This is the kind of reasoning that the Shin Bet listens to. Fasfous and Abu-Atwan belong to families linked to Fatah. That makes them an exception among administrative detainees, most of whom the Shin Bet associates with Hamas, Islamic Jihad or the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Shortly before Abu-Atwan was released, another striker named Khader Adnan, who is affiliated with Islamic Jihad, was freed after an even shorter term. But two weeks later, Adnan was arrested for a few days by the PA for taking part in protests against the murder of political activist Nizar Banat. Adnan was the first to adopt the hunger-strike tactic some 10 years ago; his protest against detention without trial attracted much attention.
The punishments imposed by the prison authorities — prohibiting family visits, isolation, more frequent searches of their cells — also cause the families to lose sleep. The Fasfous and Abu Hawash families have long lived with the reality of administrative detention. In , when he was 22, Hisham was sentenced to three years in prison for his activities during the second intifada.
Hisham has been in administrative detention three times — eight months in , two years between and , and in October — each time without being told what he was suspected of and without a trial. Aisha says her husband always maintains his sense of humor. Hisham has never been abroad. He works all the time, in construction here in Dura. He sent us a picture with a rabbi — someone with side locks — in a synagogue he was working on. Since her husband was arrested a year ago, Aisha has only been able to visit him once, on August He told her about his plans to launch a hunger strike.
Tehran may now be hoping the so-called Abraham accords will unravel as Arab anger intensifies. If deepening regional polarisation prevents the US from lifting sanctions — and the Vienna nuclear talks collapse — hardliners in Iran and Israel will count it a victory.
A deepening sense of abandonment and injustice, compounded by the relentless, officially tolerated depredations of rightwing settlers in the West Bank and, lately, in east Jerusalem, has now pushed Palestinians back to the perilous brink last reached during the intifada. This hopeless regression marks a fundamental failure of both Israeli politics and democracy. In four elections in the past two years, Netanyahu proved only that a majority of voters rejected him as leader.
Yet still he clings to power. Endless divisions between the numerous opposition parties ensured his ugly, rightwing populist-nationalist brand embedded itself in Israeli society. Some Israelis claim Netanyahu has deliberately created a new national security crisis to enable him to stay in office, just as he has done in the past by invoking the Persian bogeyman. Longtime U. Egypt and Qatar have consistently played important roles in mediating cease-fires between Hamas and Israel.
The UAE and Saudi Arabia — the former of which prizes its new relationship with Israel, the latter of which Israel desires relations with — could potentially play an influential role in pressuring parties to de-escalate.
In the longer-term, should it decide to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Biden administration will need to address the issues creating stress, and credibly pressure the parties to limit provocative actions. Toward Israel, this will mean expressing concern over incursions on Haram al-Sharif, home demolitions and expulsions, settlement expansion, and the like. Toward the Palestinians, the administration will need to determine its position on reconciliation, which would have to include Hamas, as well as issues of incitement and the controversial prisoner payment system.
But it seems that — as has been the case many times before — the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will not settle into a frozen one, able to be cast aside by the international community. Rather, without active measures to address flashpoints and convince publics that peace with the other is possible, events could spiral out of control. Type: Podcast. Type: Analysis and Commentary. Can the Jewish settlement issue be resolved? Why Jerusalem matters. Palestinian Nakba explained in and words.
Palestinian territories profile. Image source, Getty Images. A year-old issue. The creation of Israel and the 'Catastrophe'. The map today. What is Hamas? What's happening now? Palestinians celebrate the ceasefire in Gaza City.
What are the main problems? What does the future hold? Related Topics. Published 21 May. Published 19 May. Published 1 July.
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