Israeli prisons house Palestinian inmates who started protest against “collective punishment”
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Sulaiman
- . February 17, 2023
- . Update: February 18, 2023 12:32 am
Israeli-jailed Palestinian inmates have started a protest movement against the harsh measures implemented by National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Massive protests have heightened tensions within prisons, which Palestinian prisoner affairs authorities warned on Thursday could erupt if not addressed.
Once the Israeli Prisons Administration started punishing Palestinians collectively, including by restricting canteens and other amenities on Friday and Saturday, protests broke out.
The new regulations also require handcuffing inmates who leave their cells, even to go to the prison clinic, limiting hot water showers to three minutes, further restricting monthly family visits, and ending morning sports. Ben-Gvir issued an order earlier this month to shut down bakeries that supplied daily bread to convicts.
The Supreme Emergency Committee for Prisoners announced an urgent campaign of civil disobedience in response to the actions, which was followed by a hunger strike to coincide with the beginning of Ramadan.
The leader of the Palestinian Prisoners Club, Qadura Faris, told Arab News that the recent actions were motivated by the government and intended to degrade and subdue both the inmates’ and the Palestinian people’s will.
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He claimed that after the issue was brought to the notice of the appropriate international authorities, they were asked to act and put pressure on the Israeli government to relax the restrictions.
The Israeli army detained 32 Palestinians in the West Bank at dawn on Thursday, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Club in Ramallah, increasing the total number detained since the year’s beginning to 800.
The 70-year-old mother of a man who was handed a life sentence, Laila Zawahra of Bethlehem, told Arab News that the harsh Israeli restrictions were having a negative impact on the detainees’ family.
She alleged that in an effort to stop planned protests, prison officials had begun moving inmate leaders.
“My 41-year-old son Mohammed and the welfare of his fellow prisoners are top priorities for me. They will begin a hunger strike on the first day of Ramadan, in addition to suffering from this cold, said Zawahra, who also announced that she and other families of detainees were preparing to hold sit-ins to draw attention to the prisoners’ condition.
4,780 Palestinians are now being held by Israel, including 914 administrative detainees, 29 women, and 160 minors.
According to Palestinian political expert Riyad Qadriya, the Israeli government’s most recent targeting of prisoners may lead to protests on the streets.
Ben-Gvir had pushed for a firm position against Palestinian detainees even before becoming a minister, according to Israeli journalist Dana Ben-Shimon, who spoke to Arab News.
“Now he is acting in this manner to appease the electorate. The Israeli security services are aware that any measures taken against Palestinian prisoners will have an impact on the Palestinian public outside the prison, even in the Gaza Strip, which is witnessing a state of calm different from the situation in the West Bank,” she said.
