Two dismissed educators in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike

Two educators dismissed by the statutory decrees of the Turkish government devoted the 69th day of their hunger to Palestinian prisoners who are on hunger strike against bad conditions of Israeli prisons
Wednesday, 17 May 2017 06:08

Nuriye Gülmen, an academic, and Semih Özakça, a teacher, who were unlawfully dismissed by the statuary decrees enacted by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government, devoted the 69th day of their hunger to the Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike against bad conditions of Israeli prisons.

On May 16, Nuriye Gülmen shared a video regarding the solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike on her twitter account and said that:

‘‘Today is the 189th day of our resistance and 69th day of our hunger strike. This is a very meaningful and special day for us. We devote the 69th day of our hunger to the prisoners who are also on hunger strike in Palestine. We actually share the same hunger with them. The tyrants are the same: Those who oppress the Palestinian prisoners are the same with those who tyrannise and unlawfully dismissed us. The oppressors we are fighting against have the same roots. We represent the peoples of the world. We are proud to share our hunger with the Palestinian prisoners resisting against the oppressors today…We invite everyone to join our resistance to be in solidarity with us against the ongoing attacks, to embrace our struggle and to be the voice of the Palestinian prisoners as well.’’

While the Palestinian committee was together with two dismissed educators on hunger strike in the resistance area in Ankara, the wife of Ahmad Sa’adat, the imprisoned General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the wife of imprisoned Marwan Barghouti who is the leader of Al-Fatah, and Leila Khaled, a revolutionary figure of the Palestinian resistance  and a member of the Marxist-Leninist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine were in solidarity with Nuriye Gülmen and Semih Özakça via a live broadcasting.

Khaled had also been in hunger-striking in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners and said that ‘‘the prisoners on hunger strike are in direct confrontation with the enemy, but they have only the weapon of the empty stomach.’’

Gülmen and Özakça are currently on the 190th day of their ‘‘I want my job back’’ protest and on the 70th day of the hunger strike. Despite the continuous police aggression to their resistance and deteriorating health condition, two dismissed educators are determined to continue the hunger strike.