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Views of Palestinian women at the Solidarity camp in Gaza

Wriiten by: Asma Alrumi Edited by: Fathi Tobail | 06.05.2012 21:40 | Flotilla to Gaza | Palestine

Journalists for the Prisoners—Gaza 06/05/12 -- Raghda Abu Jarad (33-year – old ) is one of many other Palestinians who come to the “solidarity camp” to express solidarity with the Palestinian prisoners and detainees held captive in Israeli prisons.


Abu Jarad expressed her deep sympathy with those detainees who are suffering the worst kind of torture and repression in Israeli jails. She said," The Palestinian factions should be unified and coordinate their efforts to help those oppressed detainees. She added that the whole world should not remain silent over the torture and humiliation that Israel practices against those detainees.

Enas Abu Shaweesh is a teacher of economics and administration, in her late 30s, has been on hunger strike for 8 days now. She said that the detainees’ issue is a national cause, and all the Palestinian people inside and Diaspora, as well as the Arab and Muslim world should give it the priority and show their support to the innocent and brave detainees who are fighting for their freedom in" the ongoing battle of empty intestines" .

Najiah Misleh is a wife of a detainee and has been on hunger strike for 8 days, she spoke with tears that her husband has been sentenced to life imprisonment and he has already spent 19 years.

Misleh said that being on hunger strike is the least we can do to our brave men since they are fighting for their own life and freedom.

She also appealed to the Arab and Western world to take a serious position towards Israeli unmerciful horrible practices against the Palestinian detainees. Misleh added, " Prisons’ administration take away detainees privileges as human beings, and the detainees are facing slow death without any appropriate medical care and this is a collective murder and indirect assassination for our courageous detainees."

She suggested the formation of three neutral international committees; a medical committee to take care of detainees' health conditions, a legal committee to prosecute war criminals and media committee speaks with different languages to expose to the whole world the unjust practices toward the Palestinian detainees.

Hana Shalaby a Palestinian activist who was released from the ‘Ramleh’ Israeli Prison Hospital on 1st April 2012 under the condition that to be expelled to the Gaza Strip for a period of three years. She reportedly ended her hunger strike on its 43rd day, on 29 March. As of 4th April, she is currently hospitalized in the Gaza Strip. She said that she has come in solidarity with all detainees who are in great need to support and solidarity to achieve their goal and get their demands, freedom, and dignity. Thus, She appealed to world governments and honorable people all over the world to take an action to press on Israel as soon as possible to release those detainees as their health conditions are in continuous deterioration .

Over the past decades and since the beginning of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories in 1948, the Palestinians have been held in detention camps at the hands of the Israeli occupation authorities.

The number of Palestinians arrested by Israeli military authorities about six hundred and fifty thousand (650,000) Palestinians. The Palestinians are tried at Israeli military courts headed by either a single judge or 3 judges appointed by the military.

By the end of 2003, the number of Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons is over six thousand prisoners, the vast majority spend long term sentences.

Wriiten by: Asma Alrumi Edited by: Fathi Tobail
- e-mail: ftobail@gmail.com