While the Israeli occupation authorities attempt to undermine the resistance of Palestinians in administrative detention through lengthy arduous stays in detention centers without charge or trial Palestinians evince resiliency even from behind prison bars.
For 115 consecutive days administrative detainees have maintained a continuous boycott of Israeli occupation courts in a move aimed at terminating the illegal detention practiced by the occupation and hoping to alleviate the grief of families who await their sons’ release.
The administrative detention order is considered one of the most complicated orders in Israeli prisons. It is used against hundreds of Palestinian political prisoners who are imprisoned without trial for several months or even years such as in the case of Ali Al Jamal who was detained for seven years.
Israeli military orders are strictly imposed on the occupied Palestinian territory affecting all aspects of life and criminalizing many activities guaranteed under international conventions and agreements related to civil political social economic and cultural rights. The reasons for the arrest remain ambiguous and often arbitrary. The military orders which fundamentally violate international humanitarian law applicable to the occupied territory determine public and regional security and are invoked to detain people.
Many detainees are uninformed as to the purpose of their detention or the length of their internment. Their lawyers are usually similarly unaware which prevents a compelling defense from being developed. An administrative detention order against the detainee may be continuously renewed multiple times.
Israeli occupation authorities continue to issue administrative detention orders based on “secret information” which is kept from detainee and lawyer alike. As of April there have been over 140 such orders since the beginning of this year according to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Club.
Limited options
Palestinian detainees have no suitable choices to protest against their illegal detention and inhumane treatment so they choose to go on hunger strike or boycott the courts.
The wife of the administrative detainee Ayoub Al-Awadeh from al-Khalil said that this step planted hope in the hearts of the administrative detainees’ families. Yet she agrees that this step by the detainees alone is not enough and should be supported by local organizations caring about Palestinian detainees to put pressure on the international community to lend support.
Lawyer Jamil Saadeh speaking on behalf of the detainees says that the captives are committed to this act of struggle and resistance through boycotting the occupation courts at all levels including confirmations appeals and hearings before the Supreme Court.
He believes that the declared goal of this step is to elucidate the ill-treatment of the administrative detainees whose number is estimated at more than 500 including children women and patients with cancer such as the prisoner Abdul Basit Maatan.
He added “This step comes after consulting with all the administrative prisoners after being deprived of ways to stop their administrative detention.”
He also noted that the detainees’ movement is considering an open mass hunger strike after the court boycott step. Two detainees Khalil Awawda and Raed Rayan continue their open hunger strike in rejection of their administrative detention and they are both in worsening health status.
The Israeli occupation has issued more than 9000 administrative detention orders since 2015. In each of the immediate subsequent years 2016 and 2017 the number of administrative arrests exceeded 700.
Since 2011 Palestinian political prisoners have carried out more than 400 individual hunger strikes against administrative detention including about 60 in 2021.
Most of the administrative detainees are former detainees who have previously been subjected to administrative detention including the elderly sick people and children.
Among the administrative detainees are five MPs out of eight MPs who are held in occupation prisons. Six children have been subjected to administrative detention orders during the past year some of whom turned 18 during their detention aging out of legal childhood including the detainee Amal Nakhleh who suffers from a severe autoimmune disease.
The oldest administrative detainee is 80-year-old lawyer Bashir El-Khairy who has been detained since October 29 2021. He is a leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. His fellows in prison have announced that if the occupation extends al-Khairy’s administrative detention on or before April 28 rather than releasing him they will go on an open hunger strike to demand his immediate freedom and take additional steps of escalation and protest.
– Wafa Aludaini is a Gaza based journalist. She contributed this article to the Palestinian Information Center.
