The Last Option? Palestinian Prisoner Hunger Strike

As many as 2,000 Palestinian prisoners have engaged in a hunger strike inside Israeli prisons to protest their conditions of indefinite detention without charges or trial under Israelis administrative detention policy. Israel has defended this policy as vital to the state’s national security and has declared that many of the protestors are not boy scouts.

 Many hunger strikers view it as the last option because of their lack of legal rights within Israel. Even Israeli human rights advocates argue that administrative detention is not to be used as a substitute for the criminal process. Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/0504/Hunger-intifada-Palestinian-prisoners-wield-new-old-tool-against-Israel

I thought this was an interesting story because the paper I wrote for my human security seminar dealt in part with a hunger strike. Hunger strikes by their nature are the actions of desperate men and women. It requires a certain desperation to put physical safety and livelihood on the line.

There’s a certain logic behind the tactic though because while the Israeli government may steadfastly claim national security in authorizing lengthy detentions, being a democracy Israel does not want images of emaciated prisoners splashed across the front page of every major international newspapers.

 What will win out: Israel’s national security or the prospect of being internationally shamed?

States of Union

Presidential addresses like the recently delivered State of the Union address have two audiences: domestic and global.

 Christian Science Monitor did a very interesting article on how the international press reacted to the speech. The full article is available here: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-News/2012/0125/State-of-the-Union-speech-as-heard-by-China-India-France-Israel. Here are some highlights :
Israel saw President Obama reaffirm the United States commitment to Israel’s security by declaring that negotiation was still possible with the Ahmadinejad government, while refusing to take any option off the table.

India saw President Obama’s tough words against intellectual piracy as a reflection of their own rivalry with China. Both China and India see themselves as the voice of the worlds impoverished, are growing economically, and are seeking a foothold within Africa.

South Africa sees in the United States a similar political dynamic. Two political parties that hardly talk to each other and instead orate to their own constituencies.

The French saw the address as outlining the case for a second Obama term. He wanted to portray the country as growing stronger, with plans to create an economy built to last.This goes to show that while the American media has their own contextual reasons to view the State of the Union , the international community often has its’ own interests when looking at the State of the Union.

The Unilateral Bomb?: Israel’s Decision

The recent escalation in rhetoric from Israeli officials insisting that Iran poses a great danger to Israel and The West because of its’ nuclear program is beginning to alarm Western leaders. Western governments are afraid that Israel may launch unilateral strikes against Iran, which could have the effect of destabilizing the Middle East.

Though their Western allies are trying to dissuade them from such actions, Israel may view Iran as an existential threat that needs to be dealt with, international consent or not. Many still say that an Iranian attack of Israel is unlikely because Iran would be destroyed by a counterstrike.

However, when the Iranian president refers to the Holocaust as a fiction and declares that the state of Israel needs to wiped out, it does make you wonder what Iran would do.

Note it is actually the religious hierarchy of Iran that would make any decisions relating to war, not President Ahmadinejad.

Israel is one of the most unique states in the modern state system. It was created in the face of an unspeakable human tragedy. Millions of Jews were exterminated during World War II. These facts leave Israel with an unprecedented national security situation.

 Israel is going to do whatever it thinks it needs to do for its’ own security. They’ve never had issue going against U.S. wishes before, why would now be any different? Hopefully, cooler heads will prevail, but Western governments need to be weary of placing their own perceptions of reality on Israel.