Palestinian Prisoner Khader Adnan To Be Released After 66-Day Hunger Strike

February 21, 2012 from Democracy Now!

Israel's Supreme Court has ordered the release of Khader Adnan, a Palestinian prisoner who has been on a hunger strike for 66 days. He is being held in Israel without charge or trial. Under the deal, Adnan will be released on April 17. Doctors previously said Adnan was at immediate risk of death. We speak to three guests about his case: His sister, Maali Mousa; Bill van Esveld, researcher at Human Rights Watch; and Danny Morrison, a friend of the late Irish republican activist Bobby Sands who died on his 66th day of a hunger strike in 1981. "[Adnan] told us that, 'I am going on this hunger strike until I have a honorable deal or getting out of this jail,'" said Moussa about her recent visit to see her brother. "But at the same time, his spirits were very high." Van Esveld accused Israel of violating international law by holding a Palestinian from the West Bank inside Israel. "It's a violation of Israel's obligations under the Geneva Conventions to detain people from the occupied West Bank in prisons or hospitals, in this case, inside Israel," van Esveld said.

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Khader Adnan

Khader Adnan is a Palestinian prisoner in Israel. Israeli authorities have not laid any formal charges against him, but say he was arrested for "for activities that threaten regional security." He was arrested on 17 December 2011 after midnight. The following day, to protest t... Explore this topic

Hunger strike

A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance or pressure in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke feelings of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most hunger strikers will tak... Explore this topic

Palestinian prisoners in Israel

Palestinian prisoners in Israel refers to Palestinians imprisoned in Israel in the wake of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The future of Palestinian prisoners detained by Israel is considered central to progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Most of the prisoner... Explore this topic

Israel

Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a parliamentary democracy in the Middle East, on the south-eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan and the West Bank in the east, Egypt and the Gaza Strip on the southwes... Explore this topic

Supreme Court of Israel

The Supreme Court is at the head of the court system and highest judicial instance in Israel. The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem. The area of its jurisdiction is all of Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. A ruling of the Supreme Court is binding upon every court, oth... Explore this topic

West Bank

The West Bank is a landlocked territory, located in Western Asia. The West Bank shares boundaries to the west, north, and south with the state of Israel, and to the east, across the Jordan River, with the Kingdom of Jordan. The West Bank also contains a significant coastline a... Explore this topic

Political prisoner

According to the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, a political prisoner is ‘someone who is in prison because they have opposed or criticized the government of their own country’. The term is used by persons or groups challenging the legitimacy of the detention of a p... Explore this topic

Mark Regev

Mark Regev, formerly Mark Freiberg, is the international spokesman for the Prime Minister of Israel, a position he has held since 2007. He has been called by The Guardian as "Israel's Master of Public Relations." Explore this topic

Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris,... Explore this topic

Danny Morrison (writer)

Daniel Gerard Morrison, known generally as Danny Morrison is an Irish republican writer and activist who played a crucial role in public events during the Troubles. He is the secretary of the Bobby Sands Trust, and is also current chairman of Féile an Phobail, the largest arts... Explore this topic

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