Palestinian hunger strikers’ plight

Hanan Ayash

Sha'ban 11, 1433 2012-07-01

Letters To The Editor

by Hanan Ayash (Letters To The Editor, Crescent International Vol. 41, No. 5, Sha'ban, 1433)

I am a second-generation Palestinian living in exile because I am not allowed to return to Jerusalem where I was born.

Thank you for highlighting the plight of Palestinian hunger strikers under so-called administrative detention. Such detentions are illegal but we do not expect the Western media to report on their plight. For the West, especially the US and its Zionist-doting media, Israel can do no wrong. Every time someone points to Israeli crimes — and there is no shortage as illustrated by the recent destruction of the Zayed ibn Harith Masjid, or Israeli bombing of Gaza killing several civilians including a 6-year-old child — Zionist apologists immediately invoke the memory of the Holocaust. This is used to silence any criticism of Israeli crimes. Let us be clear. The Palestinians did not perpetrate the Holocaust; they have not killed or gassed Jews anywhere. Historically, Jews were given refuge in Muslim lands, including Palestine when they escaped persecution in Europe or Russia. Yet the Zionists indulge in every conceivable crime against defenseless Palestinians and always hide behind the excuse of Holocaust. The Zionists are guilty of carrying out the Holocaust of Palestinians.

Hanan Ayash

Chicago, IL, US