Hundreds of Arab activists, community leaders, and locals attended a protest in Nazareth Saturday held to show solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners’ hunger striking in Israeli detention. Saturday’s march was attended by prominent Arab MKs, among them Hadash leading members. The MKs, who belonging to different parties, linked arms in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners despite the political and ideological disagreements between them.
The marchers waved Palestinian flags bearing the prisoners’ photos. The protesters criticized Israel during the march for “leading to a third Intifada.” Marchers said Israel’s policies on prisoners “will lead to an explosion” of Palestinian protest on the occupied territories. Demonstrators are principally demanding the release of hunger-striking prisoners Samer Issawi, Ayman Sharawneh, Tareq Qaadan, and Jafar Azzidine. Issawi has been on hunger strike for over 200 days.
MK Barakeh during the demonstration against occupation, on Friday, in Kafr Qaddum (Photo: Al Ittihad)
Issawi and Sharawneh were previously jailed for long prison sentences for terrorist activities, but were released in 2011 as part of the prisoner exchange deal that secured the freedom of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Earlier Saturday, a Palestinian prisoner: Arafat Jaradat died in Israel’s Megiddo Prison, reportedly from heart failure.
Some 4,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails launched hunger-strike action on Sunday to protest the death of Jaradat, who died in a day earlier. Israel’s internal security service, Shin Bet, said in a statement that during an interrogation on Thursday Jadarat was examined “numerous times” by a doctor and no health problems were found so the procedure continued. Palestinian Authority Minister of Detainees Issa Qaraqe said that “Jaradat was being interrogated and then he died. Therefore we call for an international investigation into his death that may have resulted from torture.”
On Friday, MK Mohammed Barakeh, head of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, stated “at this stage there is no more important than the activation of the Palestinian popular resistance to occupation and defeat it,” at the central celebration of the 44th anniversary of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which took in Ramallah. The Festival was held in the presence of leading Palestinian figures. MK Barakeh, arrived to Ramallah after his participation in a demonstration against occupation in Kafr Qaddum
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