Leila Khaled announces open hunger strike for Palestinian prisoners as Catholic patriarch, international students fast in solidarity
Support hunger strikes for the Palestinian prisoners, currently engaged in the Strike of Freedom and Dignity in Israeli jails for the past 21 days, have continued to grow. On Saturday, 6 May, Leila Khaled, the historic Palestinian resistance icon and active present-day political leader, announced an open-ended hunger strike in support of the striking prisoners.
She announced the hunger strike at the prisoners’ support tent in Amman, Jordan, in the courtyard of the office of the Democratic People’s Unity Party (Wihda Party) of Jordan. “The prisoners on hunger strike are in direct confrontation with the enemy, but they have only the weapon of the empty stomach,” said Khaled. She urged unity in supporting the strike, saying that “the prisoners are telling us for 20 days to come to the streets and showing us an example of unity,” noting that the prisoners’ struggle is a clear alternative to the path of the official Palestinian Authority leadership, which wants “to sell us the illusion that Trump will resolve our struggle through negotiations.”
“We must uphold the right of return, and the liberation of Palestine, and the establishment of a democratic Palestine on the entire land of Palestine,” she said. “To the heroes on hunger strike in Israeli prison, I join you in this strike from this moment.”
1500 Palestinian prisoners launched their hunger strike on 17 April, Palestinian Prisoners’ Day, for a series of demands, including an end to the denial of family visits, proper health care and medical treatment, access to higher education and an end to the use of solitary confinement and administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial. The strikers have faced harsh repression, including denial of legal and family visits, confiscation of personal belongings and even salt. Hunger strikers consume only salt and water to protect their health. Leaders of the strike, including Fateh leader Marwan Barghouthi, have been thrown in solitary confinement. A series of prominent leaders, including Ahmad Sa’adat, Abbas Sayyed, Ibrahim Hamed, Hassan Salameh, Zaid Bseiso and Ahed Abu Ghoulmeh have joined the strike, as well as the longest-serving prisoners in Israeli jails, Nael Barghouthi and Karim Younes.
