Palestinian prisoners to boycott Israeli courts in 2018

By Eshat Firat

RAMALLAH, Palestine

Around 500 Palestinians in Israel’s prisons under ‘administrative detention’ will boycott Israeli courts starting in 2018, Palestinian Prisoners Society said Wednesday in a written statement.

"The Palestinians, who are under administrative detention in occupant Israel’s prisons, announced that they would not attend Israeli courts starting by 2018, in the framework of Palestinian factions’ agreements," said Palestinian Prisoners' Society of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) in a written statement.

The practice in question keeps nearly 500 Palestinians in prisons, the statement added and said that the detainees would apply the decision in ten days and even their lawyers would not go to the courts.

The statement also said that this is a step taken ‘against a cruel and illegal practice like a sword put on their neck’.

It also noted that Israeli courts are only figures and they take decisions by directives of Israel’s domestic intelligence service Shabak.

Under the policy of administrative detention, prisoners can be held without trial for periods ranging from six months to one year.

Israeli forces frequently raid Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank and detain local Palestinians, claiming they are "wanted" by Israeli security agencies.

Over 6,500 Palestinians, including 300 children, are currently languishing in prisons throughout the self-proclaimed Jewish state, according to official Palestinian figures.