EAST JERUSALEM SHOPS CLOSE IN SOLIDARITY WITH HUNGER STRIKERS

East Jerusalem (Image: Ma'an News)" width="412" height="309" /> Shopkeepers in East Jerusalem (Image: Ma’an News)

Jerusalem, 15 Sha’ban 1435/13 June 2014 (MINA) – Shopkeepers in East Jerusalem closed their stores on Thursday to show solidarity with hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners.

The strike was called by national and Islamic groups in Jerusalem and sees shops closed in the busy areas of Saladin Street, Bab al-Zahara, Sultan al-Suleiman Street, and parts of the Old City.

“The prisoners are facing the occupation with a strong will and determination. Those prisoners are defending our dignity and our Jerusalem,” a statement by local groups in Jerusalem said, Ma’an News quoted by Mi’raj islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

A sit-in protest is also planned outside of the Red Cross offices in Sheikh Jarrah.

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Meanwhile, over 50 members of the Palestinian People’s Party began a solidarity hunger-strike to support Palestinian administrative detainees.

Nasser al-Far, a PPP representative for the prisoners’ committee, called for local and international pressure on Israel to abide by the Geneva Conventions.

Some 125 prisoners in Israeli jails began a hunger strike on April 24 against Israel’s policy of holding Palestinians in custody indefinitely without charge or trial.

Around 80 prisoners are being held in civilian hospitals in Israel as a result of the hunger strike, which prisoner rights group Addameer called the longest collective action of its kind in Palestinian history. (T/P09)

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Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)