Palestinian hunger striker protests detention
By Adam Hanieh
RAMALLAH — Palestinian prisoner, Itaf Alayan, has entered the third week of a hunger strike in the Israeli prison, Neve Tirza. Her hunger strike entered a critical stage last week when she began refusing water. She told a lawyer who visited her on November 12 that she would remain on hunger strike until she is released or dies.
Alayan is the only woman currently held in administrative detention (arrest without charge or trial). She was arrested on October 21 while travelling from Bethlehem to Bir Zeit University. No reason was given for her arrest and she has not been brought to trial.
Alayan was released from an Israeli prison in the women's prisoner release program on January 30. Since then, the Israeli military has prohibited her from visiting her husband in prison, moving into her husband's home in Jaffa and visiting her family abroad. She remained in Bethlehem with her mother and was studying social work at Bethlehem University when she was arrested.
On November 11, more than 200 Palestinians protested in Bethlehem demanding Alayan's release. Israeli soldiers fired into the crowd with tear gas, injuring several people. In the most serious case, an Israeli soldier fired at a 9-year-old boy from 15 metres, hitting him in the head. The boy was left on the ground with his brains seeping from his head while soldiers stood and watched.
There are more than 500 Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons under administrative detention. Not one has been tried or convicted of any offence.