[Image ID: a Palestinian man wearing a keffiyeh lies in bed, resting his head on a pillow and looking off to the side. He is holding up a sign to the camera that is handwritten in Arabic. End image ID]
Palestinian prisoner Ghazanfar Abu Atwan has been held in administrative detention (imprisonment without charges or trial) since October 2020. He has been on hunger strike to protest his detention for 61 days as of 4 July 2021, and has told New Press that he will be going on water strike in addition to his hunger strike.
Abu Atwan has been transferred to Israel’s Kaplan Hospital, his detention having being suspended (meaning that should supposedly be treated by hospital staff as a civilian) but not cancelled or shortened. He is experiencing problems with his heart and kidneys, and his medical records indicate that his life is in danger.
As of June 28, 2021, there are 520 prisoners held without charges or trial under “administrative detention” orders in Israel. [link 2]
Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK is calling for the launch of a solidarity campaign with six hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners to demand their release, since detention is threatening their lives.
There’s a change.org petition for his release here. You can also tweet using the hashtag #FreeGhadanfar or contact news agencies requesting that they cover this story.
[image ID: a tweet by Mohammed El-Kurd @m7mdkurd that reads: "28-yr-old Ghadanfar Abu Atwan is on his 64th day of hunger strike, in protest of his 'administrative detention' imposed by the Israeli occupation authorities. His health is deteriorating, his organs are failing. 'My life is fading before my eyes,' he pleaded in an open letter." In an attached photograph, Atwan lies on his side in a hospital bed, wearing a t-shirt and a keffiyeh; a woman in a hijab sits by his side holding his hands. end ID]
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