According to the International Middle East Media Center, Palestinian detainees announced on May 15 that they would be going on a hunger strike to commemorate the 60th anniversary of al-Nakba (“the Catastrophe”). Al-Nakba marks the violent 1948 expulsion of the Palestinian people from their land to make way for the state of Israel.
According to the IMEMC, Abdullah Abu Qandeel, a spokesman from the Wa’ed Society for Detainees and Freed Detainees, reported that the hunger strike would be taking place in all Israeli prisons and detention centers. The IMEMC quotes Qandeel as saying that the detainees “are the candle that lights the path of freedom,” and that they always managed to prove that they will remain steadfast until liberation and independence.
There are currently over 11,000 Palestinians in Israeli prisons. Worldwide protests were held demanding the right of return for Palestinians on the anniversary of al-Nakba.
