[Ppnews] Thousands Rally in Gaza for Prisoners

[Political Prisoner News]

http://www.aljazeerah.info/18%20n/Thousands%20Rally%20in%20Gaza%20for%20Prisoners.htm

Thousands Rally in Gaza for Prisoners

Agencies

Arab News

GAZA CITY, 18 April 2006 ­ About 3,000 people 
took to the streets of Gaza City yesterday in a 
show of solidarity for fellow Palestinians held 
behind bars in Israel as part of events to mark 
prisoners day. The protesters first rallied 
outside the local headquarters of the 
International Committee for the Red Cross before 
making their way to the Gaza branch of the 
Palestinian Parliament, chanting “Free Our 
Prisoners” and carrying banner proclaiming “The 
Prisoners are the Heart of the Palestinians.”

Some of those taking part in the rally carried 
portraits of Ahmed Saadat, the leader of the 
leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of 
Palestine who is being held in a jail near 
Jerusalem after being controversially captured 
from a prison in the Palestinian town of Jericho 
last month. Others carried posters of Marwan 
Barghouti, the head of the Fatah faction in the 
West Bank who is regarded as the inspiration 
behind the Palestinian uprising, and is now 
serving five life sentences in an Israeli prison.

In a letter addressed to the ICRC, Information 
Minister Yussef Rizqa urged the organization to 
put pressure on Israel to release Palestinian 
prisoners as well as improve their conditions. 
“Israel is always hindering the visits for the 
families of prisoners,” said Rizqa who also 
accused the prison authorities of obstructing the 
work of inmates’ lawyers. A total of 9,400 
Palestinians are currently held in Israeli 
prisons, according to the Palestinian central bureau of statistics.

Meanwhile, reports of a possible deal that would 
see Barghouti released from an Israeli prison 
were dismissed as a smear by one of his 
associates yesterday. A weekend report on army 
radio said the Israeli government may soon make a 
request to Washington for the release of 
ex-Pentagon official Jonathan Pollard, who was 
jailed after spying for Israel, in return for Barghouti’s release.

Barghouti, West Bank leader of the Fatah faction, 
is serving five life terms after being convicted 
by Israel over his role in a series of deadly 
attacks. However, fellow Fatah MP and chief 
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Barghouti 
would not be interested in any such deal. “The 
reports are only intended to portray Marwan in a 
negative light,” said Erekat who is a frequent 
visitor to Barghouti’s prison cell.

“In my last meeting with Marwan, he told me that 
he regarded himself just like any other 
Palestinian prisoner and that all of them should 
be released.” Erekat’s comments came during a 
session of Parliament dedicated to the plight of 
Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. The Israeli 
and US governments have also poured cold water on the idea of any such deal.

A number of Israeli officials have in the past, 
however, left open the prospect of Barghouti’s 
early release, aware that he is a hugely 
influential figure among the Palestinians. As 
leader in the West Bank of the former ruling 
Fatah faction, Barghouti could serve as a focus 
of opposition to the Islamist movement Hamas 
which is now leading the government in the Palestinian territories.


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