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Palestinian prisoner ends hunger strike after Twitter outreach

Shortly after his cause became a worldwide trending top on Twitter, Khader Adnan finally ate for the first time in more than 60 days. 

 

Fernando Alfonso III

IRL

Posted on Feb 21, 2012   Updated on Jun 2, 2021, 9:08 pm CDT

After refusing food for more than 60 days, Palestinian prisoner Khader Adnan, 33, has finally eaten.

Adnan has not eaten since Dec. 18, when he was imprisoned in Israel under accusations that he is a leader Islamic Jihad, which is designated in Israel as a terrorist organization, according to Salon.

Under Israeli law, Palestinians can be held in prison indefinitely “without charging them or allowing them to stand trial,” The National reported.

“On Tuesday, Mr Adnan’s lawyers had been due to petition the Israeli Supreme Court for his release when the Israeli justice ministry announced that it had reached a deal that would see him eventually released provided ‘no new additional substantial evidence’  emerged against him,” the BBC posted . “On Friday, the Israeli group Physicians for Human Rights, which has been monitoring his condition, warned that he was ‘in immediate danger of death’, adding that he had suffered ‘significant muscular atrophy.’”

The story of Adnan’s hunger strike was a worldwide Twitter trending topic Monday, collecting more than 26,000 mentions in the last 24 hours from people supporting his cause and chastising the main stream media for not covering his imprisonment.

“The strength of Khader Adnan’s voice vowing to continue for dignity and freedom is chilling,” tweeted @Selintifada.

Photo posted by @GhaidaAyesh

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*First Published: Feb 21, 2012, 12:23 pm CST