Democratic Palestine : 14 (ص 12)
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- Democratic Palestine : 14 (ص 12)
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break their will, transform them into
empty shells and destroy their steadfast
national and organizational identity in
confronting the continued attacks...
«The occupation forces’ announce-
ment that they would meet some of the
demands of the striking prisoners in this
prison or that, is only a superficial ans-
wer aimed at absorbing local and inter-
national reaction. These promises will
soon be cancelled, and the conditions of
imprisonment will return to the zero
level. This requires all democratic
institutions, all people of conscience and
human rights committees to imme-
diately raise their voices. They should
investigate what is occurring in the pris-
ons and take steps in solidarity with the
detainees’ demands...»
The letter called special attention to
the severe conditions in Jenin, Jnaid,
Khalil (Hebron), Gaza, Damon, Ramal-
lah and Asqalan prisons. The committee
also inclosed letters from the political
prisoners in Jenin, Jnaid and Asqalan, to
give a first-hand impression of the prison
conditions and the detainees’ demands.
Letter from Asqalan
On September 10, 1985, the politi-
cal prisoners in Asqalan were ordered to
stand during morning roll call. This had
earlier been general practice. All prison-
ers were forced to stand throughout roll
call in the entire prison, which often
lasted several hours, giving the guards
ample time for humiliating and harassing
the prisoners. Thus, the Asqalan prison-
ers decided to refuse reimposition of this
practice which had been abandoned in
the mid-seventies as the result of their
struggle.
On September 11th, when they
refused to stand, 100 Zionist soldiers,
gas-masked and wielding truncheons,
stormed the cells, one by one, teargas-
ing and beating the inmates, and confis-
cating their meagre personal belong-
ings. Many prisoners were injured, three
of them so seriously that they were
moved to the prison hospital at Ramla.
For the next three days, all the prisoners
were deprived of food and water; family
visits were cancelled. Two attempts by
the ICRC to see the prisoners were
blocked by the Zionist prison administra-
tion on September 19-20th. On Sep-
tember 29th, the Asqalan prisoners
staged a hunger strike, protesting mal-
treatment, parallel to a similar strike
waged by political prisoners in Jenin.
A letter sent out of Asqalan in
November, conveys the prisoners’
impression of these events:
«From the beginning of September,
we have been sensing the horrible smell
of hatred from the detention officers.
Their eyes and behavior foretold that a
new-old policy would be enacted...aim-
ing to uproot our organized, national
existence in the Zionist prisons. This
oppressive policy does not stop at roll
Sit-in in Damascus
; "il
=
Se a sc z
call. It aims at revoking all the conces-
sions we have attained through our
struggle. The horrible events in our
prison since September 11th are only
the beginning of the application of a plan
that has humiliation as its headline.
There has been horrible oppression, vol-
umes of tear gas, and the army and
police dogs are constantly present, turn-
ing the prison into a military barracks.
Yet we have not feared these measures,
and they have not killed our spirit of
struggle...
«In the light of this attempted liqui-
dation, we decided the following in order
to confront these measures and prove
our Palestinian identity, after having
used all other methods: to refuse morn-
ing roll call and begin an open, partial,
hunger strike, eating only bread. We
therefore call on you to stand by us, let-
ting the whole world hear our voice and
using all efforts for our just struggle...»
The Asqalan prisoners also con-
veyed their demands, including not to
stand in roll call, extending the exercise
break to 21/2 hours as it was before, a
stop to the daily search before the break.
permission to move between the diffe-
rent sections of the prison, allowing hot
water, the return of confiscated books
and notebooks, and an end to the acts of
intimidation by the administration and
personnel.
Jnaid: deliberate neglect
Prisoners in Jnaid have been facing
a similar Zionist campaign of harass-
ment and deliberate neglect. For long-
term prisoners, a major problem is the
administration's policy of frequent trans-
fers in order to make problems for the
prisoners and their family visits. The
death of a Jnaid prisoner underscored
that the Zionist policy of neglecting
health conditions is deliberate. Ghassan
Issa, a 25 year old Bethlehem citizen.
died on October 2, 1985. He had con-
tracted cancer earlier in the year, but
went without treatment for eight months
despite appeals for his being treated or
released. At the last minute, he was
moved to Ramla prison hospital to die.
His family was forbidden to visit him. A
letter sent by the Jnaid prisoners in
November describes the overall situa-
tion:
«The oppressive, fascist adminis-
tration is continuing its policy of attack
and delay (in addressing our demands).
This policy became more pronounced
after the prisoner exchange. The
administration has escalated this pol-
icy...resorting to the old-new methods of - هو جزء من
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