Palestinian resistance icon defiant as ever: Wife

By Abd Raouf Arnaut

JERUSALEM (AA) – Sheikh Raed Salah, jailed Palestinian resistance icon and leader of the Islamic Movement in Israel, has gone on hunger strike in hopes of drawing attention to the plight of Palestinian detainees in Israeli jails, according to his wife, Um Omar.

In an exclusive interview with Anadolu Agency, Um Omar said her hunger-striking husband remained as defiant as ever.

"He’s in high spirits and smiling as always," she said.

On Sunday, Salah -- who is being held in southern Israel’s Ramon Prison -- declared an open-ended hunger strike to protest his prison conditions and draw attention to the plight of Palestinian political detainees.

In May, Salah began serving out a nine-month jail sentence for "incitement". Since then, the Israeli authorities have kept him in solitary confinement.

"The Israeli prison authorities have taken away his memoirs, in which he writes about his struggle in defense of Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque," his wife told Anadolu Agency.

She went on to note that, since May, Salah’s prison cell had been repeatedly searched by Israeli prison guards.

"But none of this has dampened his spirits," Um Salah said.

- Symbol

Salah’s wife also stressed her support for her husband’s decision to go on hunger strike.

"Sheikh Salah symbolizes all Palestinian detainees who continue to languish in Israeli prisons," she said.

"By going on hunger strike, he is showing solidarity with all those who have been wrongfully detained," she added.

Over 7,000 Palestinian prisoners -- including 400 minors -- are currently being held in jails throughout the Jewish state, according to Palestinian government figures.

Salah’s wife stressed that the iconic Palestinian leader would never stop defending the rights of Palestinian detainees.

"He’s prepared to give his life in defense of detainees’ rights, Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa," she said.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem during the 1967 Middle East War. It later annexed the city in 1980, claiming it as the Jewish state’s "eternal" capital in a move never recognized by the international community.

Sacred to Muslims, Jews and Christians, Jerusalem is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which for Muslims represents the world's third holiest site.

Jews, for their part, refer to Al-Aqsa as the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.