Palestinian Detainee on Forty-Nine-Day-Food-Strike Protest
Source: Al Intiqad Online Newspaper, Translated and Edited by moqawama.org
The humiliating circumstances of his detention made him announce his food strike since the first day of his detention on the 17th of the last January. Protesting against altering his detention into an administrative one - even without a charge - then a complete detention, he has gone on with his food strike. The Palestinian Khodr Adnan's food strike has now become the longest ever in the history of the detainees' movement.
In spite of all attempts of the "Israeli"-prisons administration to pressure him and make him quit his strike, whereby signs of his mass loss, fatigue, and frailty have appeared, captive Adnan hasn't agreed on quitting his strike, but rather he has declared that he would only break his fast at his own house in Araba Town near Janine in the north of the West Bank.
Captive Adnan's food-strike period is actually considered the longest in the history of the strikes carried out by the Palestinian and Arab captives against the Zionist jailers; whereby this period has exceeded the forty-five-day-food strike carried out in 1976 by the captives of "the Askalan Prison" in request for humanity.
Legendary Steadfastness
The President of "the Palestinian Detainees Club" Qaddourah Fares says that captive Adnan has demonstrated legendary steadfastness, which has confused the jailer trying everything he could to make Adnan quit his food strike, eventually failing to face the rightful requests this stubborn captive has been claiming.
Fares adds that Adnan was tortured and greatly insulted on the first day of his arrest, and this made him announce that he was on a food strike and that he would refrain from speaking to the investigators investigating with him; ever since, Adnan has kept requesting that he be released as no charge has been made against him.
Making his testimony to the lawyer of "the Conscience Foundation", captive Khodr Adnan has informed the lawyer of the investigation circumstances, "On the first days of the investigation, they asked me normal questions, but they addressed me derogatorily and swore at my parents, wife, and religion. Because of these derogatory references, I have completely refrained from speech and announced my food strike."
Since Adnan sustained his strike and speechlessness, the investigators kept punishing him insultingly, drawing his beard forward to pull his body, pulling some of his beard hair and wiping their shoes onto it, transferring him to single jail cells for seven consecutive days, preventing him from his family's visits for three months, detaining him along with convicted prisoners, and "searching" him while nude.
As captive Adnan insisted on refusing the derogatory means of the "Israeli" Occupation's investigation, the Zionist intelligence requested that the regional military commander issue an administrative command of arresting Adnan for four months. Sheikh Adnan refused this and announced going on with his food strike.
Captive Khodr Adnan (33 years old) is from Araba Town near Janine City in the north of the West Bank, and he is one of the commanders of "the Islamic Jihad Movement" in Palestine. Adnan is married and has two daughters, and this has been the ninth time in a row he gets arrested.
Until They Release Him...
So as to face this captive's insistence, the "Israeli"-prisons administration tried to influence him by allowing him to contact his family, as well as religion scholars who "have tried to convince him that what he's been doing is suicide committal," says his wife Randa Adnan.
Adnan's wife, who is a scholar of Islamic Sharia (Literally: "Legislation"), denounces the attempt to describe her husband as "a suicide committer", whereby she says, "I called the sheikh and asked him how he could interfere to convince one taken captive by the Occupation to quit his food strike, so he told me, "I went there to advice your husband, but he has advised me instead."" Adnan's wife adds, "My husband is on a food strike in order to attain his legitimate rights, and he's not giving up until they release him."
Randa says Sheikh Adnan has increased his requests while sustaining his strike; that is, in the beginning, his strike was a protest against his first arrest circumstances, then against his administrative arrest circumstances, and now he's still on strike until they finally release him. She adds, "In spite of his jailer's harshness, my husband has made them abide by his requests as he's sustained his food strike, becoming stronger than they are."
As for expectations for the continuity of the strike, she says, "He's told us to expect anything, so we're very worried about his life, especially when we do not know how the prisons administration might treat him; it might revenge. But we're faithful in Allah the Exalted in Ability, for He can save us from this agony - God Willing."
In fact, Randa is quite hopeful her husband is going to conquer his jailer, "Though I am afraid my husband and children's father might be harmed, I do believe in Allah, and I am indeed certain that He'll be with us and that my husband will conquer his jailer and come back to us as he's promised himself and us."
Actually, this hasn't been the first time captive Adnan goes on food strike; in 2005, he carried out an open food strike to protest against his isolation for 28 days. Then, the "Israeli" prisons administration responded to his request and transferred him to normal sections.
