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| In the years following the occupation of the ] in 1967, Israeli authorities had initially banned Palestinian prisoners from using pencils and paper while serving their terms.<ref name=Fogelp138/> After a number of hunger strikes, the Israeli authorities gradually allowed Palestinian prisoners access to pens, pencils, paper, books, newspapers and a certain amount of carefully monitored radio broadcasting.<ref name=Fogelp138/> Palestinian prisoners soon established a library in every prison, and "organised literacy classes, language courses, awareness-raising sessions, political discourse and orientation workshops, as well as classes for young prisoners to prepare them for the General Secondary Examination."<ref name=Fogelp138>{{cite book|title=Children of Palestine: Experiencing Forced Migration in the Middle East|author=Joshua A. Fogel et al.|publisher=Berghahn Books|year=2005|isbn=1845451201, 9781845451202|page=138|url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=Em-tWhsUVR0C&pg=PA138&dq=%22palestinian+prisoners%22&lr=&sig=ACfU3U1hKqhyWtXMtTzDveBlnDyGZDu_UA#PPA138,M1}}</ref> | In the years following the occupation of the ] in 1967, Israeli authorities had initially banned Palestinian prisoners from using pencils and paper while serving their terms.<ref name=Fogelp138/> After a number of hunger strikes, the Israeli authorities gradually allowed Palestinian prisoners access to pens, pencils, paper, books, newspapers and a certain amount of carefully monitored radio broadcasting.<ref name=Fogelp138/> Palestinian prisoners soon established a library in every prison, and "organised literacy classes, language courses, awareness-raising sessions, political discourse and orientation workshops, as well as classes for young prisoners to prepare them for the General Secondary Examination."<ref name=Fogelp138>{{cite book|title=Children of Palestine: Experiencing Forced Migration in the Middle East|author=Joshua A. Fogel et al.|publisher=Berghahn Books|year=2005|isbn=1845451201, 9781845451202|page=138|url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=Em-tWhsUVR0C&pg=PA138&dq=%22palestinian+prisoners%22&lr=&sig=ACfU3U1hKqhyWtXMtTzDveBlnDyGZDu_UA#PPA138,M1}}</ref> | ||
| Yezid Sayigh writes of how the "inadvertent consequence" of Israel's internal security measures was to contribute to the social mobilization of Palestinian society.<ref name=Sayighp478/> The high number of students and youth to enter the prison system from the mid-1970s to early 1980s, meant that the prison population "tended to be young, educated, and familiar with the tactics of ] and unarmed protest."<ref name=Sayighp478/> In prison, they were exposed to political indoctrination and instruction in security and organization from veteran guerillas.<ref name=Sayighp478/> Prisoners organized themselves according to political affiliation and ran education programmes for one another, making the prisons "unsurpassed 'cadre schools'".<ref name= |
Yezid Sayigh writes of how the "inadvertent consequence" of Israel's internal security measures was to contribute to the social mobilization of Palestinian society.<ref name=Sayighp478/> The high number of students and youth to enter the prison system from the mid-1970s to early 1980s, meant that the prison population "tended to be young, educated, and familiar with the tactics of ] and unarmed protest."<ref name=Sayighp478/> In prison, they were exposed to political indoctrination and instruction in security and organization from veteran guerillas.<ref name=Sayighp478/> Prisoners organized themselves according to political affiliation and ran education programmes for one another, making the prisons "unsurpassed 'cadre schools'".<ref name=Sayighp478/> Many youth upon finishing their prison terms would go on to become leaders of students movements in Palestinian universities and colleges in the territories.<ref name=Sayighp478>{{cite book|title=Armed Struggle and the Search for State: The Palestinian National Movement, 1949-1993|author=Yazīd Ṣāyigh, Institute for Palestine Studies (Washington, D.C.)|publisher=]|year=1997|isbn=0198296436, 9780198296430|url=http://books.google.ca/books?id=xTi_UKhBzGYC&pg=PA478&dq=%22palestinian+prisoners%22+hunger+strikes&lr=&sig=ACfU3U1QGtqnir8jPeWALZFY9UnJwii9ZA#PPA478,M1|page=478}}</ref> | ||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
Revision as of 13:08, 11 September 2008
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Palestinian prisoners in Israel mainly refers to Palestinians imprisoned in Israel following apprehension resulting from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Most prisoners are held after conviction by the Israel Prison Service, which is under the jurisdiction of the Internal Security ministry.
Number of prisoners
Between 1967 and 1988, more than 600,000 Palestinians were held in Israeli jails for a week or more. Since 1967, approximately one-fifth of the population has at one time been imprisoned. Those arrested were subject either to trial or Administrative detention.
According to the Fédération Internationale des ligues des Droits de l'Homme (FIDH), from the beginning of the Second Intifada in 2000 through to April 2003, more than 28,000 Palestinians were incarcarated in prisons or prisoner camps. In April 2003 alone, there were more than 5,500 arrests.
In 2007, the number of Palestinians under administrative detention averaged about 830 per month, including women and minors under the age of 18. By March 2008, more than 8,400 Palestinians were held by Israeli civilian and military authorities, of which 5,148 were serving sentences, 2,167 were facing legal proceedings and 790 were under administrative detention, often without charge or knowledge of the suspicions against them. The main prisons in which Palestinian prisoners apprehended by Israel are held are in the Ofer Prison in the West Bank and the Megiddo and Ketziot prisons in Israel.
On 17 April 2008, the annual day of commemoration for Palestinian Prisoners, Adalah: The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, published a summary report of statistics noting that there were 11,000 Palestinian prisoners being held in prison and detention in Israel, including 98 women, 345 children, 50 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, and 3 ministers of the Palestinian National Authority. Of these 11,000 Palestinian prisoners, 8,456 were from the West Bank, 762 from the Gaza Strip, 552 from Jerusalem, and 132 from within Israel itself.
Imprisoned politicians
There are several Palestinian leaders and politicians held in Israeli jails, including 47 Hamas members of the Palestinian Legislative Council, in addition to ministers and mayors of various towns and cities in the West Bank.
Marwan Barghouti
Main article: Marwan BarghoutiMarwan Barghouti a leader of the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades militia and al-Mustaqbal political party, was arrested and tried by an Israeli civilian court for attacks carried out by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. He was convicted on May 20 2004 on five counts of murder and sentenced to five life sentences and forty years.
Ahmad Sa'adat
Main article: Ahmad Sa'adatAhmad Sa'adat, the secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) is currently held by Israel. In 2002, he was tried and imprisoned in Jericho by the Palestinian National Authority, despite the Palestinian Supreme Court having declared his imprisonment unconstitutional. On March 14 2006, Israeli forces surrounded the prison in Jericho and took Sa'adat. He has been held under administrative detention by Israel since for his alleged responsibility in the assasination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi on October 17 2001 by the PFLP.
Prisoner exchanges
Israel has released prisoners as part of negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. On August 25 2008, Israel released 198 Palestinian prisoners in a "goodwill gesture" to encourage diplomatic relations and support Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas. The Israeli government has also offered to release 450 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier held by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip since June 2006.
Accusations of human rights abuses
The IDF has been accused by several organisations of abusing Palestinian prisoners.
In a July 2003 report by the FIDH that was presented to the UN Human Rights Committee, it was noted that "Israel does not recognize Palestinian prisoners as having the status of prisoners of war." In practice, it is the Israeli military that controls the conditions of detention and the administrative detention system allows for the imprisonment of an individual for up to 6 months, and this detention can be extended without the approval of a judge. The FIDH report also notes that, "In the case of administrative detention, the necessary conditions for the execution of a fair trial are far from being achieved given that the lawyers do not even have access to the evidence."
Grassroots organizing
Hunger strikes
In May 2001, almost 1,000 Palestinian prisoners participated in a month-long hunger strike, in protest against "arbitrary treatment by prison officials, substandard prison conditions, prohibitions on family visits, use of solitary confinement, poor medical care, and Israel's refusal to release all the categories of prisoners specified in its agreements with the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)." The strike was ended after prison Israeli authorities promised to review the complaints and ease restrictions on visitations. A government report released in June 2001 on conditions in the Shatta prison noted that the living conditions were "particularly harsh" in the wing where prisoners from the Occupied Palestinian Territories were held, and concluded that the exposed tents and filthy bathrooms where prisoners were housed and bathed were unfit for human use.
'Prison education' programmes
In the years following the occupation of the Palestinian territories in 1967, Israeli authorities had initially banned Palestinian prisoners from using pencils and paper while serving their terms. After a number of hunger strikes, the Israeli authorities gradually allowed Palestinian prisoners access to pens, pencils, paper, books, newspapers and a certain amount of carefully monitored radio broadcasting. Palestinian prisoners soon established a library in every prison, and "organised literacy classes, language courses, awareness-raising sessions, political discourse and orientation workshops, as well as classes for young prisoners to prepare them for the General Secondary Examination."
Yezid Sayigh writes of how the "inadvertent consequence" of Israel's internal security measures was to contribute to the social mobilization of Palestinian society. The high number of students and youth to enter the prison system from the mid-1970s to early 1980s, meant that the prison population "tended to be young, educated, and familiar with the tactics of civil disobediance and unarmed protest." In prison, they were exposed to political indoctrination and instruction in security and organization from veteran guerillas. Prisoners organized themselves according to political affiliation and ran education programmes for one another, making the prisons "unsurpassed 'cadre schools'". Many youth upon finishing their prison terms would go on to become leaders of students movements in Palestinian universities and colleges in the territories.
See also
External links
Notes
- Arrests, imprisonment and torture, Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, retrieved June 27, 2008.
- ^ Israel releases 198 Palestinian prisoners, The Guardian, Tuesday August 26 2008.
- Administrative Detention, B'Tselem, retrieved June 27, 2008.
- ^ Fédération Internationale des ligues des Droits de l'Homme (FIDH) (July 13 2003). "Palestinian Prisoners in Israel: The Inhuman Conditions Being Suffered by Political Prisoners". Retrieved 2008-09-12.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - 2007 Annual Report: Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, B'Tselem, Special Report, December 2007.
- ^ Who are the Mid-East prisoners: Palestinian prisoners BBC News. 2008-03-31.
- ^ Adalah:The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel (17 April 2008). "Palestinian Prisoners in Israel's Prisons" (PDF). Retrieved 2008-09-12.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - Israel PM willing to free 450 Palestinians in swap: report, AFP, August 29, 2008.
- Israeli army abuses Palestinian prisoners: group, Reuters, June 22, 2008.
- Report: Soldiers routinely abuse Palestinian prisoners, Haaretz, June 22, 2008.
- Utterly Forbidden: The Torture And Ill-Treatment Of Palestinian Detainees, B'Tselem & Hamoked, May 2007.
- ^ Human Rights Watch (2001). World Report 2001: The Events of 2000. Human Rights Watch. p. 394. ISBN ISBN 1564322548, 9781564322548.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help) - ^ Joshua A. Fogel; et al. (2005). Children of Palestine: Experiencing Forced Migration in the Middle East. Berghahn Books. p. 138. ISBN 1845451201, 9781845451202.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help); Explicit use of et al. in:|author=(help) - ^ Yazīd Ṣāyigh, Institute for Palestine Studies (Washington, D.C.) (1997). Armed Struggle and the Search for State: The Palestinian National Movement, 1949-1993. Oxford University Press. p. 478. ISBN 0198296436, 9780198296430.
{{cite book}}: Check|isbn=value: invalid character (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)