Talk about being a killjoy...
September 08, 2004
If you all will direct your attention to my guestbook you will find an entry from Mr. Inkwell regarding one of the news items I discussed in my last entry�the one about the Palestinians security prisoners on hunger strike. I am not trying to make this into a debate, I just wanted to address some of the comments he made.
First of all, let me say that despite the fact that the work I am doing is basically all about media, I generally only believe about 75% of what I see in the news, maybe even less. What I mean is, I believe that there is a great deal of truth to every story I see, but I only believe about 75% of the actual details of that story.
Therefore, I believe that there was in fact a hunger strike�or rather, a water only strike�among thousands of Palestinian prisoners across various Israeli prisons. I have read and heard of various reasons for the initiation of this strike�the prisoners wanted an end to the abuse that goes on; they wanted more/better contact with their families; they wanted more sanitary and/or more comfortable living conditions; they wanted electronic supplies to be sold in the prison canteens; they wanted cigarettes, they wanted better food, they wanted more free/open-air time.
I am willing to believe that all or none of the above reasons as true. I am also pretty certain that I will never be 100% certain of what the real reasons were, how bad prison conditions are (I�m not willing to go and find out), and whether or not the strikers� demands were actually met in the end. Because even now there are conflicting stories about that in the media. Some sources say that the IPA (Israeli Prison Authority) gave in to �90% of the demands� while other sources�including the liberal Haaretz�say that none of the demands were met.
In fact the only thing that all media sources I�ve read have agreed on is that Public Security Minsiter, Tzachi Hanegbi (who has since resigned his post due to allegations of shady political appointments within the Ministry of Environment) said, �The prisoners can strike for a day, a month, even starve to death, as far as I am concerned.�
So, one may ask, if I am completely insecure about the veracity of the details this strike story how could I derive any pleasure or have any interest in it in the first place? Well, I don�t know. I just did. It was an immediate, emotional reaction. When I try to think about it rationally now I find myself thinking things like, �Well, prisoners have rights too� and �There�s gotta be some truth to this whole thing� and �People don�t go on 18-day hunger strikes just so they can buy electronic dictionaries from the canteen.�
Also, a lot�over half according to some sources�of security detainees (again this means terrorist in Israeli terms) have not even been convicted yet and are awaiting trial. And have been, for a pretty long time. To me, that�s something to protest over.
So, Mr. Inkwell thanks for being a bit of a killjoy (no really! I mean it!). You forced me to think a little more about what I posted yesterday.
Oh, also, in discussing the Tali Fahima story I forgot to mention that while I find the story interesting, I am a little uncomfortable with Fahima�s position. You know, even though she�s being accused of supporting the side I generally support, I can�t help but shake my head at her a little for betraying her own people. Even though I realize that fighting for human rights is not a betrayal of any people, but more an affirmation of all people, she is being convicted of aiding militants, and possibly of helping them carry out actual attacks within Israel. And deep down inside, and completely aside from the fact that I am a non-violent person, I can�t help but tsk tsk at her, wondering what kind of confused, angry person she must be to do that.
And I thought I was no longer a person with nationalistic sentiments.
For articles about the strike check out these randomly chosen links:
Tune in tomorrow as I say goodbye to a Philadelphia institution.