Khader Adnan: Battle of Empty Stomach Continues, Int’l Orgs Condemn ’’Israel’’
A local rights group, al-Haq, said 315 Palestinians were being held under the edict.
For its part, the Palestinian Council of Human Rights Organizations (PCHRO) urged the UN and the European Union to take immediate action to force "Israel" to release Adnan.
"The practice of administrative detentions is clearly unjust and has been used systematically as part of the military occupation of the Palestinian territories by the "Israel"."
Thousands of Palestinians marched in Gaza and the West Bank Friday in support of seriously ill hunger striker Khader Adnan, amid international condemnation of his continued detention without charge.
At least 5,000 people took to the streets of Gaza, while witnesses said hundreds had also demonstrated in the northern West Bank city of Jenin.
"We are all Khader Adnan," chanted crowds gathered in the Gaza Strip, with activists from the main political parties joining forces in a rare display of Palestinian unity.
Palestinian officials said many other prisoners in "Israeli" jails had started hunger strikes in support of Adnan.
Adnan, 33, has been refusing food since mid-December following his arrest in the occupied West Bank.
He is being held under so-called "administrative detention" which means that "Israel" can detain him indefinitely without trial or charge.
Under "Israel's" military law, prisoners can be held in administrative detention for up to six months without charge or trial. The detention can be renewed at the end of the period, effectively allowing "Israel" to hold Palestinians in jail indefinitely.
Human Rights Watch declared that "Israel's" administrative detention policy is a violation of international law.
""Israel's" international legal obligations, however, require it to inform those arrested of the reasons for the arrest at the time, to promptly inform them of any charges against them and to bring them before a judge," the rights-group said in a press release.
The Physicians for Human Rights group in "Israel" (PHR), which has been monitoring Adnan's condition in an "Israeli" hospital, unveiled Friday that "he was in immediate danger of death," adding that "he had suffered significant muscular atrophy."
Commenting on the "Israeli" continuous detention, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said that "the Palestinian people, with all its components and its factions, will never abandon the hero prisoners, especially those who lead this hunger strike battle."
"Israel" has rejected repeated appeals for his release, but lawyers for Adnan lodged a final appeal to the "Israeli" Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the UN Special Rapporteur on Palestinian Human Rights condemned the detention.
Richard Falk said the case was "a revealing microcosm of the unbearable cruelty of prolonged occupation."
"It draws a contrast in the West between the dignity of an "Israeli" prisoner and the steadfast refusal to heed the abuse of thousands of Palestinians languishing in "Israeli" jails through court sentence or administrative order," he said.
The Irish Republican movement Sinn Fein, whose MP Bobby Sands died in 1981 after 66 days without food in protest over British colonial rule, condemned the detention.
The party's foreign spokesman Pádraig Mac Lochlainn called on the governments of Europe to intervene.
"I am calling on the Tánaiste (Irish Prime Minister) and his European counterparts to urgently intervene to save Khader Adnan's life."
Amnesty International have also condemned Adnan's imprisonment, as well as "Israel's" administrative detention, saying the policy violates "Israel's" obligations to international law.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org
