5th March 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Hebron, Occupied Palestine
22 year old Ibrahim Saadi is still being held at Ofer Prison in Ramallah after being shot in the head close range by a rubber bullet and arrested during a peaceful demonstration in Hebron on Friday.
His brother told us he had recieved a number of stitches on his head before being transferred to Ofer.
Ibrahim Saadi with wounds to head being dragged down street by soldiers
The peaceful protest organised in remembrance of the Abraham mosque massacre in 1994 was broken up by tear gas and stun grenades in Hebron on Friday. Many parts of Hebron have been shut off to palestinians since the massacre, including Shuhada Street which was once a busy commercial area.
The demonstration was organised by Hebron Defence League and was attended by Palestinian, Israeli and International activists who sat down on the road close to the gate which blocks access to Shuhada street. Soldiers threw tear gas canisters and sound grenades at the demonstrators causing many to disperse.
When the remaining demonstrators regrouped, they were prevented from moving anywhere else by a line of soldiers. Soldiers attempted to take the megaphone of one activist but was blocked by both Israeli and International activists.
Not long after the demonstration ended , 22 year old Ibrahim Sa`adi was dragged unconscious down the street by a group of soldiers with his face covered in blood. According to several eyewitnesses including his brother, Ibrahim was shot at close range with a rubber bullet. His eight year old sister saw the entire scene and was left in shock.
After the news of Sa`adi`s arrest spread , clashes erupted around bab al zawiya area of Hebron. Dozens of demonstrators were injured , including one international, as the army fired rubber coated steel bullets, tear gas, stun grenades and live ammunition. The clashes continued until after sunset.Israeli Occupation Forces stand in between peaceful demonstrators
Earlier that morning 19 year old Abdel Basset was arrested by soldiers in Tel Rumeida A witness who filmed the arrest was made to delete the video by the soldiers.
Ibrahim Saadi is dragged down the street unconscious by soldiers
3rd March 2013 | International Action for Palestine, Gaza, Occupied Palestine
“Our prisoners are dying.” said Gaza student Khaled Shehab from the Islamic University. “We won’t wait till the death of another prisoner to move in solidarity with all the detainees.” Khaled was joining the thousands attending the growing number of demonstrations in the Gaza Strip right now.
Majeda Sabbah, with other students protesting the death of Arafat Jaradat in Israeli custody . Photo by Joe Catron
It is not lost on young people in Palestine acting in support of Palestinian prisoners that many who have spent years in Israeli jails were at the same age when they were originally imprisoned. While there has recently been a spotlight on the 219 Palestinian children currently detained by Israel, it is often forgotten that the majority of detainees arrested are youths or in their early twenties. Some have spent the entire decade of their twenties removed from their parents, their families and communities, a young person’s life defined by Israeli prison walls.
Mohammed Al Adini explained his story late at night in the tent erected outside the Red Cross offices in the Gaza Strip, where some Palestinians were on hunger strike in support of those striking in Israeli prisons. He was arrested aged 20 in June 2003, just short of concluding a two year office management course at a college in Deir El Balah, central Gaza. He was imprisoned for nine years and released in the prisoner swap deal after which he was able to complete his course at the University of Gaza aged 31.
Mohammed Al Adini, hunger striking in solidarity after nine years in Israeli prisons. Photo by Ehab Omar
“There were some classes in prison but we were often prevented from going. So we organized our own “internal education” where any prisoners with an academic background such as languages, history and law would teach the other prisoners. It depended on the cell we were in but classes were generally around ten to twelve students. I taught history and Palestinian issues.”
Mohammed knew many students and academics on long term prison sentences. Yassir Namrouiti visits the solidarity tent in Gaza regularly. He was studying at the University of Al Quds when he was arrested in 1987. He didn’t see freedom again until 24 years later when he was released with Mohammed in the Gilad Shalit swap deal 24 years later. Karim Younis who remains incarcerated after 31 years, was a student when arrested in 1983 and was attending classes at Ben Gurion University on the day the Israeli army raided his house. He is now a prison representative and the author of two books. His personal and historical writings from prison have reached and inspired many who support him and the other 4800 Palestinian detainees.
Mohammed does not appear bitter that his education was taken away and is enthusiastic about the rise in student solidarity. “I am so pleased that students in Gaza have rallied around the cause of the prisoners.” said Mohammed. “They are using different languages to express our cause through facebook and other media, which is something we have never been able to do before.”
Khaled shares Mohammed’s certainty that the youth of Palestine have a crucial role to play in the resistance against occupation, which is why many student leaders have been a target for Israeli arrests and incarceration. “Youth and young people are strongly involved in resistance against occupation. Israel arrests them to stop resistance. They want to destroy the educational life for the students. They are aware that students can expose them and their crimes to the world, especially now that so many are communicating directly to Western audiences.”
Student activist Khaled Shehab calling for the release of Samer Issawi . Photo by Jomanah Hadad
He cites other Palestinian students from Gaza such as Malaka Mohammed and Shahd Abusalama whose blogs and reporting on the prisoners in the English language have amassed many followers globally, with frequent updates on the individual stories of prisoners and the ordeals and injustices facing them.
The day after 30 year old Arafat Jaradat was killed after six days of Israeli detention last Monday, Majeda Sabbah, Khaled and other students immediately organized a demonstration, calling for united support for all Palestinian prisoners.
“Arafat didn’t just die” said Majeda. “He was killed under the systematic torture that takes place in Israeli Jails.”
We are here to show our support for all the hunger strikers and all the political prisoners. The sons of Palestine sacrificed their freedom and belief for others, like Samer Issawi who is now in a critical condition after a hunger strike of over six months. We young people in Gaza support them, which is why we mobilized quickly as soon as we heard about Arafat. We can’t wait for the parties to move. If we didn’t act for a united struggle then no one would.”
Most Palestinian families contain someone who has been detained in Israeli Jails or is currently incarcerated. “My uncle was a prisoner.” said Khaled. “He spent 25 years in Israeli prisons and was recently freed in the swap deal. He joked that over time they changed the prison door three times while he remained in the same room.”
For relatives of current detainees in Israel the struggle can never go away. It is a double agony – for those on the inside and those on the outside. The last hunger striker who won his freedom was Akram Rikhawi, who in his ninth year of incarceration refused food for 104 days. “When I was released I could not recognize Samah, my eleven year old daughter” Akram told us. Samah was just two years old when he had last laid eyes on her. “My wife was allowed to visit me once in that time and my mother also once. I learned of my mother’s passing on prison radio a month after she had died.”
Mohammed Al Adiny said that it was being away from his family and friends that hurt most in prison. “I would send letters to my mother. I would tell her that if she wants me to be okay, just smile. Your smile is what gives me strength is what I would tell her.”
The fight of the hunger strikers goes on. Samer Issawi, now weighing just 44 kg was recently moved to Haifa hospital after a serious deterioration in his health. Ayman Sharawna was moved to the Soroka Israel hospital in Beersheba last month, briefly falling into a coma after which for a period he was unable to move, suffering severe pain to several parts of his body.
Hana Shalabi, a female detainee released after a 43-day hunger strike in March 2012 was in attendance at Sunday’s demonstration and she described to some of the students what Samer and Ayman were going through. “I’m sorry for the death of Jaradet, sorry for his family in the West Bank. Sadly I’m not surprised, this is not a new thing with over 210 prisoners who have been killed in Israeli prisons since 1967. By my experience on hunger strike I feel what they feel. You can’t sleep because of the pain, you can’t speak, you can’t move, there’s hair loss, pains in the stomach and joints, you can’t see well, there are heart irregularities, palpitations and migraines. Soon your body, like mine, can’t accept water.”
Hana Shalabi, released after a 43-day hunger strike, remains an inspiration. Photo Eva Barlett
At the time of writing Samer Issawi and Ayman Sharawna are among 178 prisoners who are being held under what Israel defines as “Administrative Detention” . This open ended imprisonment without a formal charge has been condemned by major international human rights groups. This self-sacrifice of Samer, Ayman and the other detainees has struck a chord with young people across Palestine who are absorbed in the struggle for life and dignity of the hunger strikers. They want immediate action.
“When students and young people become more aware and start writing about israel’s crimes it’s like a disaster for Israel. We want to deliver our message all over the world. Palestinian prisoners don’t have basic human rights or dignity. They’re not treated as human beings. We demand the Israeli government release the hunger strikers.”
Adie Mormech is a Gaza-based activist with International Action for Palestine and a teacher at Al Aqsa University in Gaza City.
24 February 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Hebron, Occupied Palestine
Palestinians protesting last night’s death of Arafat Jaradat while in Israeli administrative detention clashed with Israeli Occupation Forces throughout today in Hebron. Israeli officials claim that Jaradat died in an interrogation centre of a heart attack despite having no health conditions prior to his detention. In a recent court appearance, Jaradat told his lawyer, that “he had serious pains in his back and other parts of his body because he was being beaten up and hanged for many long hours while he was being investigated”. Jaradat was father to a 4 year-old daughter and 2 year-old son and worked as a petrol station attendant; his widow, Dalal, is currently pregnant.
Teenager shot in the thigh with live ammunition and now in critical condition
Centered around the Bab al-Zawiyeh area of central Hebron, soldiers primarily fired rubber-coated steel bullets and stun grenades at around 1500 demonstrators. Skunk water and teargas was also used excessively at times. An alarm to disperse crowds was played at high volume followed by a warning from the ‘American Technology Corporation’. Dozens were injured (including journalists and one ISM volunteer) with ambulances driving back and forth amongst the crowds.
At least three were injured by live ammunition, including one teenager who was shot in the thigh with a live bullet, which were fired at demonstrators throughout the day. He was taken to Ramallah hospital, but was swiftly moved elsewhere as his condition became critical.
Around an hour ago the soldiers announced that they were about to fire live ammunition into the crowds.
The army was clearly expecting a backlash for the death of Jaradat, with soldiers stationed on the rooftops throughout the old city since the early hours of the morning. Less than 500 meters away on Shuhada Street, around two hundred settlers wore fancy dress, drank alcohol and danced on the street in celebration of the Jewish holiday Purim .
Soldiers fired teargas and rubber-coated steel bullets at demonstratorsA journalist being treated for teargas inhalationSoldiers mixed their use of rubber-coated steel bullets, teargas and live roundsSkunk water was sprayed to disperse demonstrators
23 February 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Megiddo Prison, Apartheid Israel
Arafat Shalish Shahin Jaradat was just martyred in a special section for the Shin Bet in one of the occupation’s interrogation centres. Arafat was born on 14 January 1983 and had just turned 30 years-old and lived in Sa’eer, a village near Hebron. He was married and father to a four year-old daughter, Yara, and a two year-old son, Muhammad. Arafat and his wife Dalal were expecting their third child in June. Arafat was also in his first year at al-Quds Open University.
Arafat was arrested on 18 February this year for allegedly throwing a stone at an armed Israeli soldier near the illegal Kiryat Arba settlement near al-Khalil during November’s bombing of Gaza and was held in al-Jalameh Prison for four days before being transferred to Megiddo Prison, near Haifa in Israel. When he was arrested, he did not suffer from any diseases or health conditions, according to family members. A lawyer from Addameer, a Palestinian human rights group, also reported that generally he did not complain from any pain except slightly in his back.
Arafat’s widow, Dalal Ayayda, said that an Israeli intelligence officer brought him back to his home minutes after being arrested and told him to bid farewell to his children. “For that reason I was worried. My husband was detained several times before, but this time the intelligence officer talked in a bizarre way”, she said indicating a degree of premeditation to her husband’s murder.
Arafat’s lawyer, Kameel Sabbagh, who works for the Palestinian prisoners ministry, was present at Arafat’s last hearing on Thursday. He said, “When I sat next to him he told me that he had serious pains in his back and other parts of his body because he was being beaten up and hanged for many long hours while he was being investigated… When Jaradat heard that the judge postponed his hearing [for 12 days] he seemed extremely afraid and asked me if he was going to spend the time left in the cell. I replied to him that he was still in the investigation period and this is possible and that as a lawyer I couldn’t do anything about his whereabouts at this time”. Sabbagh, in a media interview, added that Arafat’s psychological state was precarious and that he had informed the judge that his client had been tortured, including by being forced to sit for long hours in stress positions with his hands shackled behind his back. The judge ordered that Arafat should be examined by the prison doctor, but “this didn’t happen” Sabbagh maintains.
In the context of Ashraf Abu Dra’ being subjected to medical negligence during his detention and dying in a coma on 21 January shortly after his release, a rising tide of violently-repressed street protests in solidarity with prisoners and four detainees on high-profile hungerstrike, Palestinian Authority officials on Saturday demanded an international investigation into the death after the Israeli prison authority claimed it was “probably” due to a cardiac arrest. An autopsy performed at the Israeli National Institute of Forensic Medicine, this Sunday, was conducted by the institute’s chief pathologist, Yehuda Hiss, in the presence of Saber Aloul, the PA’s chief pathologist and the head of the Israeli health ministry’s medical administration, Professor Arnon Afek. Shortly afterwards, the Israeli health ministry, stated that no external signs of violence were found on the body, aside from those those that “could be testimony to resuscitation efforts”.
This was in reference to what Issa Qaraqe, PA minister of detainee affairs said at a news conference in Ramallah, was “information [that] so far is shocking and painful. The evidence corroborates our suspicion that Mr. Jaradat died as a result of torture, especially since the autopsy clearly proved that the victim’s heart was healthy, which disproves the initial alleged account presented by occupation authorities that he died of a heart attack”. The minister said Arafat had sustained injuries and severe bruising in the upper right back area and severe bruises of sharp circular shape in the right chest area. That the autopsy revealed evidence of severe torture and on the muscle of the upper left shoulder, parallel to the spine in the lower neck area and evidence of severe torture under the skin and inside the muscle of the right side of the chest. His second and third ribs in the right side of the chest were broken, Qaraqe said, and he also had injuries in the middle of the muscle in the right hand. Qaraqe’s deputy, Ziyad Au Ain, urged any doctors, including Israeli ones, in doubt that Arafat was tortured to death, to view his body themselves. Qaddura Fares, president of the Palestinian Prisoners Society, added that the examination revealed seven injuries to the inside the lower lip, bruises on his face and blood on his nose.
Arafat’s father after identifying his son’s tortured body (Photo: Yotam Ronen/Activestills.org)
The already on-going protests intensified on this Sunday as news of Arafat’s death quickly spread. Demonstrations against Israeli occupation forces have occurred in Bethlehem, Budrus, Betunia, Jenin, al-Khalil, Kfar Kusra, Nabi Saleh, Kfar Qaddum, al-Ram, Turmusaya and al-Quds, plus Huwara and Jalameh checkpoints as well as the Gaza Strip, today. These were suppressed by the Israeli military and police’s array of sophisticated weaponry, including live rounds with two shot. In addition, Ayshel, Ramoun and Nafha prisons saw at least 800 go on a one day hungerstrike.
In other news about the hungerstrikers: Ayman Ismail Sharawna (38) from the village of Deir Samet, has now been transferred to an isolation block in Be’er Sheva Prison having refused food since 1 July 2012 to protest his illegal re-arrest, but as Addameer reported, “He suspended his hunger strike several times, because Israel promised they would review his case.” The Palestinian Prisoner Club reports that Ayman has completely lost his right kidney, half of his left kidney and sight in his left eye. In addition, he also lost a great deal of weight and his health is rapidly deteriorating. He has been transferred from one prison to another and put in solitary confinement several times to break his steadfastness.
By Addameer’s count, more than 202 detainees died or were killed in Israeli prisons since 1967; dozens of detainees also died after they were released due to diseases they encountered in prison or due to complications resulting from extreme torture and bad conditions in prisons. Today, the Israeli prison system holds close to 4,600 Palestinians on a range of charges, of which 159 are being held without charges or having a trial in so-called administrative detention.
Nine on hunger strike in solidarity with prisoners
22 February 2013| International Solidarity Movement, Hebron, Occupied Palestine
Nine Palestinians from Hebron, mostly family members of hunger-striking prisoners, are continuing their hunger strike to express support for, and raise awareness of, the plight of Palestinian political prisoners.
They began their strike last Saturday, and gained much media attention thanks to their presence in a solidarity tent in Hebron in the midst of Monday’s demonstration in support of prisoners. The mother of one of the hunger-striking prisoners, who suffers from diabetes, was taken to hospital on Wednesday after losing consciousness as clashes erupted around them during another demonstration in Hebron. She has been falling in and out of consciousness since. The other hunger strikers continue their strike in the hospital where they go to stay throughout the visiting hours. They refuse any food and are only drinking water. However, one female hunger striker, teacher Nahil Abu Aisha from Hebron, has been forced to interrupt her strike due to a flue.
When asked why the group decided to go on hunger strike, Nahil explained that they want to show solidarity with the prisoners and take part in their resistance struggle. “And of course we’re hoping for a soon release of the prisoners”. She added that they aim to provoke a reaction from the media and draw attention to the unjust treatment of the Palestinian prisoners, as well as the suffering caused by the illegal Israeli occupation at large. “The whole world needs to know what’s going on here”. She emphasized that she and her fellow hunger strikers were ordinary people, mothers, brothers and sympathizers of prisoners, who simply felt compelled to stand up in solidarity against injustice. “We are not terrorists, we are only resisting the occupation”.
