High Court refuses to cancel Palestinian hunger striker’s incarceration
Malik al-Qadi refused food for 61 days in bid to end his administrative detention by Israel, is now hospitalized in a coma
Dov Lieber is a former Times of Israel Arab affairs correspondent.
The High Court of Justice on Tuesday rejected a petition to cancel the administrative detention of a Palestinian prisoner who is in a coma after being on hunger strike for 61 days.
The court ruled that because of his current condition, 25-year-old Malik al-Qadi could not currently be considered in detention and therefore the detention could not be canceled. He is being treated at Wolfson Medical Center in Tel Aviv, Israel Radio reported.
According to the Palestinian news agency Ma’an, the decision marks the second time the court has rejected reversing al-Qadi’s detention.
The court temporarily suspended the detention on Friday, until his health improves.
The Israeli army spokesperson’s office told the Times of Israel al-Qadi “was placed under administrative detention due to his involvement in the terrorist organization, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which threatens the security of the region.”
Administrative detention is a controversial counter-terrorism measure that allows terror suspects to be held without charge for six-month stints, and can be renewed indefinitely. It is generally used for Palestinians suspected of terrorist activity but has recently also been applied to several dozen Jewish terrorism suspects.
Al-Qadi, who slipped into a coma on September 10, is said to have committed himself to continuing the hunger strike until he is released from Israeli detention.
On Sunday, the High Court upheld a controversial law allowing the Israel Prisons Service to force-feed inmates who are on hunger strike.
للمرة الثانية.. الاحتلال يرفض استئنافًا للمضرب القاضي https://t.co/LzvtMo8f1f pic.twitter.com/CeV1q472Mo
— شبكة قدس الإخبارية (@qudsn) September 13, 2016
The July 2015 law was brought before the Supreme Court earlier this year. In their ruling, the justices determined that it “meets the criteria for legality and delivers a delicate balance between the sanctity of life and upholding the public interest and the right of the inmate to dignity, autonomy and freedom of expression.”
Palestinians held by Israel in administrative detention have launched hunger strikes in recent years in a bid to put pressure on Israel to curtail the practice or improve their conditions. These have sometimes ignited widespread protests in Palestinian cities and neighborhoods.
Currently there are two other Palestinians on an extended hunger strike over their administrative detentions. Brothers Mahmud and Muhamad Balboul began to refuse food on July 4 and 7 respectively. On Thursday, the brothers’ administrative detention was suspended until their health improves. Muhamad is reportedly suffering from temporary blindness.
On August 24, Bilal Kayed, another Palestinian hunger striker, ended his 71-day fast.
Kayed was meant to be freed from prison in June, after serving a 14-and-a-half-year sentence for his role in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which Israel, the EU and the US all consider a terror organization. Instead, Israeli authorities ordered that he remain in custody for a further six months under administrative detention.
Kayed agreed to end his strike after Israeli officials said his current six-month term of internment would not be extended.
Of more than 7,500 Palestinians currently in Israeli jails, about 700 are being held in administrative detention, according to Palestinian rights groups.
Times of Israel staff and AFP contributed to this report.
