Ministry ‘following up’ on demands of Jordanian prisoner in Israel after hunger strike suspension

AMMAN — The Foreign Ministry said Thursday it is following up on the situation of Jordanian prisoner in Israel Abdullah Abu Jaber, who suspended his hunger strike late last week after 20 consecutive days.

Spokesperson Sabah Al Rafie told The Jordan Times the ministry is in contact with the Jordanian embassy in Tel Aviv and the Justice Ministry regarding the case of the 40-year-old prisoner, who suspended his strike until September 6, when he is scheduled to attend a court hearing to consider reducing his 20-year prison term.

“A consular affairs official at the embassy visited Abu Jaber in prison and listened to his demands including facilitating contacts with his brother in Amman,” Rafie said, adding that the ministry will take the necessary measures when a court ruling is issued on September 6.

Abu Jaber, who is held at Eshel Prison in Beersheba, was arrested in 2000 for “resisting the occupation forces”, according to Shireen Nafe, a member of the media team supporting Jordanian prisoners in Israel, Fedaa.

Nafe said earlier this week the prisoners decided to suspend his hunger strike to enable the Jordanian authorities to meet his demands.

“Abu Jaber called on Jordanian authorities to work on transporting to the Kingdom to spend the last five years of his prison term here,” Nafe told The Jordan Times.

“Jordan Consul in Palestine Rakan Abu Dalhoum and an embassy employee visited Abu Jaber and convinced him to suspend his strike,” she explained.

Mass hunger strike

Asked whether any Jordanian prisoners are participating in the mass hunger strike in Israeli prisons, Nafe said Jordanians Ahmad Khreis and Abdullah Barghouthi are inmates at Nafha Prison, where the strike started, expecting them to be joining the strike soon.

On August 3, around 120 prisoners in Nafha Prison started a hunger strike protesting against the way they are treated, before suspending their strike for six days on Sunday to give authorities the chance to improve their detention circumstances, Palestine’s Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs said in a statement on Monday.

Nafe noted that there are currently around 25 Jordanian prisoners in Israel, expecting Akram Zahra and Mohammad Fuqaha to be released in the beginning of 2016 after serving 15-year prison terms.