Committee for Defending Arab Prisoners in Israeli Jails is launched in Cairo

A joint Egyptian-Palestinian Committee for Supporting Arab Prisoners in Israeli Jails has been launched at a ceremony in Cairo. The new group will be active in defending the rights of all Palestinian and Arab prisoners being held by the Israeli occupation authorities and exposing the crimes of the prison system. According to the Waed Society for Palestinian Prisoners in Israeli Jails, the committee will include representatives of all Egyptian political bodies, revolutionary youth and independent figures as well as Palestinians.

A spokesman for the Waed Society added that the new committee has already agreed to organise the first Arab conference to consider the rights of prisoners detained by Israel; this will be held after Egypt’s parliamentary and presidential elections. A delegation from the society is in Cairo. The new committee is regarded as a major step towards the internationalisation of the prisoners’ issue as part of the effort to attract greater support for Palestinian and Arab prisoners, of whom more than 7,000 are being held by Israel.