Khader Adnan: Hunger strike only option

Freed Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan reacts as he is welcomed in his village of Arraba in the West Bank on Tuesday Going on hunger strike is the only way Palestinian prisoners can make their voices heard, a senior militant, recently released from an Israeli jail after a 66-day protest fast, said. “We want to be free. Freedom is a very precious thing. We do not want to die on hunger strike, but we are left with almost no option to have our voices heard,” Khader Adnan told DPA. “When we are left alone and no one seems to care about us, we had to look for means to draw attention to our cause,” he said. “When anyone of us decides to go on hunger strike, it means he has tried all other options but that nothing had worked.” Adnan, a senior member of the Islamic Jihad movement, returned home to a hero’s welcome on Tuesday, following a decision by Israeli authorities not to extend his four-month detention order after he ended a 66-day hunger strike in late February. His 66-day hunger strike was the longest-ever in an Israeli prison. His homecoming coincided with a new hunger strike by around 1,200 Palestinian prisoners in Israel’s jails, who on Tuesday began refusing food, protesting against what they call “humiliating” measures, including strip searches of visiting family members and night searches of prison cells. Asked if his hunger strike had become the model for other prisoners fasting to demand better conditions, Adnan replied that “I do not teach the prisoners. I learn from them.” “But when I started alone a hunger strike demanding my freedom, the entire world listened ... You can now imagine what it would be like as thousands are on hunger strike and the strike may go on for a long time. I believe then that the occupation (Israel) is going to surrender.” “I believe this battle, even though it is very painful, remains our only way to have our voice heard,” he stressed. Adnan called for “swift” action on behalf of the hunger strikers. “We cannot let their strike continue for a long time. Many people cannot handle 66 days of hunger strike. I know that and I do not want anyone else to go through what I had to face. The pressure should increase on the occupation to accept the demands of the prisoners. It would be best for everyone.” He said he hoped the prisoners “will be able to achieve their goals before anyone dies”. “I know the pain and agony of being on hunger strike. It is not easy. But once you gain what you fought for and you gain your freedom and see your people and family again, all the pain goes away. The price of freedom is high and we should be ready to pay it, even if that would cost us our lives.”