PA minister: Israeli Prison Service is at fault in death of Palestinian prisoner

(CHICAGO 04/02/2013) – The American Muslims for Palestine today mourns the death of Palestinian political prisoner Maysara Abu Hamdiyeh, who died from cancer after Israeli prison authorities denied him access to medical treatment.

Media reports indicate Abu Hamdiyeh had throat cancer, which spread to his spinal cord.
Issa Qaraqe, the Palestinian Authority minister of prisons, said Abu Hamdiyeh's cancer spread because he did not receive treatment earlier, Maan News reported.

"It is a brutal crime against Maysara especially that the prison administration knew that he was suffering from cancer and they didn't release him and medically neglected him," Qaraqe said.

 Abu Hamdiyeh is the second Palestinian to die in Israeli custody in the past two months. Arafat Jaradat, 30, died in February in Megiddo Prison after being tortured during interrogations.

Abu Hamdiyeh’s death is the result of the cruel, inhumane and illegal policies under which Palestinians in Israeli prisons suffer. Palestinians have been on hunger strikes throughout the prison service to protest their treatment, which includes the use of administrative detention, isolation, prohibition of family visits, and lack of access to medical care, education and even sunshine. Samer Issawi, who has come to symbolize the struggle of the Palestinian political prisoner, has been on a hunger strike for 251 days and is lingering near death, according to the Free Samer Issawi campaign.

Israeli occupation authorities arrest and detain thousands of Palestinians each year, in a tactic reminiscent of Apartheid South Africa. It is another vestige of Israel’s continual violation of international law and human rights of Palestinians.

Today, AMP offers our deepest condolences to the Abu Hamdiyeh’s family and we again call on the US State Department and Secretary of State John Kerry to pressure Israel to release Issawi and all Palestinian political prisoners. And we call on President Barack Obama and Congress to end more than $3 billion in US military aid to Israel, which only enables the occupation and allows Israel to act violate international law with impunity.