Palestinian prisoners

10 million Palestinians worldwide. At 9 am GMT, 12 pm Palestine time, every Palestinian and their supporters are invited to step outside their stores, homes, schools, workplaces for ten minutes on the 28th day of the Palestinian prisoners’ mass hunger strike.

On his 75th day of hunger strike, Thaer Halahleh sends a heartbreaking message to his 2 year old daughter Lamar: “Lamar my love: I know that you are not to be blamed and that you don’t yet understand why your father is going through this battle of the hunger strike for the 75th day, but when you grow up you will understand that the battle of freedom is the battle of going back to you.”

Palestinian Authority police once again showed their true colors by repressing a protest of Mahmoud Abbas’s empty gesture toward the families of hunger striking political prisoners.

This week on The Electronic Intifada podcast: Up-to-date coverage of the ongoing hunger strike protests by thousands of Palestinian prisoners; Linah Alsaafin and Asa Winstanley report from the West Bank on prisoner solidarity actions; and much more.

At 7.30 this morning a small group of Palestinian prisoner solidarity activists in Ramallah swooped down on the United Nations compound in Ramallah. They blocked the main gate and doorway, preventing entrance to the UN building. UN employees have been turned away, sent home for the day. I went along a couple of hours later. Activists told me they intend to stay until the end of the working day at 5pm. Family members of prisoners took part in with the action, with more joining as the day went on.

Football Beyond Borders has issued a letter of solidarity with Palestinian prisoners currently on hunger strike. They also officially announced their boycott of the UEFA 2013 Under-21 European football championships, which Israel is set to host.

Two Palestinian hunger strikers are at grave risk of death unless urgent action is taken, two human rights organization have warned. Even with their grave physical conditions, Bilal Diab and Thaer Halahleh are being denied family and lawyer visits and being subjected to mistreatement and denial of necessary medical care.

In our first podcast: Updates on the collective Palestinian hunger strikes in Israeli jails, stories of land confiscation and home evictions from around the West Bank, news from the BDS movement, and Ali Abunimah discusses three important videos we published this week.

What is it like to be on hunger strike? Loai Odeh is a former prisoner and hunger-striker. This is my translation of the diaries of he wrote about his experience.

Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti has been severely punished by Israel for launching a statement from his cell last week.Haifa-based human rights organization Adalah demands the closure of a wing in Nafha prison because the conditions endanger prisoners’ health and constitute cruel, inhumane, and degrading treatment.