Prisoners warn of imminent clashes in Israeli jails

[ 03/10/2010 - 09:30 AM ]

GAZA, (PIC)-- Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails warn that, as tensions continue, constant provocations and violations from the Israeli prisons authority could turn into clashes.

The Prisoners Studies Center said, in a statement on Sunday, the Israeli prison system has banned visits to some prisoners for several years and carries out forceful strip searches on prisoners.

Prison guards perform surprise night raids and violently empty prisoners’ cells, and have taken down walls in some prisons in search of mobile telephones.

Prisoners are deprived the opportunity to study at the university level shortly before graduation and are sentenced to unreasonable and unlawful terms in the military courts, and are served unclean food.

Administrative prison sentences are extended up to eight times, without indictments.

In a separate context, the prisoners hailed the meeting between Hamas and Fatah leaders to discuss national reconciliation a week back in the Syrian capital of Damascus.

The Palestinian prisoners supporters organization quoted one longtime prisoner as saying: “The political atmosphere and general conditions experienced by the Palestinian people and their cause are ripe for a complete reconciliation, especially under the shadow of Israeli intransigence which denies the rights of the Palestinian people and the clear escalations against Jerusalem and continued settlement activity.”

Prisoners call for more talks between Fatah and Hamas in an effort to promote reconciliation and national unity and to rally around common issues, such as the war prisoners issue and the occupation of Jerusalem, that unite the Palestinians.

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