Palestinian Prisoners Boycott “Israeli” Military Courts: Our Decision is Freedom

By Staff, Agencies 

Palestinian prisoners held without trial or charge have launched a boycott of “Israel’s” military courts in the occupied West Bank, as prisoner groups warn that detainee on hunger strike, Hisham Abu Hawwash, faces “imminent danger of death”.

In an escalatory step agreed by Palestinian political parties, the 500 administrative detainees began New Year by refusing to show up for their court sessions. The boycott includes the initial hearings to uphold the administrative detention order, as well as appeal hearings and later sessions at the Supreme Court.

Under the banner, “Our decision is freedom … no to administrative detention,” administrative detainees said in a statement their move comes as a continuation of longstanding Palestinian efforts “to put an end to the unjust administrative detention practiced against our people by the occupation forces”.

They also noted that “Israel’s” use of the policy has expanded in recent years to include women, children and elderly people.

“‘Israeli’ military courts are an important aspect for the occupation in its system of oppression,” the detainees said, describing the courts as a “barbaric, racist tool that has consumed hundreds of years from the lives of our people under the banner of administrative detention, through nominal and fictitious courts – the results of which are predetermined by the military commander of the region”.

The boycott comes as the health of Abu Hawwash – on his 141th day on hunger strike on Tuesday in protest against his administrative detention since October 2020 – continues to severely deteriorate.

The 40-year-old is the latest in a string of prisoners who in recent months have refused food and water to demand their freedom. Many of them reached a critical stage and were hospitalized for long periods until “Israeli” authorities agreed to release them on a fixed date.

Abu Hawwash, a father of five children from the village of Dura near Al-Khalil, faces “imminent danger of death due to potassium deficiency and arrhythmia,” Physicians for Human Rights “Israel” [PHRI] said on Sunday. “The use of administrative detention and hospitals as detention centers must be stopped,” the group added.