[Ppnews] Criticism of Israel as Khader Adnan on day 65 of hunger strike
Political Prisoner News
ppnews at freedomarchives.org
Mon Feb 20 11:34:13 EST 2012
Roseanne Barr and former Obama official join
criticism of Israel as Khader Adnan on day 65 of hunger strike
Submitted by Ali Abunimah on Mon, 02/20/2012 - 11:24
http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/roseanne-barr-and-former-obama-official-join-criticism-israel-khader-adnan-day-65
American actress and comedian
<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Roseanne_Barr&oldid=476541874>Roseanne
Barr and former Obama administration State
Department official Anne-Marie Slaugher are among
the growing number of people to join criticism of
Israels use of administrative detentions of
Palestinians highlighted by the 65 day hunger
strike of <http://electronicintifada.net/tags/khader-adnan>Khader Adnan.
Meanwhile, social media campaigns have helped
bring more attention to Adnans fight, even
though time for him may be running out.
Adnan is gravely ill, and
<http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/solidarity-hunger-strikers-israeli-jails-face-harsh-punishment-prisoner-says>his
lawyers fear he may not live until 23 February,
when the Israeli high court has agreed to hear a
petition against his detention without charge or
trial. Adnan was seized from his West Bank home
by Israeli occupation forces on 17 December.
Israel says Adnan is a member of the Palestinian
group Islamic Jihad, but has not charged him with any crime.
On Sunday, Twitter users trended the hashtag
#KhaderExists to the number one spot worldwide to
bring attention to Adnans hunger strike.
Slaughter,
<http://www.princeton.edu/%7Eslaughtr/>a
professor at Princeton University, who served as
Director of Policy Planning for the United States
Department of State from 2009-2011 tweeted,
#KhaderExists and should be charged or released
and provided a link to a
<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/12/palestinian-hunger-striker-shackled>12
February
Guardian<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/12/palestinian-hunger-striker-shackled>
article on his case.
Anne-Marie Slaughter Israel shackles Palestinian
hunger striker Khader Adnan
<http://t.co/dKaDkC2H>http://t.co/dKaDkC2H via
<http://twitter.com/guardian>@guardian
<http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23KhaderExists>#KhaderExists
and should be charged or released.
<http://twitter.com/SlaughterAM/status/171315987621232641>Feb 19
Roseanne Barr tweeted, G-d bless Khadar Adnan,
and the people of Israel/Palestine.
Roseanne Barr I am against ALL governments who
hold people indefintely without charges, trials
or recourse. Its barbaric& needs 2 stop.
<http://twitter.com/TheRealRoseanne/status/171477943258857473>Feb 20 via web
The cumulative attention on Twitter helped propel
signatures on an
<http://www.amnesty.org/en/appeals-for-action-Israel-End-use-of-administrative-detention%20>Amnesty
International online petition from just under
1,500 to over 2,500 in a few hours.
On her radio show that evening
(<http://kcaaradio.celestrion.net/kcaa-podcasts/roseanne/20120219.html>begins
at the 66 minute mark on this podcast), Barr, who
is considering running for president of the United States, said:
Today if you follow me on Twitter, people are
talking about Khader Adnan who is in his 64th day
of a hunger strike in an Israeli prison.
In further comments she added,
Something that bugs me is that we were talking
about Khader Adnan and the State of Israel, and
the how they are detaining and arresting people
without charge for a long time. And that is such
a terrible thing. And of course I just want to
make the point that its a terrible thing and
that should be removed from this world from
everywhere that it exists and its something people can rally behind.
Adnan, who is actually under guard shackled to
his bed at Ziv hospital in Safad, is one of more
than 300 administrative detainees held
indefinitely by Israel without charge or trial.
This number includes 21 members of the
Palestinian Legislative Council that was
democratically elected in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2006.
A song for Khader Adnan and Bobby Sands
Khader Adnans hunger strike the longest in the
history of Palestine has reminded many of the
historic Irish hunger strikes of 1980-81.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=David_Rovics&oldid=475928445>David
Rovics, an American independent musician,
recorded a song called Khader Adnan, Bobby
Sands. The song draws a comparison between
Adnans strike and that of
<http://www.bobbysandstrust.com/>Bobby Sands, who
died after 66 days hunger strike in Belfasts
Maze Prison. He was one of ten Irish hunger strikes who died.
Rovics song includes the lyrics:
They say Khader Adnan is a terrorist
Just like they said of Bobby Sands
Because he dares speak out against injustice
Because he dares to make a stand
Because he dares believe that he is human
And he does not deserve to live this way
Because he dares to consider an alternative
Because he dares imagine a new day
Former Irish hunger strikers
<http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/linah-alsaafin/video-raymond-mccartney-former-irish-hunger-striker-message-support-khader>Raymond
McCartney and
<http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/video-former-irish-hunger-strikers-message-khader-adnan-palestinian-prisoner-55>Tommy
McKearney, and
<http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/video-solidarity-khader-adnan-family-late-irish-hunger-striker-francis-hughes>Oliver
Hughes who is the brother Francis Hughes and
cousin of Thomas McElwee, both of whom died on
hunger strike, have all recorded video messages
of solidarity. The family of Irish hunger striker
Raymond McCreesh, who died after 61 days on
hunger strike, are the latest to send
<http://gazatvnews.com/2012/02/khader-adnan-receive-message-of-support-from-mccreesh-family/>a
message of support to Khader Adnan calling for an
end to administrative detention.
In Belfast over the weekend, Sinn Féin activists
and members of Belfast Friends of Palestine
<http://electronicintifada.net/blogs/benjamin-doherty/video-belfast-vigil-khader-adnan>held
a vigil outside the City Hall to support Palestinian Khader Adnan.
Today, Michelle Gildernew, the Sinn Féin Member
of Parliament for Fermanagh and South Tyrone also
released <http://youtu.be/bnSKHJ3Qejo>a video
message of solidarity with Khader Adnan.
As Khader Adnan trends globally, media slow on the uptake
While traditional media finally seem to be slowly
waking up to Khader Adnans struggle, and the
plight of hundreds of other detainees arbitrarily
held by Israel, much of the momentum bringing
attention to the case has been through social media.
For three days running, supporters of Adnan have
managed to push hashtags related to his name into
the top global trends, hoping that journalists
and others will begin to pay attention.
The effort to trend Khader Adnan will be repeated
again today, Monday, at 2PM US Eastern Time/ 7PM
UK Time/ 9 PM Palestine Time, and those
interested in participating can follow the @KhaderAdnan Twitter account.
A
<http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=258504>remarkably
fair article in
<http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=258504>The
Jerusalem Post, focused on Adnans pregnant wife
Randa, who is the mother of the couples two
young daughters Maali and Beisan. Randa Adnan has
become her husbands de facto media spokesperson,
a task she admitted was challenging:
The worst part of it is the lack of objective
news reporting. Sometimes, some [reporters] use
half of what I say and change the meaning of what I say, she said.
On
<http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2012/02/20/a-hunger-striker-at-deaths-door-turns-up-the-heat-on-israel-and-on-the-palestinian-leadership/>TIMEs
Global Spin blog, Tony Karon also commented on
the case noted that Adnans case has been largely ignored:
only as his death appears to draws near has his
plight begun to register on the international radar.
The BBC
(<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-17092051>Palestinian
Khader Adnan hunger strike in Israel into 10th
week) and CNN
(<http://articles.cnn.com/2012-02-18/middleeast/world_meast_israel-palestinian-detainee_1_hunger-strike-israeli-human-rights-group-detentions?_s=PM:MIDDLEEAST>Palestinians
hunger strike puts spotlight on Israeli
detentions) both carried stories on their websites.
And while The New York Times,
<http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/16/palestinian-challenges-detention-by-israel-with-hunger-strike/>with
the exception of its The Lede blog, continues to
ignore the case, The Washington Post ran a story
on Khader Adnan on 18 February:
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/palestinian-prisoner-on-hunger-strike-poses-challenge-for-israel/2012/02/18/gIQAma05LR_story.html>Palestinian
prisoner on hunger strike poses challenge for Israel.
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