{"id":102395,"date":"2013-12-30T08:14:00","date_gmt":"2013-12-30T08:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?guid=bc03303963c0b586669763afc48edc17"},"modified":"2013-12-30T08:14:00","modified_gmt":"2013-12-30T08:14:00","slug":"palestinian-political-prisoners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/editorials\/palestinian-political-prisoners\/","title":{"rendered":"Palestinian Political Prisoners"},"content":{"rendered":"
Palestinian Political Prisoners<\/b><\/div>\n
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by Stephen Lendman<\/div>\n
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Palestine imprisons no Israelis for any reason – zero. Thousands of Palestinians wrongfully languish in Israel’s gulag. <\/div>\n
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They’re tortured and abused. They’re intimidated, humiliated and degraded. They’re held under appalling conditions. <\/div>\n
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They’re poorly fed and clothed. They’re denied proper medical treatment when ill. They’re mostly political prisoners. They’re punished for being Muslims.<\/div>\n
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Since Israel’s occupation began, over 800,000 Palestinians were incarcerated. It’s about 20% of Palestine’s population. It’s around 40% of its male population. Doing so is unprecedented anywhere.<\/div>\n
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Nearly all Palestinian prisoners are held inside Israel. Incarcerating them outside Palestine violates Fourth Geneva’s Article 49. It states:<\/div>\n
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“…forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons (including prisoners) from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive.”<\/div>\n
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Article 76 states:<\/div>\n
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“Protected persons accused of offences shall be detained in the occupied country, and if convicted they shall serve their sentences therein.”<\/div>\n
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Fourth Geneva requires treating all prisoners humanely. Israel ignores all international humanitarian laws. It does it willfully. It maliciously subjects Palestinians to cruel and unusual punishment.<\/div>\n
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On December 28, Israel announced the release of 26 Palestinian political prisoners. On December 30, they’ll be freed.<\/div>\n
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They’ve been wrongfully imprisoned for 19 – 28 years. Last summer, Netanyahu got cabinet approval for 104 releases. <\/div>\n
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Freeing them is coincidental with sham peace talks. New lawless settlement construction is announced at the same time.<\/div>\n
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Implementation is in four stages. In mid-August, 26 were freed. On October 29, an equal number followed. On December 30, so did 26 more.<\/div>\n
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Since releases began in August, Israel imprisoned many more Palestinians than it freed. Its so-called good will gesture is meaningless.<\/div>\n
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No Palestinian is safe. Anyone faces potential arrest and imprisonment any time for any reason or none at all. Police states operate this way.<\/div>\n
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Ahmed Qatamesh is a distinguished Palestinian academic, author, and human rights activist.<\/div>\n
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On April 21, 2011, Israel lawlessly arrested him. It did so pre-dawn. He was at his brother’s home. <\/div>\n
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An hour earlier, heavily armed Israeli security forces terrorized his wife, children and two female relatives. <\/div>\n
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They were held hostage. It was done to compel Qatamesh’s surrender. At gunpoint, his daughter Hanin was forced to call him. She explained her ordeal, saying:<\/div>\n
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“(T)hey pointed their machine guns at us and told us they wanted to search the house.”<\/div>\n
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“After a futile search, the soldiers went to the apartment right above ours whose owners – US citizens – were away. They knocked down the main door and wrecked the place.”<\/div>\n
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“They confiscated our phones, disconnecting us from the outside world. The commander forced me at gunpoint to call my father.” <\/div>\n
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“He then grabbed my phone and shouted at him, ‘Surrender yourself or we’ll destroy the house!’ “<\/div>\n
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“Perhaps the most important principle that I learned from my dad was never to allow obstacles to keep me from realizing my dreams.” <\/div>\n
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“I will continue to dream of Palestinian freedom. Along the way, I will continue to expose the brutality of Israel’s occupation and our land – and houses.”<\/div>\n
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“It’s so clear that he is there because of his ideas and political activism. He is a prisoner of conscience, and he is there because of political reasons.”<\/div>\n
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His wife Suha said:<\/div>\n
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“It’s so clear that he is there because of his ideas and political activism. He is a prisoner of conscience, and he is there because of political reasons.”<\/div>\n
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Palestinian activist Mustafa Barghouti called his arrest “a shameless attempt at muzzling him in an unjustifiable attack on his freedom of expression.”<\/div>\n
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Euromed Platform of NGOs vice president Gerarda Ventura called him “one of the most sensitive and intellectual people I have ever met.” He highlighted his struggle for “freedom, justice and peace.”<\/div>\n
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In 1969, his ordeal began. Israel detained him for several months. In 1972, he was arrested again. He was imprisoned for four years.<\/div>\n
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In 1992, he went underground. He did so until arrested in September. He was administratively detained for five and half years. Israel held him uncharged and untried.<\/div>\n
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He was tortured and abused for weeks. Israel shamelessly called him a “dangerous” leader. He documented his ordeal in prison notes. <\/div>\n
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He titled them “I Shall Not Wear Your Tarboush (a fez like cap).” He explained brutalizing torture and solitary confinement. Israel treats most Palestinian prisoners the same way.<\/div>\n
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At his October 31, 2011 military court hearing, he said:<\/div>\n
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“You are destroying my life, and I want to know why. As a human being, I have my own mind and I am educated, and I want to know what I am detained for.”<\/div>\n
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In September 2011, Amnesty International (AI) declared him “a prisoner of conscience.” He’s imprisoned “solely for the peaceful expression of his political views,” AI said.<\/div>\n
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In Occupied Palestine, Israel prohibits free expression and assembly. It denies Palestinians all rights.<\/div>\n
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Qatamesh was imprisoned administratively uncharged. So are many other Palestinians. They’re denied due process.<\/div>\n
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They can’t contest their detention. They can be held indefinitely. They’re not told why. Three Israeli laws authorize detentions:<\/div>\n
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