The article that I read for this week talks about the
continuing strife in the Israeli and Palestinian conflict and mentions protests
that are going on in the West Bank to show solidarity and support for the four
hunger strikers who are in Israeli prisons and are on hunger strike because
they argue that they are being unfairly detained. One striker is in critical
condition and his progress is being monitored. Israeli prison leaders have no plans of releasing these
individuals and say that they lost visitation rights when they began their
strikes. Protesters in the West Bank say that the prisoners who are on hunger
strike should be freed along with all of the other Palestinian prisoners that
are said to be held without due process of law. Israel is holding 4,517 Palestinian prisoners in its jails,
178 of whom are held without charge or trial and 170 of whom are under the age
of 18.
This
article mentions several times the measures that certain international aid
organizations are taking to try to persuade the Israeli officials to release
the prisoners or consider an alternate plan. Tony Blair, former Member of Parliament and Prime Minister
of Great Britain and head of the labour party spoke out with concern for the
prisoners, who now have deteriorating health conditions. The Israeli military is in a position
to be able to imprison Palestinians without charge or trial and the UN and EU
have both expressed concerns for the practice and for the prisoners being
held. This article does a good job
not to pander to the Israeli side on the matter and that was refreshing to see
given that American media tends to cover Israeli issues with a spin to the
Israeli cause.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21498848
Steven Harrison
2/26/2013
2:25pm
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