Lamar my love: I know that you are not to be blamed and that you don’t yet understand why your father is going through this battle of the hunger strike for the 75th day, but when you grow up you will understand that the battle of freedom is the battle of going back to you, so that I can never be taken away from you again or to be deprived of your smile or seeing you, so that the occupier will never kidnap me again from you”.
“When you grow up you will understand how injustice was brought upon your father and upon thousands of Palestinians whom the occupation has put in prisons and jail cells, shattering their lives and future for no guilt but their pursuit of freedom, dignity and independence, you will know that your father did not tolerate injustice and submission, that he will never accept insult and compromise, and that he is going through a hunger strike to protest against the Jewish state that wants to turn us into humiliated slaves without any rights or patriotic dignity”.
You may read the entire letter here. The hunger strike by Palestinians under indefinite administrative detention has now entered its 75th day. The above quotes are from Thaer Halahleh, who has been detained without charge by the Israeli occupation authorities for the better part of nine years, who wrote these words to his two year old daughter on his deathbed. On May 7, the Israeli High Court denied his appeal of his unlawful detention. The Halahleh family found out about the court’s appeal rejection through the media, before the lawyer, Jamal Khatib, had time to properly inform them. Thaer’s wife Shireen had a nervous breakdown and had to be taken immediately to hospital.
Two days ago, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban-Ki Moon, issued the following statement:
“The Secretary-General continues to follow with concern the ongoing hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody, in particular those held in what is known as administrative detention,” Ban’s spokesperson said in a statement.
“He stresses the importance of averting any further deterioration in their condition” and “reiterates that those detained must be charged and face trial with judicial guarantees, or released without delay.”
To date, the Israeli government has ignored him. You will undoubtedly hear or read that this man, along with another hunger striker Bilal Diab, are members of a political party called Islamic Jihad. This political party has a military wing, which is active in Gaza as the biggest thorn in the side of Hamas. But just as we decry the torture of those detained by the United States in Guantanamo, I believe we should similarly decry the illegal and indefinite detention without charge of these men. If Israel has evidence that these men committed acts of political violence, then they should charge them. If not, then they should release them.
The treatment by the Israeli authorities of those under occupation flies in the face of everything Judaism, Christianity, and Islam stand for. I am not writing this diary in order to provoke a fight with the pro-Israel crowd here, nor am I writing it necessarily as part of the pro-Palestinian contingent. I've had enough of the pie fighting, which gets us nowhere. I am writing from the perspective of a human being, just as Thaer Halahleh and his daughter Lamar and his wife Shireen are human beings.
In Islam, we are taught to correct injustice wherever we see it. How do we correct this injustice? We must all work together, not as Palestinians and Israelis and Americans, but as human beings, to make sure that Lamar Hahlaleh and children like her throughout the world grow up to a world that is fairer and more just than the one we live in today. A world more at peace with itself. A world that recognizes the humanity of each and every soul on this planet, regardless of such artificial barriers as race and religion.
Please say a prayer for these hunger strikers...these human beings, and for their families. And please leave a comment, if you wish. I will warn, though, that anti-Semitic, anti-Arab, or Islamophobic comments will be reported to Admin. If you are a racist or a hatemonger of any kind, click here.