PA Minister: UN membership will ensure prisoners are recognized as legitimate fighters, not terrorists
Headline: "Karake: The strategy of linking the return to negotiations with the release of prisoners enjoys a broad political consensus."
"Membership in the UN will realize three victories for the prisoners. … [PA Minister of Prisoners’ Affairs] Karake stated that Palestinian membership in the UN, if achieved, will serve the prisoners' cause in three ways. First, all struggle activities by prisoners will become legal operations, and all the prisoners will be released since they are state captives. This will put a stop to Israel's attitude towards the Palestinian prisoners as terrorists and criminals. He stated that recognition of the Palestinian state through [the granting of] full membership in the UN will serve to define the struggle activities of the prisoners as legitimate fighters supported by international law."
Note: Thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israel are serving sentences on charges of murder and terror offenses.
"Membership in the UN will realize three victories for the prisoners. … [PA Minister of Prisoners’ Affairs] Karake stated that Palestinian membership in the UN, if achieved, will serve the prisoners' cause in three ways. First, all struggle activities by prisoners will become legal operations, and all the prisoners will be released since they are state captives. This will put a stop to Israel's attitude towards the Palestinian prisoners as terrorists and criminals. He stated that recognition of the Palestinian state through [the granting of] full membership in the UN will serve to define the struggle activities of the prisoners as legitimate fighters supported by international law."
Note: Thousands of Palestinian prisoners in Israel are serving sentences on charges of murder and terror offenses.