Marking Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, Samer Issawi, a Palestinian detained by Israel who has been in hunger strike since August 1, has called for “rage and solidarity”. Issawi, from Isawiya in East Jerusalem, was granted amnesty in the October 2011 prisoners swap between Israel and Hamas, but he was rearrested on July 7, 2012 on the grounds he had violated his release terms by leaving East Jerusalem and entering the West Bank.
In a letter sent through his lawyer from his hospital bed, where he spends most of the day chained, Issawi wrote:
Greetings to all without exception. I urge all the noble people of our Arab and Muslim nation as well as the free people of the world to turn April 17, 2013 into a day of rage and solidarity with Palestinian prisoners all over the world. The voice of those heroes who have sacrificed and are still making sacrifices for the sake of the freedom of their people and land, and in defense for Muslim and Christian holy places in the holiest spot on the globe, should be heard.
Issawi has denounced that Israeli forces continued to breach international conventions and to exert pressure on detainees to frustrate them. According to him, they want prisoners to feel they are fighting their battle alone and that their own people have forgotten them. Issawi also said that “All prisoners must be released before conducting any negotiations with the occupation regardless of how fruitful these negotiations could be” and addressing his fellow prisoners, he called for unity.
Palestinian Authority prisoners minister, Issa Qaraqe, said 17 April that officers of Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency were in intense negotiations with Issawi at the Kaplan Medical Center. According to some sources, Issawi was offered to be exiled to another country. However, he has stressed that he will only agree to a deal that allows him to return to his hometown of Isawiya.
[من فلسطين] 