RAMALLAH: On Tuesday, Palestinian prisoner rights organization Addameer released a report expressing concern about the health of four Palestinian prisoners presently being held in Israeli prisons, three of whom are still on hunger strike. Ayman Sharawna, Samer al-Issawi, and Mohammed Kana'aneh are all facing serious health risks, Addameer reports. Today is the 136th day of Ayman Sharawna's hunger strike, and it is reported that he is suffering from “pain in his right leg, joints, kidneys, skin problems, and memory loss," and is “unable to stand, speak easily, or urinate." It has also been reported that he is unable to stand and is suffering from period loss of vision. Shawarna was released in the October 2011 prisoner swap that resulted in the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and over 1,027 Palestinian political prisoners. He was rearrested in January and has been held without charge. Samer al-Issawi has been on hunger strike since August 1st, 2012. He told lawyers he has trouble standing and has kidney pain, and a blood test found that he is suffering from serious mineral deficiencies. Also released in the Shalit prisoner swap last October, Issawi was rearrested on July 1st and is also being held without charge. Mohammed Kana'aneh began his hunger strike on October 23rd, 2012. Addameer said that Kana'aneh has already lost 12 kilograms of body weight during his 22 days of hunger strike. Unlike Shawarna and al-Issawi, who are both from the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Kana'aneh is an Israeli citizen from Arabat al-Batouf. He was charged with organizing a demonstration in the occupied Golan Heights in 2011. He is presently serving a 15-month sentence for breaking the terms of the ensuing house arrest. As punishment for his hunger strike, Kana'aneh was placed in solitary confinement for one week, denied salt, and charged a fine of 200 New Israeli Shekels (around 51.00 USD). In addition, a former hunger striker Akram Rikhawi, who ended a 102-day hunger strike on July 25th, is now suffering from numerous health problems as a result of the hunger strike. Scheduled to be released in January 2013, Rikhawi's lawyers said he has been diagnosed with diabetes, vision problems, high cholesterol and blood pressure, and relies on a crutch to walk as a result of nerve damage in his left leg. As recently as September, Israel held 4,606 Palestinian political prisoners, 212 of which were in administrative detention without charge. Last Spring, over 2,000 Palestinian prisoners launched a mass hunger strike that grabbed international attention.
