On the 7th of May 2008 at 3.30pm Hanadi Kanaan, a young woman from Nablus, was released from Telmond women’s prison after being held for 45 days for supposed security investigations.
Hanadi Kanaan, an engineering student within 1 month of graduating, communicated how she did not know why she was arrested and tells of the inhumane conditions she was kept in. She explained that when she was arrested she was held in a room just 2m by 2m, that she was given food that made her sick and how she was provided with no breaks during her 45 day imprisonment. She also described how she was continuously interrogated for 20 hours while she was in prison. The reason for Hanadi’s imprisonment for these 45 days were labeled as ‘security investigations’ and Hanadi went onto to explain that the prison is full of women in the exact same position as she was. This is just another case of how Palestinians human rights are being abused consistently and how little is done to stop this.
Later that day Nablus was host to an event to commemorate the Nakba organized by the National Committee for Nakba, the Jaffa Centre and the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. The event, which took place within the Jammal Abid Nasser park, entertained and audience of around 300 Nablus residents.
There were two main speakers during this event. The first, Tayseer Nassallah, the mayor of the National committee for the Nakba, spoke of national plans for the commemoration of the Nakba. These included the release of black balloons from several areas within the west bank, the coordination of all Palestinians to wear black and fly black flags in local villages, and many other ideas. The second speaker, Hamdallah Afaneh, the Palestinian cultural adviser, encouraged Palestinians to struggle against the occupation with the growth of culture and education among the people.