Official:Extremism Against Palestinian Prisoners Rife in Israeli Society

A wave of racist extremism against Palestinian prisoners is spreading among Israeli society due to incitement by the Israeli government and media, leading to further medical negligence of prisoners and assault against them and their families, said Minister of Prisoners, Issa Qaraqe on Tuesday. Qaraqe, during his visit to a prisoner’s family in Salfit, said that due to the incitement campaign, prisoners’ families suffer from repeated assaults by extremist Israelis, indicating the latest attack on buses carrying Palestinian family members on their way to visit their imprisoned relatives in Ramon jail last Monday. The campaign, led by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has included Israeli calls on a radio station to cut off the prisoners’ salaries by the Palestinian Authority, under the pretext of “supporting terrorists’ families,” added Qaraqe. He called for representatives of the International Red Cross to escort the buses carrying prisoners’ families to and from the Israeli prisons.