Battling against administrative detention, Hana Al-Shalabi has refused food for over a month, her health rapidly deteriorating, reports Khaled Amayreh in occupied Jerusalem Hana Al-Shalabi, 24, was released from Israeli jails several months ago as part of the so-called Shalit deal. However, the young Palestinian woman was rearrested two months ago "on secret charges" and sent for administrative detention without charge or trial, ostensibly in order to make her suffer. This, says Eissa Qaraki, the Palestinian Authority (PA) official in charge of the prisoner portfolio, is a deliberate Israeli policy aimed at hounding and harassing the released prisoners and destabilising their lives. But Hana Al-Shalabi wouldn't succumb to the unjust detention order. She resorted to the only means available to her and other inmates to voice their grievances: hunger strike. On 18 February, she began an open-ended hunger strike to protest against this "illegal, illegitimate and immoral" open-ended incarceration, using her lawyer's words. On Sunday, she entered her 32nd day of fasting amid fears for her life as her health deteriorated rapidly. Her family and human rights organisations in the occupied territories appealed to the UN and Red Cross to intervene and press the Israeli authorities to free her and also put an end to the blatant practice of detaining people for prolonged periods reaching up to 12 years and without trial or charges. However, it is unlikely that Israel would reconsider the sinister practice that dates back to the British Mandate era and is reserved particularly for Palestinians "who wouldn't keep quiet". In the Israeli lexicon, "not keeping quiet" means supporting, even by peaceful means, one of the Palestinian liberation movements, such as Hamas or the Islamic Jihad. Earlier in the week, Al-Shalabi was forcibly transferred to an Israeli hospital after a medical examination by a foreign physician. It is unknown if she was force-fed by Israeli medics or was only put under medical observation due to her deteriorating health. Qaraki quoted Doctors for Human Rights, who examined the woman, as testifying that Al-Shalabi was no longer able to stand on her feet, was suffering from nausea, severe headaches and pain in the abdomen, as well as her heart slowing. The Palestinian official held the Israel occupation fully responsible for Al-Shalabi's life. He accused the Israeli authorities of behaving callously and inhumanely with regard to the Palestinian woman, saying: "Israel's behaviour is vengeful and has no iota of legality or legitimacy or even humanity." Qaraki further denounced what he called "Israeli sadism and cannibalism", accusing Israel of "allowing a given prisoner to reach the edge of the grave before intervening to save his or her life." Last month, the Israeli authorities met -- if partially -- the demands of Adnan Khadr at the last moment after he maintained an uninterrupted hunger strike for 66 days, the longest strike ever. An Israeli military court decided to release Khadr, apparently fearing that his death would spark widespread protests and violence throughout the occupied territories. Khadr is due to be released next week. The Israeli authorities have proposed to many prisoners a "plea bargain deal" whereby they would leave their country either for good or for a specific number of years. However, the prisoners refused the offer. There are currently as many as 25 Palestinian detainees on hunger strike in Israeli detention centres, and the number is likely to increase as more prisoners are joining the "empty bowl" battle against the oppressive practice of administrative detention. The "administrative detainees" in Israeli jails include some 26 elected lawmakers, as well as a large number of intellectuals and professionals. Earlier, Aziz Duweik, speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, who was abducted and sent to jail for administrative detention more than two months ago, praised Al-Shalabi, saying she was at the forefront of the battle to end the unjust practice. "Administrative detention is only a euphemism for holding people captive or hostage for political reasons. This is the reason the Israeli authorities don't tell the detainee why he is being detained. It is a draconian and unjust practice that has got to stop," Duweik was quoted by his lawyer as saying. Meantime, Israel is worried that "administrative detention" is beginning to lose its deterrent and punitive effects on Palestinians. Hence the dilemma facing Israel. Israel's ultimate goal is to crush Palestinian aspirations for freedom and statehood and break their will to resist. The Israeli occupation army has rearrested many of the prisoners released in the Shalit deal, either on concocted charges or without any charge at all. The Israeli army has also murdered at least two of the released prisoners, one in Gaza during the latest Israeli aggression on the coastal enclave and the other during a raid on the town of Yatta near Hebron last week. Hamas views the re-arrest of released prisoners as a grave violation of the Egyptian-brokered prisoner swap deal between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group. Hamas officials, including Sheikh Saleh Aruri, who oversees the implementation of the agreement, have accused Israel of reneging on promises made to Egypt to refrain from re-arresting released prisoners. He called the re-arrest of some 10 released prisoners "a clear indication of Israeli ill-will". He also called on the Egyptian government to press the Israeli government to respect the agreement.
