Today the New York Times has a story about the possible prisoner exchange between Israel and the Palestinians that involves Gilad Shalit, of course, in exchange for "hundreds of Palestinians in Israeli prisons, including many convicted of organizing suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism."
I searched this article in vain for basic information: How many Palestinians are in Israeli jails, and under what conditions. I want to know how many Palestinians are locked up, how many are actually convicted of things and how many are just detained and for how long. Including Mohammad Othman, a human rights worker imprisoned for two months now without charges after visiting Europe.
Mondoweiss readers, please do for me what the Times didn’t do for me when I bought my newspaper this morning. In a story about the prisoner exchange, the Times left out relevant facts. Can you supply them? I’m sure that Shmuel and others will know the answer to this question.
And would anyone with a few spare moments like to bring this failure to the attention of the Times ombudsman? Routine mainstream journalism should have included these facts.
Update: A reader sends this link:
Israel is currently holding 335 Palestinians without trial in breach of international law, two Israeli human rights groups said [last month].
Of the 335 Palestinians held in so-called administrative detention, one is a minor and three are women. One of the prisoners has been held for more than four and a half years without trial and another 28 have been in detention for between two and four years, HaMoked and B’Tselem said.
