Hundreds gathered Wednesday evening for a reading of the Book of Lamentations and Tisha B’Av prayers outside the Russian Compound detention center in Jerusalem, where hunger-striking ‘settler’ activist Tal Yanon Dardik is being held following an administrative order issued against him by Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth.
1+Participants are calling on Defense Minister Israel Katz to intervene immediately, citing Dardik’s deteriorating medical condition as he enters his 17th day of hunger strike. Among those attending the event were Knesset member Limor Son Har-Melech, former MK and Zehut party leader Moshe Feiglin, journalist Ziv Maor, and others.
Following the deterioration in his medical condition, the Honenu legal aid organization issued a demand for Dardik’s evacuation to a hospital for urgent medical tests and treatment. “Our client is on hunger strike and his health is deteriorating. He is suffering from repeated fainting spells, sharp weight loss, body temperature of 34 degrees Celsius, and a drop in vital signs,” the organization wrote in its appeal, emphasizing that he must receive treatment to prevent serious damage to his health.
1+Dardik, a resident of an outpost in the Binyamin region and father of four, was arrested about two and a half weeks ago on claims he violated an administrative order placing him under full house arrest at his mother-in-law’s home—a widowed and deaf woman. It is claimed the order was not feasible since the mother-in-law was never even informed of it, and upon his arrest Dardik began a hunger strike in protest of the move. Over the past week his condition has worsened and he is suffering from repeated fainting spells, against what his supporters describe as “the system’s disregard for his requests and his medical condition.”