In the occupied Palestinian territories, Friday is usually dedicated to anti-Israeli protests. So, it was not surprising that Palestinians clashed with Israeli soldiers on Friday in support of the over 1,000 Palestinians on hunger strike in Israeli prisons. What is becoming headline news is that the latest hunger strike has entered its 13th day and the clashes involving 2,000 Palestinians in violent riots have erupted across the territories. More so, while Palestinian prisoners have mounted repeated hunger strikes down the years, rarely have they been on a scale such as is being witnessed at present.
The demands of the hunger strikers are straightforward enough: they seek their basic human rights – to no longer be denied family visits, to have the ability to contact their families via telephone, to receive appropriate medical care, to not be subjected to isolation or to imprisonment without charge or trial under administrative detention.
If there is one cause that has managed to bring Palestinians together in recent years, it has proven to be the prisoners’ struggle. The current hunger strike is being led by Fatah, but prisoners from all the major Palestinian factions are participating. The importance of this strike lies in the fact that it has brought together prisoners from all factions and from all over Palestine: Gaza, the West Bank, Jerusalem and Palestinians from the 1948 territories, crossing the bitter divide between the two main Palestinian political parties, Fatah and Hamas, that has prevailed over the past decade. Thus, Palestinians across political lines have joined the strike, urging dedicated action for the prisoners’ victory.
The unity and resilience of the prisoners’ movement in the face of Israeli repression, intimidation and attempts to delegitimize the strike are being put to the test. Moreover, it is a test of the capacity of Palestinian society to mobilize in support of the prisoners, to build sustained pressure on Israel, and overcome their divisions to stand behind the prisoners.
The current hunger strike is not an isolated event and is part of a long history of struggle. Two major hunger strikes in 2004 and 2012 might have yielded little improvement in prisoners’ conditions – nevertheless they were turning points. The strikes were accompanied by popular protests and escalated mobilization on the ground, not seen in Palestine since the early days of the second intifada more than a decade earlier. Palestinian prisoners improved their conditions in jails and attained some of their rights thanks to their sacrifices, not Israeli magnanimity. Some lost their lives to secure those rights but it proved to be one of the most effective forms of resistance in confronting the Israeli prison system.
Five years on, Palestinian prisoners are being forced to resort to empty stomachs again to fight for their rights. Their strike continues and they have vowed to pursue their protest until they achieve their demands.
Consuming only salt and water, their bodies and lives are on the line.
Meanwhile, Palestinians across the world are posting videos of themselves on social media drinking salt water, the Salt Water Challenge as it’s called, which asks supporters of the hunger strike to express their solidarity in a video before mixing salt in a glass of water and drinking it, similar to the Ice Bucket Challenge that went viral in 2014.
The prisoners are not only calling for their basic rights and demanding an improvement in prison conditions. They also seek to express their defiance, to reinvigorate public solidarity with their cause and to draw attention to their plight. The strike has definitely given the Palestinian cause momentum and unprecedented media attention.
The prisoners would not join this strike if they didn’t have pressing demands. Israeli authorities have stated that they will not meet their demands. But if the authorities want to keep the situation from escalating, they would be wise to change course.
