EBRAHIM MOOSA of the Palestine Information Network writes that the irrepressible spirit of Shaikh Khadar Adnan cannot be vanquished.
COMING days before the anniversary of 75 years of Nakba, the demise of Palestinian resistance leader Shaikh Khader Adnan from wilful negligence in an Israeli Occupation prison in the wake of an 86-day hunger strike, adds to the list of over 100 000 Palestinians we mourn, murdered by Israel since 1948.
Speaking to the physician, Dr Lina Qasem, a week before news of his demise was announced to the world, Khader Adnan could feel that his end was near.
‘Write down every word,’ he said. ‘Tell everyone that I have a right to live like any human being. I want to go back to my children.’
Shaikh Khader, who is described as a ‘humble, attentive man who cared for his community and practiced his politics through solidarity,’ spearheaded the tactic of embarking on hunger strikes to secure release from Israeli military detention.
In his short life, Khader went through six major hunger strikes, in the process becoming the catalyst for a wave of similar strikes for dignity by Palestinian political detainees over the past decade.
‘I knew Adnan didn’t like death or suffering,’ wrote former Palestinian political prisoner and hunger striker Muhammad Al-Qeeq. ‘He loved life, but he wanted a life that was free of injustice and humiliation – the type of life he lived when he was with his wife and children. He saw hunger striking as the most powerful weapon he had that would allow him to return to this life as soon as possible.’
His withering body was a powerful reminder of the ongoing Nakba and the enduring plight of political prisoners subjected to the blight of administrative detention. But his irrepressible spirit of resistance shines forth hope and resolve for solidarity to vanquish the Israeli shackles of occupation and indignity.
