Inmates strike over Qu'ran abuse

2005-06-08 13:12

Bethlehem - Nearly 900 Palestinian prisoners went on hunger strike on Wednesday to protest against the alleged abuse of the Qu'ran inside Israeli jails, allegations flatly denied by the Jewish state.

The head of the largest Palestinian detainees' rights group said the hunger strike had begun at Megiddo prison in northern Israel, after accusations that Israeli authorities mistreated the Qu'ran during a mass sweep of cells on Tuesday.

Director of Bethlehem-based prisoners club, Issa Qaraqaeh, said: "The prisoners in Meggido have started their hunger strike.

"They refused breakfast this morning and have also decided to boycott family and prison administration visits."

The Israeli prison services confirmed that security detainees in Megiddo had left their breakfast trays untouched.

Prisoners send back meals

Prison spokesperson Ian Domnitz said: "The prisoners sent back the meal served to them at breakfast."

He said, instead, prisoners were gorging on food previously bought in the prison canteen and stored in their cells.

Domnitz said: "They have their own food from the canteen and they are eating that food."

He said in principle, the hunger strike was being observed by all 890 Palestinian security detainees in Megiddo.

The call for a three-day hunger strike came after Qaraqaeh said prisoners informed him that Israeli authorities "deliberately trampled on and tore up" copies of the Qu'ran when ransacking prison cells for mobile phones.

Israel's prison service had categorically denied the claims, after saying it carried out an investigation into the reports.

The prison statement said: "The prisoners presented the book that was damaged. A check shows that the pages in question do not belong at all to the Qu'ran and are much larger than its pages."

- AFP