On Monday, January 21st, about 100 Palestinian prisoners in the Ofer prison in the West Bank were wounded by the Israeli army. Ofer prison has about 1200 Palestinians prisoners, most of them children.
The prisoners denounce the repression, abuse and torture received in the following statement that we reproduce.
Statement of Palestinian Prisoners
In the name of God, the Beneficient, the Merciful.
("They are the ones who told the people that the people gathered there for you were not enough, and so they burst in faith and said “God is sufficient")
To the masses, our people, the heroes of the whole expansion of our nation
The Zionist enemy declared war on prisoners in prisons and started this war in Ofer prison. We are facing a new stage of Zionist oppression that threatens our lives as prisoners. We have become the strongest archive between the government corridors and the Zionist parties in a feverish competition to undermine our rights and steal our belongings that we obtain with sacrifices, blood and martyrs.
The prison administration, backed by political coverage and reinforced by special repression units (Mitsada-Dror-Yamaz-Yamam), has been in operation since Sunday, January 20, 2019 until Monday evening. On January 21, they have entered to several sections of the prison of Ofer, making provocative searches, destroying our possessions and torturing us by undressing us to check and verbal insults. We only defended our dignity as the rooms and sections of the prison became a real battlefield against us using rubber bullets, tear gas, electric shocks, dogs and shovels, resulting in the injury of more than 100 prisoners and burning of several rooms and the confiscation of our possessions and the closing of all the sections... And still the tension continues and we will take the next tentative steps in the next hours.
Faced with this unprecedented escalation of blood, we affirm the following:
1 / We call this battle the name of "the battle of unity and dignity", a confirmation of our unity and of our brothers and to preserve our dignity and our history.
2 / We are prisoners and in front of this bloody attack against us, we will remain united to face this arrogance, armed with the justice of our cause and the use of all means of legitimate defense against this wave of violence against us.
3 / This bloody attack against the prisoners is part of the organized state terrorism and the use of the prisoner archive as an outlet for the Israeli government in front of its public.
4 / We warn against using the prisoner archive as a lever for Israeli parties to attract the voter Israel. We will solve each bet.
5. We urge all international and human rights organizations, especially the International Committee of the Red Cross and international human rights organizations, to come forward with their humanitarian, moral and legal responsibility to stop the crime committed against us and to compel the occupation to comply with international norms and laws that protect our rights.
6 / We demand all means and tools of free media to take our case and keep us informed of what is happening with us in different prisons, and expose this occupant, who violates all freedoms and laws when dealing with us.
Our people are firm; today is a day of fulfillment; we are yours and you are of us, we cut our ages for the good of our country, so do not limit yourself to your time for our stolen freedom. We expect a great public interest at the level of the homeland, confirming to the occupant that the prisoners are a red line that cannot be crossed.
And victory for us, God willing, united and trusting in the justice of our cause and our choices.
Your brothers, prisoners in Ofer prison.
Movement for the Liberation of Palestine - Fatah
Islamic Resistance Movement - Hamas
Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine
