Palestinian hunger striker rejects conditional release offer

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(JTA) — An Arab-Israeli Knesset member who is representing Palestinian hunger striker Mohammad Allaan rejected Israel’s offer that Allaan be released on condition that he leave the country for four years.

Mohammed Jabareen of the Joint Arab List party said Monday that Israel’s offer “proves Allaan isn’t really dangerous.”

Allaan is on the 62nd day of a hunger strike protesting his being held without charges in administrative detention since last November on suspicion of membership in the terrorist group Islamic Jihad.

“If he can direct terror activity once released, he can do the same from abroad,” said Jabareen, an attorney. “He should be released immediately so that his torture ends.”

Allaan lost consciousness on Friday, but doctors at Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, where he is hospitalized, managed to stabilize his condition, according to The Times of Israel.

His hunger strike prompted Israel to pass legislation last month permitting force-feeding. The Israeli Medical Association has announced that it plans to challenge the law in the Supreme Court and urged physicians not to comply with it.

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