2 prisoners join solidarity hunger strike for Issawi

Two Palestinians in Israel's Negev prison on Friday announced an open hunger strike in solidarity with Samer Issawi.Issawi, 33, is in a critical condition in Israel's Kaplan Medical Center after nearly nine months on hunger strike. He has lost half his body weight and is surviving on glucose, salts and vitamins taken intravenously.Shadi Mali and Salih al-Jaedi, from Bethlehem's Duheishe refugee camp, said they would go hunger strike to support Issawi and called on all Palestinians to show solidarity with him.On Wednesday, nine prisoners affiliated to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine also announced a hunger strike they said they would continue until Issawi's release to East Jerusalem.Issawi, 33, was first arrested in 2002 for military activities on behalf of the DFLP.He was granted amnesty in the Oct. 2011 prisoner swap between Israel and Hamas. but was rearrested on July 7 and accused of violating his release terms by leaving East Jerusalem and entering the West Bank.