Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike for ill-son

Ramallah: The fasting Palestinian prisoner Tareq Hussain Awad Qedan is dedicating his hunger strike, launched 52 days ago, to save the life of his only son, Khalid, who suffers complete muscular dystrophy.

Tareq, who is from the village of Arrabah near Jenin and is currently serving an Israeli administrative detention order, is refusing medical fluids and gets only very small quantities of water. His medical condition has recently deteriorated rapidly.

Since day one of his hunger strike, Tareq has been refusing the fluids and going the hardest way in his fast, said Moawiyah, a brother of Tareq told Gulf News.

Treatment is not available for Tareqs four-year-old only son Khalid in the Palestinian Territories and Tareq himself should accompany his son to Ukraine to start treatment based on the stem cells therapy, he said.

Article continues below

Moawiyah said that this kind of treatment was extremely expensive, but Tareqs family has declared they were all ready to sell all their properties to finance Khalids treatment. We have a great need to see Tareq walk out free to start the kids treatment instantly, he said.

He said that the Israeli authorities know that Tareq had not been politically active before his detention and that he was completely busy with the treatment of his son. He added that Tareqs four daughters probably face the same fate as their brother and that blood samples from the four girls and material from other medical tests have already been dispatched to the labs to examine whether they suffer from the same disease.

Tareq, born in 1972, has been arrested and sentenced to imprisonment in Israeli prisons 14 times, and he has served 12 years of his life behind Israeli bars. Of those imprisonments, Tareq served nine years on administrative detention orders.

Israel exercises the worst oppressive means on Tareq whose hunger strike is a message to the Israelis and the world to save his ailing son and daughters, he said. Freedom to Tareq is a life and an opportunity to start the treatment of his son.

Moawiyah said that there has been success in attempts to persuade Tareq to end his fast. This is an uncompromising cause. Tareq will win his freedom and walk free to start Khalids treatment, he said.

See more here:
Palestinian prisoner on hunger strike for ill-son