Staff Writer

Speaking to Radio Islam International, Hafidh Ebrahim Moosa, pointed out the critical stage faced by the now over 400 Palestinian prisoners protesting ‘administrative detention’; that is detention without charge, supposedly on ‘secretive’ military information. One prisoner, Shadi Abu Bakar, who has been on a hunger strike for over 66 days ow, had his detention extended again, and is now in prison for almost a year without charge.

Further, Kayed Fasfus, another Palestinian, prisoner is now on hunger strike for around 104 days, protesting administrative detention and Israel’s punitive prison conditions.

Hafidh Moosa pointed out that this was not the first prisoner strike in Palestinian history, arguing that this was one of the only means of gaining better treatment in Israel’s notorious prisons. Israel has responded to this in a very brutal manner, “prisoners have been forced to relieve themselves in a flask, some of the prison guards were eating loudly in front of the prisoners, uh, deliberately delaying responses to their [prisoners] needs, some of the hunger strikers were even put into cells full of cockroaches, everything, their personal belongings, including their Qurans.”

Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Minister, Benny Gants, on Friday endorsed a military order declaring six Palestinian Human Rights organisations terrorist organisations, which, it alleges are a front for the largely waning Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Many view the move as an attempt to silence crisis from reputable human rights organisations, especially as Palestine puts forward its case at the International Criminal Court; Al Haq argued,” “It is no coincidence that Israel’s recent escalation of punitive measures against Al-Haq and fellow civil society organisations has come in the immediate aftermath of the opening of an International Criminal Court investigation into Israel’s crimes in the Situation in Palestine.”

Hafidh Moosa pointed out that this move also elucidates the nature of Israel, which is supposedly opposed to violent resistance, peaceful resistance and now even human rights organisations, clearly indicating that they were opposed to any form of/and or highlighting its oppressive behaviour and resisting this. Further, he noted how Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream has been called terrorist by Israeli ministers for refusing to open stores in settlements, while noting how Gants himself has been accused of war crimes. It is significant that the PFLP has been weakened in previous years, and is unlikely to have the power to influence such organisations even if it had the will to do so, and there’s no evidence of the latter as well.