Palestinian writer, intellectual, and activist Walid Daqqah has been imprisoned in Israeli jails for over 37 years. He is one of the few Palestinian prisoners who remains incarcerated from before the Oslo Accords were implemented. Last year he was diagnosed with a rare form of bone marrow cancer and due to intentional medical negligence by Israeli authorities, his health is rapidly deteriorating.
Palestinian organizations and activists in Palestine and across the globe have intensified the campaign to call for his immediate release and adequate medical treatment. Sahar Francis, the General Director of Ramallah-based Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association spoke to Peoples Dispatch about who Walid Daqqah is, why he continues to remain in prison, and what the struggle for his freedom means for the larger Palestinian prison population which remains unjustly incarcerated in inhumane conditions.
