"Palestinian" terrorists in Israeli prisons are on a hunger strike.
Israel's chief politician wants his fellow pols to authorize force-feeding of the strikers.
The Israeli medical group says forcing food into the strikers is "torture" and it will not sanction it.
TO BE FAIR, many of the strikers have been incarcerated for long periods without charges being brought, without a trial, conviction, and sentencing.
According to an Israel HaYom article heded PM to lawmakers: Allow force-feeding Palestinian hunger strikers, The prisoners demand their release and the end of the open-ended "administrative detention" measure, which allows the authorities to hold individuals in custody without charge or trial for protracted periods. Over the years, virtually all administrative detainees have been Palestinian terror suspects.
The Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said that as of April, 191 Palestinians were in administrative detention. Overall, Israel is holding more than 5,000 Palestinians accused or convicted of anti-Israeli activity.
Normally, my first and only reaction to prisoners going on a hunger strike - in any prison in any country under the rule of law - is "let them starve." Hunger strikes are, after all, voluntary.
Israel, as are most "western" countries, are less or more, "countries under the rule of law. That means a person is
* Arrested
* Charged
* Tried
* (and if convicted) Sentenced
Note I wrote "most western countries." There ARE countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia that won't qualify as "countries under the rule of law." The U.S.' detention of prisoners in Guantanamo Bay (Gitmo) Cuba, makes the U.S.' inclusion under the "countries under the rule of law" questionable; the prisoners should be charged, tried, and if found guilty, convicted and executed (thereby eliminating recidivism on the part of the terrorists).
The time between arrest and charge should be minimal; likewise, the time between charge and trial.
In the U.S., people charged with a crime are guaranteed a speedy trial.
Israel's law is based on English law which, compared to the U.S., seems a bit draconian. Israel, unlike either the U.S. or England, is under constant threat of terrorists and, due to that, may be allowed some "slack" in the criminal handling process.
I would not, as Israel's chief pol proposes, force feed any prisoner. Anyone who wants to go on a hunger strike is welcome to do so. Moreover, I will honor the prisoner's desire to die rather than eat, even when the prisoner is unconscious. I would not want to deprive a Muslim of his right to martyrdom and 70 virgins.
At the same time, Israel needs to treat its prisoners fairly; arrest, charge, trial, and if convicted, punishment; if innocent, freedom.
It does Israel no good, now or in the future, to detain prisoners without charge for more than 48 hours or to cause prisoners to be incarcerated for months awaiting trial.
While justice needs to be carefully administered, it must be administered in good time.
