Victory for Abu Hawash: One Small Step
By Jonathan Kuttab
On January 1, Hisham Abu Hawash, a Palestinian father of five, finally won. He had been on a hunger strike for a record 141 days, losing half of his body weight in the process. Abu Hawash was protesting his administrative detention, whereby he was held without charge or trial by an administrative detention order which had been repeatedly renewed. The Israeli authorities refused to try him or even mention why he had been detained. Once, they did offer to suspend his detention if he would end his hunger strike (but only until his health had improved). He refused and continued the strike. As he slipped into a coma and was in danger of dying, the Israeli authorities finally relented, promising to end his detention and release him—but only after his current administrative order expires on February 29th. The cruelty of insisting he remain in jail until then can only be understood as an exercise in arrogance and power. Still, he succeeded! It was a rare victory to start out the new year!!
500 additional administrative detainees continue to be held in jail without charges or trial. Worse still, the entire population of Palestine lives under the threat of arbitrary, indefinite imprisonment without charge or trial at the sole discretion of the Israeli security apparatus. Already we know that Israel’s expansive definition of “security” includes any political or public activity that is deemed unacceptable to the authorities. Even human rights and civil society organizations like Al Haq, Defense of Children International, and four others can be arbitrarily declared ”terrorist organizations” on the basis of so-called “secret evidence.” Administrative detention is an easy punishment to apply in response to any and all—even nonviolent!—resistance to the military occupation.
It is impossible to imagine the possibility of living a normal life, much less a free and democratic life, when any member of the public can be imprisoned without charge or trial for a period of six months, renewable multiple times. While it is true that a procedure exists to “challenge” detention orders, the process is a sham; it is a secret procedure held in a military court with secret evidence and secret arguments which neither the appellant nor his attorney are allowed to hear. Recently, Palestinian prisoners announced they will boycott such procedures entirely.
At FOSNA, we believe in working for a just peace in the Holy Land. While such a just and peaceful solution to the crisis may yet be a long way off, there are specific steps that can be promoted and taken immediately to ameliorate the situation and at least make daily life for ordinary Palestinians more livable. One of the most obvious actions, which can be undertaken with a miniscule impact on Israel’s security, is the elimination of administrative detentions. Other steps include: lifting the siege on Gaza, ending midnight raids to terrorize and arrest children, curtailing settler violence, and allowing licensed building in East Jerusalem and Area C rather than carry out daily demolitions of Palestinian homes, clinics, schools, offices, etc.
Palestinians and Israelis are destined to live together, and while it is our duty to work diligently for a just peace there are many interim steps that can and should be undertaken in the meantime. People of goodwill, including ardent supporters of Israel, can agree to a large number of positive steps like those mentioned above that can make life more livable for the people of the Holy Land. Perhaps some goodwill and trust can even be generated, rather than perpetuating ever more trauma, hurt, anger, and despair. Such steps—not administrative detention!—can contribute so much more to Israel’s security than yet an additional billion dollars’ worth of weapons and armaments.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. (Luke 4:19)
