The issue of Palestinians held in Israeli jails, and especially those held without being charged or tried, received a publicity boost this week from an unexpected source.

The revelation by Australian television of the disappearance of Ben Zygier, a dual Australian-Israeli citizen, and the accompanying self-censorship practiced by Israeli media, has once again put the limelight on the secret world of Israel’s prison system. The silence regarding the case has angered human-rights activists and has continued even after an Australian television investigation revealed that Zygier, who had been referred to as "Prisoner X," reportedly committed suicide in a high-security cell that is supposedly watched around-the-clock by prison officials. The story was finally published in Israel after three left-wing members of the Knesset, Zahava Gal-On, Ahmad Tibi and Dov Khenin, raised the issue.

In his weekly column in the liberal Israeli daily Haaretz, Gideon Levy picked up the story in an op-ed entitled “Dark Deeds,” and made the connection to Palestinian prisoners: "Okay, an Australian, and an investigative program in his country. And what about Arabs and Palestinians, who don't have an investigative reporting TV program on Channel 2? How many of them have been made to disappear and have disappeared, 'committed suicide' and died?"

Palestinian prisoners today are fighting an even more basic goal. Hunger-striking prisoners like Samer Issawi — whose continuous hunger strike defies nature — are demanding humane prison conditions and the right not to rot in prison without charge or trial.