"Israel, which presumes to be a democratic country, allows itself to bombard, kill, and detain innocent people," Hadash chairman, MK Mohammed Barakeh, said at a Tulkarm rally Tuesday.
Speaking at an event marking Palestinian Prisoner Day, Barakeh accused Israel of implementing state terrorism and using the Palestinian prisoners as hostages.
"Thousands of Palestinian prisoners have been jailed in Israeli prisons for years although no charges were pressed against them, and are sitting there as hostages. How can one accept the fact that Israel arrests a third of the members of the elected Palestinian parliament, including the parliament chairman himself (Aziz Dweik)?" Barakeh asked.
"This is state terrorism, and it must not be allowed to continue. It is the right of the prisoners, whose only fault was that they fought for their freedom, to live in dignity and freedom in their homeland. The occupation must be brought to an end immediately," he stated.
Barakeh said that while he sympathized with kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit's family, the Palestinian prisoners also had families who were concerned about their fate.