With Palestinian Hunger Strikers Near Death, Fear of Violence

Six Palestinian prisoners on a hunger strike in Israeli prisons are in danger of “imminent death,” a result that could trigger an outbreak of violence in the relatively peaceful occupied West Bank, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials and activists.

The six are part of a larger group that some activists estimate is now in the thousands after some 1,600 Palestinians joined a smaller hunger strike on April 17. More joined in solidarity after that. They are protesting a lack of rights in Israeli prisons, as well as “administrative detention” which allows Israel to indefinitely renew six-month prison terms with no charges.

Today was the 74th day of hunger striking for administrative detainees Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahla, currently in a prison clinic despite pleas from the Red Cross and Israel’s Physicians for Human Rights to transfer them to hospitals. The four other prisoners have been striking for over 40 days.

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This article was posted: Friday, May 11, 2012 at 11:07 am

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