Libel: Israel gives terrorist prisoners the Coronavirus vaccine – the PA warns ‎it may be “using their bodies for experiments”‎

Headline: “The prisoners of Ashkelon ‎Prison receive the first dose of the ‎Coronavirus vaccine”‎

‎“The [PLO] Commission of Prisoners’ ‎Affairs announced yesterday [Feb. 7, ‎‎2021] that the prisoners of Ashkelon ‎Prison (i.e., Shikma Prison) have ‎received the first dose of the ‎Coronavirus vaccine, except one ‎prisoner who refused to receive the ‎vaccine. The commission explained in a ‎statement that the prisoners are currently ‎waiting to receive the second dose, ‎which is expected to be given next week.‎

The commission again emphasized that ‎there needs to be a neutral medical ‎committee that will supervise the ‎prisoners’ vaccination…‎

It noted that there is clear concern and ‎worry for the fate of these prisoners, ‎especially in light of the long historical ‎experience with the policy that the ‎occupation’s Israeli Prison Service has ‎implemented against the prisoners ‎throughout the recent decades, ‎including using their bodies for ‎experiments (sic., see note below ‎regarding the PA libel on medical abuse ‎of Palestinian prisoners).”‎

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."