The fight against Israeli administrative detention continues. Meet Hanaa Shalabi, a female administrative detainee entering her 16th day of hunger strike.
Last October al-Shalabi was released during the so-called Gilad Shalit prisoner swap. Her hunger strike is perceived as a model for those political prisoners released in the swap but who still suffer ongoing Israeli harassment. Four freed prisoners and al-Shalabi have been put back into Israeli jails, while others are abused by Israeli forces.
Like many Palestinian families, al-Shalabi’s is not new to Israel’s display of force. Samir Shalabi, Hanaa's 24-year-old brother, was shot by Israeli occupation forces in September 2005 and both her sister Huda and two other brothers have been detained in Israeli prisons for various periods of time.
In the past, the Palestinian NGO Addameer: Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association contended that allegations of Hanaa’s involvement in a “terrorist attack” were not proven. After as many as seventeen days of interrogation, including eight days of non-stop questioning, Israeli security gathered no proof of al-Shalabi's affiliation with any Palestinian political and armed group. Nevertheless, an Israeli military judge condemned her in the past to six months of administrative detention because, according to a 'secret file' none of al-Shalabi's attorneys could see, she represented a danger to the "security of the area".
This story now repeats itself. As Maan news agency reports, "Prisoners’ Society lawyer Jawad Boulos notes that Israeli officials are claiming that Shalabi is a threat to Israel’s security and safety of its people", thus justifying her new administrative detention.
On 23 February, Hanaa’s parents established a protest tent in front of their home and commenced a hunger strike in support of their daughter’s struggle for freedom and against her illegal detention. They declared they wouldn’t end their hunger strike until Hanaa is freed and the abusive policy of administrative detention is abolished.
On the national level, the 320 Palestinian administrative detainees held captive without charge or trial, just like Hanaa, have declared a boycott of Israeli military courts as of 1 March. This boycott is in protest of the “secret files” and lack of indictments used by the Israeli army and intelligence as a cover for illegal detentions.
The recent hunger strike of Palestinian administrative detainee Khader Adnan, the longest in Palestinian history, drew local and international attention to Israel’s abusive and illegal use of administrative detention, in which Palestinian activists are detained without charges or trial. Nevertheless, the circumstances he was fighting for are far from being solved.
The hearing of hunger-striking Palestinian female prisoner Hanaa Shalabi has been postponed by the Ofer military court to Sunday 4 March, during which secret evidence will be examined by both the Israeli military judge and intelligence services. Neither Shalabi nor her attorneys will be permitted to review this evidence.
Shalabi has entered her 16th day of hunger strike in Israel’s HaSharon jail to protest her illegal detention and to demand an end to Israel’s policy of administrative detention. As her attorney, Fawaz al-Shuli, told AFP, Shalabi "is demanding the end of administrative detention and that the soldiers who beat her up and undressed her to carry out a body search be put on trial."
Al-Shalabi is one of nine children in a family of farmers living in the village of Burqin, near Jenin. On 16 February, Israeli forces raided her family home at 1.30am and, after holding her family members hostage while searching the house and seizing their computers and mobile phones, they took Al-Shalabi away. Blindfolded and handcuffed, she was dragged to an unknown destination. The next day she was told the sentence: six months under administrative detention.
After visiting her daughter in prison, Yahya Shalabi said to a Maan reporter that Hanaa’s mood is high and that she is steadfast to continue her hunger strike "in the footsteps of Khader Adnan”.
This is not Hanaa’s first experience in Israeli administrative detention: in the past she spent 2.5 years in Israeli jails without any charge or trial. Her administrative detention order was renewed six times since March 2009
The hearing of hunger-striking Palestinian female prisoner Hanaa Shalabi has been postponed by the Ofer military court to Sunday 4 March, during which secret evidence will be examined by both the Israeli military judge and intelligence services. Neither Shalabi nor her attorneys will be permitted to review this evidence.
Shalabi has entered her 16th day of hunger strike in Israel’s HaSharon jail to protest her illegal detention and to demand an end to Israel’s policy of administrative detention. As her attorney, Fawaz al-Shuli, told AFP, Shalabi "is demanding the end of administrative detention and that the soldiers who beat her up and undressed her to carry out a body search be put on trial."
Al-Shalabi is one of nine children in a family of farmers living in the village of Burqin, near Jenin. On 16 February, Israeli forces raided her family home at 1.30am and, after holding her family members hostage while searching the house and seizing their computers and mobile phones, they took Al-Shalabi away. Blindfolded and handcuffed, she was dragged to an unknown destination. The next day she was told the sentence: six months under administrative detention.
After visiting her daughter in prison, Yahya Shalabi said to a Maan reporter that Hanaa’s mood is high and that she is steadfast to continue her hunger strike "in the footsteps of Khader Adnan”.
This is not Hanaa’s first experience in Israeli administrative detention: in the past she spent 2.5 years in Israeli jails without any charge or trial. Her administrative detention order was renewed six times since March 2009
Last October al-Shalabi was released during the so-called Gilad Shalit prisoner swap. Her hunger strike is perceived as a model for those political prisoners released in the swap but who still suffer ongoing Israeli harassment. Four freed prisoners and al-Shalabi have been put back into Israeli jails, while others are abused by Israeli forces.
Like many Palestinian families, al-Shalabi’s is not new to Israel’s display of force. Samir Shalabi, Hanaa's 24-year-old brother, was shot by Israeli occupation forces in September 2005 and both her sister Huda and two other brothers have been detained in Israeli prisons for various periods of time.
In the past, the Palestinian NGO Addameer: Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association contended that allegations of Hanaa’s involvement in a “terrorist attack” were not proven. After as many as seventeen days of interrogation, including eight days of non-stop questioning, Israeli security gathered no proof of al-Shalabi's affiliation with any Palestinian political and armed group. Nevertheless, an Israeli military judge condemned her in the past to six months of administrative detention because, according to a 'secret file' none of al-Shalabi's attorneys could see, she represented a danger to the "security of the area".
This story now repeats itself. As Maan news agency reports, "Prisoners’ Society lawyer Jawad Boulos notes that Israeli officials are claiming that Shalabi is a threat to Israel’s security and safety of its people", thus justifying her new administrative detention.
On 23 February, Hanaa’s parents established a protest tent in front of their home and commenced a hunger strike in support of their daughter’s struggle for freedom and against her illegal detention. They declared they wouldn’t end their hunger strike until Hanaa is freed and the abusive policy of administrative detention is abolished.
On the national level, the 320 Palestinian administrative detainees held captive without charge or trial, just like Hanaa, have declared a boycott of Israeli military courts as of 1 March. This boycott is in protest of the “secret files” and lack of indictments used by the Israeli army and intelligence as a cover for illegal detentions.
http://www.alternativenews.org/english/index.php/component/content/article/28-news/4178-profile-of-hunger-striking-prisoner-hanaa-shalabi-
No comments:
Post a Comment