Attorney Shireen Issawi, held without trial for suspected involvement in terror, strikes in support of Mohammed Allaan
Palestinian detainee Shireen Issawi, held by Israel without trial for alleged involvement with terrorist groups, launched a hunger strike Monday in solidarity with a prisoner who’s protested by going without food for over two months.
Issawi’s brother Samir, also detained by Israel, began a hunger strike on Sunday in solidarity with fellow detainee Mohammed Allaan, whose 62-day strike has placed his life in danger, the Palestinian news agency Ma’an reported Monday.
Dozens of other prisoners were reportedly considering launching their own hunger strikes.
Shireen Issawi was detained by Israeli forces in March 2014, according to Amjad Abu Asab, head of the Palestinian Authority Committee for Prisoners’ Affairs in Jerusalem. Samir was released from an Israeli prison in December 2013 after a 266-day hunger strike, but was rearrested by Israel in July 2014.
All three are held under special anti-terror rules called “administrative detention,” which allows Israeli authorities to incarcerate them indefinitely without trial. Detainees can appeal their detention to the High Court of Justice, but do not receive full trials or have access to the evidence against them.
Allaan, who Israel says is active in the Islamic Jihad terror group, was hospitalized at Ashkelon’s Barzilai Medical Center, where doctors say his condition is worsening and has become life-threatening. Allaan has demanded Israel either release him or put him on trial.
On July 30, the Knesset passed a controversial law allowing force-feeding of hunger strikers with a court order. The Israel Medical Association has said force-feeding a prisoner constituted a violation of medical ethics. Doctors at Barzilai have said they would not force-feed Allaan.
Some 400 Palestinians are held in Israel under administrative detention rules, according to figures of the Palestinian prisoner rights group Addameer cited by Ma’an.
As reported by The Times of Israel