TORTURE IN RAMALLAH

Torture in Ramallah

DAVID HAZONY -(CONTENTIONS)

Among Israelis, Hamas has a reputation for honesty alongside its brutality. Unlike the PA, Hamas doesn’t hide its intentions, nor does it hide its resentment of other Arab groups. So we should take it seriously when Hamas declares that Palestinian Authority prisons are “worse than Israeli occupation prisons with regards to prisoners’ rights.” This, in the wake of the death of a 44-year-old Hamas preacher in a Ramallah prison, just a week after the PA arrested him. According to the report on Ynet,

The Hamas movement received some support from a report by one of the main human rights organizations in the Palestinian Territories, A-Damir – a group that specializes in defending the rights of prisoners. The organization noted that it appears that Barghouti was tortured in a Palestinian intelligence service base and added that the PA group refuse to allow Barghouti to continue medical treatment at a hospital in spite of doctors’ recommendations.

Now, I really do believe that Hamas is an evil organization, and that its preachings of terror and violence are a serious threat. But one has to wonder why we have not heard more about conditions in Palestinian prisons, and whether international human rights organizations, which spill so much ink in addressing American and Israeli prisons, will take a serious look at what happens in places where there is no “occupation.”