Hamas sources have published an account of Dirar Abusisi’s condition (Arabic) which alleges that he has been tortured by the Shabak in Eshel Prison and that he suffers from untreated kidney stones. Among the claims made in the online article, which was published after visits to him in prison by Hamas’ minister for prisoner affairs, are that his interrogators threatened to kill his wife and six children if he did not offer the information they wanted. He was also subject to sleep deprivation. The prisoner told his visitors that he was suffering from several diseases and his health is deteriorating. He suffers from “heart and gall bladder, and kidney problems, along with pain in cartilage in his back and stomach problems. He also suffers from pain in his left eye,” and says that the prison administration does not give him painkillers. Doctors Without Borders visited him too in prison and found him to be suffering from kidney stones with the prison administration refusing to treat his condition properly. He is currently kept in solitary confinement. All of these, if true, are grave violations of international law and constitute torture under such statutes.
Notably, the Izzeldin military wing has included a short English language summary of the article on its website. All of which could mean a number of things. For those most conspiracy minded, it could mean that Abusisi is affiliated with Hamas as his indictment claims (though not necessarily that he was a rocket engineer as claimed). Or it could mean that Hamas, which is rumored to be close to a deal for the freedom of Gilad Shalit, is notifying the Israelis that it plans to demand the release of Abusisi as part of the overall deal. Or it could mean that Hamas is publicizing the prisoner’s plight as a humanitarian gesture to his family.
If Hamas is now demanding Abusisi’s release as part of the Shalit deal it might mean, as I wrote, he’s affiliated with Hamas, or it might mean that Abusisi is such a high level Palestinian detainee and that circumstances of his kidnapping were so egregious for Palestinians, that his freedom is a high priority for them.
If the claims that he may be included in a prisoner exchange are true, it’s possible that one of the reasons he was kidnapped was to use his as a bargaining chip in the Shalit negotiations. Though it seems exceedingly odd to me, it’s possible the Mossad figured that if it kidnapped and detained a major figure maintaining Gaza’s infrastructure and held him “for ransom” as it were, that it would motivate Hamas more to do a deal for Shalit. One thing I’ve learned in reporting on Israeli intelligence matters is that even the most outlandish assumptions about their thinking can be true.
Report of the barbaric treatment also seems typical of Israel. It justifies fullest anti-Semitism among those (many) who believe Israel when it says that it is the state and country of the Jewish people.
It is completely disgusting to me, considerations of Gilad Shalit notwithstanding. It is of a piece with the siege and the Mavi Marmara and the atrocities of the attack of 2008-2009.
The international law may not be a perfect yardstick for determining permissible behavior, but its the only yardstick we have and Israel is right up there with Pol Pot and Gaddafi and other luminaries (lights to the nations, that is).
“Israel is right up there with Pol Pot and Gaddafi and other luminaries”
Pol Pot?!!
“Tikun Olam” indeed.
Who are you kidding ,Richard ,when you fail to respond to the one comparing Israel to Pol Pot ?
There are almost 50,000 comments in this blog. While I’d love to read every one, I don’t & can’t. So if you object to a comment & think I should know about it instead of hectoring me why don’t you politely bring it to my attention. I’ve responded to this comment after reading yr complaint.
Say what? C’mon. I can’t stand hyperbole like this. It makes yr own argument look ridiculous.
Thanks for sharing this Richard. It’s a shame that neither Amnesty International nor Human Rights Watch have taken up his case, which is manifestly a human rights abuse by Israel. Do AI and HRW shrink for fear of losing support? I wonder.
Amnesty has released a statement in support of Abusisi, though it has not yet designated him a “prisoner of conscience,” which is the highest priority category for them.
It’s worth mentioning Hamas and Fatah will only give information about Abusisi’s and Shalit’s cases selectively. Here is an interesting snippet of news if you ignore the bias and concentrate on the facts:
‘Palestinian’ journalists forbidden from reporting on ‘Palestinian’ human rights group findings
[ed., link deleted for comment rule violation]
‘Palestinian’ journalists have been forbidden from reporting on the findings of a report by the Independent Commission for Human Rights, a ‘Palestinian’ human rights group that was established by a ‘Presidential decree’ by Yasser Arafat in 1993. The group found that over the past year, ‘Palestinians’ in Judea, Samaria and Gaza were subjected to an almost systematic campaign of human rights abuses by the PA and Hamas.
Wow, here we have a good old denier:”You” managed to write PALESTINIAN five times between quotation marks. I guess ‘Jews’ and ‘Israelis’ come without. What about Abusisi, doesn’t he deserve quotation marks ? I mean, is he a real human being in your eyes ?
If I understand from your ‘blog’, you’re an American immigrant. Sure gives some context to your denial of the Palestinians.
You quote a trash hasbara site like Israel Matzav as if it has anything useful or truthful to say about anything??? Do not violate the comment rules again by quoting or linking to hasbara sites.
One of my comment rules is that Palestinian may NEVER appear in quotation marks just as the word Israeli may never. If you have a problem with the Palestinian people existing or you have a nervous finger that always clicks on the quotation mark key whenever you’re about to type the word Palestinian, you won’t be long for this world, at least not in this blog.
I’m really sorry, Richard.
I hadn’t noted that, also posting in a hurry, I didn’t realise the words were in quotation marks. With hindsight I shouldn’t have copied and pasted, perhaps used my own words. I tend to ignore the bias in things I read, and concentrate on facts, but I shouldn’t assume everyone else does so too.
ALWAYS use your own words & never quote from others w/o making clear who you’re quoting & what the source is.
The problem w. hasbara is that you CANNOT separate bias from facts generally. Which is why I place certain limits on sites & sources I consider credible.
Come on. Even if you ‘forgot’ the quotation marks, you still linked to that extremist ‘Israel matzav’-guy, Carl in Jerusalem; another American extremist newcomer. You have to share his ideology if you link to his blog.
If these reports are accurate, how on earth is it possible for Shabak to get away with this? It seems that everybody knows that Abu Sisi is there and is suffering from numerous conditions and is not being treated, and yet there’s nothing that can be done about it? What happened to us, people?
Deir Yassin
I’m sorry if I offended you. I don’t find Carl in Al Quds extremist, though I disagree with his using quotation marks, if you believe your idealogy trumps all (as I do) all others matter not.
Salaam 🙂