Israel Refuses to Release Palestinian Prisoner With Cancer, Walid Daqqa
Despite suffering from numerous health issues, Israel continues to detain Walid Daqqa, 61, a Palestinian prisoner who has sadly spent more years of his life inside prison than outside.
I wish to inform you about an important man, who you won't hear of in our press.
Israel is holding a 61-year-old man named Walid Daqqa. He is a Palestinian prisoner who has spent 37 years in prison for killing an Israeli soldier— the majority of his life.
Israel refuses to release him even though he has already completed his original sentence, and should have already been released under the 1993 Oslo Accords, regardless whether he was serving a year or a life sentence (similar to the Good Friday agreement). There are many other Palestinian prisoners that Israel still refuses to release.
Daqqa suffers from bone marrow cancer, a very rare and difficult disease to treat. Israel continues to deny him adequate medical care, delaying his release, and putting his life at risk. This is why it is important to make the case for Daqqa's immediate release.
To make matters worse, Daqqa also had a stroke in February. In a display of extreme malice and negligence, Israeli authorities only sent him to hospital 11 days later, when he should have been given immediate, urgent medical attention, like all stroke victims.
Recently, Daqqa also had part of his right lung removed during surgery. He could be released immediately, as he suffers from terminal illness, yet Israel continues to postpone any potential board review, leaving his life hanging on a knife-edge.
Because Daqqa suffers from terminal illnesses, there is a chance he could be released, were an Israeli prisoner review board to grant him permission. Mysteriously, this “Special Parole Board” hardly ever meets, as the dates keep getting postponed.
Even as he lies handcuffed to his hospital bed, Daqqa is expected to pass through a million administrative hurdles in the hopes that maybe he will finally be let out.
Daqqa had a child named Milad, after smuggling his sperm out of prison. This shows the degrading circumstaces and treatements that Palestinian prisoners are subjected to, and what Israeli authorities make them resort to, after cutting them off from their families.
Daqqa’s health is deterioating rapidly. His health is so bad in the first place because of Israel. Instead of helping him, Israel refuses to treat him seriously, making sure that his health degrades, and increasing the likelyhood of death. Daqqa’s treatment can only by described as intentional medical negligence— a practice commonly used by Israel to slowly kill Palestinian prisoners and resistance fighters, as we saw only a few weeks ago with Khader Adnan, who died during his 6th hunger strike.
And the world said nothing.
Please do your part and raise awareness for Walid Daqqa's case; like and share this article. Thank you.
Richard Medhurst
To learn more about Walid Daqqa’s case watch this video: