Prisoner release 'a stunt'

Prisoner release 'a stunt'

Israel's much publicised release of 1000 Palestinian political prisoners on April 9 was an "annual theatrical move" according to Palestine Liberation Organisation representative Ali Kazak.

The prisoners released had already completed their terms, yet remained in detention, while others would have completed their terms in a few days.

Thousands of other political prisoners, including minors, remain in Israeli jails. Israel admits holding 14,000, but other estimates are as high as 30,000 (out of 1.75 million Palestinians under Israeli occupation). This would be the highest ratio of political prisoners per population in the world, Kazak said. On the same ratio, it is the equivalent of 300,000 political prisoners in Australia.

From GLW issue 8