Israeli prisons are like “Nazi crematoriums,” says PA Daily, labelling Israel as "the executioners"

Excerpt of an op-ed by Muwaffaq Matar, Fatah Revolutionary Council member and regular columnist for the official PA daily

Headline: “Because the prisoners and Martyrs are the most sacred thing we have”

“The racist colonialist occupation system’s detention camps have become most similar to the Nazi crematoriums, even without the smoke of tangible fire. This is because the executioners are attempting to turn our brothers and sons, the prisoners, into dust in the form of man. They are striving to kill the prisoners’ spirit through diseases, psychological torture, the negation of rights, and abuse of their human dignity.”

Libel on medical abuse of Palestinian prisoners - The PA claims that Israel abuses Palestinian prisoners through medical neglect, medical experiments, and by intentionally infecting them with diseases. However, the International Red Cross regularly visits these prisoners and has not documented or accused Israel of any of these claims. Likewise, lists of demands occasionally issued by the prisoners during hunger strikes—such as during one in 2011—include no demands relating to these claims. PMW has documented prisoners talking about how they "lack nothing" in the prisons and that "the worst thing about Israeli prison" is riding in a prison vehicle that has no padding on the seat. When PMW contacted the Israeli Ministry of Health in 2007 regarding PA claims of medical experiments on prisoners, the ministry responded: "Clinical testing on prisoners in prison was never approved, never performed, and is most certainly not taking place at present."