NGOs and representatives of national factions in the southern occupied West Bank province of al-Khalil rallied on Saturday in solidarity with the hunger-striking Palestinian detainee Rizq al-Rajoub.
Activists called for immediately releasing prisoner Rajoub who has been on an open-ended hunger strike for 14 days running in an Israeli jail.
Minister of Prisoners’ and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Qaraqe hailed al-Rajoub’s strong determination and iron will in the face of the oppressive policies pursued by the Israeli occupation.
Qaraqe called for stepping up solidarity events to urge the Israeli prison authorities to unshackle al-Rajoub and halt his administrative detention issued with neither charge nor trial.
The minister sounded the alarm over the dire conditions of captivity and medical neglect al-Rajoub has been made to endure as a pressure tactic to force him to succumb to an Israeli order to leave his mother country.
“Al-Rajoub has been struggling against an entity that perpetrates crimes and legitimizes the murder of Palestinians” said Qaraqe urging the Red Cross to take a firm response and save al-Rajoub before it is too late.
Al-Rajoub’s brother Jadullah also the campaign’s spokesman spoke out against the medical negligence the sick detainee has been subjected to in an isolated cell.
Director of the Palestinian Prisoners Society in al-Khalil Amjad al-Najar warned of an underway conspiracy by the occupation authorities to take away al-Rajoub’s life.
Speaking on behalf of the hunger striker’s family ex-prisoner Ziad al-Rajoub also a Fatah leader lauded the detainee’s anti-occupation activism saying he has been an icon of perseverance and self-abnegation despite the 23 years he has spent in Israeli lock-ups.
Dura Mayor Nooman Amr also called for keeping up solidarity events until hunger-striking al-Rajoub is released from Israeli jails.
The Israeli occupation forces arrested al-Rajoub on November 27 2017 and seized a car of his own four months after they had seized another two of his cars.
Prisoner al-Rajoub had been locked up for a total of 23 years in Israeli jails including 10 years in administrative detention with neither charge nor trial.
