User:TriadicRelation98/2017 Palestinian hunger strikes

The 2017 Palestinian hunger strike, referred to by activists as the Freedom and Dignity hunger strike, was the largest prisoner hunger strike in Palestinian history.

Background
Prisoner hunger strikes in Israel and the Palestinian territories date back to 1968, when prisoners in Ramle prison fasted for 18 days to receive better quality food. The Ramle prison strikers were met with strict penalties including solitary confinement and torture. Mass hunger strikes among prisoners were held as recent as 2014, when over 290 prisoners fasted for over 63 days, making it the longest hunger strike in Palestinian history.

According to the Palestinian Prisoners Center for Studies (PPCS), the primarily goal of the hunger strikes were to raise awareness of the "difficult humanitarian conditions inside Israeli prisons." Amina al-Taweel, spokesperson for the PPCS, asserts that conditions for Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails have worsened in the last few years. In August 2016, a Palestinian named Naim Shawamreh died from muscular dystrophy three months after being released from an Israeli prison. He had developed the condition while in prison, and Jerusalem-based prisoner rights group Addameer claimed this was due to medical negligence by the prison staff. The PPCS echoed this statement and reported that around 280 Palestinian prisoners had died in prison, or shortly after their release, at that time.

Demands
Palestinian hunger strikers did not demand to be released from prison, but rather for certain concessions regarding prisoners' rights. Marwan Barghouti, the leader of the hunger strike published a list of 27 demands that included the installation of a public telephone for prisoners, more frequent family visits, longer visiting hours, allowing prisoners to take photographs with families, and better medical conditions.

Events
On May 7, Greek Orthodox archbishop of Sebastia, Atallah Hanna expressed support for the strikes.

Barghouti op-ed in The New York Times
On April 16, a day before the hunger strikes began, the The New York Times published an op-ed written by Marwan Barghouti titled "Why We Are on Hunger Strike in Israel's Prisons," in which he documented the treatment of prisoners in Israeli prisons and explained the motivations behind the strike. The New York Times' decision to publish the piece was met with criticism by several Israeli politicians including the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, who claimed that the publication was giving a voice to "murderers" and "terrorists." Israel's Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon and Deputy Minister for Diplomacy Michael Oren also criticized the opinion piece, the latter deeming it "journalistic terrorism." The New York Times added an editor's note to the opinion piece on April 17, removing text that referred to Barghouti as a "Palestinian leader" and "parliamentarian." The note also stated that the article's original publication "neglected to provide sufficient context by stating the offenses of which [Barghouti] was convicted."

Barghouti video
The Israeli Prison Service released a video on May 7 that allegedly showed Marwan Barghouti breaking his fast by eating candy bars and cookies. Israeli Ministry of Public Security Gilad Erdan asserted that the video proved that the motivation behind the hunger strikes were not related to raising awareness of conditions in Israeli prisons, but rather to boost Barghouti's approval ratings.

Barghouti and his lawyer, Khader Shkirat, declared the video to be fake, identifying discrepancies between Barghouti's prison cell and the cell featured in the video. Several Palestinian officials including Barghouti, his wife, and Maryam Abu Daqqa of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine accused the Israeli government of trying to undermine the morale of strikers.

Pizza Hut advertisement controversy
On May 7, the Israeli branch of Pizza Hut published an advertisement on Facebook using a photoshopped screenshot of the original prison video replacing the cookies with pizza. The post was captioned "Barghouti, if you are going to break your (hunger) strike, isn't pizza the better choice?" The ad was criticized by Palestinian protesters and some activists around the world called for a boycott of the company. The post was deleted within hours and Pizza Hut International released a statement on May 9, calling the post "completely inappropriate" and stating that it "[did] not reflect the values of [their] brand."

Violence and arrests
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF)

On May 12, Israeli forces shot four Palestinians, killing one, at a solidarity protest in Nabi Salih, stating that the protesters were "throwing rocks."

Huwara shooting
On May 18, an Israeli settler opened fire on a crowd of Palestinians at a solidarity protest in Huwara, killing one and injuring an Associated Press journalist. The Israeli police claimed the settler was acting in self-defense and that Palestinians were surrounding his car and throwing rocks at it. However, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) claimed that the settler had tried to run over Palestinians prior to the shooting. Ahmad Fibril, head of the emergency department of the Palestine Red Crescent Society corroborated the claims made by the PCHR, adding that three Palestinians had been injured in a vehicle-ramming attack by the settler. IDF troops arrived at the same time as the incident and dispersed the crowd using tear gas. Three Palestinians who were suspected of throwing stones at the settler’s car were detained.

Nikolay Mladenov, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, condemned the shooting and called for a formal investigation into the incident. The IDF opened an investigation into the incident, but did not include the settler as a criminal suspect.

Solidarity strikes
Some people outside of Palestine participated in similar hunger strikes and protests in solidarity with the movement.

Belgium
Members of the European Parliament from Sweden, Greece, France, Italy, Spain, Britain, Austria, Denmark and Portugal took part in a sit-in at the Espace Léopold in Brussels on April 27.

Ecuador
A group called "Ecuador for Palestine" held a performance in the Plaza de la Independencia in Quito on May 9 depicting the plight of hunger strikers.

France
Activists in Paris organized by CAPJPO-Europalestine launched a hunger strike and held demonstrations at La Fontaine des Innocents.

Ireland
Thousands protested across Ireland from late April to late May in multiple cities including Dublin, Letterkenny, and Galway. The Palestinian flag flew on May 9th over City Hall, Dublin, in defiance of Israeli Ambassador to Ireland Ze’ev Boker who criticized the move as "highly politically charged."

Italy
Activists from cities in Italy participated in protests late April to raise awareness for conditions in Israeli jails.

Jordan
Hundreds of protesters marched through a street in downtown Amman on May 5, holding up signs reading “In Support of the Brave Prisoners” in Arabic. Member of parliament Dima Tahboub was among the marchers.

Lebanon
Former Prime Minister Salim al-Hoss declared a hunger strike on Tuesday on May 2. On May 5, hundreds of Palestinians and Lebanese people protested in Beirut and south Lebanon, in solidarity with prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli prisons. The protests were organized on Sheikh Hossam al-Ilani, who stated, "We stand today in support of our brothers and sisters, the detained heroes." More protests were held in Ba'albeck and Tripoli on May 8. Secretary-General of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah stated he supported the movement and condemned what he saw as a lack of solidarity from Arab leaders, especially the Gulf monarchs.

Morocco
On May Day, several activists burned an Israeli flag in front of the Embassy of Palestine Rabat. On May 6, protesters held sit-ins in front of the embassy to show "full, unconditional solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners." From May 7 to May 8, over 1500 Moroccan activists in more than 50 cities went on a 24-hour hunger in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners.

South Africa
More than a dozen South African politicians and several anti-apartheid activists and public figures completed a day-long fast from May 14 evening to May 15 evening to draw attention to the conditions in Israeli prisons. Among those who participated were Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, Deputy Minister Ebrahim Ismail Ebrahim, and artist/poet Natalia Molebatsi. Deputy Foreign Minister Nomaindia Mfeketo also participated and noted "the growing number of South African Jews who have joined this 24-hour fast... remind us of our own white comrades who refused to let the apartheid government speak in their name."

Spain
Activists from cities in Spain participated in protests late April to raise awareness for conditions in Israeli jails.

Switzerland
Activists from cities in Switzerland participated in protests late April to raise awareness for conditions in Israeli jails.

Tunisia
Hundreds of Tunisians participated in a demonstration in Tunis on May 16 in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike.

United Kingdom
A group of students at the University of Manchester held hunger strikes late starting late April to pressure the university into dropping disciplinary action against two students involved in an anti-Israel BDS protest in March. The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign set up a rally in Edinburgh to show solidarity with Palestinians ahead of visit of the Israeli ambassador to the Scottish Parliament. Sinn Féin Republican Youth also held a rally in Derry on April 21.

The Glasgow Celtic football club “ultras” fan group, the Green Brigade, along with Celtic Fans for Palestine, supported the Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike with large banners and Palestinian flags at a football match on May 6.

United States
American Muslims for Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace called for a candlelight vigil in Dearborn, Michigan on May 3. The "Visibility Sustains the Struggle" initiative was set up on May 11 by New York artists in solidarity with the hunger strike and the Palestinian freedom movement more generally. The Green Party has expressed support for the hunger strikes in Palestine.

Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe's parliamentarians, members of the diplomatic corps, and civil society joined the Palestinian embassy on May 3 for a "Solidarity Stand-off" with Palestinian prisoners.

Salt water challenge
A social media campaign went viral in which participants would drink a mixture of table salt and water to show solidarity with the prisoners' protests. The Internet challenge was similar to the Ice Bucket Challenge from 2014, in that participators would film themselves drinking the salt water, tag it with the hashtag "#SaltWaterChallenge," and challenge their friends to do the same at the end of the video. The campaign was launched on April 24 through a video by Aarab Marwan Barghouti, who is the son of Marwan Barghouti. Some notable participants of the challenge include Fatah Central Committee member Tawfiq Tirawi, Palestinian-American comedian Amer Zahr, Palestinian singer Mohammed Assaf, Lebanese TV personality Ali Jaber, and 2017 winner of Arab Idol Yacoub Shaheen.

Aftermath
Palestinian and Israeli officials confirmed that the hunger strike had ended on the morning of May 27 after 20 hours of talks and negotiations, in which the Israeli government agreed to allow prisoners to have two family visit each per month, instead of one. According to Israeli prison service spokeswoman Nicole Englander, these negotiations were conducted between the Israeli government, the Palestinian Authority, and Red Cross. However, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club claimed that Barghouti and a committee of prisoners also participated in the talks, which the prison service denied. The Palestinian Committee of Prisoners’ Affairs also claimed that 80% of the strikers' demands had been conceded by the Israel Prison Service, which the service again denied, reiterating that the change over rules regarding family visits were the only concession.

While the hunger strike began with roughly 1,600 participants, 834 prisoners continued for the entire 40 days. After the strikes ended, hundreds of Palestinians celebrated in Ramallah by holding a music festival. Palestinian political analysts said the strikes had led to an increase in Barghouti's approval ratings. Red Cross warned that the hunger strike had "potential irreversible health consequences" for many participants. British newspaper The Times reported that 80 prisoners had been hospitalized during the strike, but Englander contended that only 18 prisoners were hospitalized.