A Courageous Witness

Imagine armed men break into your home and abduct you. You are torn from your spouse and your children. You are roughed up and thrown into a nightmarish legal limbo known as "administrative detention." You are detained without charge. The military authorities claim to have a case against you. But it is secret. They produce no evidence and there are no charges. Essentially, the law does not apply to you. The state holds you and has taken away your freedom and your rights. Sounds like North Korea or Russia or Saudi Arabia or Egypt, some known human rights violator, right? No, it's Israel. 

This ordeal befell Maher Akhras, a 49-yr. old Palestinian father of six, from the occupied West Bank village of Silat-al-Dahr. Maher has gone on hunger strike to protest his detention without charges, illegal under international law. Today was Day 96 of his voluntary starvation to dramatize this violation of his rights. In response to outcries and pleas for compassion, Israel's highest court has "frozen" his detention order, but to date has refused to release him. Mr. Akhras is hospitalized, has refused medical care, and is very near death. Palestinian hunger striker Mayer Akhras is not the first or only Palestinian to voluntarily starve himself, but his 96 day hunger strike is the longest.

Consider that Mahatma Gandhi "fasted," as he preferred to call it, 17 times, the longest lasting 21 days. His high-profile fasts bore witness to his principled opposition to the oppression of "untouchables," his own detention without charges by the British, and also to his unwavering commitment to repair the breach between Muslims and Hindus in India. Cesar Chavez, champion of farmworker rights, voluntarily went without food for 36 days to protest the harmful use of agricultural pesticides and horrible working conditions. Comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory went on numerous hunger strikes to protest the Vietnam War and police brutality. Muslim detainees at Guantanamo Bay have gone on hunger strike to call attention to the brutal treatment they have endured. Hunger strikes are a time-honored, extremely rigorous, self-sacrificial act of conscience. Mr. Akhras' hunger strike places him in a long line of intrepid witnesses against massive state and corporate power.

Tragically, administrative detention is not rare in Israel. Over 300 "administrative detainees" are being held in Israeli prison facilities. It can and must be remedied. Amnesty International has declared "Israel must immediately release all administrative detainees or give them a fair and transparent trial according to international standards. Israeli authorities are using this destructive practice in violation of international law as a tool for the social and political oppression of the Palestinian people while committing serious violations of human rights."

The reality is that Israel, which holds him illegally, is responsible for Mr. Mayer Akhras' fate. Should he die protesting the violation of his human rights under international law, Israel will be culpable. Call your congressional representatives today, and urge them to intervene on his behalf. Demand that Israel comply with international law. Mr. Mayer Akhras, I see you. I hear your cries. Your courage has reached me. May it awaken the conscience of those who have thus far refused to release you. 

 





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