PLO official Issa Karake emphasizes that the Palestinian prisoners are heroes of “freedom and honor, and are not terrorists and criminals”
“Head of [PLO] Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs Issa Karake said that the cause of the male and female prisoners sitting in prison is on the agenda of the [Palestinian] National Council (i.e., the legislative body of the PLO) discussions. Karake said this while welcoming released prisoner Jihad Mansour who sat in prison [in Israel] for 11 years (PMW was unable to determine the details of his crimes –Ed.). Mansour is a resident of the Gaza Strip, and he was released to the city of Dura in [the] Hebron [district] after being sentenced to death in absentia by the Hamas Movement forces, something which did not make his release to the Gaza Strip possible…
Karake noted that the National Council will emphasize the importance of the prisoners’ freedom as a basis for any sort of peace or any fair agreement in the region…
[He added that] the council will emphasize its support for the prisoners and their families, and oppose Israel’s robbery, the political extortion, and the American and Israeli pressures that are being exerted on the PA. He said that the prisoners are prisoners of freedom and honor, and are not terrorists and criminals…"
Karake noted that the National Council will emphasize the importance of the prisoners’ freedom as a basis for any sort of peace or any fair agreement in the region…
[He added that] the council will emphasize its support for the prisoners and their families, and oppose Israel’s robbery, the political extortion, and the American and Israeli pressures that are being exerted on the PA. He said that the prisoners are prisoners of freedom and honor, and are not terrorists and criminals…"