Roundup: Palestinian on hunger strike draws ire on Israeli detentions

A two-month-long hunger strike by a Palestinian prisoner turned him into an icon of Palestinian resistance, in addition to drawing extraordinary attention to Israel's controversial practice of "administrative detention" without trial.

Mohammed Allan, who has not eaten since July 16, is protesting against his administrative detention, a measure which allows Israel to hold detainees indefinitely without charges or standing trial.

The 31-year-old lawyer from the West Bank village of Einbous near Nablus, has been on a medically induced coma since loosing consciousness Friday.

He regained consciousness Tuesday, pledging to escalate his fast by stoping water intake and refusing medical treatment unless Israel resolves his case within 24 hours.

Dr. Hezi Levi, director of the Barzilai hospital Ashkelon where Allan is detained, said he is currently "stable" but "if he does not start eating soon, a rapid deterioration is expected."

Israel's Upper court resumed discussions regarding a petition for Allan's release on health grounds Wednesday.

Allan's lawyer, Jamil Khatib, said Allan is willing to stay one further month in prison and immediately stop fasting if he is released afterwards.

A FORM OF "SLAVERY"

Before lapsing into a coma, Allan said in a message through Khatib, that "administrative detention is akin to slavery, and I refuse to be anyone's slave."

According to the Israeli human rights watchdog B'tselem, administrative detentions are allowed under international law only in "exceptional cases, as the last available resort to preventing danger which cannot be thwarted through less harmful means."

However, Israel's prolific use of administrative detention "blatantly violates the restrictions of international law," the watchdog said.

Both Israeli and Palestinian media say that Allan is an activist with Islamic Jihad, a militant group.

A spokesperson with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Allan is also suspected of "planning large-scale terrorist attacks along with fellow Islamic Jihad terrorists."

However, he was never informed of any charges against him since his arrest in November 2014.

Over the years, Israel jailed thousands of Palestinians for periods ranging between several months to several weeks, according to Addameer, a prisoner support and human rights association in Ramallah.

Israeli Prisons Service spokeswoman, Sivan Weizman, told Xinhua that as of August 2015, Israel has 340 detained Palestinians.

When asked if Israel uses this measure to arrest minors, Weizman said no accurate figures are available but "their numbers are few, if any."

A security official with the Israeli military told Xinhua that administrative detentions are used in cases where "intelligence information suggests a suspect is involved in terrorism against Israel yet the nature of evidence is too sensitive to be presented in court."

Officials quoted by Israeli media said the measure has been used in "ticking bomb" cases, when defense forces hold concrete information that a suspect is about to attack Israelis.

WAVE OF PROTEST

However, some commentators said the widespread use of administrative detentions is beginning to backfire. Tensions in the West Bank have soared, and a Palestinian was recently shot dead whilst attempt to stab an Israeli security officer in the fourth such incident over the past week.

Islamic Jihad warned Tuesday that his death will escalate Palestinian attacks against Israelis.

Posters praising Allan's defiance decorated squares in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

Over the last week, the protest spilled over to Israel, with hundreds of Arab citizens from Israel staging rallies throughout the country.

An editorial in Israel's liberal newspaper, Ha'aretz, urged the government to release Allan immediately. "It is high time not only to save Allan's life but to prevent an outbreak of violence and bloodshed," said the daily.

CONTROVERSIAL FORCED-FEEDING LAW

Allan's case has unfolded as Israel passed a new law allowing the forced-feeding of prisoners on hunger strikes.

Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails regularly go on hunger strikes, especially those held under administrative detention, and Israel is deeply concerned that they will die in prison, igniting a wave of protest in the West Bank.

"Their goal is not to die, rather to exploit their condition and subsequent publicity they receive to generate pressure on Israeli authorities to release them, hence facilitating their return to terrorism," a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Monday.

The forced-feeding law was approved less than a month after Israel was compelled to release Khader Adnan, a famous former Palestinian prisoner, whose 56-day-long hunger strike brought him to the brink of death.

The law is strongly denounced by international activists and Israel's Medical Association, with the latter considering forced-feeding a form of torture, urging doctors not to participate in the forced-feeding of prisoners. Enditem