Israeli Police Minister Moshe Shahal has accepted most of the findings of a committee established to look into the demands of Arab security prisoners for improvements in their jail conditions.
The committee was established following a lengthy hunger strike by the prisoners throughout the territories.
The improvements they have requested include increasing family visits from 30 to 45 minutes, allowing young children to visit their fathers in prison without bars between them, allowing television and radio sets in their cells, and replacing asbestos roofing with reinforced plastic.
But the committee rejected prisoners’ demands for permission to celebrate Palestinian national holidays, to receive presents and to remove the protective shields used to separate adult family members from inmates during visits.
The committee also did not agree to a major demand: to reduce the number of prisoners in each cell.
Likud and right-wing Knesset members have already protested the decision to ease prison conditions, terming them an invitation to continue intifada activities.
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