Protesters blocked the entrance to the Ma'ale Adumim settlement yesterday, meters away from one of Israel's main interrogation centers in the West Bank. Two protesters were arrested.
50 Palestinian, Israeli and international activists blocked the entrance of the Ma’ale Adumim settlement yesterday, in support of the Palestinian prisoners’ massive hunger strike, now on its 27th days.
The protesters managed to halt traffic at the entrance to the settlement for about 20 minutes, before Israeli forces managed to remove them from the road and onto the pavement. Two of the Palestinian protesters were detained and taken to the adjacent police station.
The Ma’ale Adumim Jewish-only settlement is located 7 km east of Jerusalem, and is the third largest in the West Bank, with about 35,000 residents. The entrance that was blocked, leads to the Israeli police's Judea and Samaria Central Unit's interrogation center, one of the biggest in the West Bank.
Background
More than three weeks ago, some 2,000 Palestinian prisoners have launched an open-ended hunger strike and their life is in danger. Their demands are simple and the strike's slogan, echoing through the prison walls, is just as plain- freedom or death. The lives of all prisoners on strike are currently under danger, but among them is a smaller group, which has been striking for a longer period and whose lives are under immediate threat.
Thaer Halahleh and Bilal Diab have not eaten for more than 70 days - since the 29th of February. Israeli courts have rejected their appeals and refused to free them from administrative detention where they remain without charge or trial, subject to secret evidence and secret allegations. They are in critical condition.
Hassan Safadi has been refusing food since the 2nd of March, Omar Abu Shalal, 54, since the 4th of March, Mahmoud Sarsak, the only Gazan to have been incarcerated under Israel's Illegal Combatants Law, since the 24th of March, Mohammed al-Taj, 40, also since the 24th of March and Ja'afar Ezzadeen, 41, since the 27th of march.
The Prisoners' key demands include:
- Ending the policy of solitary confinement and isolation;
- End to the use of administrative detentions;
- The restoration of visitation rights to families of prisoners from the Gaza Strip, a right that has been denied to all families for more than 6 years;
- Canceling ‘Shalit’ law, which restricts prisoners' access to educational materials as punitive measure. The law remains intact despite a prisoner swap deal last October.
- Ending systematic humiliation, including arbitrary strip searches, nightly raids and collective punishment.
Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike have been hit hard with retaliation from Israel Prison Services, includingbeatings, transferring from one prison to another, confiscation of salt (an act that could have severe health consequences for hunger strikers), denial of family and lawyer visits, and isolation and solitary confinement of hunger strikers.
In response, Human Rights Watch issued a statement chiding Israel’s over its administrative detention policy; it said, “It shouldn’t take the self-starvation of Palestinian prisoners for Israel to realize it is violating their due process rights." Amnesty International also issued a call for urgent action from individuals around the world to contact Israeli authorities about Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh.
Very impressive. The fact that Palestinians are tortured by Jews in settlements like “Ofer”, “Maaleh Adumim” and “Gush Etzion” just increases the odiousness and the moral degeneracy of the biggest project for Judaism of the last 50 years.
More movement. A friend of mine who is barely involved with this issue. Knows a bit but not much actually mentioned the international fasting day coming up on Thursday.
i love seeing those flag rippling in the wind. i love it! they are so beautiful, they make my heart sing.
israel: we don’t do gandhi very well!
i love these actions i love them love them love them and all the activists!!!
love them
I’m watching this video over and over and I am dying. I am just dying. Khader Adnan will go into our history books for awakening the Palestinian masses. I am sure of that.
i know me too!!! clapping with my tears. i love them love them. this video is amazing. look at these gorgeous people, these are my people.
This is from 2007. The checkpoint system of control that Maaleh adumim torture centre is part of
Periodic prohibitions
* Residents of certain parts of the West Bank are forbidden to travel to the rest of the West Bank.
* People of a certain age group – mainly men from the age of 16 to 30, 35 or 40 – are forbidden to leave the areas where they reside (usually Nablus and other cities in the northern West Bank).
* Private cars may not pass the Swahara-Abu Dis checkpoint (which separates the northern and southern West Bank). This was canceled for the first time two weeks ago under the easing of restrictions.
__________________________
Travel permits required
* A magnetic card (intended for entrance to Israel, but eases the passage through checkpoints within the West Bank).
* A work permit for Israel (the employer must come to the civil administration offices and apply for one).
* A permit for medical treatment in Israel and Palestinian hospitals in East Jerusalem (The applicant must produce an invitation from the hospital, his complete medical background and proof that the treatment he is seeking cannot be provided in the occupied territories).
* A travel permit to pass through Jordan valley checkpoints.
* A merchant’s permit to transfer goods.
* A permit to farm along the seam line requires a form from the land registry office, a title deed, and proof of first-degree relations to the registered property owner.
* Entry permit for the seam line (for relatives, medical teams, construction workers, etc. Those with permits must enter and leave via the same crossing even if it is far away or closing early).
* Permits to pass from Gaza, through Israel to the West Bank.
* A birth certificate for children under 16.
* A long-standing resident identity card for those who live in seam-line enclaves.
__________________________
Checkpoints and barriers
* There were 75 manned checkpoints in the West Bank as of January 9, 2007.
* There are on average 150 mobile checkpoints a week (as of September 2006).
* There are 446 obstacles placed between roads and villages, including concrete cubes, earth ramparts, 88 iron gates and 74 kilometers of fences along main roads.
* There are 83 iron gates along the separation fence, dividing lands from their owners. Only 25 of the gates open occasionally.
Travel time before 2000 versus today
Tul Karm-Nablus
Then: half an hour, at the most.
Now: At least an hour.
Tul Karm-Ramallah
Then: less than one hour.
Now: Two hours.
Beit Ur al-Fawqa-Ramallah
Then: 10 minutes.
Now: 45 minutes.
Katana/Beit Anan-Ramallah
Then: 15 minutes.
Now: One hour to 90 minutes.
Bir Naballah-Jerusalem
Then: seven minutes.
Now: One hour.
Katana-Jerusalem
Then: five minutes.
Now: “Nobody goes to Jerusalem anymore.”
Published by Machsom Watch