Palestinian Captives Revolt Against IOA Humiliating Policies in Jails

28 September 2007

TULKAREM, (PIC)-- Tension ran high in the Israeli prisons as thousands of Palestinian captives revolted against the Israeli prison authority's (IPA) repressive policies, sources close to the captives affirmed.

In the Nitsan prison in the 1948-occupied Palestinian city of Ramle, a Palestinian captive assaulted and stabbed an Israeli jail guard in the face after the jail administration maltreated him, the sources added, affirming that the incident could spark an all-out revolt in those jails if the IPA inhuman practices against the captives persisted.

More than 11,000 Palestinian prisoners are living in extremely difficult condition in Israeli jails, including denying them family visits and depriving them proper medical attention among other repressive practices.

A number of Palestinian captives affiliated with Hamas Movement were quoted as affirming that the Palestinian detainees in the said jail were worried about the health condition of their comrade Hassan Salamah of Hamas Movement who had received the highest jail sentence of 46 life-imprisonment-terms from Israeli courts so far.

Salamah is currently confined in the isolation ward at the Israeli Eshiel prison in the 1948-occupied Palestinian city of Bir Sheba.

Few days ago, Salamah was severely manhandled by five of Israeli jail guards while escorting him to the prison's physician for medical check up with one or them reportedly saying " We have been waiting for this time to get and beat you up".

"The physical assault on Salamah at the hands of the jail guards was an unforgivable and heinous Israeli crime against the captive", the captives affirmed.

In a related matter, lawyer of the Nafha society that caters for Palestinian captives and ex-prisoners' affairs quoted Palestinian captives in the Israeli Ashkilon prison as affirming that the jail's administration was denying Palestinian captives from Gaza Strip their right of family visits.

"Jail conditions of the Palestinian captives from Gaza Strip are indeed tragic and unfortunate as they are denied family visits even for receiving new dresses for their families", the lawyer affirmed after meeting with a number of Palestinian in the said jail.

The lawyer also quoted the captives as complaining of "quality and quantity" of the food offered to them in the jail, affirming that most of the time the prisoners refrain from getting their food being rotten and inedible.

More than 210 Palestinian captives, including secretary of the PA legislature and Hamas's legislator Dr. Mahmoud Al-Ramahi among other captives, were locked in the said jail.