SherriMunnerlyn
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- Jun 11, 2012
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3,000 detainees refuse food to mark Prisoners' Day Published yesterday (updated) 18/04/2013 09:57. "RAMALLAH (AFP) -- Some 3,000 Palestinians in Israeli jails on Wednesday refused breakfast as part of a one-day hunger strike to mark Prisoners' Day, an Israeli prison official said. Palestinians are attending marches and rallies as a show of solidarity with prisoners from the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza held in Israeli jails, whose numbers reach almost 5,000.In the West Bank, around 600 relatives of prisoners gathered for a sit-in in the rain at Arafat Square in central Ramallah after which some of them were planning to march towards the nearby military prison at Ofer. Another rally was being held in the northern city of Nablus. Meanwhile in Gaza, hundreds of people were taking part in a march from central Gaza City to the offices of the International Committee of the Red Cross, an AFP correspondent said. Another sit-in was to take place at Damascus Gate in East Jerusalem at 2 p.m., officials said.Events to mark Prisoners' Day began on Tuesday when youngsters in Gaza City released thousands of balloons into the air, each bearing the name of a prisoner, while there were also solidarity gatherings in Rafah in the south. During the evening, demonstrators gathered in a village near the southern city of Hebron lit a "freedom torch" in front of the home of Arafat Jaradat, a prisoner who died in Israeli custody last month after several days of interrogation, sparking Palestinian allegations of torture."