Press release
Montreal, January 3rd, 2022
One of the pillars of Israel’s brutal apartheid system is that of administrative detention. Under this system, Israel can arrest any Palestinian at any time and incarcerate them without formal evidence or charges, and without due process. Administrative detention can be renewed indefinitely every six months without recourse to appeal. Therefore, Palestinians can be imprisoned for years without charge and without trial. This system of arbitrary administrative detention was introduced by Britain during its mandate and subsequently applied by Israel’s apartheid regime.
Hisham Abu Hawash, a victim of administrative detention like hundreds of other Palestinians, a Palestinian hunger striker imprisoned by the apartheid regime in Israel, is on his 138th day of a hunger strike.
Hisham Abu Hawash, forty years old, married with five children, began his hunger strike on August 17, 2021 to demand an end to his administrative detention, in other words his imprisonment by Israel without charge or due process. Throughout his strike, he has been repeatedly forced to go back and forth between the Ramle prison clinic, known for its medical deficiencies and neglect, and brief visits to civilian hospitals. In extremely poor health, Hisham Abou Hawash nevertheless continues his hunger strike, while he is currently being held at the Israeli civilian hospital Assaf Harofeh.
However, he cannot leave the hospital or be transferred to a Palestinian hospital. As a result, he remains de facto a prisoner and he refuses to end his hunger strike because, as soon as his health improves, the Israeli occupation authorities will again subject him to administrative detention.
During his multiple arrests, he spent a total of eight years in Israeli occupation prisons, including fifty-two months without charge or trial, under administrative detention.
During his multiple arrests, has spent a total of eight years in Israeli occupation prisons, including fifty-two months without charge or trial, under administrative detention.
Currently, about five hundred of the four thousand five hundred and fifty Palestinian political prisoners are imprisoned without charge or trial under administrative detention.
Palestinians and Jewish Unity calls on the government of Israel to release Hisham Abu Hawash immediately, otherwise it will be guilty of one more extrajudicial murder to add to its long list of crimes against the Palestinian people.
PAJU supports Samidoun’s call for public demonstrations to release Hisham Abou Hawash and to denounce Israel’s system of illegal administrative detention.
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Info : kab1@videotron.ca
