Activists and mothers
A delegation of 15 Gush Shalom activists visited today (18.8.04) the families of Palestinianprisoners, who are conducting an open-ended hunger strike. The families are striking at theEast Jerusalem Red Cross offices.
The delegation carried posters in Hebrew, Arabic and English, demanding “Decent Treatmentof Prisoners of War”.
Gush activist Hava Keller, “mother of the female prisoners”, with a representative of the families at the entrance of the Red Cross office
Delegation members emphasized that, since the Israeli government insists that the presentconfrontation is a war, they are duty-bound to treat their prisoners as prisoners-or-war,with all the rights safeguarded to P-o-Ws under international conventions.
A prisoner’s daughter carrying the picture of her father
The prisoners’ families received the delegation members warmly, thanking them forencouraging them at their difficult time. They strongly condemned the Minister for InternalSecurity, Tsahi Hanegby, for saying that he doesn’t give a damn if the prisoners “starve todeath”. They expressed their fear for the lives of their beloved ones.
Before this visit, the delegation was present at the Supreme Court proceedingsconcerning the wall in a-Ram. They expressed their deep sorrow after the court cancelled thetemporary injunction forbidding the government to start building.