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Israeli Court to Rule on Release of Palestinian Staging Hunger Strike
Israeli Court Rules to Suspend Palestinian Prisoner’s Detention
(about 4 hours later)
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Israeli Supreme Court was to rule on the release of a Palestinian prisoner who has been on a hunger strike for two months in protest of his incarceration, after last-minute negotiations on Wednesday appeared to falter.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Israeli Supreme Court cleared the way on Wednesday for the release of a Palestinian prisoner who was on a two-month hunger strike, saying that his deteriorating health meant he did not pose a security threat.
The prisoner, Mohammad Allan, a 31-year-old lawyer who has not eaten since June 16 to protest his indefinite incarceration without known charges, had presented a particularly challenging case because his fast entered a critical phase just as Israel passed a law last month that allowed the force-feeding of hunger strikers.
The prisoner, Mohammad Allan, a 31-year-old lawyer who has not eaten since June 16 to protest his indefinite incarceration without charges, entered a critical phase of his fast just as Israel passed a law last month that allowed the force-feeding of hunger strikers.
The case has presented Israel with a difficult set of choices: release Mr. Allan and capitulate to the demands of hunger strikers, or risk unleashing violence if he dies.
Mr. Allan’s case has presented Israel with a difficult choice: Release Mr. Allan and capitulate to the demands of hunger strikers, or risk unleashing violence if he dies.
Palestinians have turned to hunger strikes as a way to put a spotlight on the way hundreds of prisoners have been detained without known charges, using a form of incarceration known as administrative detention that can be indefinitely renewed, sometimes for years.
On Wednesday, a medical examination found that Mr. Allan had sustained brain damage because of his fast, although it was not clear if the damage was permanent.
Mr. Allan’s lawyers said they were now pressing for his immediate release on the grounds that his deteriorating condition meant he did not pose a threat to Israeli security. State prosecutors said they could agree to release Mr. Allan by early November, when his current period of incarceration ends, said an official close to Mr. Allan’s lawyers.
In its decision, the court said that Mr. Allan’s incarceration under a system known as administrative detention was no longer valid because of his health, and ordered it suspended.
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the news media, said Mr. Allan’s legal team could not accept a November release date because of his condition.
“At the current stage, in light of the hunger striker’s medical condition, the administrative warrant is no longer in effect,” the ruling said.
In response, the state has ordered a medical examination for Mr. Allan, the official said, and he could be released immediately if permanent brain damage is found. But doctors at the hospital where Mr. Allan is being held said he did not have brain damage, the Israeli news media reported.
Mr. Allan will remain in intensive care at Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, in southern Israel. “His family members and relatives will be able to visit him, not as a detainee,” the ruling said.
Earlier on Wednesday, advocates for Mr. Allan said he was unable to respond to the offer that would have led to his release in November. The proposal would have released Mr. Allan when his current six-month period of administrative detention was set to expire, said the official close to Mr. Allan’s lawyers.
The court did not cancel Mr. Allan’s incarceration, saying that would depend on the decisions of higher officials and on whether the damage to his health was found to be irreversible. It was not immediately clear whether, if his health improved, Mr. Allan would have to serve out the remainder of the detention order, which had been scheduled to expire in November.
It was similar to proposals made to Palestinian hunger strikers in the past, and it was far from the state’s initial negotiating position: Mr. Allan would be released only if he agreed to four years’ exile, according to the prisoner’s lawyers. Mr. Allan had demanded that he be released in late September, in time for the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Adha.
Immediately after the ruling, the Israeli news media reported that Mr. Allan’s condition had deteriorated and that he had been sedated.
Conservative politicians and Israeli security experts condemned the negotiations and the court hearing, calling them a capitulation to militancy.
Lawyers for Mr. Allan said they were pleased with the decision but upset that it had taken two days to clear the way for their client’s release — time in which Mr. Allan’s health deteriorated badly.
“I think that in light of the fact that at issue is a political protest, if we need to force-feed him, we should force-feed him,” Yaakov Peri, an Israeli minister and former head of the Shin Bet internal security agency, said to the Israeli news media.
“The court could have ordered that two days ago in the first hearing, when the damage could have been reduced,” said Sawsan Zaher, one of the lawyers and a member of the Arab legal rights group Adalah.
Lior Akerman, a former Shin Bet officer, said that negotiations gave Palestinians the possibility of winning a “prize” for holding a hunger strike.
Palestinians have turned to hunger strikes to protest the holding of hundreds of prisoners under administrative detention, which can be indefinitely renewed, sometimes for years.
“The result will be that tomorrow all 300 administrative detainees will hold a hunger strike and be rewarded,” he said.
Mr. Allan’s lawyers said they had pressed for his immediate release on the grounds that his worsening health meant he did not pose a threat to Israeli security. Prosecutors had said, according to an assistant to his legal team, that they would agree to release Mr. Allan in early November, when his current period of incarceration was scheduled to end.
Mr. Allan lost consciousness on Friday. His collapsing health stoked fears that he could die at any moment, as his lungs had stopped working and he had seizures while under observation at the Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, Israel. He was placed on an artificial respirator and was given salts and minerals intravenously.
The suspension of Mr. Allan’s incarceration order came after a court-ordered medical examination, which was conducted with the understanding that he would be released immediately if he was found to have permanent brain damage.
He regained consciousness on Tuesday, and he told his lawyers that he would stop consuming any nutrients — even water — if there was no deal to release him, a situation that would lead to death.
Mr. Allan lost consciousness on Friday, and he was placed on a respirator and given salts and minerals intravenously.
The force-feeding law was never applied to Mr. Allan, who, in some ways, became a test for the measure and highlighted the problems associated with using it. Israeli officials could not find a doctor willing to set in motion the law’s application by forcibly undertaking medical tests, and Mr. Allan’s health had deteriorated far too rapidly for force-feeding to be a viable option.
He regained consciousness on Tuesday and told his lawyers that he would stop consuming any nutrients, even water, if there was no deal to release him, a situation that would have led to his death.
But the dispute surrounding the law overshadowed a reality noted by the advocates of Palestinian hunger strikers and the Israeli medical establishment: Both tend to approve of medical intervention by giving nutrients to prisoners who lose consciousness, returning them to a condition in which they can express their wishes.
In a news conference on Wednesday, the director of the hospital where Mr. Allan has been held said the prisoner appeared to have some brain damage, though it might be reversible.
Conservative Israeli ministers had pushed for the law, arguing that it would prevent Israel from acceding to the demands of hunger strikers and prevent an outbreak of Palestinian violence should Mr. Allan die.
“Today, Mohammad began to slowly lose a coherent connection with his surroundings, a symptom that might be indicative of a problem in his brain,” the director, Dr. Hezi Levy, said.
Instead, the ensuing debate has emphasized how Israel has struggled to deal with nonviolent resistance efforts like the mounting cultural, academic and economic boycott movement.
The damage is not life threatening, Dr. Levy said, and “this specific damage can be reversed.”
Israeli security officials say they cannot make the charges known under administrative detention because it would expose their intelligence gathering networks. They also argue that the form of incarceration, which has been applied mostly to Palestinians, along with a few Israelis, is used only when the detainee poses a risk to Israeli security.
He added that Mr. Allan was still “most certainly in a dangerous situation.”
Issa Qaraqe, the Palestinian minister for prisoner affairs, said 24 prisoners in administrative detention had begun hunger strikes on Tuesday to protest their incarceration and to show solidarity with Mr. Allan.
Mr. Allan, a member of the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad, has been detained since November, and his detention was renewed in May. Little more is known about his case because Israeli security officials do not publicize charges under administrative detention, saying it would expose their intelligence gathering.
In Israel, at least eight Palestinians have been released in recent years after lengthy hunger strikes, the Palestinian prisoner rights group Addameer said. The most famous cases involved Khader Adnan, another Islamic Jihad activist, who was freed in June after a 55-day fast and in 2012 after he went 66 days without eating.
At least eight Palestinians in Israel have been released in recent years after lengthy hunger strikes, the Palestinian prisoner rights group Addameer said. The most famous cases involved Khader Adnan, another Islamic Jihad activist, who was freed in June after a 55-day fast and in 2012 after he went 66 days without eating.
