Symbol of Resistance

By: Nayyereh Towhidi

“Israel is a cancerous tumor which must be removed.” Imam Khomeini (RA)

May Allah bless the soul of Imam Khomeini (RA), who was the man of divine knowledge and devotion, the man of courage and honesty, the leader of humanity towards justice and righteousness…

Really how well he knew enemies of humanity, including the usurping regime of Israel (and its allies) and has compared it to a cancerous tumor and has emphasized the need to remove that fatal disease, the Israeli regime, from the world. The fact is that no matter how Muslim Nations and human rights activists try to help and defend the Palestinians, Israel will continue to oppress them with more and more cruelty, because that ominous, illegal regime has been founded by devilish hands and constantly aims at conducting devilish goals, not only against the helpless Palestinians, but against the whole humanity. Thus, it is the duty of every true human being to contribute to this vital surgical operation, the removal of a deadly cancerous tumor named Israel. And here is a report among thousands of similar and even more tormenting reports about oppression at the hands of the Israeli forces: Hana Shalabi

According to reports, Hana Shalabi, the Palestinian woman who had been imprisoned by the Israeli forces and gone on a hunger strike in protest against her unjust arrest and severe mistreatment in  Israeli jails was released from the prison (Sunday, 1 April, 2012) and forcibly exiled to Gaza. She had started her hunger strike since February 14, in an attempt to express her protest and anger at her repeated arrests which is followed her release from prison on the process of exchange of captives between Hamas and the Israeli regime. Her arrest and imprisonment had taken place without any trial and /or even without letting her know of the charges. As reported by the Palestinian news agency on March 2, Hana Shalabi agreed to end her hunger strike in return to her release which according to Israeli forces’ decision was to be followed by her forced exit from the West Bank and exile to Gaza for three years. Yet, the non-governmental association for protection of Palestinian prisoners and human rights condemned Shalabi’s forced exit and conditional release through a statement, in which the association had emphasized: “Forced exit and conditional release cannot be accepted as a substitute for Israel’s obligation to end the detention without trial of Palestinians. It is absolutely necessary to issue a permanent declaration, in conformity with humanitarian international laws to end the detention without trial of people at the hands of Israel”.

Hana Shalabi was transferred to Shafa hospital in Gaza, because she was in critical condition as a result of the hunger strike and the hard conditions of the Israeli jails, Shalabi underwent treatment for dehydration and weight loss. This Palestinian woman has been a resident in Jenin Town in the north of the West Bank and had been arrested and detained without trial according to the attorneys. Detention without trial is regularly exerted by the Israeli regime against Palestinians. According to Shalabi’s attorney, during the period of imprisonment, she has suffered severe cases of mistreatment and violence in Israeli prison including severe beating, torture and solitary confinement. Shalabi has been one of the Palestinians who was released from prison last year in the process of the exchange of the prisoners between Tel Aviv and Hamas and has been again arrested together with a number of other Palestinians. According to statistics, presently over 11 thousands of Palestinians are detained without trial in Israeli jails.

 

Here is what the media have said about her:

The female Palestinian detainee comes from the city of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank, Shalabi has reportedly been on a hunger strike since February 16, when she was re-arrested. The 29-year-old female Palestinian prisoner has been under “administrative detention.”

On March 29, Shalabi agreed to end her hunger strike in return for “expulsion to the Gaza Strip for three years,” WAFA said.

 

Palestinian hunger striker Hana Shalabi hospitalized

Islam Times - Female Palestinian prisoner Hana Shalabi, who has been on a hunger strike since February 16, has been hospitalized.

An independent doctor from Physicians for Human Rights, who examined Shalabi said her life was at risk. The doctor described a weakening of her muscles, weight loss of 14 kilograms, and a very weak pulse.

She has been on a hunger strike since her arrest in the northern West Bank on February 16. She was originally ordered to be detained without trial for six months.

Although Shalabi was among more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners released in October 2011 in exchange for Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, but was detained again by Israeli forces on February 16.

According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and prisoner advocacy groups, there are currently over 6000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, many of whom have been rounded up without charge or trial. Independent sources put the number of the inmates at 11,000.

 

UN expert urges Israel to free female hunger striker

“The situation of Ms. Shalabi is morbid and life-threatening…This is an appeal to the conscience and to humanity and a desperate call to all of us,” said Richard Falk, the UN Special Rapporteur on Palestinian      human rights.

“Israel ought to end its inhumane treatment of Ms. Shalabi. Release her immediately,” he added, urging Tel Aviv to live up to its responsibilities under the international law.

He said that she had staged hunger strike to protest “Israel’s abusive use of detention without charges and the degrading and physically harsh treatment administered during her arrest, interrogation, and detention process.”

He also denounced the international silence over Shalabi’s fate and urged the global community to “raise its voice for those risking their own lives to end injustice.”

Al-Shalabi, a member of Islamic Jihad, had spent two and a half years in prison without charge or trial under Israel’s so-called “administrative detention” between September 2009 and October 2011.

Al-Shalbi says she was subjected to an embarrassing body search by a male Israeli soldier upon being detained and was assaulted when she resisted. Al-Shalbi says prison authorities have put her in periodic solitary confinement as punishment for her hunger strike.

 

Palestinians, prisoner, Israeli jail

A protest rally was held in front of the International Committee of the Red Cross office in al-Bireh, central West Bank, in support of Hana Shalabi, who has been on a hunger strike for almost two weeks. She was released in a prisoner swap deal between Hamas and Israel in October last year, but was re-arrested by the Israeli forces on 16 February.

According to a legal representative of Shalabi, Israeli prison service of Hasharon prison has placed Hana in a solitary confinement as a punishment for her hunger strike and has refused to give her any medical examinations since she began her strike.

 

Tel Aviv regime releases Palestinian prisoner Hana Shalabi

The Tel Aviv regime has “conditionally” released a female Palestinian prisoner, on hunger strike to protest her arbitrary arrest without charge, weeks after she was re-arrested at her West Bank home on February 16 following an earlier release.

Hana Shalabi was set free but “forcibly” deported to the Gaza Strip by the Israeli regime. The female Palestinian detainee, who is from the city of Jenin in the northern occupied West Bank, had been under “administrative detention,” according to her lawyers. The administrative detention, often implemented by the Israeli regime against the Palestinian population, is a sort of imprisonment without trial or charge, allowing regime forces to make arrests without formal charges for up to six months. However, the detention order can be renewed for indefinite periods of time.

Shalabi was “beaten, abused, blindfolded and interrogated, and placed in solitary confinement” for the first week of her detention, her lawyers said.

Shalabi’s exile

Hana Shalabi, held by Israel without charge was deported to the Gaza Strip on Sunday under a deal that ended her 44-day hunger strike.

Shalabi, of the Islamic Jihad militant group, arrived in Gaza before nightfall in an ambulance, after a tearful farewell with family members before she was deported, medics who escorted her said.

Shalabi, who met relatives on the Israeli side of Erez before entering Gaza, said “I am very happy to be in my country with my people,” but that the encounter with her family - from Jenin in the West Bank - was very difficult.

“I was shocked meeting my family, and they were shocked to see me,” she told the media on the Gaza side of Erez. “The meeting with my family was very difficult.”

Hana Shalabi was received in Gaza by approximately 100 people bearing her picture and calling out her name. Officials from the Islamic Jihad and Hamas movements were also there.

A resident of the occupied West Bank, Shalabi went on hunger strike the day she was arrested, in protest at being held without trial.

Israel says it uses detention without trial to protect intelligence sources in any legal proceedings against a Palestinian suspect. The measure has drawn criticism from human rights groups and the European Union.

And last but by no means the least, we request each and every true human being- the human being who believes in justice, honesty and righteousness to ponder over these very significant questions – why on earth should Palestinians be arrested and imprisoned in their own land?

Are the Palestinian people the occupiers or is it the Zionist regime of Israel which has occupied that sacred land, and engaged in continuous assaults, aggression, arrests, torture,  and massacre there?

Is it enough for the cause of Palestine to be just defended  through words and voices raised by human rights groups and activists in protest against the plight of the Palestinians arrested by Israeli forces and imprisoned? Can humanity afford illegal regimes like Israel any longer? Can humanity bear the burden of oppression inflicted upon helpless innocent people any longer? Why at all should Israel be allowed to continue its murderous rule in Palestine? When does that evil domination end? When will the oppressed Palestinian nations get their right to live in peace and safety in their own land, free from the bloody clutches of the Zionists?

Hasn’t the time come for the world of humanity to rise up in union in defense of the oppressed women and men who desire to enjoy their most basic human rights- the right to live in their own land and the right to self-determination? May Allah help true human beings in their sacred cause. Amen.

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