Israeli Hanging Judge Sentences Khader Adnan to Death

by Stephen Lendman

On Monday, military Judge Moshe Tirosh rejected Adnan's appeal as expected. Israel wants him dead. In his 59th day without food, his life hangs by a thread.

Tirosh called his decision "balanced." He claimed secret evidence justified him. He also called him an Islamic Jihad party political leader. Doing so effectively designated him a terrorist unjustly.

He ignored legal arguments, including no evidence warranting detention.

At one demonstration, Israeli security forces viciously attacked protesters, injuring 23 and making arrests. It's standard official thuggishness against Palestinians expressing their views nonviolently.

Following Tirosh's decision, 600 Gilboa Prison detainees hunger struck in solidarity. Other West Bank demonstrations were held. Israeli forces confronted them violently. Islamic Jihad promises "painful revenge" if Adnan dies.

The Addameer prisoner support group calls administrative detention use arbitrary. It also affirmed everyone's free expression, assembly and association rights, regardless of political affiliation.

Tirosh downplayed accusations about Adnan's torture, inhuman and degrading treatment. He said they're inflated and magnified. He accused Adnan of exaggerating what happened. He called his life-threatening condition his own fault. His deteriorating health didn't influence his ruling. He got orders and followed them.

Tirosh showed appalling contempt for human life. He decision condemned Adnan to death.

His lawyer Jawad Boulus accused him of ignoring his fading health, never mind his innocence and victimization.

"We head to military courts without any hope of any type of justice," he said. "This ruling cannot be justified, especially since Khader is facing death due to his deteriorating health condition."

Palestinian Authority (PA) Minister of Prisoners Affairs Issa Qaraqe said the ruling showed "utter disregard for Adnan's life, effectively condemning him to die. This decision is premeditated murder. With this decision, Israel has decided to kill" Adnan.

"What it has been doing for the past 57 days is a crime against humanity as a result of its decision to arbitrarily detain him" uncharged.

Qaraqe also called for solidarity protests and hunger strikes across Palestine. The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) is appealing to Israel's High Court. PPS head Qaddoura Fares called on international organizations to intervene on his behalf.

The PA's in talks with the UN, Jordan, and other nations for help. Tirosh's decision shows official contempt for human life. Daily policies confirm it.

After 57 to 75 days without food, internal organ death follows. Birzeit University's Munir Nasser expects acid build-up to cost Adnan his sight. Kidney failure and coma are next. In his 59th day without food, he's weak and fading fast. He's vulnerable to infection. His heart muscles face hypertrophy. Doing so causes death.

Dozens of Birzeit University students protested outside Ofer military base supportively. Israeli security forces attacked them with tear gas and rubber bullets.

Journalists and dozens of others were injured while protesting. A weekly march was attacked with tear gas, rubber bullets, and waste water to stop them from reaching land earmarked for confiscation. Children, women and foreign human rights activists were affected.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights group finalized a report condemning administrative detention. It pledged efforts to internationally criminalize Israeli policy. It took special note of Adnan's struggle and Israel's contempt for human life and welfare.

Adnan's wife Randa said:

"My husband is dying inside an Israeli jail. The world should make sure I am able to see him....And it should pressure the Israeli government to release him before it's too late."

In mid-December, he began hunger striking against Israel's lawless detention. Prison authorities responded by beatings, painful interrogations, ripping hair from his beard, rubbing dirt on his face, and isolating him in a "punishment cell" with bright lights and loud noises to prevent sleep.

He also was denied medical treatment for gastric and back disc problems, as well as injuries soldiers and prison authorities caused. After his family members were insulted, including his children and elderly mother, he stayed silent and wouldn't talk.

On January 8, he was sentenced to administrative detention until May 8. His imprisonment can be extended indefinitely. No time limit's imposed. He and others can rot forever uncharged in gross violation of international law. He's willing to die opposing this abuse.

On February 7, Randa saw him for 15 minutes. He was too weak to greet her. His shrunken, ulcerated body resembled a lifeless shell. She was shocked, and their daughters were scared. He said prison authorities prevented him from bathing, grooming, or changing his clothes since arrest.

Angry about his shocking treatment, Randa said:

"Israel has treated my husband without any humanity or compassion for his deteriorating health. It's obviously very bad, yet they're not only preventing him from receiving any treatment, but also attacking his basic dignity as a human being."

In a letter from prison hospital, Adnan expected to die, saying:

"The only thing I can do is offer my soul to God as I believe righteousness and justice will eventually triumph over tyranny and oppression."

"I hereby assert that I am confronting the occupiers not for my own sake as an individual, but for the sake of thousands of prisoners who are being deprived of their simplest human rights while the world and international community look on" dismissively.

After Tirosh's ruling, Randa clung to hope saying, "Israel denied Khader any fairness or decency. But maybe the rest of humanity will show more mercy." So far, it's letting Israel torture him to death.

On February 13, prison authorities threatened to painfully shackle his four limbs to his bed without explanation.

On Monday, Addameer lawyer Samer Sama'n got to see him briefly at Zif Medical Center. Physicians for Human Rights - Israel got to examine him for the third time since food intake stopped. Daily, his life force fades. He's also experiencing extreme pain.

Addameer condemned Tirosh's decision. He brazenly ignored Adnan's condition. His ruling defiled international law, including by "categoriz(ing)" all Palestinians as "terrorist parties."

He downplayed Adnan's claims of torture, abuse and degrading treatment. "Addameer holds Israel accountable for" his life, "whose health has entered an alarmingly critical stage that will now have irreversible consequences and could" take him any time.

Addameer also holds international officials responsible for inaction. Doing so makes them complicit with Israeli crimes.

Nonetheless, Addameer demands EU/UN/ICRC intervention on his behalf immediately before it's too late. The UN special coordinator for Middle East peace's weak-kneed statement shows how little world authorities care.

"(W)ith concern," it called on Israel "to do everything in its power to preserve (Adnan's) health....and resolve this case while abiding by all legal obligations under international law."

UN, EU and other world officials let Israeli authorities get away with murder by not intervening with teeth. It shows their contempt for human life and welfare.

Addameer urged global solidarity to save him before brutal Israeli torture extinguishes his last breath. There's precious little of it left.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

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