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.
