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The case of
Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons has been and remains a very
sensitive issue for the Palestinian people, especially after the Peace
Accords. For the Palestinians, Palestinian prisoners have sacrificed their
freedom, in some cases for over 27 years, in the name of the Palestinian
cause. The number of Palestinian and Arab prisoners currently in Israeli
jails amounts to 2250, of whom 1000 were arrested prior, and 1250 after,
the Oslo Accords.
Statistics on
Prisoners in Israeli Jails,
Ministry of
Detainees’ Affairs
Over 600,000
arrests were made by the Israelis since the Occupation in 1967
Over 500
Palestinian prisoners are held in Israeli jails without trial
7 women
detainees are held in Talmond prison
120 detainees
are sick, 25 are elderly men and approximately 60 are children
20 detainees are
held in solitary confinement
40 detainees are
Palestinians with Israeli nationality
130 detainees
are from other Arab countries
Following the
signing of the Wye River Accords, there was renewed hope among Palestinian
prisoners for their release. This hope waned on Israel’s implementation of
the vague Wye provisions on prisoners. The release involved only petty
criminals, unconvicted prisoners and prisoners who had almost finished
their sentences. This situation led to an extreme state of depression
among prisoners as well as to anger directed against the Palestinian
negotiator who had not signed a clear and concise agreement with Israel on
this matter.
During the
negotiations leading to the Wye Accords, Israel had agreed to release 750
prisoners in three stages and agreed that a list of names of these
prisoners would be drawn up at a later date. The written Agreement at Wye
does not mention prisoner release.
In a subsequent
meeting that was held on 17 November 1998 between the Israeli Minister of
Internal Security, Avigador Kahalani, and the Palestinian representatives,
which included the Minister for Detainees’ Affairs, Hisham Abdul Razeq,
Secretary of State Abu Mazen and Head of the Preventative Security Service
(PSS) in Gaza, Muhammad Dahlan, the list of prisoners’ names was not
discussed. “Instead, the principles were discussed”.
These principles
included a suggestion by Israel that only 94 of the 250 detainees whom
Israel would release during the first stage of releases would be political
prisoners, whilst the rest would be petty criminals. The Palestinian
delegation did not accept this and Minister Kahalani had to return to
reconsider the issue with the Israeli government.
On 19 November
1998, the Israelis informed Abdul Razeq that the Israeli position
regarding the release of prisoners remained unchanged, whilst Minister
Abdul Razeq responded by confirming the Palestinian’s rejection of the
Israeli position. Consequently, Israel ignored the Palestinian position
and on 20 November 1998 released the 250 prisoners.
Israel then
produced a list of the names of the 750 prisoners who had (and who would
still) be released. According to Israeli classifications, 500 of these
prisoners are criminals whilst 250 are political prisoners. Some prisoners
only had a few days to complete their sentence, one of the released
prisoners stating on Israeli TV, “I only had two more days to complete my
sentence.”
In addition, 20
of the 250 released prisoners had only been recently arrested.
As a result of
Clinton’s visit to the region and of depression amongst some prisoners,
the remaining prisoners went on hunger strike, beginning on 5 December
1998. The aim of this action was not to make specific demands, but rather
to raise the case of Palestinian prisoners during negotiations chaired by
President Clinton.
With the
outbreak of the hunger strike, a campaign was simultaneously launched in
support of the prisoners during a press conference held in Ramallah on 5
December 1998. Those participating in the conference included Palestinian
Legislative Council (PLC) member Qadurah Faris, Director of the Prisoners
Society in Bethlehem, Issa Qaraqe’e, Director of Al-Dameer (Consciousness)
for the Relief of Prisoners, Abdul Latif Geith and Dr. Samir Shehadeh (the
father of a prisoner).
The hunger
strike was also accompanied by an extensive international campaign. The
day before the beginning of the strike, the Prisoners Society had sent
letters in the name of the prisoners to ambassadors, consuls and foreign
representatives to the PNA in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The letters
requested that the aforementioned groups take the subject of prisoners
seriously and that they put pressure on Israel to respect its undertakings
made to the PNA on the matter.
Actions to show
solidarity with these prisoners varied from hunger strikes through tent
sit-ins to organized marches in many West Bank and Gaza Strip cities.
Following orders from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli
Forces used violence against the demonstrators. As a result, four people
were killed and hundreds were injured.
All Palestinian
prisoners in Israeli jails participated in the strike, including those who
were sick in Israeli hospitals. Inevitably their conditions worsened and
in some cases became critical.
On 12 December
1998, during a press conference that was held with the Jordanian Prime
Minister Fayez al-Tarawneh upon his visit to Gaza, President Arafat called
on prisoners to discontinue their action, by stating, “let us call on the
prisoners who are on a hunger strike in Israeli jails and ask them to end
their strike.”
In light of the
fact that the prisoners thought diplomatic efforts and negotiations would
not have a positive impact, they had reacted with skepticism to the
President’s request to end the strike. In the words of one of the
prisoners in Ashquelon prison: “Arafat asked us to cease the strike and
give him a chance, but because we know the way in which Netanyahu thinks
we are not optimistic.”
Ending the
hunger strike
The prisoners
brought an end to their strike on 15 December 1998 for the following
reasons:
With the coming
to an end of President Clinton’s visit and with the successful bringing of
the prisoner’s cause to the negotiating table at the summit between the
three leaders, the short-term aim of the strike and been achieved.
The prisoners
accepted Arafat’s request to give the Palestinian negotiator a chance to
deal with, and to resolve, their case.
On 14 December
1998, the prisoners received news through the media and from sources in
the Israeli army and Shabak (Israeli General Security Service (GSS)) about
the Israeli army and GSS’s support for the release of prisoners convicted
of killing Israelis. The motivation for this support was to relaunch
security cooperation with the PNA and to put an end to demonstrations and
marches in support of the prisoners.
Did the
prisoner’s strike achieve its aims?
The strike
succeeded in achieving some of its aims and failed in achieving others.
The success included:
Forcing Arafat,
Netanyahu, and Clinton to discuss the case of prisoners during the summit,
held at Erez checkpoint on 15 December 1998. According to Clinton’s
statements during the press conference held after the summit the three
parties had agreed during the meeting on forming an informal committee to
deal with the case of the prisoners. The Minister of Detainees’ Affairs
has however denied the existence of such an agreement and claims to be
unaware of the existence of any such committee.
Raising the
cause of prisoners on national and international political agendas.
Reaffirming the
effectiveness of passive resistance behind bars.
The strike may
have failed to alter the official short-term Israeli view, because of the
change that may take place as a result of the forthcoming Israeli
elections on 17 May 1999.
The Palestinian
Ministry of Detainees’ Affairs view on the procedures taken in solving the
case of detainees
A solution to
the prisoner’s case must be found through negotiation with Israel and
through a written and clear agreement, which identifies the number of
prisoners in jails, their specific charges and the dates of anticipated
release. The Palestinian Minister believes that the prisoner issue must be
resolved during the final status negotiations “because it is not possible
to sign a peace agreement between Israel and Palestine until all
Palestinian prisoners and Arabs who have participated in the Palestinian
struggle remains in Israeli jails.”
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