He learned obedience through what he suffered…. (Heb 5.8)
Arguments about Israel and Palestine often degenerate into questions of who has suffered most. This gets us nowhere. There is plenty of suffering on both sides; it is not a contest anyone wants to win.
Lent requires us to examine suffering. Lent’s 40 days are preparation for a suffering Holy Week Jesus—whipped, mocked, beaten, bones broken, nails driven through his hands and feet.
So, when I read yesterday the report of Physicians for Human Rights-Israel about the effects of Hana Shalabi’s hunger strike on her health—her suffering was what drew my attention. She is in the 34th day of her hunger strike in opposition to Israel’s policy of administrative detention—imprisonment without being charged with a crime. She began her hunger strike to call the world’s attention to her own imprisonment and the more than 300 other Palestinian prisoners who are being held without being charged with a crime—no trial, no evidence, no clue as to the crime they are alleged to have committed. She is also protesting the degrading and violent conditions of her arrest, interrogation and imprisonment. [Photo-Aljazeera: Despite many in Palestine committing to nonviolence, little attention is paid by Israel or the international community to those starving for justice (EPA)]
Because of her fast, Hana’s life is now threatened. The report from Physicians for Human Rights reports that "she suffers from a low heartbeat rate, low blood sugar, loss of weight, weakness in muscles, yellowing of the eyes and high levels of salt in the blood which [has] affected her kidneys, causing her pain in her sides, especially the left side, as well as pain in chest bones." [Photo-Aljazeera: Despite many in Palestine committing to nonviolence, little attention is paid by Israel or the international community to those starving for justice (EPA)]
UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk writes in Al Jazeera, “Physicians for Human Rights said that Shalabi cannot sleep because of pain; she also suffers dizziness and blurred and occasional loss of vision. Ms Shalabi told Mahameed that she took salt last week, but refused to take any more and is living on two litres of water a day.”
He continues, “The sad yet noble situation of Hana Shalabi is also well expressed by Yael Maron, a spokesperson for the NGO, Physicians for Human Rights-Israel: ‘The story of Hana Shalabi, like that of Khader Adnan before, is, in my opinion, a remarkable example of a struggle that's completely nonviolent towards one's surroundings. It is the last protest a prisoner can make, and I find it brave and inspiring.’"
Some suffering to ponder in this season.
Write in support of Hana: http://freehana.org/
God of the widow and the prisoner, be with Hana and all the Palestinians detained without charges. Help us to follow your words and find ways to minister to prisoners, wherever we are. Amen.
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