Ministry : Depriving Prisoner of Education Reflects Increased Racism

Ramallah, 24 Rabi’ul Akhir 1438/23 January 2016 (MINA) – The Palestinian Information Ministry said on Sunday that the Israeli Knesset’s deliberation of a draft law to deprive the Palestinian prisoners of continuing their academic studies reflects increased racism.

The ministry affirmed in a statement that the Israeli government is pursuing a new-old policy against the Palestinian prisoners in its jails that disregards the international humanitarian law and Geneva conventions, the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) reported.

The Ministry pointed out that the Israeli authorities are trying to “legitimize abusing the Palestinian prisoners and depriving them of their rights of education and medical treatment.”

The statement stressed the need to pressure the Israeli authorities to respect the legislations that ensured the basic rights of prisoners and to release the sick prisoners unconditionally.

It pointed to the importance of documenting and following up the Israeli crimes against the Palestinian prisoners.

The Israeli parliament (Knesset) is supposed to discuss a draft law that prevents the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails from continuing their academic studies at any of the higher education institutions.

The Israeli law claims that the academic study is not a right for the Palestinian prisoners but a privilege that cannot be given to prisoners who are involved in “terrorist attacks” (resistance operations).

The Israeli authorities have enacted a series of laws that were proposed to the Knesset and that violate the rights of prisoners including imposing high sentences on the children who throw stones, force-feeding the prisoners on hunger strike, re-arresting prisoners freed in exchange deals, and depriving prisoners of secondary and tertiary education.

The Israeli authorities are holding about 7 thousand Palestinian prisoners in 22 jails under difficult detention conditions. 49 of the prisoners are females, 13 of whom are minors. The number of children detained is nearly 350 held in Megiddo and Ofer jails, while the number of administrative detainees totals 700.(T/R04/RS05)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)