Khader Adnan

Khader Adnan Mohammad Musa (خضر عدنان محمد موسى; 24 March 1978 – 2 May 2023) was a Palestinian activist and prisoner in Israel who died after an 87-day hunger strike in protest of his detention without trial.

By the time of his death, he had been arrested 12 times by Israel.

In 1996, as a student, he became involved with the Islamic Jihad Movement in Palestine (PIJ), eventually serving as a spokesman for the group.

Adnan was first arrested and detained by Israel in 1999, when he spent four months under Israeli administrative detention.

Addameer said Adnan had spent a total of six years in prison since 1999.

Between his periods of incarceration Adnan continued to run his bakery in Arraba.

At the time of his detention, Adnan was studying for a master's degree in economics at Birzeit University.

He also operated a bakery in Qabatya and a produce store in his hometown of Arraba in the West Bank.

In the early 2000s, Adnan was a spokesman for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), a group that militantly opposes Israel, and Adnan was convicted for his role with the group.

He was arrested by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) eight months after being released for leading a student demonstration against Lionel Jospin in 2000.

At the demonstration, students threw eggs or stones at the former French Prime Minister during his visit to Birzeit to denounce his characterization of Hezbollah's military actions against the Israeli occupation as "terrorism."

His first hunger strike, 10 days long, was undertaken during his detention by the PNA.

He was arrested again in December 2002 by Israel and spent a year in administrative detention.

Rearrested six months after his release, he was placed in solitary confinement and went on hunger strike for 28 days until the Israel Prison Service placed him with the general prison population.

Adnan married his wife Randa Adnan in 2005, by which time he had been detained five times for his affiliation with PIJ.

He told her before they married that, "his life was not normal, that he might be around for 15 days and then be gone again for a long time. But I always dreamt of marrying someone strong, someone who struggles in defense of his country."

In June 2005, after PIJ members were killed in a shootout with Israeli troops, Adnan "called on all Palestinian militant groups to resume fighting with Israel" and accused the governing entity, the PNA, of collaborating with Israel.

In August 2005, Adnan was arrested and imprisoned by Israel for 15 months.

According to Palestinian prisoners' support group Addameer, he held a 12-day hunger strike to protest his isolation in Kfar Yona in 2005.

A YouTube video of a rally in 2007 shows him praising and encouraging suicide bombings: "Who among you will carry the next explosive belt? Who among you will fire the next bullets? Who among you will have his body parts blown all over?"

He was held by Israel for another six months in administrative detention beginning in March 2008.

He became prominent as a figure after a 66-day hunger strike in 2011 that led to a mass hunger strike among Palestinian prisoners and his ultimate release.

In December 2011, Adnan was arrested and held under administrative detention, and the following day, to protest the conditions of his arrest, Israel's policy of administrative detention and its treatment of Palestinians under Israeli occupation, went on a hunger strike.

Whilst mass hunger strikes had previously been carried out by groups of Palestinian prisoners, Adnan became the first to go on an individual hunger strike.

According to Adnan, an International Committee of the Red Cross visit was canceled after Israeli officers insisted on being present and that Adnan remain tied to his bed.

At the time of his 2011 arrest, Adnan was no longer an active spokesman for the PIJ.

Adnan had been convicted in the past by Israel for being a spokesperson for the PIJ, and media reports indicate he served as a PIJ spokesman.

He was arrested by the Israeli Army on 17 December 2011 from their home in Arraba in the middle of the night.

In 2012, his wife claimed that he had not been involved with PIJ for four years, and never had any role in militant activities.

On 21 February 2012, Israel agreed to release Adnan on 17 April 2012, and he agreed to immediately end his hunger strike at 66 days, then the longest in Palestinian history.

Adnan was detained for the final time on 5 February 2023, and immediately began what was to become his longest hunger strike.

Israeli journalist Amira Hass wrote that his intent was "to expose the basic injustice in Israel’s military justice system and its casual denial of basic freedoms".

He died in prison on 2 May, having spent approximately eight cumulative years in Israeli detention.

Khader Adnan was from Arraba, near Jenin in the West Bank, where he owned a bakery and produce store.

A baker by trade, he held an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Birzeit University.

Randa had given birth to two daughters and a son by 2012, and in late 2013 gave birth to triplets.

As of 2021, Adnan had a total of nine children.

In 2012, Gulf News said he had served as a spokesman for the group since 2000, while The Guardian said he had acted as a spokesman for the PIJ in the past.

By this point, Adnan had been detained roughly 10 times since—seven times by Israel (including his last detention), and two or three times by the PNA.

The next day, he began a hunger strike that ended 66 days later on 21 February 2012.