TEL AVIV - A group of female teenagers imprisoned last week for blocking roads to protest Israel's pullout plan have gone on a hunger strike, the Prisons Authority said on Monday.
The girls refused three meals on Sunday, as well as breakfast.
Police arrested dozens of rightists last week who participated in road-blocking protests all around the country, a common tactic anti-pullout demonstrators have used in recent months. Many of the detained were minors.
The Prisons Authority says that the girls are taking part in “another act of provocation," and are making demands on prison officers that cannot be fulfilled.
Those demands include a right to talk freely on the phone, to walk in the courtyard without time restrictions, and to received visitors during any hour of the day or night.
Incitement against Sharon
The Prisons Authority said the girls had caused riots and wrote graffiti on the walls inciting against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. They also sang songs comparing Sharon to Adolf Hitler.
In addtion, the girls poured water on the floor and blocked their cell doors with furniture to try to prevent prison officers from entering.”
After being tried on Sunday for breaches against the prisons code of conduct, judges decided to cancel visiting and telephone rights for the youths.
The Prisons Authority has continued to supply the girls with clothing and hygienic supplies.
The Authority said that “from our perspective, a hunger strike begins after 48 hours following the first refusal to receive a meal.”
Currently, 55 anti-disengagement protestors have been imprisoned in the Ma’asehu jail, including the 12 girls whose names have not been released, one adult female prisoner, 29 male youths, and 13 adults.
