Israel may tempt hunger strikers with barbecue

? Israeli jailers may try to break a Palestinian hunger strike with cookouts, hoping the aroma of grilling meat will wear down security prisoners protesting conditions and demanding more access to their families.

About 1,600 prisoners launched the strike Sunday, the largest such protest since the current conflict between Israel and the Palestinians erupted nearly four years ago.

Organizers said the rest of the 7,500 Palestinian detainees held by Israel would join the protest by the end of the week. The prisoners are demanding the right to family visits and greater communication with the outside world.

However, the prisoner issue transcends the specific demands. The well-organized strike is a Palestinian tactic to chip away at the 37-year Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza by rallying international support.

Palestinians have demanded that the prisoners be freed even before a peace accord is signed, while Israel regards many of them as terrorists who have killed Israelis.

Ofer Lefler, a spokesman for the Israeli prison authority, said officials were considering jailhouse barbecues, hoping the tempting aroma would entice prisoners into breaking their strike.

He said that no decision had been made on whether to have the barbecues, adding that Israel’s main concern was to prevent the deaths of prisoners.

“We are looking at different ways to make them eat,” Lefler said, noting that Britain had used similar tactics with IRA prisoners. “We also do not want to force-feed them.”

But Public Security Minister Tzachi Hanegbi said the prisoners could starve to death before he’d give in to their demands.

Israel has already imposed new sanctions on the prisoners, including banning all family visits and the sale of cigarettes and candy.

The hunger strikers are pressing for greater access to phones, more family visits and an end to strip searches. Many prisoners have not seen their families because an Israel security closure restricts Palestinians from entering Israel.