A leading Christian cleric in Jerusalem announced he will join hunger strike on Monday in support of 1,500 Palestinian prisoners who are on the 21st day of a mass hunger strike for better conditions in Israeli prisons.
The Greek Orthodox archbishop of Sebastia, Atallah (Theodosios) Hanna said on Sunday that he supports the prisoners’ struggle to make their voice heard, adding their demands are justified.
“Palestinians deserve to live freely in their own land, the main aim is the prisoners’ liberation,” Hanna said.
The strike, led by senior Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti, has also prompted protests in wider Palestinian society and the organizing committee behind the strike has called for a series of protests in the coming week, including clearing all shops of Israeli goods on Wednesday as an act of boycott and a general strike the following day.
Meanwhile, a group of Israeli doctors called on colleagues both in Israel and internationally to reject Israeli plans to force-feed Palestinian prisoners.
The hunger strike follow-up committee also warned that if any hunger striker was force-fed, all prisons would turn into confrontation zones and would clashes would erupt.
The prisoners seek improved conditions, including more family visits.
Israel holds about 6,500 Palestinians on charges related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
SOURCE: https://www.dailysabah.com/mideast/2017/05/07/leading-christian-cleric-joins-palestinian-prisoners-hunger-strike
Categories: Arab World, Israel, Palestine, The Muslim Times
It is still not sufficiently known in ‘the West’ that the Israelis are against all Palestinians / Arabs, whether they are Muslim or Christian. But then the ‘Western Christians’ slaughtered the ‘Eastern Christians’ during the crusades as well.