World must act on Israel’s crimes against Palestinians: Academic

Press TV has conducted an interview with Hani al-Basoos, professor at Islamic University of Gaza, about Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan being released from an Israeli prison after days of staging a hunger strike in protest at the Israeli practice of so-called administrative detention.

Following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Khader Adnan had to go through a nightmare, this hunger strike, which the positive aspect of it was that it brought the plight of Palestinian prisoners into the limelight. Why do you think that Israel is continuing with this policy which is illegal by international norms and standards because detention without charge is illegal?

Basoos: Well I think Israel thinks that it will or it can break the will of the Palestinian people and the Palestinian resistance. Khader Adnan is not the first time done the same thing. He went through the nightmare twice. Last year he was in Israeli jail and he went for hunger strike for many weeks. He was released. Now he did the same again. It is really difficult for him to be able to stand such situation and he did it and he succeeded again and has been released by the Israeli authorities.

But I think Israel as an occupying power in Palestine believes that what they are doing can break the will of the Palestinian society and they can divide the Palestinian people by holding many Palestinians, thousands of Palestinian people in jails. Hundreds of them are held like administrative detention. This is something illegal, something against international humanitarian law and I think even the Israeli society itself believes what has been happening by the Israeli authorities against Palestinian detainees is illegal.

Such policy should not last anymore and I think the international community has to intervene to stop such cruel actions, such mechanism which has been taken against many Palestinian detainees in which the Israeli authorities can hold a Palestinian person for a long time without trial. No prosecution, no judicial trial, nothing could be done. Somebody can be held for weeks, for months, for years with no trial and this is unfair, it is illegal.

In addition to this, we have even thousands of Palestinian detainees have never been come before an Israeli court as a civilian. They tried them before the military court and this is illegal in itself. A man who is civilian, who is raising his voice against the occupation forces by saying no to the occupation is brought to an Israeli military court and could be trialed and sentenced for many years. This is unbelievable and unaccepted by all terms and means, by all values and conditions made by the international community.  

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