Pizza Hut fires Israeli PR firm over prison hunger strike ad

Pizza Hut has apologized and fired an advertising firm responsible for an Israeli Facebook ad that mocked Fatah official Marwan Barghouti, the leader of a hunger strike staged by Palestinian security prisoners jailed in Israel. The ad on Pizza Hut Israel's Facebook page was deleted, and the parent company said in a statement that the post was "completely inappropriate."

Barghouti, 58, who is serving five life terms, called the hunger strike to pressure Israel to improve security prisoners' conditions. The strikers' demands include cell phones and family visits, among other things. While some 1,300 prisoners initially heeded his call, hundreds of them have quit the strike. According to the Israel Prison Service, some 880 prisoners are still maintaining the hunger strike, going on its 24th day.

On Sunday, the IPS released a video showing Barghouti secretly snacking on a candy bar.

Pizza Hut then published a Facebook post with a pizza box superimposed on Barghouti's prison cell with a caption asking if he would rather have broken his hunger strike with a pizza.

In a statement released by Pizza Hut International's Middle East Twitter account on Tuesday, the company said it apologized for any offense and said the ad "does not reflect the values of our brand." A spokesman for Pizza Hut's parent company in the U.S., Yum! Brands Inc., was unavailable for comment.

Erez Rubenstein, a partner at the Israeli advertising company behind the ad, confirmed his firm had been dismissed and said the Facebook post was regrettable in hindsight. "We didn't mean to offend anybody," he said.

Pizza Hut International's statement came in response to a Twitter campaign to boycott the company, which operates in Israel, the West Bank and around the Arab world. The Palestinian Prisoners' Media Committee called off its boycott of Pizza Hut after accepting the apology.

Meanwhile, Barghouti's lawyer, Khader Shkirat, said the Israel Prison Service abruptly canceled a planned prison meeting with his client that had been scheduled for Thursday. Shkirat was later informed he would be able to see Barghouti on Sunday.

The attorney said he was given no explanation. He said he is increasingly concerned about Barghouti, who has been held in isolation since the start of the hunger strike on April 17.

"We want to know exactly what his health situation is," Shkirat said. "The fact that the Israelis are not allowing anybody to visit him makes us more worried."

Assaf Librati, a spokesman for the IPS, confirmed the visit had been canceled, but said he did not know the reason.

Barghouti's family and supporters allege Israel is trying to demoralize the strikers by keeping him isolated and by recently releasing the video purportedly showing him eating in his cell.

Sari Bashi, a regional director for Human Rights Watch, said the video's release "raises questions about the violation of the right to privacy." She said it is also problematic to "make an allegation against somebody who is in your custody and then hold him incommunicado so he cannot respond to that allegation."

Librati said "we thought it's important for the public to see the behavior of the hunger strike leader," but he did not address the privacy issue. "We did not expect the video to break the hunger strike or stop it," he said.

Israel has refused to negotiate with the prisoners and maintains that Barghouti called the strike to promote his political agenda.

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