Palestinian woman walks past a mural of Khader Adnan Photo AP /Fatima Shbair
Palestine – While everyone around the world went back to work on Tuesday, the people of Palestine mourned the loss of another beloved figure. Palestinian detainee Khader Adnan, spokesperson for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, who became a symbol of Palestinian resistance to Israeli detention policies, died in prison after an 87 day hunger strike.
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has called Adan’s death a “deliberate assassination” after Israeli authorities denied “his request to release him, neglecting him medically and keeping him in his cell despite the seriousness of his health condition”.
On the news of his death Palestinian detainees in Ofer Prison, an Israeli military prison in the West Bank, began a hunger strike as well. However, Jerusalem based archaeologist, Abeer Ahmed Zayyad, explained that his hunger strike and those of the remaining prisoners mean nothing to the Israeli government.
“All the people who are on hunger strikes in jail, they [Israeli government] do not care. They know that even if these people die, no one in the world will care about them. Even if they care it will only be for one or two days maximum. We as Palestinians have lost a lot of martyrs and Khader Adnan is one of them.”
The reason for Adnan going on a hunger strike and the message
Adnan had been on a hunger strike since his arrest on February 5 to try and bring awareness to Israel’s mass detentions of Palestinians without charges or trials. This wasn’t the first time Adnan had been arrested or gone on a hunger strike for this exact cause, said Zayyad.
“Sheikh Khader Adnan had been on a hunger strike before for the same reason which is to be arrested without any court, without any cause. They do not need to have any reason or cause or evidence to arrest someone. They have put many in jail for years because of this. Khader Adnan was in this situation more than once. Last time he was able to get out of jail.”
While his hunger strike was a message about the mass detention of Palestinians, his death is also a message to the world, said Zayyad. A message to the world to show the same kind of concern for Palestine as they do for Ukraine.
“The double standards of the world give the Ukrainians the right to fight the Russian but does not give us the right to fight Israel. The double standards of humanity. You are giving rights to one group of people but not to another group. The world is keeping quiet about what is happening here and what is happening to the prisoners … We need to save those who are still in jail.”
To hear more from Abeer Ahmed Zayyad on the treatment of Palestinians citizens and prisoners, listen to the podcast here:
