[Ppnews] What Palestinian political prisoners are fighting for
Political Prisoner News
ppnews at freedomarchives.org
Tue Mar 20 15:54:27 EDT 2012
What Palestinian political prisoners are fighting for
Ameer Makhoul
Gilboa Prison
20 March 2012
http://electronicintifada.net/content/what-palestinian-political-prisoners-are-fighting/11076
The case of the freedom fighter Khader Adnan
reminds us of where the strength of the
Palestinian people lies. This is the strength
that was squandered and dissipated in the Oslo
process and the pursuit of a state at the expense of national liberation.
With his historic hunger strike and his heroic
resolve in his fight against the occupying state,
Adnan has reaffirmed an important principle of
resistance to colonialist regimes: when the
people, or individuals, who are their victims
remain resolute, the world will react. Sympathy
turns into solidarity, and that in turn can
nurture a growing movement of support for the
struggle which is capable of shaking the foundations of the colonialist system.
His case has also confirmed the fact that the
colonizers agencies can never protect its
victim. Its project can only be defeated by
breaking the dominance of those agencies and the rules they enforce.
Adnans battle for life and dignity is a model to
be emulated in the Palestinian liberation
struggle. It has lessons to offer the
participants in that struggle, including
prisoners and international solidarity activists,
on how their work can be integrated.
Campaign of defiance
Adnan seized the initiative and declared an
open-ended hunger strike to protest against his
imprisonment under an administrative detention
order. His aim was clear: to defy both the order
and the Israeli system of oppression. He also was
seeking to serve notice that Palestinians refuse
to accept the treatment meted out to them by the occupation authorities.
The campaign he triggered illustrated how the
components of popular struggle can be brought
together. Inspired by the prisoners
determination, Palestinians in the 1948
territories responded quickly. A popular media
and mobilization campaign was rapidly launched,
both locally and internationally. A variety of
youth and other grassroots organizations became
immediately involved, as did prisoners families and political groups.
This activism soon spread to the West Bank, Gaza
Strip and Jerusalem. It also spread among the
Palestinian diaspora and spawned a formidable worldwide movement.
Prisoners in Israeli jails also launched a
campaign to champion, support and share the
responsibility with Adnan. They adopted the
principles of organized collective escalation,
which began by rejecting meals and refusing to
receive supplies (the prison authorities
responded by closing off the open-air courtyards
and preventing the prisoners from leaving their
cells). Growing numbers also declared open-ended hunger strikes.
Israels weak link
The prisoners knew that their battle was not with
the prison authorities per se, but the occupation
state as a system, with all its extensions and
institutions. But the prison authorities were the
weak link within the security apparatus on which
pressure could be applied. The prisoners thus
sent a message to the government of Israel that
Adnan speaks for them all and warned of the
consequences of endangering his life.
The prison authorities in turn urged the
government to resolve Adnans case as quickly as
possible in order to forestall the growing unrest
among the prisoners. In effect, the prisoners message was received.
The Israeli security apparatus was extremely
worried when the hunger strike continued and
Adnans condition became critical. They were not
concerned for his life, but feared his death
could help trigger a new Palestinian intifada,
including in the 1948 territories.
The strategy of rapid, multi-faceted action
proved its effectiveness. In addition to
Palestinian action, a major and influential role
was played by international solidarity movements.
This pressure, coupled with fear of what would
happen if there was an explosion of Palestinian
anger, prompted even the US and European
countries to make statements in the last few days
of the hunger strike against the administrative detention of Adnan.
One of the major strengths of the campaign to
support Adnan was that it told his personal human
story, as well as of his life in politics and his
struggle, in a manner that successfully conveyed
both his suffering and his resolve. Adnans story
also embodied the essence of the Palestinians
experience and their quest for their rights and
freedom, and serve to expose Israels essence for what it really is.
This was more effective at moving people than
mere facts and figures important as they are
could have been. The main part in the drama was
played by the prisoner himself. Adnans family,
wife, father and children also played heroic roles.
Bankruptcy of moderation
This battle highlighted the bankruptcy of the
discourse of moderation which Israel and the US
have foisted on the official Palestinian
leadership. This moderate stance claims that if
we Palestinians wish to secure international
support, we must adopt a moderate posture. In
practice, this means voluntarily accepting the
oppressive controls imposed by the globalized
terror of the state. Moderation here means
abandoning the right to resist the occupying state.
Yet what we have just witnessed is that the world
lends support when Palestinians themselves fight
back and stand firm, regardless of their
political affiliation. The ability to affect and
move international public opinion and secure
effective wide-scale solidarity was not the
outcome of a public relations strategy but of a
real struggle on the ground to stand up to the oppressive colonialist machine.
In all cases when an Israeli administrative
detention by military order has been legally
challenged or an emergency regulations
provision such as a ban on traveling or entering
the territories occupied by Israel in 1967 the
Israeli high court has always upheld the policies
of the military, security and intelligence services.
What happens in court is that the judge asks the
Palestinian challenging the order, whether he is
an Israeli citizen or not, to authorize the
Israeli judges to see the secret evidence which
the victims and their lawyers are not allowed to
see or know. If the victim agrees, the judges
rule on the basis of the secret evidence and
invariably agree with the finding of the security
agencies, normally issued in the name of a
relevant minister or military leader.
Should the victim refuse to trust in the honesty
or credibility of the occupying state, the legal
challenge is in effect over, as the judges will
throw it out and blame the victim for its failure.
Dangerous notions
During the Adnan campaign, a number of
Palestinian political leaders, human rights
activists and media outlets used the argument
that if Israel had any evidence against Adnan, it
should have brought him before an ordinary court.
Others have suggested that the success of his
campaign should inspire a new one against the use
of administrative detention orders in general.
These are dangerous notions, particularly when
coming from people of standing and influence.
Israel is an occupying state and a colonialist
entity. Even international law protects the
victims of occupation and prohibits their
transfer to prisons within the borders of the
occupying state. Therefore, both administrative
detention and the ordinary occupation prisons are equally illegal.
Moreover, what is evidence supposed to mean
here? Evidence of resisting the occupation?
Resisting the occupation is legitimate: it is the
Israeli occupation and colonization, with its
settlements and courts, that are illegitimate.
Have the thousands of Palestinian and Arab
prisoners in Israeli jail been legitimately
sentenced? They have all been tried on evidence
that is mainly secret and neither they nor their lawyers are allowed to see.
There is another factor. Israeli academic studies
have proven unequivocally the scale of scandalous
discrimination in the sentences handed down by
judges in criminal cases. The sentences given to
Palestinian citizens of Israel are much harsher
than those given to Jewish Israeli convicts. So
what can one expect when the judge representing
the occupying state adjudicates on a charge of
resistance by victims of this occupation?
Our battle
The real concern for the people under occupation
is not whether the detention of their sons or
daughters was carried out using an Israeli
administrative order or a military or civilian
court order. The oppression, repression and
plunder are the same no matter which tool the
occupation uses. Adnans battle is a fight
against the whole colonialist project and not just one of its tools.
But when Palestinian leaders and human rights
activists declare that the next step is to
escalate the campaign against administrative
detention orders, it indicates weakness or faulty vision.
The battle against Israeli emergency laws is a
battle for the Israelis, not for the Palestinian
people. The battle for the Palestinians, and all
in the world who oppose occupation and
colonialism, is against the occupation and the
occupying state, and for national liberation,
recovery of the homeland and the return of its
people who are refugees and exiles.
The case of Adnan proves that victory over the
colonialist project is not a mission impossible.
It is possible. And it has renewed and
strengthened the hope that the Palestinian people
are capable of energizing their free will the will for victory.
Ameer Makhoul is a Palestinian civil society
leader and political prisoner at Gilboa Prison.
This article is co-published by Al Akhbar English and translated from Arabic.
Freedom Archives
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415 863-9977
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