NEW YORK – (MintPress) – After more than 230 days on hunger strike, Palestinian prisoner Samer Issawi, 33, is now on life support.
Issawi, who is in Jerusalem’s Kaplan Hospital, is in extremely bad condition, Haithem El-Zabri of the Free Samer Issawi campaign tells Mint Press News.
Issawi’s sister, Shireen, wrote on the group’s Facebook page on Monday that he is chained to his bed in a room guarded by Israeli authorities. He is “insisting on continuing his strike until Freedom,” she said.
Although the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court agreed in February to release Issawi in early March, he has been handed over to the Ofer Military Court, which will hold its next hearing on the case on March 21.
The Israeli Military Committee has asked the Ofer court to require Issawi to serve the remaining 20 years of a 30-year sentence, claiming that he broke the conditions of release by leaving the city of Jerusalem.
Issawi was originally arrested in Ramallah in April 2002 and convicted of possessing weapons and forming military groups in Jerusalem.
In October 2011, nearly a decade later, he was released as part of a prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas, which included the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
The following July, however, Issawi was re-arrested near the Palestinian village of Hizma, which is within the municipality of Jerusalem, for violating his release terms. He began his hunger strike on Aug. 1, 2012.
Last week, says El-Zabri, Issawi rejected an Israeli offer of freedom in exchange for exile to Gaza or Jordan.
In a recent letter from prison, Issawi wrote, “Do not worry if my heart stops, I am still alive now and even after death, because Jerusalem is in my veins.”
Ayman’s story
In the same letter, Issawi said, “I do not go into the battle for freedom for me only, but my colleagues.”
Among them is Ayman Sharawna, a 38-year-old father from the village of Deir Samet, south of the West Bank who has been on hunger strike for 257 days.
Sharawna, who spent 10 years in prison before being freed in the same prison swap as Issawi, was rearrested by Israeli authorities in January 2012, a few months after his release.
He started his hunger strike on July 1, 2012, but according to El-Zabri, has suspended it on occasion after the Israeli government promised to review his case. He renewed it, however, after the authorities continued to postpone the hearing.
Sharawna’s mother told Shireen Issawi, “My son Ayman is in real danger. Our hearts are bleeding and we could never sleep the night knowing that he is dying.”
Shireen also wrote on the Free Samer Issawi Facebook page — “The Prisoner Club reported that Ayman has completely lost his right kidney, 50 percent of his left kidney and sight in the left eye. In addition, he also lost so much weight.”
She said that like her brother, Sharawna has been put in solitary confinement several times “to break his steadfastness.” Sharawna also refused to be exiled to Gaza or another country.
International support
Shireen continues to appeal to international agencies such as the Red Cross to press for the release of her brother as well as Sharawna and other hunger strikers, and helps to organize demonstrations on their behalf.
“The Palestinian hunger strikers should not be left alone while facing inevitable death inside dark cells,” she posted over the weekend.
“This is a serious appeal to the free people around the world and to every human being out there,” she continued. “If we take immediate action, we can rescue their lives instead of receiving them in coffins.”
El-Zabri says that in addition to ongoing Twitter campaigns and banner drops, there is a 24-hour global solidarity fast starting beginning every Friday night. This week, more than 1,400 people in 54 countries have signed up.