Palestinian Authority security forces attack prisoner-solidarity protest in Jenin

Palestinian Authority security forces physically attacked protesters taking part in a march in Jenin in support of Palestinian prisoners on Friday afternoon (September 16th), they also arrested former prisoners Khader Adnan and Mujahid al-Saadi. The march gave special attention to the hunger strikers Mahmoud al-Balboul, Mohammed al-Balboul and Malik al-Qadi, who started their hunger-strikes in 4 July, 7 July and 16 July to protest against their administrative detention.

The three strikers’ are held in Wolfson and Assaf Harofeh hospitals following over two months without food; all of them are in danger of loss of life or organ failure. There are 100 fellow Palestinian prisoners engaged in strike and protest actions in solidarity with the three strikers, who are demanding their release from Israeli imprisonment without charge or trial.

Palestinian Authority security forces dispersed a march at Jenin and prevented journalists from filming. Protesters were violently beaten and arrested, including former long-term hunger striker Khader Adnan, who twice won his release from Israeli imprisonment without charge or trial, each time after a hunger-strike; and Mujahid al-Saadi, the journalist released only weeks ago from Israeli prisons. Al-Saadi has been detained and questioned by PA security forces on multiple occasions. Former prisoner and long-term hunger striker Bilal Diab was also beaten by PA security forces. PA security forces also smashed equipment and a vehicle belonging to Palestine Today TV as it covered the demonstration.

The Palestinian Authority’s security forces engage in “security coordination” with the Israeli occupation, including arrests and imprisonment of Palestinians engaged in resistance activity, since the Oslo agreements of 1993. Palestinians – including the PLO’s Central Council – have widely demanded an end to security coordination, yet the policy continues.

Jaafar Abu Salah of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine told Hadaf News that “solidarity with the prisoners is a Palestinian national and human duty. What happened today is a massive violation that threatens the national fabric of the Palestinian people…the Palestinian Authority’s abuse of the people on the anniversary of the disastrous Oslo agreement indicates once again their dedication to the unacceptable security coordination. All of these practices are the result of Oslo.” Abu Salah said that PFLP, DFLP and other activists were protesting at the Abu Ali Mustafa roundabout against this attack and pressuring the PA to release the detainees immediately.

As PA security forces forced demonstrators from the streets, over 100 prisoners affiliated with Islamic Jihad and Fateh in Ramon, Nafha, Negev, Ofer and Gilboa prisons are on hunger strike for three days in solidarity with the Balboul brothers and Malik al-Qadi. Al-Qadi, 20, a Palestinian journalism student at al-Quds university imprisoned without charge or trial since 23 May, has been unconscious for multiple days and is suffering from pneumonia, hearing loss and heart problems. Issa Qaraqe of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Commission said today that al-Qadi’s condition is the most severe health crisis for a Palestinian hunger striker since 2011.

Source: http://samidoun.net/2016/09/palestinian-authority-security-forces-attack-solidarity-protest-arrest-khader-adnan-as-three-hunger-strikers-struggle-for-their-lives/