Tag: Prisoner

While in Gaza: The Other Gilad Shalits

8 August 2011 | The Palestine Chronicle, Johnny Barber

‘Dear Johnny:

‘While you are in Gaza, please visit Gilad Shalit. He is the Israeli soldier who was kidnapped from outside Gaza 5 years ago, and has been held by Hamas without visits by anyone, including the Red Cross or Red Crescent, in violation of international law. I trust you are committed to human rights for all, and this small gesture should be quite easy to do as compared with the magnitude of arranging your flotilla. I look forward to seeing your video or photos or voice recording evidencing that Gilad is being treated well and is in good health.’

I thought about Shalit quite often as I traveled around Gaza. Though the writer of the email assumed I was unaware of the prisoner or his circumstance, it was not true. I knew he was just a teenager when captured. I knew he was a combatant- a gunner in a tank on the border of Gaza. I knew he was taken prisoner, not kidnapped.

I thought about the fear he faced as he was dragged from his tank 5 years ago, and his uncertain days imprisoned since then, days spent without family, without friends, without any contact with outside agencies. I tried to imagine the yearly landmarks; the birthdays, the anniversaries, the myriad dates and shared memories that mark our movement through life, passing without acknowledgement. I tried to imagine what his parents were going through, not knowing his condition or circumstance.

Even in Gaza, Shalit’s name comes up often. I attended the weekly demonstration of prisoners families held outside the ICRC every Monday. Mothers, fathers, wives, and children hold photos or posters of loved ones imprisoned in Israel for months, years, some for decades. A gentleman, recognizing I was from the U.S., said sarcastically, “Don’t these people know there is only one prisoner? His name is Shalit.”

Since 1967, 700,000 Palestinians have been “detained” by Israel. Currently 7000 people are imprisoned. 37 of them are women; over 300 of them are children.

When I visited the Ministry of Detainees in Gaza City I was challenged by the minister to name another region of the world where such a ministry was needed. The minister explained that this was an issue particular to Palestine because Israel imprisons so many people without charges and through military courts where evidence is hidden and trials are rigged. Many are convicted on coerced confessions. The minister’s position was that all prisoners, including Shalit, be treated with respect and dignity.

I was introduced to Umm Ahmed through Doa’a, a Ministry official who coordinates the weekly demonstrations at the ICRC. Umm Ahmed’s 19-year-old son, a university student, is imprisoned in Israel for just over a year. His story is not unique.

Ahmed was seriously injured during Operation Cast Lead in January 2009. Families near the buffer zone were given permission by the Israelis to leave their homes to get supplies. Umm Ahmed and her family were returning to their home. Half of the family members had come inside. Ahmed, and 3 cousins remained in the doorway when the drones were heard overhead, followed quickly by 2 missile strikes. Ahmed and one cousin were gravely injured, blasted into the alcove of the home. Ahmed’s abdomen was eviscerated, he had lost an eye and several fingers, and he was bleeding profusely from shrapnel wounds all over his body. No ambulances were in the area. Family members scooped up the broken bodies and rushed them to the hospital. On arrival, Umm Ahmed was told her son was dead.

Ahmed, despite his injuries, managed to cling to life. After emergency surgery he was transferred to the hospital in Al-Arish, Egypt where he underwent 10 surgeries in 10 months, including the removal of his pancreas, leaving him diabetic and dependant on insulin injections for the remainder of his life. On his return to Gaza, suffering from life threatening infections to his wounded arm and hand, the family sought additional treatment outside Gaza. It proved impossible to have him transferred to Europe, but after several attempts he received permission from Israel to travel to Jerusalem for the needed treatment.

On the day of his departure, November 25, 2009, his mother prepared food for him, adhering to a new diet specifically for diabetics. When he departed with his brother and father for Erez crossing, she followed him out the door, hugging him tightly. When she let go, she sensed something terrible was about to happen.

Shortly after 4pm when Ahmed, his brother and father reached Erez, Umm Ahmed received a call from her son, asking for Mohammed, the eldest brother. Umm Ahmed asked, “What is it? Is something wrong with Ahmed?” Her son hesitated then told her Ahmed had been taken at the crossing and was in Israeli custody.

The soldiers demanded that Ahmed and his father both strip naked. Ahmed, in his wheelchair, needed his father’s assistance to comply. Ahmed, though missing fingers on one hand and suffering from infections to his hand and elbow, was handcuffed and taken away. His father would not see him again. Ahmed’s father demanded Ahmed be released and allowed to return to Gaza. He was literally thrown out of the crossing and told to return to Gaza without his son. Without recourse, Ahmed’s father returned home.

Unlike Shalit who was taken by Palestinian fighters while on active duty in a tank on the Gaza border, the Israeli’s took Ahmed as he attempted to get treatment for wounds incurred at Israeli hands. Many Palestinians are ‘detained’, or perhaps my email writer’s term is more appropriate, ‘kidnapped’, by Israeli soldiers at checkpoints, from their cars, or from their beds in the middle of the night, and taken to Israel. Although the transfer of detainees to locations within the occupying power’s territory is illegal under international law, all Palestinian prisoners are currently held in Israel.

Ahmed was held under investigation for 38 days as the Israeli’s tried to elicit a confession. Regardless of his injuries, he was blindfolded, handcuffed, and routinely denied his medications. He suffered through diabetic comas throughout the 38 days. He did not confess. He was found guilty of monitoring Israeli activities in the buffer zone and sentenced to 2 ½ years in prison.

Since Hamas won an electoral decision in 2006, family visitation rules were tightened. Since 2007 all Gaza families have been denied visitation. In December 2009, the Israeli Court ruled that the right to family visits in prison is not within the “Framework of the basic humanitarian needs of the residents of the Strip, which Israel is obligated to enable” and that there was no need for family visits since prisoners could obtain basic supplies through the prison canteen. So like gunner Shalit, 700 other families have been denied visitation with their sons, daughters and children.

Umm Ahmed is concerned that her son is receiving inadequate treatment for his diabetes. It has been regularly reported that security prisoners receive inadequate food- both in quality and quantity. Regarding medical care, the Israeli prison authority has adopted a policy of systemic negligence in all its facilities. Prisons are extremely understaffed by medical personnel and visits to a doctor can take weeks, with actual treatment taking months. For a prisoner suffering from diabetes this can be deadly. Ahmed also needs constant care to treat infections resulting from all the shrapnel wounds to his body. Upon his detention, Ahmed spent 3 months in the hospital as a result of his mistreatment. While hospitalized it was determined he needs an operation to control his diabetes. In order to get an operation, Ahmed must wait. Ar-Ramleh prison hospital has a limited number of beds. Because of his inadequate diet and medication regime (most ill and injured prisoners live on aspirin, painkillers, and tranquilizers), his health continues to deteriorate. Though the operation has not yet been scheduled, the family has already been notified that Ahmed will not be released from prison until the fees for the operation are paid in full.

When Ban Ki-Moon visited Gaza in March of 2010, Umm Ahmed and her husband met with him and explained the situation of their son. Because of this meeting and the negative publicity it triggered for Israel, the family has received only sporadic news of their son. For the last 5 months they have heard nothing. The parents are anxiously awaiting word of their son.

I left Gaza without managing a visit with Shalit. But I left with the knowledge of thousands of Gilad Shalits in Israeli prisons. Many, like Ahmed, have no involvement in military operations. They were not dragged from their tanks, but were dragged from their cars, dragged from their beds, even dragged from their wheelchairs. Hundreds are children. They too, deserve basic humanitarian considerations. They too, deserve to be treated with decency and their health maintained. Their families also deserve answers and consideration. Shalit may be the only prisoner Americans have heard of, but he is not alone.

– Johnny Barber has traveled to Iraq, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria & Gaza to bear witness and document the suffering of people who are affected by war. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com. Visit: www.oneBrightpearl-jb.blogspot.com.

Palestinian female prisoners suffer in Ramadan

7 August 2011 | Palestine Telegraph

Israeli prison administration decided to tighten its harsh measures against Palestinian female prisoners of Hasharon during the holy month of Ramadan.

A researcher at the international solidarity foundation, Ahmed al-Betawi, stated that Israeli prison administration refused to allow female prisoners of Hasharon prison to purchase their food from canteen.

He added that female prisoners have suffered from insects and high humidity especially in these very hot summer days, while the prison administration deprived them from using fans.

Palestinian prisoners emphasized that the unprecedented repressive campaign has been escalated by the prison administration during the holy month.

The lawyer of the international solidarity foundation visited Hasharon prison last Thursday and met a number of female prisoners who told him about misery they have lived in.

Palestinian officials condemned Israeli toughening measures that affect the lives of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners inside Israeli jails, calling for an end to Israeli violent practices and abuses.

No signs of ceasing resistance in Ni’lin

6 August 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On Friday, 5 August, the weekly demonstration against the illegal settlement near the Palestinian village of Ni’lin was held, despite the majority of its participants fasting for Ramadan. Although smaller than is usual it consisted of about forty people from the local community and a group of internationals from ISM and the Christian Peacemakers Team, some Israeli activists, and the Jordan Valley Solidarity Group.
The march succeeded in reaching the gate of the illegal annexation wall. Stopping in front of the huge metal construction, delegates from the Popular Committee of the village voiced their grievances and re-asserted their rights under international law to self determination and to live free of the harassment caused by Israeli encroachment on their land. A tire was set on fire as a symbolic act.
A group of young men went off to partake in their form of resistance by launching small stones over the wall, about 500m to the right of the gate. The military police retaliated with volleys of tear gas in a standoff that lasted around forty minutes. No one was seriously injured, and only one individual was treated for gas inhalation by attending members of the Red Cresent.
Afterwards, Saeed, a son of a prominent member of the local Popular Committee, commented on the relatively low level of repression experienced during this particular demonstration.
“Between, 2008 and 2010, the military arrested 90 people from this village. We had snipers in the village, shooting people and they used special, illegal bullets called ‘0.22’. They explode inside your body. We had 5 people killed,” he said.
Despite this history of aggression, the local commuity shows no signs of capitulation and is determined to fight for their human rights, sanctified and upheld by international law.

Arrested and beaten yet Palestinians remain in prison

20 July 2011 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Today, Friday 15 of July, the Israeli army violently repressed the weekly non-violent demonstration of the Palestinian city of Nabi Saleh. During the repeated attacks on the peaceful demonstrators four activists were arrested: two Palestinians, one Italian and one Israeli.  The following is the testimony of the Italian activist.

The main demonstration lasted under 3 minutes. Three Palestinians blindfolded themselves behind a wooden structure covered in barbed wire, to symbolise the imprisonment of all the Palestinians in Israeli prisons which is illegal under international law.  As soon as the demonstrators appeared in the soldiers view, a barrage of tear gas hit them and they were dispersed. The first Palestinian was arrested in the course of the morning (not sure about the second Palestinian and the Israeli). Around five in the afternoon they attacked a group of people that took part in the demonstration in the morning but that at that moment was just standing by. I was sitting a little further away from the group. The soldiers were out to get anyone who participated in the demonstration, regardless of whether they did anything illegal, so I did not have any other choice but to run. A soldier came after me. I stepped on a wrong spot and fell down, injuring my right leg.

Marks of aggression are left upon the wrists of an Italian volunteer, illegally arrested and beaten.
The soldier caught me and put his knee over me to prevent me from running. After a few moments I was surrounded by soldiers. One of them took my left hand and twisted it for no apparent reason other than to intimidate me since I was already incapable of fleeing. They handcuffed me using a plastic zip lock, pulled me on my feet and asked me why I was running. I answered that I know that they routinely arrest people for doing nothing illegal and I did not want to be taken. They started leading me to their jeep and at that point I started asking where I would be taken. They were not answering me so I decided to resist what was an arbitrary and unjustified arrest. I shouted that I am an Italian citizen and I have the right to know where I am going to be taken.
They continued refusing to give me an answer so I resisted being put into the Jeep. There were many of them trying to force me into the vehicle and they started using violence on me. They were hitting me on the legs and the soldier next to me first showered me with water using the little water pipe coming out of his helmet, then he elbowed my groin. Another soldier put his fingers on my throat, trying to prevent me from talking. He then threatened to pepper spray my face, if I wouldn’t tuck my legs in the vehicle. But it was an empty threat he did not carry out. They couldn’t manage to place me in the jeep fully, so they began to move the vehicle with the back door open and my legs dangling out. They brought me to the junction or entrance of the village, where the rest of the troops were gathered and loaded me on another military jeep. A man with a camera filmed everything and from the second jeep I managed to describe to him what they did to me during the arrest, stressing that I was a peaceful demonstrator and I did nothing illegal. The soldiers did not like that and as soon as the jeep moved and they closed the backdoor the physical abuse began.
The soldier next to me, the one who previously elbowed my groin, started punching me in my face, and gestured me to shut up; another two soldiers joined the gratuitous display of power, hitting me on the arm and the head using a helmet. One of the punches in the face left me without glasses, when I asked for it back, I received another punch landing on my nose. They brought me to the army base in the settlement next to Nabi Saleh, although I discovered this only later.
They took me out of the Jeep and put me on my feet. I asked for my glasses and hat. One of the soldiers slapped the hat on my head and the other put my glasses in my bag. Still handcuffed I was taken upstairs, in what looked like the prisoners’ room. On the way they asked my religion and I answered that I am an atheist, the soldier did not understand so I said I was educated as a Christian Catholic. Two Palestinians were sitting blindfolded and handcuffed at the left corners of the room.
One soldier told me “You are a terrorist” and I replied “what makes me a terrorist?” He remained silent. They then cut the plastic zip lock and took my backpack. They replaced a new zip lock around my wrists and one around my thumbs, blind folding me again. They offered me water and I drank. They then started playing with me saying contradictory things like “turn around” and when I did they went “don’t move.” They invited me to sit down on the floor in one corner of the room. They started asking how long had I been in Israel, which day I came in, and when I was planning to leave. This question was repeated several times.
The second time he asked this question, this was the exchange:
“I’m flying back on Tuesday”
“Maybe you will stay with us in jail”
“I didn’t do anything illegal”
“Maybe we’ll find something”
“Yeah, I’m sure”.
They went through my things and found pills, I explained they are for my light narcolepsya and the soldier asked me whether I needed one now.
Some 10-15 minutes of silence followed. They probably wanted to wait until I was a little scared before starting the interrogation. At a point I heard a very loud sound, but could not figure out what it was. I asked about it and was given no answer. Later they sparked the loud sound again, and I think they obtain it hitting a wooden chair in that closed empty environment. I then heard them playing with their rifles, probably to scare me into thinking they were about to shoot me. Then the questioning began.
The soldiers asked where I was from, I answered Italy. The same soldier then asked me if my car was a Maserati or a Ferrari.
“Do I look that rich?”
“You look very poor. What car do you have ?”
“I have a fiat marea”
“That’s a piece of shit!”
He asked me what I am doing in Israel and I answered I am here for tourism and I stay in Jerusalem.
“Which hostel?’
“I don’t remember the name”
“How do you get back there then?”
“I know how to walk there”. I spent my first week in the country travelling around so I had in my bag a list of tourist locations and a map of Jerusalem, which gave strength to my story. Another soldier asked me “Do you love Arabs?”
“I have no particular feelings towards any ethnicity”
“Have you got any relation to the conflict?”
“No, I’m here just for tourism. You probably asked this because I look Arab. That is because my father is from Sicily, which was under
Arab domination, so I have some Arab features, but no actual relation to the conflict.”
“Have you been to Syria?”
“No, this is my first time outside Europe”
“Did you do tourism in any other conflict area?”
“As I said this is my first outside Europe, and there are no armed conflict in Europe”.
They wanted to know who pays for my trip, I answered that I pay for myself and my last job was in a coffee shop, they also asked if they pay was good in which I answer it was the minimum wage.A soldier said “I saw your pictures” (soldiers using tear gas on demonstrators)
“You are a bad guy.”
“They show you, aren’t you proud of what you do?”
“I’m very proud of what I do.”
“Then you should like my pictures.”
After a little while the blindfold was taken away and there were five soldiers in front of me. They wanted to know why did I run if I was doing nothing wrong.
I answered again “I ran because I know you arrest people for no reason to make sense of your job, and I did not want to be taken.”
“We only arrest people that throw stones.”
“Look, you have your incentive structure and I understand it, you have to get someone,” and then repeated I was not doing anything illegal.
I told the group the amount of violence that was used against me and indicated the soldier that did most of the beating. He apologised and I said, “If you wanna make me happy don’t do it again to anybody”. They blindfolded me again and played the trick “Turn Around Don’t Move”.
One soldier said “So he hit your balls, did you like it?”
“I might like it when my girlfriend touches me, I certainly don’t like a man hitting me there with his elbow.”
“Well, you know, some people like it rough” and he said to another soldier, “We have a gay here’” and they had a laugh, and turned to me to say “Just joking.”
I replied “Don’t worry”
“What, do I look worried?”
“I don’t know how you look like, I’m blindfolded, remember?”
“Then why did you say don’t worry?”
“You said just joking, and in English when someone says something like that you reply don’t worry.”
A third soldier intervened with a sentence in Hebrew that finished with the word ‘intellectual.’
After some silence he smugly said “So you won’t have children, that’s good”
“I don’t want children”
“Why?”
“It’s a waste of time.”At that point my story was: I’m Italian, I’m an atheist educated as a Christian Catholic, I’m here for tourism. And they began playing their tricks to verify it. He asked me if I wanted to eat something, not knowing when the next meal would have been, I accepted. He said we have chicken, turkey and another variety of meat that I can’t remember, probably pork. I said I’m vegetarian and he said they have broccoli. Broccoli and bread will do I said in which he shouted “One broccoli please!” As it was a restaurant. At that point I realised he was not actually offering me food, but probably, trying to check if I was Muslim offering me a variety of meats. Israel’s wine industry was mentioned and from there he asked me which wine I like, I replied that although I’m Italian I don’t drink wine and generally speaking I don’t drink alcohol, puzzled he asked, “Why, are you Muslim?”
“No, I’m just a healthy person.”
“Are you traveling alone?”
“Yes, I travel by myself”
“Are you part of any peace organisation?”
“No, I’m by myself”
“Come on, you can tell me, I’m not the Shin Bet!”
“What’s the Shin Bet?”
“Like the Mossad… What is it called… like the Israeli FBI.”
“You asked me a question and I gave you an answer, I have no reason to lie to you.”
They then brought a female soldier into the room that supposedly was planning to move to Italy, and knew some Italian. That was probably to verify that I was actually Italian. She spoke some Italian words and I checked if they were correct. The male soldier who had done most of the talking asked me whether I had been arrested before, “This is the first time.”
“You look like you’ve been in this situation before”
“People are afraid of what they don’t know”.
The female soldier had a brief conversation with me and asked me what I was doing in Israel, I replied I studied history at University, and I was a tourist interested in the historical sights. She asked me what kind of history I studied and I said modern and contemporary. She asked which cities I visited and I listed a few, she then asked if I like the country and I said I did like it. To further check they called someone that probably knew Italian and passed me the phone. The other person did not speak back so I only kept asking in Italian who was it.
They then said they were willing to release me, but needed my full name and some ID. I told them my name and said I don’t have my passport with me, but I can call someone who can bring it here. They asked me to tell them my passport number and I said I don’t remember it. He got upset about it and said, “They say they want to release you, but you want to spend the night with us. Come on, everybody remembers their passport number” and kicked my foot lightly.
“Well, I don’t. Do you remember yours?”
“Yes, of course I do!’
“I’m happy for you then, but I don’t. Let me call someone and they will bring my passport.”
“Can you call and ask them to tell your passport number?”
“Yes, let’s do this.”
After they checked the passport number they released me within 10 minutes. The Israeli activist was released with me, the Palestinians remained in the room.

Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike

4 May 2011 | PressTV

Palestinian political prisoners in Israel’s Nafha jail have gone on a hunger strike to protest the inhumane treatment of detainees by the Israeli prison administration.

Hundreds of Palestinian inmates held in the Israeli military detention center in northern West Bank took part in the one-day event on Tuesday, said Rafat Hamduna, director of the Palestinian Prisoners Study Center. The hunger strike came after Israeli guards, led by military officer Shimon Martislio, orchestrated humiliating raids and searches at the detention cells last week, the Palestine News Network reported. Hamduna warned that the hunger strike would spread to more Israeli jails if the inmates’ very basic rights are not met.

The Prisoners Study Center also called on the Red Cross and other local and international human rights groups to help put a stop to the suffering of Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli jails. The Israeli prison administration is accused of using the policy of humiliation, pressure and punishment under the guise of security in its jails. Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli detention camps are continuously subject to lengthy solitary confinements, sudden night raids and torture. The Israeli prison administration also deprives Palestinian political detainees of the simple right of bathing, access to clean clothes and family visits.

The hunger strike is one of the few methods of nonviolent resistance available to Palestinian prisoners in jails. The protesters in Nafha are also taking action against the poor quality of food and the lack of medical attention. Israeli prisons have been facing such criticism for years. The situation is nothing new, except that it is worsening, according to human rights organizations.

Some 11,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees, including women and children, are currently held in Israeli jails. Many of them are held without charges, leaving several families with no breadwinner.