Hundreds of Palestinian residents, mainly youths and families of political prisoners, held a massive protest in front of the United Nations office in the central West Bank city of Ramallah, and chanted slogans in support to Palestinian detainees held by Israel, and conducting an open-ended hunger-strike.They later started chanting ‘we don’t want wheat or bread, we want the liberation of the detainees’.
The protesters also closed the main entrance of the Red Cross, and surrounded the building preventing UN employees from entering it, and demanded the United Nations to take serious measures to save the lives of the detainees.
The Wattan TV reported that families of political prisoners said that the UN must act now, and must exert extensive pressure on the Israeli government to end it violations against the detainees.
Sheikh Khader Adnan, the former political prisoner who started the recent wave of hunger-strikes in Israeli prisons by conducting a hunger-strike for 67 days until Israel agreed to release him, stated that “surrounding the UN office is a daring move that aims at “sending the detainees’ message to the world”, and as a “move that sheds light on the suffering of the political prisoners”.
Adnan said that international institutions must aid the detainees in their legitimate struggle against oppression and occupation, adding that “should these institutions fail to perform their duties, they should pack and leave”.
He saluted all detainees who have been in hunger-strike since 23 consecutive days, and detainees Bilal Thiab and Thaer Halahla, who started their hunger-strike 73 days ago, and insist to continue their strike until their release.
The Palestinian detainees said that they are demanding their legitimate, internationally-guaranteed rights to live in dignity without violations and abuse, stated that they are sending a message to the International Community to ensure Israel respects International Law.
