Families and Gush activists discussing the situation
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20/08/04
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Activists and mothers A delegation of 15 Gush Shalom activists visited today (18.8.04) the families of Palestinian
prisoners, who are conducting an open-ended hunger strike. The families are striking at the
East Jerusalem Red Cross offices.
The delegation carried posters in Hebrew, Arabic and English, demanding “Decent Treatment
of Prisoners of War”.
Gush activist Hava Keller, “mother of the female prisoners”, with a representative of the families at the entrance of the Red Cross office Delegation members emphasized that, since the Israeli government insists that the present
confrontation is a war, they are duty-bound to treat their prisoners as prisoners-or-war,
with all the rights safeguarded to P-o-Ws under international conventions.
A prisoner’s daughter carrying the picture of her father The prisoners’ families received the delegation members warmly, thanking them for
encouraging them at their difficult time. They strongly condemned the Minister for Internal
Security, Tsahi Hanegby, for saying that he doesn’t give a damn if the prisoners “starve to
death”. They expressed their fear for the lives of their beloved ones.
Before this visit, the delegation was present at the Supreme Court proceedings
concerning the wall in a-Ram. They expressed their deep sorrow after the court cancelled the
temporary injunction forbidding the government to start building.
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