Do you know what is the Zoanda? | Foremost crimes of the occupation
"The Zonda": Force-Feeding and the Martyrs of the 1980 Nafha Prison Hunger Strike
In , Palestinian prisoners in Nafha Prison in the desert began an open-ended hunger strike to protest their harsh conditions of detention. The prison administration responded by force-feeding them through a "Zonda" tube, and three prisoners were killed as a result: Ali al-Jaafari, Rasem Halawa and Ishaq Maragha.
What Is the "Zonda"?
The Zonda is a rubber tube that the Israeli Prison Service used to break prisoners' hunger strikes by force. Guards would shackle the prisoner, force the tube through his nose down to his stomach, and then pump in a mixture of water and salt.
The procedure was carried out violently, and the liquid often leaked into the lungs instead of the stomach, causing severe inflammation and suffocation that could be fatal.
The Nafha Prison Hunger Strike
Israel opened Nafha Prison in the Naqab (Negev) desert in May 1980 and transferred leaders of the prisoners' movement there to isolate them under extremely harsh conditions. On , dozens of prisoners declared an open-ended hunger strike demanding better conditions, and the prison administration responded with force-feeding.
The Three Martyrs
Ali al-Jaafari
Ali al-Jaafari had a frail, emaciated body. When the guards pressed him to end his strike, he replied that he would do so in only one of two cases: if they met the prisoners' demands, or if his manhood failed him. Then he added: "And a man like me is not failed by his manhood." He held firm until he was martyred in July 1980, after the force-feeding liquid leaked into his lungs.
Rasem Halawa
Rasem Halawa's muscular build provoked the guards, who doubled his torture using the same method. As he lay dying, they offered him medical treatment on condition that he end his strike. He swore by the Lord of the Worlds that he would not, and signaled to his fellow prisoners not to give in either. He was martyred in July 1980.
Ishaq Maragha
Ishaq Maragha, a prisoner in his fifties, was not spared by his constant fatherly smile; he was subjected to the same torture. He continued to suffer from the effects of the salt water in his lungs until he was martyred in 1983.
Impact of the Strike
The deaths of the prisoners sparked widespread protests across the occupied territories and growing demands to close Nafha Prison. The strikers won a number of their demands, and the Nafha strike became a turning point in the history of the Palestinian prisoners' movement and its struggle inside Israeli jails.
Video clips
Photo gallery
More from the archive
Download Our Palestine App
The whole archive in the palm of your hand: depopulated villages, the Nakba, the massacres and Al-Aqsa — free, with no ads to erase the story.
Comments
No comments yet — be the first to write one.
Add your comment
Name and email are optional. Comments appear after review.