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GAZA, August 23, 2004 (IPC + Agencies)— With the eighth consecutive
<br>
day of their hunger strike, thousands of Palestinian prisoners in <br>
various Israeli jails and concentration camps remained determined to
<br>
keep on protesting their harsh detention conditions, as solidarity <br>
with them has intensified. <br><br>
The Head of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), Esa Qaraqe', <br>
was quoted as saying that about 800 patient prisoners declared they
<br>
would join their inmates unless the prisoners' demands were met by <br>
Israeli occupying authorities. <br><br>
Qarqe' told Aljazeera satellite channel that Israeli authorities <br>
have not so far complied with the strike, slamming against the wall
<br>
all of their humanitarian demands and taking further punitive <br>
measures including seizing fans, cigarettes, books as well as radio
<br>
and TV sets. <br><br>
In a statement issued yesterday by Ansar Al Asra (Prisoners' <br>
Supporters) local society, the administrations of both Gilboa and <br>
Hadarim concentration camps have imposed humiliating actions against
<br>
the prisoners, such as forcibly striping them. <br><br>
The society revealed that some prisoners have been transferred to <br>
criminal detention centers just as the case of Tawfiq Abu Na'eem, <br>
the prisoners' spokesman, who was moved from the Nafha prison to the
<br>
Beer Sheva prison in southern Israel, in an attempt to break the <br>
hunger strike. <br><br>
In the meantime, civilians in Gaza, Qalqilia, Hebron and other <br>
cities marched in large demonstrations yesterday in solidarity with
<br>
the prisoners, as several prisoners' families declared they would <br>
embark on a hunger strike in support with those inside the
jails.<br><br>
The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has submitted a memorandum
<br>
to the United Nations, demanding the Palestinian prisoners to be <br>
dealt with by Israel as `prisoners of war' in accordance with the <br>
1949 Fourth Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilian Persons
<br>
in Times of War, of which Israel is a signatory. <br><br>
Israel still holds approximately 7200 Palestinians, including <br>
women, children, elderly and patients, under harsh detention <br>
conditions, inside its various jails and concentration camps.<br>
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