As we write, Palestinian political prisoner Samer Issawi clings to life in an Israeli prison – he has been on a hunger strike for over 200 days.
After being sentenced to 30 years in prison for participation in the Palestinian people’s rightful resistance to Zionist occupation, Samer was released in October 2011 as part of the exchange of Palestinian political prisoners for the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. But Samer was arrested again and charged with supposedly violating the conditions of his release by visiting the West Bank.
That a Palestinian should be imprisoned for visiting “the West Bank” of his own country while the Israeli government continues to steal land and build new settlements there is a measure of the racist colonial-settler state’s hypocrisy. But while the Zionists can steal the Palestinian people’s land, they cannot steal the dignity and unbreakable spirit of sons and daughters like Samer Issawi.
Samer is just one of almost 5,000 Palestinian political prisoners currently in Israeli detention. More about Samer’s story and struggle, as well as those of all the Palestinian prisoners can be read at the Free Samer Issawi facebook page as well as websites like Middle East Monitor, Mondoweiss and the website of the Adameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association.
The comrades of the Internationalist Socialist League issued this statement on the plight of Samer Issawi and all the Palestinian political prisoners, and we also recommend reading the ISL’s earlier excellent analysis of the deal to release Palestinian political prisoners in exchange for Israel’s Shalit.
We bring to our readers’ attention this extraordinary letter from Samer Issawi, published at the Free Haifa site: There is no going back because I’m the owner of Right.