Additional
Reporting by Mostafa Al-Sawwaf, IOL Correspondent
RAMALLAH,
April 17, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Thousands of
Palestinians marked on Sunday, April 17, the Prisoner Day with rallies
across the West Bank and Gaza Strip, criticizing the Palestinian
Authority for inaction on the pressing issue.
“We
feel very bored by what the PA says all the time. They only give us
speeches. We are very tired and just want our sons released,” Miriam
Shehadah, who has been unable to visit two of her sons in an Israeli
prison for the last four years, said in a rally outside Premier Ahmed
Qorei’s office in Ramallah.
Qorei
tried in vain to calm emotions by saying that the issue was high on
the PA’s agenda, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“We
hear this from you all the time. We don't want speeches, we want
action,” shouted angry family members of prisoners as the premier
emerged from his office.
Similar
protests were held in other Palestinian cities including Al-Khalil
where a crowd of some 3,000, many carrying portraits of prisoners,
thronged the center of the town.
Israel
only released 500 Palestinian prisoners shortly after a peace summit
in February between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
It
also agreed, in principle, to the release of a further 400
Palestinians, though they remain in detention.
Palestinians
maintain that there are around 8,000 detained in Israeli jails, many
with no charges pressed against them.
Jenin
Paralyzed
In
the northern West Bank city of Jenin, dozens of Palestinian resistance
activists and family members of the prisoners blocked traffic,
demanding an immediate release of their loved ones.
They
further demanded money for families of Palestinians killed in fighting
with Israeli occupation troops, according to Reuters.
“We
have decided to stay here, in Jenin's main square, with the sons of
martyrs until the Palestinian Authority pays the stipends,” said
Zakariya Zubeidi, the West Bank leader of Al-Aqsa Brigades, referring
to relatives of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces.
The
PA has made piecemeal payments to the families, but the Brigades is
demanding regular, monthly allotments.
The
demonstrators also demanded the resignation of Legislative Council
(parliament) members over inaction vis-à-vis the issue of prisoners.
There
was no immediate sign of Palestinian police intervention at the Jenin
protest.
After
blocking traffic in the center of Jenin, the resistance activists
swept into a government building where they chased out staff.
No
Peace
 |
|
Thousands of Palestinians took to the streets to rally for the release of their love ones in Israeli jails. (Reuters)
|
One
of the main prisoners' organizations said that the continued presence
of thousands of Palestinians in Israeli jails would scupper the chance
of peace in the Middle East.
“We
are asking the PA for a real date for the release of the prisoners,”
the Central Committee for Prisoners Families said in a statement
carried by AFP.
“If
the PA cannot give us a date they must declare to the world that there
can be no peace with Israel.”
Threat
to Ceasefire
The
Palestinian resistance movement Hamas also warned that the de factor
ceasefire observed by resistance factions could be called off unless
there was more movement by the Israelis on the prisoners issue.
“The
Zionists are playing with the prisoners and have already tricked the
PA several times by attaching conditions” to their release, it said
in a statement obtained by IslamOnline.net.
“We
are waiting for the Palestinian Authority to ... put pressure on the
Zionist entity to release our prisoners. Otherwise we will express our
position by no longer being committed to the cooling down” period
violence, Hamas said.
Palestinian
Prisoners Affairs Minister Sufian Abu Zaydeh accused Israel of
endangering the truce by not releasing prisoners more swiftly.
“We
(the Palestinian Authority) have made a decision to not sign any
political agreement, partial or final, with Israel that does not
include a timetable for the release of prisoners,” he told a rally
attended by some 3,000 in Gaza City.
The
Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails launched a two-day hunger
strike Saturday, April 16, to send their message across.
Last
August, some 1,550 prisoners began a hunger strike and were joined
later by thousands of Palestinians and key politicians and figures as
a sign of solidarity.
The
Washington Post reported on
June 16 that the accounts of physical abuse of Iraqis by American
soldiers at the notorious Abu Ghraib prison were similar to the
techniques used by Israeli soldiers against Palestinian detainees.
