April 29, 2012 Samidoun
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Ramon prison management transferred hunger striking Palestinian
prisoner and leader, Ahmad Sa’adat to Ramle prison hospital on Sunday,
April 29. Sa’adat is General Secretary of the Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine, and has been in isolation for over three years
in Ramon prison. He has been on hunger strike since April 17 with now
over 2000 Palestinian prisoners.
PFLP prisoners were previously offered that Sa’adat’s isolation would
be ended in exchange for them ending their hunger strike, which the
prisoners refused, saying they are committed to achieving the full
demands of the strike in unity with all prisoners, including ending all
isolation, ending administrative detention, and supporting rights to
family visits, education and media for prisoners.
Sa’adat has lost 6 kilograms so far on this hunger strike, which
comes only short months after his last extended hunger strike, from
September 27-October 20, calling for an end to isolation and solitary
confinement. Hundreds of prisoners joined this strike, which ended with
false Israeli promises to end isolation which were then ignored
following the prisoner exchange. Sa’adat lost tens of kilograms during
the previous strike.
Sa’adat was abducted in 2006 from the Palestinian Authority’s Jericho
prison, where he had been held with five other prisoners, including
four of his comrades under US and British guard since 2002. His
imprisonment had been ruled illegal by the Palestinian High Court and he
was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council while held in
Jericho. On March 16, 2006, Israeli occupation forces attacked the
prison and abducted Sa’adat and his fellow prisoners. He is now one of
19 Palestinian prisoners in isolation.
The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine issued a statement
in response to the news that Sa’adat has been transferred to the prison
hospital, saying that the PFLP “holds the occupation government fully
responsible for any consequences to the life of General Secretary
Sa’adat and all of the heroic prisoners fighting the battle of open
hunger strike in order to meet their just demands, particularly ending
solitary confinement. We have great pride in national leader Ahmad
Sa’adat, who is locked in the battle of open hunger strike….we confirm
our full support of the prisoners’ movement strike…and we call for the
widest movement on all levels to support the prisoners in their strike
in the prisons of the occupation and force their demands to be
accepted.”
A
press conference was held on Sunday evening at Wattan Media Centre in
Ramallah to draw attention to Sa’adat’s health situation. Khalida
Jarrar, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council with the PFLP,
said that “the prisoners on hunger strike must not be harmed. The
occupation state knows very well that our people are capable of
protecting and responding to dangerous threats to our prisoners and
leaders.” She called on Palestinian political leaders to act immediately
and rapidly to protect the prisoners, and to immediately end all forms
of security cooperation with the occupation. She also called for Arab
countries that have ties with the occupation state to break them
immediately and expel the ambassadors of the occupation.
Jarrar said that Sa’adat was transferred without anyone’s knowledge
to the prison hospital, something only discovered when a lawyer sought
to visit with him at Ramon prison. She also noted particular concern for
the health of the brave strikers Thaer Halahleh and Bilal Diab, who
have been on hunger strike for 62 days. She noted that isolation is one
of the most urgent reasons for the strike, saying that it is one of the
most dangerous actions by the Prison Service against leaders, including
Mahmoud Issa who has been isolated since 2002.
Abla Sa’adat, Sa’adat’s wife, said that her husband would not end its
strike until its goals were achieved including ending solitary
confinement and allowing family visits for prisoners from Gaza that have
been prohibited for six years. Sa’adat spoke about her husband’s last
message, emphasizing the need for unity to support the prisoners. She
expressed serious concern for her husband’s life, noting that this is
his second time on hunger strike in six months. She called for the
Palestinian people and their supporters everywhere to join in events and
actions in support of the prisoners, saying that such action is
important to the success of the strike.
Issa Qaraqe, the Minister of Prisoners’ and Detainees’ Affairs,
called for the UN General Assembly to convene a special session to take
up the case of the prisoners. He noted that the Israeli government is
fully responsible for the humanitarian disaster that may come to the
prisoners and that the occupation state is committing crimes against
prisoners through arbitrary laws and racist, unjust, cruel and inhumane
treatment. He said that the strike would continue to grow in the next
week, which would bring an explosion to the Palestinian streets.
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