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High Court freezes Palestinian hunger striker’s administrative detention
Israel’s High Court yesterday decided to suspend the administrative detention order placed on Islamic Jihad activist Mohammed Allan, effectively ending his hunger strike for the time being.
Allan had refused food for more than two months and had been admitted to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon last week. For the first time doctors had been asked to comply with a new law which would allow force-feeding under some circumstances. Allan was placed under administrative detention, which allows authorities to detain terror suspects without trial for up to six months, as he is suspected of planning a large-scale terror attack. He has previously been convicted of recruiting a suicide bomber.
Palestinian prisoners have long favoured hunger strikes as a form of protest, especially against their detention without trial. Israeli authorities wish to prevent Palestinian deaths in custody and have previously set detainees free to avoid the prospect. Just last month, Israel released Islamic Jihad activist Khader Adnan who had been on a 56-day hunger strike.
The High Court yesterday heard evidence that Allan has suffered brain damage as a result of his hunger strike. The ruling represents a compromise, releasing Allan from administrative detention until such time as his medical condition stabilizes. Allan will then be allowed to request a transfer to a hospital elsewhere, but the High Court will likely reassess his case at that point. Should he suffer irreversible injury, Allan will likely be released altogether. Allan’s lawyers indicated that following yesterday’s ruling, he will end the hunger strike.
Yesterday’s ruling means that Israeli authorities avoid the uncomfortable prospect of Allan’s death while in custody, but at the same time are not seen to capitulate to his hunger strike. Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan reflected Israeli fears, saying that Allan’s release “would be a prize for the hunger strike he initiated and may lead to mass hunger strikes among security detainees, after they discover a new tool with which to extort the State of Israel.”