Empty Stomach Warriors: On The Streets of Ramallah

Photo Blog by Dylan Collins

Solidarity demonstrations took place throughout the central West Bank city of Ramallah on Tuesday, May 8, in support of the growing movement demanding just judicial proceedings and fair treatment for Palestinian prisoners within the Israeli judicial and penal systems.

In coordination with Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, a group of approximately 1400 prisoners began an open-ended hunger strike on 17 April 2012, in protest at Israel’s exploitive use of administrative detention, which enables indefinite detention without trial, and its habitual mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners. The Addameer Association for Prisoner Support and Human Rights estimate the number of those on hunger striking movement has grown to upwards of 2,000 prisoners.

As they entered their 22nd day without food, a smaller group of prisoners advanced to a much later stage of their strikes. Thaer Halahleh and Bilal Thiab, both of whom are held without charge or official evidence, entered their 71st day of hunger strike on Tuesday, while other strikers Hassan Safadi (66 days), Omar Abu Shanan (65 days), Mohammad Taj (52 days), Mahmoud Sarsak (51 days), and Jaafar Ezzedine (48 days) are also in danger.

Tuesday’s solidarity demonstrations, which teemed through downtown Ramallah before battling waves of tear gas and rubber-coated steel bullets outside Israel’s Ofer Prison on the outskirts of the city, culminated in an afternoon march upon Palestinian Authority (PA) Presidential compound.