Sick and hunger striking Palestinian prisoners need your support

An advocate from the UK has made contact and asked for our support in this urgent matter. I have used their text with some minor corrections and additions.

I am contacting you about sick and hunger striking Palestinian prisoners, so that there can be urgent action taken especially for the cases of Nasser Abu Hamid and Abdel-Baset Maatan as they are both critically ill and should be immediately released. Actions such as statements, open letters, letters to the foreign minister, bringing it up in parliament to put pressure on the occupation so that there is intervention done for their release and proper medical treatment that they need and for the call to end administrative detention as we all know it is against international law and a violation of human rights. Details at the end of this post.

Nasser Abu Hamid from the Amari Refugee camp, has been detained since 2002 and sentenced to seven life sentences and 50 years. A cancerous tumour was detected in his lungs in august 2021. The prison stalled his treatment causing his health to decline, and now he is in a coma in the ICU for the past 5 days with his hands and feet shackled. Nasser Abu Hamid was the victim of a medical mistake during the implantation of a tube to empty the air from his lungs because the one who implanted the tube was not a specialised doctor and implanted it in the wrong place. The doctor confirmed that acute inflammation in his lungs, which was caused by a bacterial infection, led to the collapse of the work of his lungs and immune system, which led to him falling into a coma. From the family of Nasser Abu Hamid “The time allotted for our visit was only ten minutes, and the guards refused to let us approach Nasser on the grounds of the coronavirus. And when we were finally allowed to get a little closer, we could barely diagnose Nasser because he was lying on his stomach with his head connected to various tubes of life giving-devices near his bed”. It was also said how the occupation threatened to take Nasser off the medical equipment after “claiming” he wasn’t responding to it. There must be urgent intervention so that he will get the medical treatment he needs and to be transferred to a Palestinian hospital.

Abdel-Baset Maatan, 49 suffers from 2 types of cancer and has reached its final stage. He was detained without charge or trial since October 2021. The occupation refuses to provide him with the medical treatment he needs. The prisoners club say there is a real fear that the cancer has spread to his lung.

Prisoners affairs authority: Ofer prison administration continues to deny the prisoner suffering from cancer, Abdel Baset Maatan, the necessary treatment for his difficult and worrying health condition. After his arrest, the jailers confiscated the medicine he took with him from the house and gave him other medicines claiming they were similar to those he was taking. 

Quoting from the family of Abdel Baset Maatan: “The situation of cancer sick administrative detainee is difficult and it is getting worse day by day. His health is deteriorating and may reach the same stage as Nasser Abu Hamid. His court date was held on December 20th 2021, but the verdict was postponed for a week until examinations and x-rays will conduct. Unfortunately until today there is no examinations, no x-rays have been done, and no new court date has been set” 

Fikri Mansour who is on hunger strike over 50 days, no recent news about him. “The prisoner Fikri Mansour has been on hunger strike for 56 days, rejecting the abuse and the policy of constantly transferring him to solitary confinement.”

http://palestineonline.org/health-condition-of-cancer-stricken-palestinian-detainee-is-deteriorating-in-israeli-custody/

⁦‪Eyad‬⁩ ⁦‪Hrebat‬⁩ is a prisoner living in difficult and complex health conditions and needs surgery. He has been detained since September 21st 2002 and is sentenced to life imprisonment, plus 20 years. ‎Eyad contracted a prostate infection, which led to his inability to excrete urine. He was subsequently transferred to the hospital, and an external tube was installed to remove the urine. ‎Upon his return to prison, the tube ruptured, which led to a laceration in the bladder and prostate, after which he was transferred again to Soroka Hospital. Eyad needed real medical treatment and care. ‎Since his first surgery, Eyad underwent more than 6 surgeries. The doctors discovered he contracted a bacterial infection, caused by improper treatment of the cyst on his prostate, which spread all over his body including lung. Eyad cant speak, can’t talk, can’t sleep due to severity of the pain, he has open and bleeding wound from previous surgery. He also was shacked in hand, leg and neck!

What can you do to help:

Here are examples of tweets that can be tweeted, don’t use these ones as they are just examples, just make sure to use the hashtags for the respective person:

Critically ill Palestinian prisoners such as Nasser Abu Hamid are medically neglected under the occupation which is a crime, and administrative detention is a violation of international law. He must be released and transferred to a Palestinian hospital to recover #FreeNasser

Abdel-Basset Maatan suffers from cancer and he must be immediately released and be treated with the proper medical treatment he needs. The occupation medically neglect palestinians as an act of slow killing. This is unlawful and must be stopped #FreeThemAll #StopAD 

Letters and phone calls to:

Lidia Thorpe: senator.thorpe@aph.gov.au (03) 9232 8140, (02) 6277 3353
Ken O’Dowd: https://www.kenodowd.com.au/constituentenquiryform/ (07) 4972 5465, (07) 4982 4266
Adam Bandt: adam.bandt.mp@aph.gov.au (03) 9417 0772
Janet Rice: senator.rice@aph.gov.au (03) 9381 1446
Mehreen Faruqi: senator.faruqi@aph.gov.au (02) 9211 1500
Maria Vamvakinou: maria.vamvakinou.mp@aph.gov.au (03) 9367 5216, (02) 6277 4249