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The 199th Palestinian Victim of Israel's Prisons

February 27, 2014 at 4:31 am

The 199th Palestinian prisoner to die in one of Israel’s prisons has been named as Muhammad Abdel-Salaam Abidin. The Ahrar Centre for Prisoner Studies and Human Rights has stated that Israel and its prison system must bear responsibility for the death of the 38 year old who lived in the Jerusalem district of Al-Azriyyah. According to the centre’s director, Fouad Al-Khafash, Mr. Abidin had been in prison for over a year and died in Megiddo Prison in the north of Israel. A father of 5, he was arrested in a brutal fashion following a traffic incident in occupied East Jerusalem.


Muhammad Abidin is the second Palestinian prisoner to die in Israeli custody in recent weeks. In April, Ra’ed Hammad was, it is believed, “killed” while in an Israeli prison. The cause of death and circumstances are as yet unknown; despite it being nearly two months since his death, there has been no inquest or inquiry. Fouad Al-Khafash believes that the failure to ascertain the cause of death is an indication of a serious breakdown of procedures in the Israeli prison service, especially relating to Palestinian prisoners.