh from administrative detention after he spent 78 days on hunger strike.

Solidarity tent with Palestinian prisoners, Gaza, May 14, 2012.

Activists put up a street photo exhibition in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners, West Jerusalem, April 17, 2013. April 17 marks the annual ‘Palestinian Prisoners Day’. It was initially established to remind the public of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners that are imprisoned in Israeli jails, where they are routinely exposed to torture and other inhumane treatment. The exhibition was put up in various locations in West Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Tel Aviv residents pass a street photo exhibition in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners, April 17, 2013.

A woman passes a Tel Aviv street exhibition on Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, April 17, 2013.

Another street photo exhibition in solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners, Tel Aviv, April 17, 2013.

Racist comments are written on a street photo exhibition posted in Tel Aviv the night before in solidarity with Palestinian Prisoners Day, April 17, 2013.

Text explaining a Tel Aviv street exhibition in solidarity with Palestinian Prisoners Day is defaced and torn, April 17, 2013.

From tear gas to rubber-coated steel bullets: A week in photos – April 4-10

Activestills — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 14:58:14 +0000

This week: Solidarity with Palestinian prisoners, opposition to Yair Lapid, preserving Tel Aviv’s beaches, resisting the occupation’s obstacles, Tel Aviv’s ‘Slutwalk’, and the targeting of a Palestinian photographer.

A Palestinian suffers from tear gas inhalation during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the Old city of Hebron after the funeral of Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh who died two days earlier in Israeli custody, Hebron, West Bank April 4, 2013. Hamdiyeh died shortly after being transferred from prison to ‘Soroka’ hospital in late March, suffering from throat cancer which had spread to his spinal cord. Before his death, he had complained of medical neglect by the Israeli prison authorities. (Photo by: Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

Demonstrators attempt to block Road No.1 in Jerusalem during a solidarity protest with Palestinian prisoners on April 4, 2013. (Photo by: Guest photographer Tali Mayer/Activestills.org)

Palestinian youths clash with Israeli soldiers in the Old City of Hebron after the funeral of Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh who died two days earlier in Israeli custody, Hebron, West Bank April 4, 2013. Hamdiyeh died shortly after being transferred from prison to ‘Soroka’ hospital in late March, suffering from throat cancer which had spread to his spinal cord. Before his death, he had complained of medical neglect by the Israeli prison authorities. (Photo by: Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

Relatives of Amer Nasser, a 17-year-old Palestinian shot by Israeli soldiers, mourn during his funeral in the West Bank town of Anabta near Tulkarm on April 4, 2013. Amer and Naji Balbis were killed by Israeli soldiers during clashes that erupted after the death of Maisara Abu Hamdiyeh, a Palestinian prisoner, who died in Israeli custody. (Photo by: Oren Ziv/ Activestills.org)

Palestinian members of the Al Aqsa Brigade are seen at the entrance to the cemetery during the funeral of Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh who died two days earlier in Israeli custody, Hebron, West Bank April 4, 2013. (Photo by: Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

Public housing activists and other social activists protest in front of the house of the the new Minister of Finance, Yair Lapid, following his controversial Facebook statement about a supposed middle class income of 20,000 NIS and his intention to continue the erosion of welfare stipends in 2014′s budget. (Photo by: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Protesters hold signs and shout slogans during a march against the Tel Aviv municipality’s plan to expand the current promenade by cementing over an 8m-wide stretch of sand the length of the Tel Aviv shoreline, April, 5, 2013 . The cost of the project is estimated at 150 million NIS and was approved by the municipality despite strong opposition from different ecological groups who exposed the devastating effect the project would have on the ecosystem of the area, and favors real estate companies interest over public interest. (Photo by: Shiraz Grinbaum/Activestills.org)

Israeli riot policemen arrest a Palestinian youth during clashes in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners, Issawiya, East Jerusalem, April 5, 2013. (Photo by: Oren Ziv/ Activestills.org)

Weekly demonstration in Kfer Qaddum, a West Bank village located east of Qalqiliya, January 25, 2013. There have been regular demonstrations in Kfer Qaddum since July 2011, protesting the blocking of the main road east of the village which used to link it to Nablus. (Photo by: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

Protesters hold a banner that reads: “The SlutWalk” during a rally in Tel Aviv on April 5, 2013. Protesters shouted slogans condemning discrimination against women based on their choice of dress or appearance. The ‘SlutWalk’ rallies began in 2011 in Canada when a Toronto Police officer, suggested that to remain safe, “women should avoid dressing like sluts.” (Photo by: Keren Manor/Activestills.org)

PHR mobile clinic in Jenin Refugee Camp on April 6, 2013. PHR operate regular mobile clinics in isolated villages in the West Bank. The clinics operate at specific locations and in a limited capacity, mostly supplying preliminary care and triage services and is operated by volunteer doctors, nurses and helpers. (Photo by: Keren Manor/Activestills.org)

Mohammad Al-Azza rests in the hospital the morning after being shot in the face with a rubber-coated steel bullet by Israeli forces in Aida Refguee Camp. Beit Jala, West Bank, April 9, 2013. Al-Azza underwent two surgeries to remove the bullet, which lodged in his cheek below his right eye and fractured his skull. He is expected to make a full recovery. (Photo by: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)

Doctors fear Palestinian hunger striker’s life in immediate danger

Haggai Matar — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 10:18:13 +0000

Physicians are extremely worried by the deteriorating medical condition of Palestinian prisoner Samer Issawi, who has not put food in his mouth for more than half a year.

Activists demonstrate solidarity with Samer Issawi, on hunger strike in Israeli prison for more than 200 days, and other Palestinian political prisoners, Damascus Gate, East Jerusalem, March 12, 2013 (Oren Ziv/ Activestills.org)

Doctors are concerned by the state of Issawi’s heart, which is weakening and losing rhythm, and are assessing that he might also be suffering from brain damage due to severe lack of minerals, in addition to partial failures of his lungs and kidneys. The Palestinian Prisoner’s Club attorney, Jawad Boulus, who visited Issawi in the Kaplan Hospital in Petah Tikva this morning, told +972 that there is a growing risk of sudden death.

Issawi, who was released in the Gilad Shalit prisoner swap and then re-arrested based on covert intelligence which the army prosecution continues to withhold from him and his lawyers, has been on hunger strike since July 29^th. He has only been taking water with sugar along with intravenous food supplements. Recently, he has stopped accepting the latter in protest of the Israeli Prison Service policy of handcuffing him to his bed for 12 hours a day, which he says causes him much pain and prevents him from sleeping. Following a drastic deterioration in his condition, Issawi returned to talking mineral supplements on Tuesday morning.

Palestinian hunger striker Samer Issawi taken to his court hearing in the Magistrate Court in Jerusalem, February 19, 2013 (Oren Ziv/ Activestills.org)

On Monday, the Hebron-based Youth against Settlements group published a “Hunger Speech by Samer Issawi”, addressed to Israelis. In the message, Issawi calls upon Israelis to break free from the “military camps of the mind” and to come visit him and see “a skeleton tied to his hospital bed, and around him three exhausted jailers.”

I’m looking for an intellectual who is through shadowboxing, or talking to his face in mirrors. I want him to stare into my face and observe my coma, to wipe the gunpowder off his pen, and from his mind the sound of bullets, he will then see my features carved deep in his eyes, I’ll see him and he’ll sees me, I’ll see him nervous about the questions of the future, and he’ll see me, a ghost that stays with him and doesn’t leave…

I will die satisfied and having satisfied. I do not accept to be deported out of my homeland. I do not accept your courts and your arbitrary rule… Listen to my voice, the voice of our time and yours! Liberate yourselves of the excess of greedy power! Do not remain prisoners of military camps and the iron doors that have shut your minds! I am not waiting for a jailer to release me, I’m waiting for you to be released from my memory.

Issawi and the three other prisoners on hunger strike have been at the heart of protests and clashes in the West Bank and Jaffa. In the past couple of weeks, two Israeli women have repeatedly tried to visit Issawi at the hospital. Yesterday, after several visitations in which they could only make it to the door and say a few words before IPS guards sent them away, a curtain was placed between the door and the bed to prevent them from seeing Issawi. Following the publication of the “Hunger Speech,” several more Israeli have been trying to gain access to Issawi but have been denied by authorities. A request by Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) to send an independent doctor to examine his medical condition has been denied by IPS.

Palestinians demonstrate in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners still on hunger strike in Israeli prisons, especially Samer Issawi (more than 245 days). Nablus, West Bank, March 23, 2013 (Ahmad Al-Bazz/Activestills.org)

In the last couple of months, two Palestinian prisoners have died in prison. The first, Arafat Jaradat, was a young man who died during or after his interrogation. The second, Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh, died of cancer. In the latter case, PHR claims that the prisoner’s complaints to the prison doctors were not taken seriously, and criticism was also leveled at the IPS for not allowing the man an early release from prison, which would have at least made it possible for him to pass quietly athome. Both deaths sparked demonstrations throughout theWest Bank.

Hunger-striker Samer Issawi is another statistic in an unjust legal system

As Palestinian hunger strikes come to a head, world begins to take notice

PHOTOS: Palestinian protesters clash with Israeli forces after death of long-term prisoner

Activestills — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 17:05:45 +0000

West Bank clashes erupt after the death of a Palestinian prisoner in Israeli custody, in which two more Palestinians are shot and killed by Israeli forces.

Photos by: Ahmad Al-Bazz, Anne Paq, Yotam Ronen, and Oren Ziv

Palestinian youth take cover behind a makeshift protection barrier during clashes with Israeli soldiers in the Old city of Hebron after the the funeral of Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh who died two days earlier in Israeli custody, Hebron, West Bank April 4, 2013.

Clashes erupted throughout the West Bank between Palestinians and the Israeli military on Thursday over the death of Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh, a long-term Palestinian prisoner who died of cancer this week while in Israeli custody. During those clashes two more Palestinians, 18-year-old Naji al-Balbisi and 17-year-old Amer Nassar, were killed by live ammunition fired by Israeli forces near the city of Tulkarem.

Funerals for Abu Hamdiyeh and the two teenagers were held today amid ongoing clashes with Israeli forces, and accusations that the prisoner’s health was neglected by prison officials. Protesters also called for general strikes throughout the West Bank, resulting in closed shops amid further demonstrations.

Abu Hamdiyeh was first imprisoned by Israel in 1969, after being accused of membership in the General Union of Palestinian Students. Between 1970 and 1975, Abu Hamdiyeh was detained many times without charge. He was arrested again in May 2002, and in 2005 an Israeli court sentenced him to 25 years in prison. Israeli military authorities appealed for a longer sentence, and in 2007 he was sentenced to life. Since Abu Hamdiyeh’s arrest in 2002, his four children have been banned from visiting him.

In August 2012, Abu Hamdiyeh suffered severe throat pain. Five months later, he was diagnosed with throat cancer. He complained of medical neglect by Israeli prison authorities, and said in March that he was only given pain killers. In late March, Abu Hamdiyeh was finally admitted to the hospital, where he died on Tuesday morning.

Thousands of mourners attended the funeral of Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh who died two days earlier in Israeli custody.

A Palestinian youth shields himself with a door during clashes in the Old city of Hebron.

Thousands fill the streets during the funeral of Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh who died two days earlier in Israeli custody.

A Palestinian youth shields his eyes after being overcome by tear gas during clashes in Hebron’s Old City.

Palestinian carry the bodies of Amer Nasser and Naji Balbisi, two teenagers shot by Israeli troops, during their funeral in the West Bank town of Anabta near Tulkarem on April 4, 2013. The two teens were shot dead overnight during clashes over the death of prisoner Maisara Abu Hamdiyeh.

The family of Naji Balbisi, a 19-year-old Palestinian shot by Israeli troops, mourns with other relatives during his funeral in the West Bank town of Anabta near Tulkarem.

Relatives of Amer Nasser, a 17-year-old Palestinian shot by Israeli troops, mourn over his body during his funeral in the West Bank town of Anabta near Tulkarem.

Palestinian women hold up pictures of their sons imprisoned in Israeli jails during a demonstration over the death of Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh, Nablus, West Bank, April 3, 2013.

Shop doors are closed during a general strike that was declared in the West Bank city of Nablus, following the death of Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh.

A car passes a fire in anotherwise empty street druing a general strike in the West Bank city of Nablus, following the death of Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh.

From Obama drama to Palm Sunday protests: A week in photos – March 21-27

Activestills — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 21:28:34 +0000

This week: Protests shadow Obama’s itinerary, a protest village in E1 is built and demolished, animal rights activists are scarred for life, and Palestinians march for water rights, prisoner solidarity, and to protest Israel’s permit regime.

Activists hold banners in front of the U.S. embassy in Tel Aviv, as a protest against U.S. military support to Israel, March 22, 2013. (Photo by: Keren Manor/Activestills.org)

A helicopter carrying U.S. President Barack Obama flies over a demonstration against Obama’s visit to the West Bank, Ramallah, March 21, 2013. (Photo by: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Graffiti against the visit of the U.S. President Barak Obama to the West Bank, Ramallah, March 21, 2013. (Photo by: Keren Manor/ Activestills.org)

Palestinian policemen block Palestinian protesters during a demonstration against the visit of U.S. President Barak Obama to the West Bank, Ramallah, March 21, 2013. The Palestinian police prevented the protesters from approaching the Palestinian presidential compound. (Photo by: Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

A Palestinian special forces solider is seen on a roof near Nativity Square before U.S. President Obama’s visit to Bethlehem, West Bank, March 22, 2013. Many streets in Bethlehem had been closed since the morning. The visit only lasted half an hour. (Photo by: Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

Palestinian activists protest in Deheishe refugee camp against U.S. President Obama’s visit to Bethlehem, West Bank, March 22, 2013. (Photo by: Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

A huge Palestinian flag is seen opposite the settlement of Ma’ale Adummim in a new protest camp in the E1 area which focused on the visit of U.S. President Barack Obama, West Bank, March 21, 2013. (Photo by:Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

Palestinian activists build a structure from stones and mud in the Bab al-Shams protest camp in the E1 area, West Bank, March 22, 2013. (Photo by: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)

Israeli riot policemen detain Palestinian activists during the eviction of the Palestinian protest camp “Bab al-Shams” in the E1 area, West Bank, March 24, 2013. The camp was built four days before, during the visit of Barack Obama. Forty activists were detained during the eviction and later released. (Photo by: Oren Ziv/ Acvtivestills.org)

Animal rights activists take part in an extreme protest by branding their flesh with a hot metal stamp similar to those used to brand animals in industrial meat farms, Tel Aviv, March 21, 2013. After the branding, they were put in a truck and driven away. “269″ is the number that was branded on a calf born into captivity on an Israeli meat farm, and has become a symbol for the struggle against the abuse of animals. (Photo by: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)

Animal rights activists get tattoos of the number 269 as part of a global day of action against industrialized animal farming, Boston, March 21, 2013. “269″ is the number that was branded on a calf born into captivity on a meat farm in Israel, and has become a symbol for the struggle against the abuse of animals. (Photo by: Tess Scheflan/Activestills.org)

On World Water Day, Palestinian and international activists participate in a solidarity walk between Palestinian communities in the Jordan Valley whose water rights are denied by discriminatory Israeli policies and practices. The walk included community visits and discussions. Jordan Valley, West Bank, March 22, 2013. (Photo by: Ahmad Al-Bazz/Activestills.org)

In the annual Palm Sunday procession, Palestinian Christians carry signs naming their West Bank communities, all of which are cut off from Jerusalem by the Israeli separation barrier, requiring their residents to obtain special permits to enter, East Jerusalem, March 24, 2013. Such restrictions have dramatically reduced the number of Palestinians able to participate in religious traditions of any faith in Jerusalem. The procession began at the Church of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, also known as the “Palm Sunday Church,” which is located directly next to a Palestinian home that was demolished by Israeli authorities several years ago. (Photo by: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org)

Palestinian cartoonist detained for a month as prisoner protests grow

Haggai Matar — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 10:54:09 +0000

Mohammad Saba’aneh, an important Palestinian political cartoonist, has been in prison for about a month now. Friends and supporters suspect his detention is related to the growing protests on the issue of Palestinian prisoners and the international concern over hunger strikers, including a new resolution in the European Parliament.

A recent drawing of Saba’aneh’s

Mohammad Saba’aneh (30) was arrested on February 16 while returning from a work-related trip to Jordan. After taking part in an Amman conference of the Arab-American University in Jenin (a private institute that works in coordination with the PA’s Ministry of Education and the California and Utah State Universities), where he works in the spokesperson’s office, Saba’aneh was captured by Israeli authorities at the Allenby border crossing and taken for interrogation.

The young cartoonist, whose drawings are regularly published in the Al-Hayat al-Jadida newspaper, was not allowed to see an attorney for the first three weeks of his interrogation, and so far, no official charges have been brought against him. The Ofer Military Court has prolonged his detention time after time, and an appeal against the latest addition to his detention was denied by the Military Appeals Court on Monday. Attorney Jawad Boulos, who was finally allowed to see Saba’aneh last week, told his family that he is doing well and that he is being broadly interrogated for allegedly aiding an illegal organization. Last week, soldiers raided the family’s house and arrested Saba’aneh’s brother, and confiscated computers.

Since his arrest, local and international artists and journalists have been calling for Saba’aneh’s release, claiming that his only crime is criticizing the occupation with his pen and palate of colors. The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, Reporters without Borders, the Committee to Protect Journalists and several Israeli cartoonists and artists have already taken a stand against their colleague’s prolonged detention without charge, and some demonstrated outside the courthouse during the latest detention hearing. Cartoons advocating his release were published on the Cartoon Movement website, and other works of art by Israeli artists were gathered as a form of petition in the Erev-Rav website. “As Israeli artists we call for the release of Mohammad Saba’aneh,” they wrote, “his pictures of reality are not a crime – reality itself is the crime, and the criminals are the ones who had made it so.”

The independent prison of Palestine according to Saba’aneh

Members of the Saba’aneh family, who have not yet been allowed to see their son, also released a statement, calling on individuals and NGOs around the world “to work hard to save our son and all prisoners from the Occupation prisons to end their suffering by raising their case in international forums to assure their safety and their legal right.”

Saba’aneh’s friends and colleagues fear that the real reason for the detention is the cartoonist’s devotion to the issue of Palestinian prisoners, shown in many of his recent works. In other works, collected by Haaretz columnist Tamer Masalha (Hebrew), the cartoonist has also been critical of the illusion of an “independent” PA, and of the sad results of the Arab Spring.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Office did not respond to a request for comment by the time of this report.

Criticism of the artist’s detention is mounting while the general struggle for the Palestinian prisoners grows. It has been almost six months since the start of administrative detainee Samer Issawi‘s hunger strike, who is only taking intravenous minerals and drinking water. The recent death of detainee Arafat Jaradat in an Israeli prison sparked more protests throughout the West Bank and for more than 40 consecutive days, small vigils have been taking place in Jaffa.

A vigil in Jaffa this week. More than 40 consecutive days of protest (Yotam Ronen / Activestills)

The death of the inmate and the practice of arbitrary administrative detentions also led the European Parliament to vote in favor of a motion to investigate Jaradat’s death. The resolution also stated that the EU is “concerned by the Palestinian detainees held in administrative detention without charges, stresses that these detainees should be charged and face trial with judicial guarantees in accordance with international standards, or be promptly released.” The Parliament also stated it would consider sending a fact finding mission on the issue of prisoners and detainees to Israel-Palestine.

Update, 19.3: The Military Court has just added three more days to the detention of Saba’aneh.

Palestinians wielding new power against Israeli rule

Larry Derfner — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 15:08:02 +0000

Threat of Palestinian Authority’s collapse forces Netanyahu, who has humiliated Abbas and his people as often as possible, to try to placate them.

Thousands congregate at the center of Sa’ir village for the funeral of Arafat Jaradat.

At the beginning of this week, when Palestinian riots threatened to get out of hand, especially if one of the hunger-striking prisoners died, what did Netanyahu do? He gave in. He announced on Sunday he was giving the Palestinian Authority its customs taxes for January, which he’d held back to punish Mahmoud Abbas for winning recognition for Palestinian statehood at the UN last November.

Palestinians throw stones and Molotov cocktails at Israeli soldiers, PA security troops do nothing to stop them – and Bibi Netanyahu immediately rewards them with a hundred million dollars! (That’s how he would frame it if some other prime minister had done what he just did.)

What’s going on here? Answer: Netanyahu is scared. What he’s scared of most, I think, is that the PA will collapse, or effectively collapse, meaning it will stop playing Israel’s collaborator by keeping a tight lid on Palestinian rebellion, and thereby force Israeli troops to go back into the cities, villages and refugee camps of the West Bank and do all the dirty work themselves – 24/7, just like they did before the Oslo Accords.

That is the Israeli nightmare, or at least the nightmare of Israelis who get paid to oversee the West Bank. If the PA stops policing the Palestinians and the IDF and Border Police take their place, not only is this going to require tens of thousands of Israelis, including reservists, to go put the Palestinians back in their cages and keep them there, it’s going to mean a return to the world’s TV screens of the David vs. Goliath scenes of the first Intifada 25 years ago. It’s going to mean not only Israeli deaths and injuries, but a much, much greater number of Palestinian ones. If, in such a situation, the Palestinians were to stick to rocks and Molotov cocktails against Israel’s firepower, and, above all, if this were to happen on the watch of right-wing rejectionist Netanyahu, this would be a disaster for Israel and victory road for the Palestinians.

It may not happen, but that’s the direction things are headed in. During the last few weeks, for the first time since Abbas took over in 2004, the PA hasn’t been doing its job on the ground like good collaborators should. Netanyahu, it seems, is on the verge of killing the goose that laid the golden egg – by having punished the PA economically, by having trashed it politically with years of settlement expansion and diplomatic indifference. With the prisoners’ hunger strike lighting a fire under the Palestinian public, Abbas and his people have taken up the cause, with PA security chiefs reportedly promoting the strike behind the scenes. Meanwhile, they’ve let the solidarity protesters in the streets throw all the rocks and firebombs they want.

Everyone knows things could get out of hand so that the PA forces wouldn’t be able to control events even if they wanted to – and Abbas and his men are going along with it. They’re trying to ride the tiger but they know they could be thrown off. What choice do they have? What choice has Israel left them? What incentive, now that the paychecks aren’t even assured, has Israel given them to keep the clampdown in place? Why shouldn’t they get back into the good graces of their mobilized brethren before it may be too late?

So Netanyahu, who until now humiliated Abbas at every possible turn, is obliged to appease him. The balance of power has shifted. Not completely, though – I suspect that prisoner Arafat Jaradat’s funeral yesterday, attended by 25,000, went off without incident because the PA wanted it that way; they’re not ready just yet to “hand over the keys,” as Abbas keeps threatening. The PA gets about $ 1 billion a year from foreign donors; one out of three Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza depend on its salaries; its police, courts and other public institutions mediate life in Palestinian society. If the PA collapsed, it would be a nightmare for Palestinians, too. But by sucking Israel back into every corner of the West Bank, thus sending the price of occupation through the roof, the PA’s collapse could also be the Palestinians’ gateway to freedom.

In a sense, there’s a game of chicken going on now between Abbas and Netanyahu, the winner being the one who shows the most boldness while stopping just short of letting the PA fall. They may both lose – the PA may fall by popular Palestinian demand. But at this point, I’d give the advantage to Abbas because he has much less to lose and finds his hand being forced by masses of people who are much bolder than him. At any rate, he and the 2.5 million West Bankers have more power vs. Israel than they’ve had in a very long time. They’re threatening the power that controls them.

The credit for this belongs first to the hunger strikers, beginning with Khader Adnan a year ago – and of course to Israel’s blindness born of arrogance. I know it’s possible, but I find it hard to imagine the Palestinians going back to passivity and despair, and the PA going back to obedience, because this “popular resistance,” so far at least, is working.

PHOTOS: Clashes erupt in West Bank after funeral for Palestinian prisoner

Activestills — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 20:09:59 +0000

Photos by: Anne Paq, Yotam Ronen, Oren Ziv, and Ryan Rodrick Beiler from the Activestills photo collective.

The visibly distressed father of deceased Palestinian prisoner Arafat Jaradat after identifying his body at the Abu Kabir Forensic institute, February 24, 2013.

Thousands of Palestinians attended the funeral on Monday of Arafat Jaradat, 30, who died two days earlier in Israeli custody, while under interrogation by Israel’s internal security agency, the Shin Bet. The funeral took place in his village of Sa’ir, near Hebron, in the West Bank.

According to Palestinian officials, the autopsy showed bruising on his shoulder, chest and elbows, as well as fractures in two of his right ribs, all indications that he died from severe torture. A father of two children, Jaradat was married and and his wife is pregnant.

Large numbers of Israeli forces were deployed around Sa’ir during the funeral. Some clashes erupted after the funeral near the village, along with different cities throughout the West Bank, as well as a massive rally in the Gaza Strip. His death comes amid spreading West Bank protests in solidarity with hunger striking prisoners. Israel has been repeatedly condemned by human rights organizations for the use of torture and ill-treatment against Palestinian prisoners. A petition by human rights organizations requesting the interrogation sessions to be filmed was denied.

Thousands congregate at the center of Sa’ir village for the funeral of Arafat Jaradat.

An armed masked man shooting in the air above the crowd.

The body of Arafat Jaradat is carried by the crowd.

Mourners touch Arafat Jaradat’s body as they pay their respects.

Relatives of Arafat Jaradat carry his picture during the funeral.

Palestinians stand on the wall of the cemetery to see the burial of Arafat Jaradat.

Palestinian schoolgirls shout slogans during the funeral.

Palestinian women carry a poster of Arafat Jaradat and chant slogans.

Palestinian youth clash with the Israeli army after the funeral near Road 60 in the nearby village of Beit ‘Einoun.

Palestinian youths pile burning tires against a tower in the Israeli separation wall during clashes in response to the death of Arafat Jaradat, Aida Refugee Camp in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.

Friends evacuate 13-year-old Mohammed al-Kurdi of the Aida Refugee Camp who was shot twice with live ammunition by Israeli forces during clashes reacting to the death of Arafat Jaradat. Reports indicate that he remains in critical condition with bleeding in his liver and lungs. UPDATE: Upon hospitalization and x-rays, doctors determined that al-Kurdi was injured by fragments that may have resulted when bullets struck the pavement near him, striking him in the back, injuring his lungs and liver, and lodging near his spine.