Prisoners society: Saadat loses 10 kilos in strike

RAMALLAH (Ma’an) -- Fares Qaddura, head of the Palestinian prisoners society, says the secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine will enter his 23rd day on hunger strike Wednesday.
Ahmad Saadat is refusing to back down until the demands of the strike are met, although he has lost 10 kilos in prison as he is surviving on just water, according to a society lawyer who visited Ramle prison Tuesday.
Israeli prison officials agreed to transfer Saadat to hospital for treatment, prison activists say. He will be returned to a normal cell at Ramle prison, after spending three years in isolation, according to the representatives.
Palestinian prisoners in Israel’s Ohalei Kedar jail, meanwhile, have agreed to suspend their hunger strike for three days, representatives of the detainees said Tuesday. They suspended the strike after authorities agreed to end the policy of solitary confinement, a statement said.
The agreement also stipulated that prisoners would be subject to less stringent jail policies. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had worsened jail conditions to pressure Hamas to release Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier who returned to Israel on Tuesday.
If the prison authorities do not implement the agreement, the hunger strike will resume after three days, the statement said.
Detainees minister in Ramallah Issa Qaraqe told the official Wafa news agency on Monday that prisoners had suspended a three-week hunger strike after Israeli authorities agreed to end the practice of solitary confinement.
Prisoners went on hunger strike on Sept. 27 to protest their treatment in Israeli jails.
According to recent estimates from the Palestinian Authority, there are currently 6,000 Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli jails.

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HRW: Lift blockade after prisoner exchange

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israel and Hamas should follow the prisoner exchange with measures to improve human rights, such as by lifting the siege of Gaza, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.
“The prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas should mark the beginning of an era in which all parties respect basic rights,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
In a statement, Stork said that “Gaza’s civilians should no longer suffer under Israel’s punitive blockade, and Hamas should end abuses of detainees, whether Israeli or Palestinian.”

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Thousands celebrate freed Palestinian prisoners

ASSOCIATED PRESS

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Tens of thousands of flag-waving Palestinians celebrated the homecoming Tuesday of hundreds of prisoners exchanged for an Israeli soldier, with the crowd and a freed Hamas leader exhorting militants to seize more soldiers for future swaps.

Hamas, which had negotiated the release, turned the celebration into a show of strength for the Islamic militant movement, which had seized Gaza from its moderate rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, in 2007.

The joyous crowd crammed into a grassy lot, where a huge stage was set up, decorated with a mural depicting the 2006 capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit at an army base near the Gaza border. The prisoners — more than 300 out of 477 freed Tuesday were sent to Gaza — sat in rows of chairs on the stage.

Many in the crowd described long years of waiting to see their loved ones.

“I will kiss his head when he returns,” said Huriya Awadallah, 75, of her 45-year-old brother who had spent 20 years in prison for killing an Israeli. “I am like his mother. I raised him,” said the woman who pinned a photograph of her brother, Eid Musleh, to her dress.

Several thousand Palestinian prisoners remain in Israeli jails, convicted of offenses ranging from masterminding deadly attacks to throwing stones. Many Palestinians see them as fighters for independence. The swap has reinforced a widespread conviction that Israel will release prisoners serving life sentences in only exchange for abducted soldiers — a view repeated by many at Tuesday’s rally.

“The people want a new Gilad!” the crowd chanted, suggesting the abduction of Israeli soldiers would mean freedom for thousands more Palestinians imprisoned in Israel.

Yehiye Sinwar, a founder of Hamas’ military wing, told the crowd that Palestinian militant groups must win freedom for the remaining prisoners by “all necessary means.”

Sinwar, among those freed Tuesday, had been sentenced to life for his role in the abduction and killing of two Israeli soldiers in the 1980s. He stopped short of calling for new abductions in his speech, but did so in interviews earlier in the day.

In the West Bank, Abbas addressed a crowd of several thousand, including released prisoners and their relatives. In an attempt at unity, he shared a stage with three Hamas leaders in the West Bank. At one point, the four men raised clasped hands in triumph.

Abbas is likely to suffer politically as a result of the swap, the most significant exchange for the Palestinians in nearly three decades. In years of negotiations with Israel, most of the prisoners released to Abbas were those with little time left on their sentences.

In contrast, most of the 477 prisoners freed Tuesday had been serving life terms for killing Israelis, and their release violated a long-standing Israeli pledge not to free those with “blood on their hands.”

Of that group, 43 convicted of some of the bloodiest attacks against Israelis were sent to Egypt for eventual deportation to Qatar, Turkey and Syria. In the Egyptian capital of Cairo, they were greeted by Hamas’ supreme leader, Khaled Mashaal.

Mashaal portrayed the swap as an unequivocal victory for Hamas, saying that “Israel was forced to pay the price.” He said hiding Schalit for more than five years in tiny Gaza was a “miracle and honor to the nation.”

As part of the swap, Israel has agreed to free another 550 Palestinians in two months.

In his speech, Abbas praised the released prisoners as “freedom fighters” and “holy warriors,” unusual language for the Palestinian leader who until a few months ago had hitched his political future to peace negotiations with Israel.

Those efforts have broken down because the gaps between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were too wide. On Tuesday, Abbas told senior PLO officials in Ramallah he is considering holding presidential and legislative elections in January or February and would discuss the possibility when he meets with Mashaal, participants at the gathering said.

No date has been set, but Hamas and PLO officials said the meeting could take place in coming days.

In Cairo, Mashaal said the swap created a good atmosphere for Palestinian reconciliation talks and that he has spoken to Abbas about forging a joined strategy.

In both Gaza and the West Bank, joy marked the day.

In Gaza City, Azhar Abu Jawad, 30, celebrated the return of a brother who was sentenced to life for killing an Israeli in 1992. She said she last saw him eight years ago, before Israel banned visits by Gazans. “My happiness is indescribable,” she said. “We’ll get him a bride and everything. I just spoke to him. He’s so happy. This is a reminder God doesn’t forget anyone.”

Among those arriving in Gaza were prisoners who grew up in the West Bank but were being expelled to Gaza. Israel’s security chiefs have said they wanted to keep prisoners still deemed dangerous away from the West Bank, which has relatively open borders with Israel. Gaza is tightly sealed by an Israeli border fence.

Sobhia Jundiya of the West Bank town of Bethlehem traveled to Egypt with her husband to catch a brief glimpse of their 28-year-old son, Ibrahim, who was being released after 10 years. He had been sentenced to multiple life terms for an attack that killed 12 and wounded 50.

“It’s better he be in Gaza even if I can’t see him. It’s better than prison in Israel,” she said.

“I hope to see him for a few minutes,” she said, beginning to cry. “This is the day I have been dreaming of for 10 years. I haven’t touched his hand in 10 years.”

In the end, the Jundiyas were unable to see him because relatives were not given access to the prisoners’ convoy during its brief swing through Egypt. The couple will try to go to Gaza, but it’s difficult for West Bankers to obtain such permission from Israel or Egypt.

Israel prevents most movement between the West Bank and Gaza.

In the West Bank, Fakhri Barghouti was carried on the shoulders of one man and was surrounded by chanting relatives. Sentenced to life for killing an Israeli, Barghouti, 57, had spent 34 years in prison, making him one of the longest-serving inmates.

“There will be no happiness as long as our brothers are still in jail,” he said. “I can’t feel good when I’m leaving my brothers behind.”

His son, Shadi, is serving a 27-year sentence for involvement in an armed group. At one point, he shared a cell with his father.

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PRC leader: Israel must lift Gaza siege

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Israel must lift its siege on Gaza with the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, the Popular Resistance Committee secretary-general said Monday.
"Israel has no excuses now to keep the siege over Gaza after the release of Shalit," Zuher al-Qeisi told Ma'an.
Israel has agreed to free 1,027 prisoners in exchange for soldier Gilad Shalit, captured near the Gaza border in June 2006.
Israel launched air strikes and raided the Gaza Strip for five months following Shalit's capture in efforts to free the tank gunner, and has imposed closures and tied its blockade of the coastal enclave to the soldier's fate.
Al-Qeisi said Israel "always invents excuses" to dominate and attack Gaza, adding that he hoped Arab and European states would intervene to end the siege.
Meanwhile, the PRC leader said the prisoner swap deal was "a great achievement," but expressed regret that it did not include prominent prisoners Marwan Barghouti, a charismatic Fatah leader, or Ahmad Saadat, secretary-general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
"If Saadat and Barghouti were on the list that could have been a greater achievement and our happiness would complete but alas, we didn't achieve all our demands."
But, "Israel freed one Shalit who is worth nothing and we freed hundreds of detainees and we will make all efforts to release the rest and end the occupation."
He added that the deal would benefit Hamas and the PRC as they were responsible for capturing Shalit.
Hamas has hailed the deal as a national victory and the timing comes at a good moment for the Islamist movement.
The prisoner swap switches attention back to the party that had appeared eclipsed in recent weeks by President Mahmoud Abbas' drive to secure full UN membership in the face of stiff US and Israeli opposition.
Hamas' criticism of the diplomatic move had appeared out of tune with public support that peaked with a strong speech Abbas delivered to the UN General Assembly on September 23.

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Rights groups: Exile of prisoners 'a war crime'

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) -- Israel's exile of prisoners to the Gaza Strip and abroad is a serious war crime, rights groups said Monday.
Israel and Hamas agreed to deport over 200 prisoners as part of a deal to release 1,027 detainees from Israeli jails in exchange for a soldier held in Gaza.
Some 166 prisoners will be deported to Gaza and 40 to third countries in the first phase of the swap, expected to take place Tuesday.
In a joint statement Monday, prisoner rights group Addameer and legal rights organization Al-Haq highlighted that while the deal was cause for celebration for 1,028 families, aspects of the exchange were "fundamentally at odds with international law."
Unlawful deportation or transfer breaches the Fourth Geneva Convention and "qualifies as one of the most serious war crimes," the groups said.
The protections of the Fourth Geneva Convention are inviolable, even if prisoners consent to exile and even though Hamas negotiated the deal, the statement said, pointing to the "stark asymmetry in power" between the Palestinian and Israeli parties.
Addameer director Sahar Francis noted that Israel has hermetically sealed off Gaza from the West Bank, and that exile to the blockaded coastal enclave "in many cases can be seen as a second prison sentence."
At least eight women prisoners were left out of the deal, the groups added, despite Israel's agreement that all female detainees would be released.
Al-Haq director Shawan Jabarin said "prospects for (the prisoners') release continue to be dictated by Israeli political interests, just as the fate of 1,027 prisoners was staked on the release of a single Israeli soldier, whose capture has further adversely affected the rights of countless more Palestinians living under Israeli blockade in the Gaza Strip."
The groups demanded "a fair and permanent resolution" to the plight of political prisoners, "arrested on the basis of Israeli military orders that criminalize any form of opposition to the occupation; tried by Israeli military tribunals that do not conform to international due process standards or held in administrative detention without charge or trial; and imprisoned in harsh and illegal detention conditions."

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EU condemns Israeli settlement projects

The European Union has once again denounced Israel's illegal settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories as "unacceptable."
"Settlements are illegal under international law. These decisions should be reversed," EU Foreign Affairs chief Catherine Ashton said in a statement released overnight Saturday, AFP reported.
She made the remarks after Tel Aviv planned to proceed with 2,610 new settlement units in Givat Hamatos.
Last week, Israel's Lands Administration released a plan to construct new units, two-thirds of which are designated for Israeli settlers in Givat Hamatos to create a settlement belt around East al-Quds (Jerusalem).
"The proposed constructions in Givat Hamatos are of particular concern as they would cut the geographic contiguity between Jerusalem and Bethlehem," Ashton argued.
Israel is carrying out settlement activities in the occupied territories, especially in East al-Quds (Jerusalem), despite international calls to stop such activities.
In September 2010, acting Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas quit direct talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Tel Aviv refused to halt settlement projects.

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Israeli police use tear gas to disperse Palestinian protesters

The situation between Israelis and Palestinians is so tense that even a mere metal detector can ignite protests, which then end up being dispersed by tear gas. That is what happened in the West Bank city of Hebron on Sunday.

­Teachers and students refused to go through metal detectors at a checkpoint on their way to their school, citing health concerns. Protesters claim that the Israeli military forced them to go through, triggering clashes on Sunday.

The Israeli military then used tear gas to disperse dozens of Palestinian protesters. However, a source in the Israeli army said military officials did not know what caused the clashes in the West Bank's largest Palestinian city, reports AP

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Israeli forces 'raid Jenin'

JENIN (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces raided the city of Jenin and Qabatiya village to its south at dawn on Saturday, eyewitnesses said.
No detentions were reported.
Security officials told Ma'an that 12 Israeli military jeeps patrolled the streets of Jenin and adjoining Jenin refugee camp.
Youth in Jenin refugee camp pelted the jeeps with stones, with no injuries reported, locals said.
Meanwhile, dozens of military vehicles entered Jenin-district village Qabatiya, and soldiers broke into homes, without making any detentions, villagers told Ma'an.

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Palestinians, Israelis prepare for prisoner release

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -- Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank on Sunday prepared to celebrate the return of hundreds of prisoners held in Israeli jails, as Israelis awaited the release of captured soldier Gilad Shalit.
In Gaza, men were erecting a huge stage to be used to celebrate the release of the Palestinian prisoners as part of a swap-deal between Israel and Hamas.
"This is the biggest stadium in the area. This stadium is built in large size to host the prisoners. We will honor the prisoners in this site," Hamas director of social works Ashraf Abu Zaid told Reuters.
With just a couple of days before the release of Palestinian prisoners, the sound of printing machines could be heard in various parts of Gaza strip.
Zakaria Halabi's print shop works around the clock to meet the demand, and he says that initial order for prisoners banners and posters has increased significantly.
"We are printing banners and posters. We have huge banners, we are working overtime and we expect more banners to be printed. All posters are related to prisoners," Halabi added.
Alongside the banners, Palestinian and Hamas flags are flying in the enclave.
Homecoming
While preparing her house for the return of her son, Dalal al-Kurd voiced joy about his upcoming release.
"Because we are happy that he will be released. During the war our house was damage so now we are fixing his house and renovating his house," the mother of detainee Basem al-Kurd explained.
Earlier on Sunday Israel made public the names of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, some serving life sentences for deadly attacks, to be freed in exchange for soldier Gilad Shalit as part of a deal it reached with Hamas.
Israeli media said some of the prisoners on the list to be released were involved in some of the worst attacks on Israelis during a Palestinian uprising last decade.
Israel's Prison Service posted the list of those to be let out on its website. Israelis who oppose the release of the prisoners now have 48 hours to appeal to the country's highest court to prevent the release.
The court is not expected to intervene, however.
Israelis prepare for Shalit release
On Sunday, it was not only residents of Mitzpe Hila, Shalit's small community in northern Israel, awaiting his release. Israelis from across the country, including Israelis of Palestinian origin, arrived at the rural area to voice their joy over the upcoming release.
"I brought my son today to Mitzpe. I showed him the house of Gilad Shalit, that everybody is waiting for him," Galilee resident, Mata Endrio, told Reuters.
"My son is happy that this soldier will be back and we are all happy that he is coming back. We have been awaiting this for a long time."
Shalit was captured in June 2006 by Palestinian militants who tunneled into Israel from the Gaza Strip.
The first phase of the prisoner swap involves 450 men and 27 women. Another 550 will be released in about two months, according to officials familiar with the Egyptian-mediated deal.
Some prisoners originally from the West Bank will be sent to the Gaza Strip and other prisoners will be exiled abroad.
Israel and Hamas negotiators in Egypt were expected on Sunday to discuss final logistics for implementation of the deal.
One Israeli group opposed to the deal, the Almagor Terror Victims' Association, said the release would lead to further violence and abduction attempts and robs victims of the right to live in peace.
There are at least 6,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. They are held in high esteem within society for their role in the national struggle for self determination against Israeli occupation.

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Rights group: Palestinian Teenage detainee's health at risk

HEBRON (Ma'an) --The Israeli prison service is responsible for the life of a teenage prisoner detained in Hebron last week, a detainees' center said Thursday.
Majed Jaradat, 17, is being held at Etzion prison in Israel, the center said in a statement.
He was last detained when he was 13, and was shot in his leg, hand and stomach. After his release he was treated at the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem, but the center said he has not fully recovered from his injuries and is at risk in jail.
The center said Israel targeted Palestinian children and teenagers in violation of international human rights norms.

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UN chief slams Israeli settlement expansion plan

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- UN chief Ban Ki-moon Friday called Israel's new plan to expand an East Jerusalem settlement "unacceptable," saying it's against both the international law and ongoing peace efforts and therefore must stop.

"The secretary general is deeply concerned at continued efforts to advance planning for new Israeli settlements in occupied East Jerusalem," reads a statement from Ban's spokesman.

"Recent developments in this regard have been unacceptable, particularly as efforts are ongoing to resume negotiations, and run contrary to the Quartet's call on the parties to refrain from provocations," it said.

The Middle East Quartet, which groups the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States, is a diplomatic group in search of a two-state solution which enables a secure Israel to live in peace with an independent Palestine State.

On Sept. 27, Israel approved the construction of 1,100 homes in the Jewish settlement of Gilo in the outskirts of Jerusalem. The move came just a few days after Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas officially applied for a full UN membership for the Palestinian people.

The Israeli move prompted widespread condemnation by the Palestinians and many countries and regional organizations, including the United States and the European Union.

The issue of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem has stalled U.S.-brokered peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, and the Quartet is hoping to help both sides reach a final deal by the end of 2012.

However, a Quartet meeting ended Sunday in Brussels without any progress in the efforts to bring the two sides back to the negotiation table.

Abbas has repeated that Israel's settlement construction must cease, a precondition for returning to negotiations, which collapsed one year ago after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu refused to extend a partial moratorium on settlement construction.

"The secretary general reiterates that settlement activity in East Jerusalem and the remainder of the West Bank is contrary to international law and to Israel's obligations under the Roadmap, and must cease," the UN statement said.

"He further reiterates that the international community will not recognize unilateral actions on the ground and that the status of Jerusalem can only be resolved through negotiations," it added.

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Israeli forces 'block olive harvest in Nablus'

NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israeli forces blocked villagers in Nablus from harvesting olives on lands near Israeli settlements on Friday, locals told Ma'an.
Israeli troops told harvesters in Qaryut and Azmut villages that security coordination had expired and blocked them from picking olives, a Ma'an correspondent said.
International activists accompanying farmers said forces told them in nearby village Burin that the area was a closed military zone and shut down the harvest.
"There are dozens of olives on the top of the hill (near the Israel settlement of Yitzhar)," one activist said, "but villagers were only given four days permission to do two weeks' work."
Ghassan Doughlas, the Palestinian Authority official monitoring settler activity in the northern West Bank, said Israeli settlers came into olive groves in Azmut, north of Nablus, and Jit to the east.
Settlers clashed with locals as they tried to harvest olives, he said.

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EU 'regrets' Israeli mosque demolition

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- EU representatives said on Thursday they "regret" Israel's demolition of a mosque in northern West Bank village Khirbet Yarza, a statement said.
On Tuesday, Head of Al-Malha village council Aref Daraghma told Ma’an that Israeli bulldozers and civil administration officials demolished the mosque, which is less than 60 square meters, and several Bedouin structures.
This is the third time in seven months that the mosque has been demolished, Daraghma said.
The EU missions said that since 2000, Israel has demolished more than 4,800 homes in area C -- the 62 percent of the West Bank under full Israeli control.
"The EU calls on Israel to review its policy and planning system in order to allow for the socio-economic development of the Palestinian communities," the statement said.

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Lawyer: 35 female detainees to be released

BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Israel is to release more than 27 female detainees under the terms of a swap deal that was agreed between Hamas and the Israeli government, a prisoners society lawyer said Wednesday.
Jacqueline Fararja said 35 detainees would be released, a few more than the number mentioned by Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal when he gave an overview of the deal.
They are 27 sentenced to jail terms, five held without charge, and three others under Israel's administrative detention system, which allows prisoners to be detained for six months at a time during investigations.
Ma'an could not independently verify the number, but Fararja provided a list of 35 names. They are sorted by the place of origin and the number of years each prisoner had been sentenced before the deal. While Israel and Hamas say all female prisoners will be freed, the official count is still 27.

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Israeli Soldiers Shoot, Arrest Palestinian in Hebron

HEBRON, 2011 (WAFA) – A Palestinian, Ameer Sabarneh, 20, Wednesday was shot and arrested during confrontations that erupted between Israeli soldiers and Palestinians at the entrance of the town of Beit Ummar, south of Hebron, according to local activists.

Spokesman of the National Committee against the Wall and settlement, Mohammed Awad said that the Israeli soldiers fired at Sabarneh from a distance of few meters after already arresting him, injuring him in the back.

He added that soldiers fired rubber bullets, tear gas and acoustic bombs toward Palestinians, causing suffocation cases among several Palestinians. They were all treated on the spot.

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