Palestinian Day of Rage Announced
by Stephen Lendman
Sustained resistance is the only way to end occupation harshness. Nothing else can work.
Peace talks are dead-on-arrival each time initiated. Achieving it diplomatically with a rogue state is impossible.
Israel doesn’t negotiate. It demands Palestinian submission, unconditional surrender – offering nothing in return but broken promises.
Fatah called for an April 28 “day of rage” protest in solidarity with hunger strikers, continuing to refuse food for the seventh day.
On Sunday, Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs head Issa Qaraqe said no prisoners ended their action, others joined them – despite harsh reprisals by prison authorities.
Joint (Arab) List MK Osama al-Saadi said Arab lawmakers demanded a special Knesset session to discuss the hunger-striking action, calling mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners a “top priority.”
According to Addameer, prisoner demands include the following:
1 – The installation of a public telephone for Palestinian prisoners in all prisons and sections in order to communicate with their families.
2 – Visits
1 – Re-instate the second monthly visit which was stopped by the Red Cross.
2 – Regularity of visits every two weeks and not disabling them from any side.
3 – No relative of the first and second degree shall be prevented from visiting the prisoner.
4 – Increasing the duration of the visit from 45 minutes to an hour and a half.
5 – Allowing the prisoner to take photographs with the parents every three months.
6 – The humane treatment of family visitors at the prison
7 – Allowing children and grandchildren under the age of 16 in each visit.
3 – Medical file.
1 – Closing the so-called “Ramla Prison Hospital” for failing to provide the necessary treatment.
2 – Ending the policy of medical negligence.
3 – Conduct medical examinations periodically.
4 – Performing surgeries quickly and exceptionally.
5 – Allowing the entrance of specialized international doctors.
6 – Release of sick prisoners, especially those with disabilities and chronic diseases.
7 – Not to charge the prisoner the cost of treatment.
4 – Responding to the needs and demands of Palestinian women prisoners, both private transport and direct meeting without a barrier during the visit.
5- Al Bosta:
1 – Provide humane treatment to prisoners during their journeys by bus.
2 – Return prisoners to prisons from clinics and courts and not to keep them at the crossings.
3 – Preparing the crossings for human use and providing meals.
6 – Add satellite channels suitable for the needs of prisoners.
7 – Install air conditioning in prisons, especially in the prisons of Megiddo and Gilboa.
8 – The return of kitchens to all prisons and placed under the supervision of Palestinian prisoners.
9 – The introduction of books, newspapers, clothing, food and special purposes of the prisoner on visits.
10 – Ending the policy of solitary confinement.
11 – Ending the policy of administrative detention.
12 – Re-allowing education through the Hebrew Open University.
13 – Allowing the prisoners to submit the Tawjihi examinations in a formal and agreed manner.
Solidarity demonstrations continue across the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. Palestinian National Security Forces’ Issam Bakir urged increased activism, saying:
““The higher the participation the better, so we can more effectively deliver the prisoners’ message to the world, and exert more pressure on the (Israeli) occupation government to meet their demands.”
Hunger strikers are risking their lives by ingesting nothing but water and salt, if available.
On Friday, undercover Prison Service thugs assaulted hunger strikers in Nitzan prison during violent searches, including unleashing dogs on them.
Israeli soldiers attacked nonviolent protesters, marching in solidarity with hunger strikers in Rafat village north of East Jerusalem.
Eight Palestinian protesters, a journalist and an Israeli peace activists were attacked and injured by soldiers in Kufur Qaddoum village, near Qalqilia.
Homes were invaded and ransacked in multiple Palestinian communities, numerous arrests made. An East Jerusalem Palestinian woman was critically injured by a rubber-coated steel bullet, blinding her left eye, fracturing her skull.
According to B’Tselem, “fir(ing) potentially lethal rubber-coated steel bullets at Palestinians…has led to the deaths of dozens of Palestinians.”
“Viewing rubber-coated steel bullets as ‘less lethal’ than live ammunition leads one to possess a light trigger-finger.”
“This phenomenon is only supported by the view of State Attorney’s Office that these deaths are ‘unavoidable mistakes.’ “
State-sponsored viciousness reflects daily life in Occupied Palestine – an entire population held hostage to Israeli apartheid lawlessness.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.
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