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UPDATE

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Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Fifty-eight year old Latifa Abu Hamid sits amid dozens of mothers and wives assembling at the Baladna center in Ramallah. The centre, disseminating information and displaying exhibitions of photographs of the several thousand sons and husbands imprisoned has become the focus for local Palestinian solidarity with the prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails.

Latifa clutches pictures of her six sons in the Israeli jails. She also holds another for a son assassinated by Israeli specialist forces ten years ago.

As the voices of local dignitaries and speakers rose in the background, Latifa said quietly that she had started a hunger strike ten days ago, to support the prisoners. She has already had to visit the hospital several times as in her old age her health is failing due to the fast.

Four of Latifa's sons are serving life sentences in Israeli jails. Accused of involvement in resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian towns and cities, her son Nasser was charged with seven life sentences as well as an additional 50 years. Another two are still waiting to be put on trial.

Around half of the seven and a half thousand Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails started their hunger strikes seventeen days ago. The demands of the prisoners are entirely humanitarian. The prisoners are demanding the right to family visits, an end to arbitrary and indiscriminate beatings, access to study through correspondence courses and greater communication with the outside world.

As Israel still refuses to listen to the prisoners' demands the hunger strike looks set to continue. As it does, Palestinians all over the West Bank and Gaza continue to organize daily activities to show their solidarity with the prisoners.

Latifa who looks tired and unwell, fears for the lives of her sons, yet she urges people all over the world to show greater support to the prisoners, to give them courage to continue their strike.

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