[Pnews] Palestinian Khader Adnan 'dying' in Israeli prison after 67 days of hunger strike

[Prisoner News]

middleeasteye.net
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestinian-prisoner-khader-adnan-dying-israel-hunger-strike>
Palestinian Khader Adnan 'dying' in Israeli prison after 67 days of hunger
strike
By Fayha Shalash in Ramallah, occupied Palestine
April 12, 2023
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[image: image.png]

Palestinian <https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine> prisoner
Khader Adnan is “dying” in an Israeli
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel> prison clinic after 67
days on hunger strike, his wife and brother said on Wednesday.

A senior member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, 44-year-old Adnan
has been on hunger strike to protest against his detention in Israeli
prisons ever since he was arrested in an Israeli raid on his home on 5
February.

His health has seriously deteriorated over the 67 days, with his wife Randa
Moussa telling a press conference in Ramallah on Wednesday that he has
fainted more than once and is suffering from severe dizziness and general
weakness.

“My husband is dying and the Israeli prison administration refuses to
transfer him to a civilian hospital,” Moussa said. “Rather, it keeps him in
Ramla prison, which lacks the minimum health facilities. We have asked more
than once to transfer him to a hospital, but the request is always denied.”

Adnan has been imprisoned at least 11 times since 2004 and was a
spokesperson for Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails.

His first hunger strike came after his arrest in 2004, to protest at being
held in administrative detention, a controversial practice that allows
Israel to detain Palestinians without charge for six-month periods.

The hunger strike is seen by many as a symbol of Palestinian resistance,
and this is the fifth Adnan has undertaken during detention, with one
67-day stretch in 2012 inspiring a wave of Palestinian prisoners held under
administrative detention to join him.
'Fabricated charges'

Palestinian Islamic Jihad has been designated a terrorist organisation by
Israel, the United States <https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/us> and
the European Union <https://www.middleeasteye.net/tags/eu>. Israel has
repeatedly held Adnan in administrative detention over the years, citing
reasons such as "activities that threaten regional security".

His family, who have always denied that he is involved in militant
activity, say that while this time Adnan has not been transferred to
administrative detention, Israeli prosecutors have instead fabricated
several charges against him to imprison him.

'Israel has so far refused to allow me, his wife, and his nine children to
visit him'

- *Mohammed Adnan, brother of Khader Adnan*

Adnan began his latest hunger strike from the moment of his arrest at home
in the town of Arraba, south of Jenin in the occupied West Bank. This was a
way of refusing the arrest, and his trial has been postponed several times
since then.

Mohammed Adnan, Adnan's brother, said during the press conference that a
lawyer from the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association had
visited Adnan in the Ramla Prison Clinic, where he is being held, on
Tuesday. The lawyer updated the family on his health condition.

“In addition to frequent fainting, my brother suffers from hearing and
vision impairment, severe pressure in the chest, spasms all over his body,
and vomiting of yellow matter,” Mohammed Adnan said.

On Monday, Adnan fainted, fell to the ground, and hit his head and lower
shoulder. He remained lying on the ground for a long time without help from
any guards, despite the presence of surveillance cameras in his cell, the
lawyer told the family.

“That is why we demand that he be transferred to a civilian hospital. On
top of that, the jailers deliberately disturb him and deprive him of sleep
by storming his cell every half hour and keeping the light shining in it,”
Mohammed Adnan said.

“Israel has so far refused to allow me, his wife, and his nine children to
visit him, under the pretext of a security ban.”

Adnan is considered a prominent Islamic Jihad leader in the occupied West
Bank. He owns a bakery in his hometown and has nine children. He is active
in his support of Palestinian prisoners and regularly participates in
events held to support them.

<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-rearrests-khader-adnan-islamic-jihad>

Israel rearrests senior Palestinian Islamic Jihad member Khader Adnan

Read More »
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-rearrests-khader-adnan-islamic-jihad>

His wife appealed to various human rights organisations, especially
international ones, to help draw attention to his case and put pressure on
Israel to release him “before it is too late”.

Qaddoura Fares, head of the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, said that Israel
was deliberately ignoring Adnan’s demands to be released in order to
lengthen his hunger strike, in the hope that it would act as a deterrent to
other Palestinian prisoners.

Palestinian prisoners have collectively waged 25 strikes, as well as 410
individual strikes, the most recent of which is Adnan’s.

According to the Palestinian Prisoners' Club, the number of prisoners held
in Israeli jails is currently 4,700, of whom 1,000 are in administrative
detention, while Israeli forces have carried out at least 1,300 arrests
since the beginning of this year.
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