[Ppnews] Palestine - Ezzedine and Qa’adan call for action at 54 days of hunger strike

[Political Prisoner News]

  Ezzedine and Qa’adan call for action at 54 days of hunger strike

http://samidoun.ca/2013/01/ezzedine-and-qaadan-call-for-action-at-54-days-of-hunger-strike/

Jafar Ezzedine and Tareq Qa’adan, two of the three prisoners in 
administrative detention who have now been on hunger strike for 54 days 
(the third is fellow administrative detainee Yousef Shaaban Yassin), all 
of whom were arrested following the ceasefire in Gaza, on November 22, 
2012, issued a statement today 
<http://www.maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=557593> reaffirming 
their dedication to continue their strike until they achieve their 
goals: their freedom, the end of administrative detention, and the 
release of all hunger striking prisoners. They stated that they are 
boycotting medicines and medical tests, calling for broad support for 
their struggle.

They said that they are determined to drink only water and boycott all 
kinds of medicines and supplements, even medical tests, and not deal 
with doctors and nurses, struggling to affirm and build upon the noble 
goals and historic national achievements of the prisoners’ movement.

They called for an end to Arab and international silence toward the 
issue of prisoners and their suffering, appealing to international 
institutions and Palestinian institutions that work on human rights and 
the prisoners’ case, imploring them to take the needed action to stand 
with the prisoners whose lives were on the line.

Tareq Qa’adan stated that he was unsurprised by the decision of the High 
Court to refuse to hear his appeal on Wednesday, January 16. He had told 
the court, “I dedicate this hunger strike to my sick child, and to my 
freedom. I have been detained arbitrarily several months after I was 
released, so I will not end hunger strike unless I secure my freedom.” 
He said “I expected this result, objectively and realistically, we did 
not rely on those who are known to be treacherous for fairness or 
justice. They specialize in humiliation and assault on the freedoms of 
our people.”

Jafar Ezzedine, 41, launched his last hunger strike on March 21, 2012, 
when he was previously arrested and held without charge or trial under 
administrative detention. He participated in the mass hunger strike of 
April-May 2012, and was released in July 2012, only to be re-arrested on 
November 22 in the mass arrest raid. He is once again in administrative 
detention, imprisoned without charge or trial. He, like Qa’adan, is from 
Arraba, near Jenin.

Tareq Qa’adan, 40, also joined the mass hunger strike in April-May 2012, 
during his last arrest. He served 15 months in prison for participating 
in an event at the Arab American University in Jenin, released also in 
July 2012, and re-arrested in the mass roundup of November 22. He has 
been held in administrative detention since that time, without charge or 
trial.

Yousef Shaaban Yassin, 29, from Aneen, also near Jenin, was last 
arrested in February 2012 and served eight months in prison. He was also 
rounded up once again – shortly after his release – on November 22 and 
has been held in administrative detention without charge or trial since 
that time.

Addameer reports <http://addameer.org/etemplate.php?id=559> that Yousef 
Yassin is are being held in isolation in a cell at Ramleh prison clinic, 
with a guard placed outside their door 24 hours a day, and is subject to 
daily inspections. All three are also being denied family visits. They 
have also had most of the belongings, such as clothes, cigarettes and 
electronics confiscated. As a result of their continued detention and 
treatment by the IPS all three have refused any medical treatment or 
tests since 21 December 2012.

The Electronic Intifada reported: 
<http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/maureen-clare-murphy/israel-will-never-undermine-our-steadfastness-hunger-strikers-speak-out>

The prisoners — Jafar Azzadine, Tarek Qa’adan and Yousef Yassin — stated:

    Our open hunger strike is to protest the Intelligence and their
    policies, *our goal is not just to gain our individual freedom but
    to end the practice of administrative detention, the pointed sword
    on the neck of the Palestinians.*This is a battle in the fight for
    freedom and dignity despite all the continuing pain and torments
    that impair us, and despite all the pressure that we endure and is
    practiced against us by the Israeli Prison Service and Shabak to
    break our will from our steadfastness. However, the cowardly enemy
    will never undermine our steadfastness and our determination to
    achieve justice and freedom for all our imprisoned and hunger
    striking brothers, and the oppressed and those who were tortured by
    the fiery tormentors for decades. *We call on the sons of our people
    to stand by us and to show responsibility for our fellow prisoners,
    especially Samer Issawi and Ayman Sharawna who are nearing
    death.* We also call on all local and international institutions and
    those that are specifically for human rights to intensify their
    efforts and to raise our voices high in international forums to
    expose the barbaric occupation and its practices.

-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org
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