Issawi to Continue Hunger Strike Battle Till End, "Israel" Arrests His Brother

Local Editor

"Israeli" forces arrested at least three Palestinians in the West Bank overnight Sunday, including a brother of the jailed hunger striker Samer Issawi, local media reported.

In details, "Israeli" soldiers broke into the Issawi family home in the town of Issawiya around 2:00am and dragged the residents outside before arresting 28-year-old Shadi Issawi, WAFA news agency cited the father, Tarek, as saying.
He added that soldiers then raided the nearby homes of two of the prisoner's other brothers, Firas and Medhat, without arresting them. Soldiers also arrested their neighbor, 35-year-old Mahmoud Fayez Mahmoud.
In a separate incident, security sources told WAFA that forces detained 28-year-old Rizik Khalil in the town of Sourif, near al-Khalil, after raiding his home.

The report provided no explanation for the arrests in Issawiya, but activists say Israel has launched a campaign to intimidate the hunger striker's family members after his case drew international attention.

Issawi, who is on day 209 without food, has served as a rallying point for Palestinians confronting "Israel's" policy of administrative detention. The policy allows "Israel" to hold prisoners without charges for six-month periods that can be renewed indefinitely. As punishment for the hunger strike, "Israeli" forces bulldozed the home of another one of Issawi's brothers, Ahmad, in Issawiya on 1 January 2013. Soldiers had previously also arrested his sister Shireen.
On February 5, the prisoner announced he would stop drinking water, which could cause his health to rapidly deteriorate.

Three other Palestinian prisoners are currently refusing food, including Ayman Sharawneh, Jaafar Ezzedine, and Tarek Qaadan.

Sharawneh's mother and brothers Jihad and Abdul Rahman meanwhile on Sunday announced an open-ended hunger strike in solidarity with their jailed relative, according to WAFA.
"Israeli" forces have suppressed the frequent demonstrations in solidarity with the hunger strikers across the Wank Bank.
The arrests come as Issawi released a letter on Saturday thanking his supporters, and vowing to continue his strike "until the end."
The letter was posted to the Facebook account of Issawi's sister, Shireen, and translated into several languages.

Issawi wrote:

"My message is that I will continue until the end, until the last drop of water in my body, until martyrdom. Martyrdom is an honor for me in this battle. My martyrdom is my remaining bomb in the confrontation with the tyrants and the jailers, in the face of the racist policy of the occupation that humiliates our people and exercises against us all means of oppression and repression.

My battle is not only for individual freedom. The battle waged by me and by my heroic colleagues, Tarek, Ayman and Jaafar, is everyone's battle, the battle of the Palestinian people against the occupation and its prisons. Our goal is to be free and sovereign in our liberated state and in our blessed al-Quds."

Over 2,000 Palestinian prisoners ended a mass hunger strike in May 2012 to protest their administrative detentions after reaching a deal with Israel.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have slammed the policy as a violation of international humanitarian law.


Source: News agencies, Edited by moqawama.org