Hunger-strike in ‘Israeli’ Occupation Prisons: An Exemplary Act of Palestinian Resistance

By Mohammad Youssef

The ‘Israeli’ apartheid regime has a criminal trace in every aspect of the Palestinian life.

Horrible crimes perpetrated by the ‘Israeli’ occupation authorities are so diverse and many. They extend to every detail in the life of Palestinian people and they encompass huge parts of the Palestinians from every age.

Palestinian children who have been kidnapped and held in the ‘Israeli’ concentration centers are in hundreds. Meanwhile, adults held in ‘Israeli’ jails without trials are in thousands. Women also are not spared from this measure as tens of them are imprisoned too.

All those suffer systematic torture by the ‘Israeli’ occupation police and ‘security’ personnel.

After fake and unjust trials, and very harsh exaggerated sentences by so-called ‘Israeli’ judiciary, thousands of them serve their years of punishment without any hope.

The ‘Israeli’ occupation keeps forging directives and procedures to extend their stay in the prisons. One of the measures or procedures the ‘Israelis’ keep doing is to extend their terms under the so-called administrative detention. Many of the Palestinians who have served their full sentences and finished terms at prisons as decided by the Zionist judiciary are still held as hostages in the prisons under this pretext.

Many of them, and most recently almost all of them, went into a general hunger strike to force the ‘Israeli’ occupation authorities to review its policies and to reconsider their situation and free them. Here, a decisive battle is taking place. It basically depends on the determination and resolve of the Palestinians detainees who have proved an unshakable will to continue their hunger strikes for months without surrendering to the ‘Israelis’. Many of them reached to their aim of freedom after their miraculous patience produced victory over their enemies. But many of them as well have been martyred while fighting for their freedom from behind bars.

Another side of the issue has to do with the international community and the human rights groups around the world and the United Nations organizations, and more importantly the western countries that keep preaching us day and night about democracy and human rights.

One question is whether democracy and human rights still exist in the eyes of the western regimes when it comes to all the horrible ‘Israeli’ violations of human rights.

The Zionist occupation authorities have a systematic program to torture Palestinians and we rarely and barely hear of any measures or decisions to hold ‘Israel’ responsible, or punish the ‘Israeli’ officials, but even to hear a criticism against them.

This is a very strong double-sided message to all of us. Its first side reveals how deep the hypocrisy of the western countries is in addition to their betrayal of the moral principles they keep calling for.

The second message is that they consider the ‘Israeli’ occupation entity immune to all kinds of punishment and cannot be a subject for any accusation, blame, or questioning for all the gross violations.

Finally, the only conclusion the Palestinians should draw from this reckless and indifferent conduct of the international community is to depend on themselves and to continue their military resistance and all kinds of struggle to gain their freedom and liberate their occupied country. This is an exemplary model that has proven right and efficient in many other countries.

Definitely and surely it will prove success also in Palestine.

Tomorrow is another day, with this steadfastness, continuous struggle, and amazing resistance of the Palestinians, we will observe and enjoy the emerging victory which will come soon by God’s willing.