8 December 2023 | International Solidarity Movement | Occupied East Jerusalem
Marking the first night of Hanukkah, on December 7, around 150 ultra-nationalist, Kahane terrorist linked extremist settlers demanding “full Jewish control” of Al Aqsa Mosque shouted racist abuse and waved banners of violent incitement against Al Aqsa Mosque. The violent-extremist group was granted authorization to march through the Muslim Quarter, but was stopped before it could start when Israeli police confronted the mob for violating the terms of its protest permit and inciting violence. Signs calling for the bulldozer-demolition of Al Aqsa, one of the holiest structures in Islam, were reportedly confiscated.
Clashes between Israeli police and far-right activists at a march through Jerusalem’s Old City on Thursday night. Credit: Olivier Fitoussi.
Permission was granted on the eve of the event, against every indication that march organizers would not be following the tepid ‘restrictions’ placed on the march including an attendance cap and disallowance of the route reaching the holy site. Extremist, settler-colonial citizen forces are granted the right to murder and showered with arms by their government with which to do so. But under pressure through public outcry against the provocative event, occupation police dispersed the demonstration.
Far right march organizers had circulated a declaration through social media linking the events in Gaza with continued zionist incitement to wrest control of Al Aqsa from the Islamic Endowment waqf. Extremist settlers, instead, want to place it under the control of the same occupying force which is committing daily atrocities against occupied and besieged Palestinians, atrocities which have shocked the world.
The Haram Al-Sharif and the Al Aqsa Mosque, was the first place Muslims prayed toward and remains a sacred site of great importance in Islam. It has long been a flashpoint for far right extremist settler and occupation forces’ violence and antagonization of Palestinians through continuous incursions; its majesty the backdrop of the repeated and arbitrary denial of access to Muslims.
Across a timeline littered with incursions into the area, May saw hundreds of settlers marking “Flag Day” by rampaging through occupied East Jerusalem where soldier and settler alike hurled racial insults and assaulted Palestinians in the area. And in early October, far-right extremists repeatedly stormed the Al Aqsa Mosque compound coinciding with the Jewish Sukkot seven day pilgrimage festival. Incited by Jewish ultra-nationalist groups, extremist settlers continued an antagonistic campaign of repeated trampling of the courtyard at the holy site even as faithful Palestinians were being violently denied entry, an arbitrary age-restriction which is ongoing.
Al Aqsa Compound stormed by extremist settlers on October 5, 2023. photo credit: The New Arab.
Al-Aqsa’s administrative workers, including Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, one of Al Aqsa’s main Imams, have endured repeated targeting. Sheikh Sabri has faced terrorist death threats by settler vigilantes, a raid of his home to announce an arbitrary travel ban against him, and an outrageous eviction and notice of impending demolition of his home just days ago. This home demolition is especially egregious because it involves the collective punishment of 100 Palestinians who also live in separate homes inside the threatened structure.
People of all faiths, including Palestinian Muslims, have an inalienable right, echoed in OCHA’s International Standardsarticle 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, of freedom from religious-based discrimination. Palestinians regularly attempt to reach Al Aqsa Mosque for Friday prayers, but are blocked by Israeli barricades, police, and military who attack the worshippers while they are praying week after week. Human rights defenders holding a non-violent presence to document the restriction, assault, and harassment of Palestinian Muslims at their holy site, have had their phones and passports confiscated and have been forced from the site by occupation soldiers. Despite these provocations, and the recent jailing and forced deportation of a Belgian human rights defender while documenting an illegal home demolition, international human rights defenders continue to document and intervene in human rights violations.
The violent, extremist settler march was an incitement to further violence and marginalization of indigenous Palestinians and the obscene violation of a holy site meant to be a welcoming sanctuary to those whispering prayers within its walls. The organization, Jewish Voice for Peace, blueprints the odds between the Jewish faith and this supremacist Zionist ideology; “Zionist interpretations of history taught us that Jewish people are alone, that to remedy the harms of antisemitism we must think of ourselves as always under attack and that we cannot trust others. It teaches us fear, and that the best response to fear is a bigger gun, a taller wall, a more humiliating checkpoint.” Their statements and demonstrations are part of a growing worldwide Jewish resistance to occupation, apartheid and the systematic dehumanization which maintains them. “Rather than accept the inevitability of occupation and dispossession, we choose a different path. We learn from the anti-Zionist Jews who came before us, and know that as long as Zionism has existed, so has Jewish dissent to it.”
Many Palestinian families remember the stories of their great grandparents who recall how Palestinian Arab and Jewish neighbors babysat for each other and were not only at peace, but close friends, prior to the imposition of settler-colonialism. Palestine, “the land of barakah” (the land of blessings, peace, salvation, liberation, and spiritual presence) and site of the stories that have shaped so many Jewish, Christian, and Muslim lives is experiencing a tragedy of unimaginable proportions. The Al Aqsa Mosque, the soul of Jerusalem, is at the epicenter of the fate of this land and its people, with reverberations around the world; a crossroads between liberatory survival and genocidal desolation, of human rights and the restriction thereof, justice and justice denied.
In this episode, we share an interview with Um Ramadan. We met her at a demonstration outside the district court in Jerusalem in December 2022. Alongside other mothers, she is protesting her son’s imprisonment. In this moving interview, she talks about the conditions her son is kept in and how mother’s are organising to support each other. Please note there are references to suicide and abuse.
The East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah has been an important part of the struggle against colonisation in Palestine. The residents of Sheikh Jarrah are refugees, or descendants of refugees, who were forced from their homes by the ethnic cleansing carried out by Zionist Forces in 1947-9. This ethnic cleansing is known by Palestinians as the Nakba (or catastrophe).
After 1948, East Jerusalem was under Jordanian control – and the Jordanian government struck a deal with the UN to settle Palestinian refugee families who were living in Jordan in Sheikh Jarrah. In 1967 the Israeli military militarily occupied East Jerusalem, and since then the Israeli state and settler movements have been trying to evict the Palestinian residents – both through legal processes and by violence.
Many families have already been forcibly evicted from the neighbourhood, and replaced by settlers. The community has resisted by holding sit ins outside the threatened homes, by mobilising, international solidarity and by building a culture of solidarity.
In 2020 Israeli courts ordered the eviction of more families from Sheikh Jarrah. And in 2021 the harassment and violence against people in Sheikh Jarrah helped trigger an uprising across Palestine.
In 2022 right wing politician Itamar Ben Gvir – the minister of national security – led a mass of settlers to the neighbourhood backed up by cops. The settlers attacked the community as the police looked on. Ben gvir famously shot his gun in the air that day, as Palestinians defended themselves by throwing stones. These kind of provocations are routine in sheikh jarrah – and that’s the context that led to um Ramadans son’s arrest.
We would like to apologise about the sound quality of this interview, due to its impromptu nature and lack of equipment with us! But we wanted Um Ramadan’s story to be shared. A big thank you to Noah for translating.
[Intro music] Hey, welcome to international solidarity movement [translation into Arabic]
Nicole 00:18
Welcome to the International Solidarity Movement podcast. We hope you’ve enjoyed our episodes so far. Today is April 17, which is the Palestinian Prisoners Day. We hope you’ve already listened to our interview with Addameer who are doing incredible work to support Palestinian prisoners. We wanted to share another interview today that has a prison focus. So this is an interview with Um Ramadan, we met her at a demonstration outside the District Court in Jerusalem. And, alongside other mothers, she was protesting her son’s imprisonment. It’s a really moving interview, she talks about the conditions her son is kept in ,and how different mothers are organising together to support each other. And I just want to flag that there are references to suicide and abuse. So for a bit of context the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah has been an important part of the struggle against colonisation in Palestine, the residents of Sheikh Jarrah are refugees, or descendants of refugees, who were forced from their homes by the ethnic cleansing carried out by Zionist forces in 1947 to 1949, this ethnic cleansing is known by Palestinians as the Nakba, or catastrophe. After 1948, East Jerusalem was under Jordanian control, and the Jordanian government struck a deal through the United Nations to settle Palestinian refugee families who were living in Jordan in Sheikh Jarrah. And then in 1967, the Israeli military occupied East Jerusalem, and since then, the Israeli state and settler movements have been trying to evict the Palestinian residents, both through legal processes and by violence. Many families have already been forcibly evicted from the neighbourhood and replaced by settlers. The community has resisted fiercely, you know, by holding sit-ins outside threatened homes, by mobilising international solidarity, and just building you know, a general culture of solidarity. In 2020, the Israeli courts ordered the eviction of more families from Sheikh Jarrah, and in 2021 the harassment and violence against people in Sheikh Jarrah helped trigger an uprising across Palestine. So yeah, we just wanted to give this context that it’s a real hotbed of struggle. And then in 2022, right wing politician, Ben Gvir, the Minister of National Security led a mass of settlers to the neighbourhood, backed up by police. The settlers attacked the community as the police looked on. And Ben Gvir famously shot his gun in the air that day as Palestinians defended themselves by throwing stones. These kinds of like provocations are routine, and that’s the context that lead to Um Ramadan’s son’s arrest. We’d really like to apologise about the sound quality of the interview. It was kind of like an impromptu thing, and we didn’t have our proper recording equipment with us. We just had to use phones. But we really felt it was important to share her story and share her son’s story. I want to say a big thank you to Noah for translating for us and once again, please find all the resources in the show notes
Um Ramadan 03:12
[Speaks Arabic]
Translation 03:17
Today we had a demonstration against the arrest of the Palestinian children by the Israeli court.
Um Ramadan 03:25
[Speaks Arabic]
Translation 03:34
We went to tell the Israeli courts that what they’re doing with our children is not justice.
Um Ramadan /Noah 03:43
We are the ones who are being attacked [Um Ramadan speaks Arabic], the people who attacked us have been set free
Um Ramadan 03:52
[Speaks Arabic]
Tom 03:58
And we demand that justice should see with both eyes and not just one eye
Um Ramadan 04:12
[Speaks Arabic]
Tom 04:14
They’re saying that that if things continue like this, there will be a popular uprising. Because they’re not being respected by the Israeli authorities.
Um Ramadan 04:28
[Speaks Arabic]
Tom 04:37
The settlers are coming here and throwing rocks on their cars and their houses, and how are they supposed to defend themselves?
Um Ramadan 04:44
[Speaks Arabic]
Tom 04:46
The police and the military were here and they just did nothing. [Um Ramadan speaks Arabic]. So her son saw that there were throwing rocks on them, and he went out into the street [Um Ramadan speaks Arabic].
Um Ramadan 05:02
[Speaks Arabic]
Tom 05:05
So so her son, by himself, went out into the streets and was arrested while 50 people at least were throwing rocks on her house, and they were not arrested.
Um Ramadan 05:24
[Speaks Arabic].
Tom 05:29
Okay, so now the Israeli courts are demanding five to eight years imprisonment, which she says is completely unprecedented.
Um Ramadan 05:45
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 05:50
Why is this happening? She says, because the extremists are now the ones who are running the Israeli justice system. And as you know, we were just talking about Ben Gvir, who set up his parliamentary office right here and is now going to be the Minister of Internal Defence.
Um Ramadan 06:10
[Speaks Arabic].
Um Ramadan /Noah 06:32
So her son went through a terrible series of events after he was arrested. He was taken to small cells – very small – where, where he was basically tortured. They didn’t let him sleep, they hit him. She said that he told her things, you know, she couldn’t imagine spending even one day like that but he spent – [how many days?] – 29 days.
Um Ramadan 07:00
[Speaks Arabic].
Tom 07:00
Okay, so he’s been in prison now for 11 months, and out of that, 29 days were in these these, these small like, you know, cells- like a holding cell which is basically torture.
Um Ramadan 07:13
[Speaks Arabic].
Tom 07:17
And he also tried to commit suicide.
Um Ramadan 07:31
[Speaks Arabic].
Um Ramadan /Noah 07:36
She is saying that this is the same thing [that] happened to everybody [who] was arrested in this area. And then then I said how many people are we talking about? So she said: Well they’re six from this neighborhood, but if you start looking at the nearby neighborhoods as well, then it’s it’s probably much more.
Tom 07:55
How many people live in the neighborhood?Second speaker: First of all, one day, one day it was four of my son[s] [that were] in the jail. Four, in jail [how many people?], about 200. [Nicole – and what are the conditions like in prison]?
Um Ramadan 08:23
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 08:25
Now they’re a little bit better They’re allowed to visit him. But for those 29 days when he was in a holding cell, they couldn’t see him.
Tom 08:45
She says that her son has changed because of these 29 days that he spent – during which they don’t really know what happened to him. It’s clear that he was not given enough, enough food to eat, and that he was beaten, and didn’t have the ability to sleep. And now that she can see him she makes sure to know every single day what it is that’s been happening to him so that she can, you know, somehow try to control this.
Um Ramadan 09:28
[Speaks Arabic].
Tom 09:34
She says if they can see the brutality of the Israeli police and soldiers here, right in front of the house. But when they’re by themselves in an area – which isn’t accessible to everybody – she can only you know, she can’t imagine what it is that they actually do.
Another speaker 09:59
[Speaks Arabic].
Tom 10:06
Okay, so he says, one of the things that he knows that happened, is that his son was was made to sit with his hands tied behind his back and his eyes covered for about 14 hours. And then he was taken to see a judge with his eyes still covered and then somebody said: Oh, but he hasn’t eaten. So they gave him like, you know, nice food to eat. And then just as he was just about to begin eating, they kicked away the table with all the food.
Nicole 10:43
How old are all the children?
Another speaker 10:45
Now he is 15 years old?
Nicole 10:47
15
Um Ramadan 10:47
[Speaks Arabic].
Tom 10:50
Her son was sentenced to 30 months in prison for throwing rocks.
Um Ramadan 10:59
[Speaks Arabic].
Tom 11:03
Meanwhile, the settlers who were here throwing rocks were – were not even arrested. I was here at one of these events, they were throwing rocks for about 5 hours.
Um Ramadan 11:15
[Speaks Arabic].
Tom 11:17
Her son just celebrated his 18th birthday in prison.
Um Ramadan 11:26
[Speaks Arabic].
Tom 11:31
And on the 26th of the month her son will be twenty in jail.
Um Ramadan 11:35
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 11:36
She’s going to throw a party in prison.
Nicole 11:38
How are they organising together, the mothers?
Tom 11:44
[Speaks Arabic].
Um Ramadan 11:49
[Speaks Arabic].
Tom 11:51
They meet together, they talk together they go visit their children together, they have a WhatsApp group.
Um Ramadan 11:58
[Speaks Arabic].
Tom 12:01
they have the same pains but still
Um Ramadan 12:03
a little confused I’ve seen that whole ad for has
Translation 12:06
And they have the same pains. They have good relations because they understand each other’s feelings.
Um Ramadan 12:13
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 12:31
Okay yeah there is a bigger group that involves women – mothers from different neighborhoods. And this larger group, they visit together, I think they might have to coordinate their visiting hours. So there is some kind of contact – you know the split between different Palestinian neighborhoods inside Jerusalem is quite strong, and it’s you know, one of the characteristics of the occupation. She is saying that in this country, there are no rights for Palestinian children or women. And they saw on television how a four year old was either arrested or actually was being summoned to the police station. He given a summons… for a four year old. So there is no rights.
Another speaker 13:36
His father when he [went to the] police station he take bamba with him – because he’s a child.
Tom 13:42
And are the prisoners able to organize when they’re in prison? Can they organize together? [Speaks Arabic].
Um Ramadan 13:52
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 13:56
According to what her son says yes, they have some kind of organisation.
Um Ramadan 14:06
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 14:11
She’s saying that even if he has some kind of organization, it’s still prison.
Tom 14:21
Are there things that people – that comrades – can do outside of Palestine in solidarity?
Um Ramadan 15:04
[Speaks Arabic]. [Speaks Arabic].
Translation 15:09
She’s saying this – the occupation is claiming that it’s a democratic country. And you who have now seen the reality – and you see sometimes pictures… And she’s talking about a specific case. Where an older man was beaten in Al-Aqsa for no reason by a policeman. So, she would like these pictures to be spread, and the stories about – you know – the truth of what is happening to be, you know, well known.
Nicole 15:39
Is there anything else you would like to share
Translation 15:43
[Speaks Arabic].
Um Ramadan 15:48
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 15:53
They demand that their human rights be respected and you know, take shape in you know reality here.
Nicole 16:05
When will their children be sentenced?
Um Ramadan 16:10
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 16:16
Her son will be sentenced on the eighth of January
Um Ramadan 16:22
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 16:23
And they’re asking for five to eight years in prison.
Um Ramadan 16:30
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 16:32
So now he’s 20, and he might be out when he’s 28.
Um Ramadan 16:35
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 16:35
She’s saying, you know when he went in he was, you know, just a child playing in the neighborhood and now he’s gonna come out and he’s gonna be like you know a middle aged man. And she has no idea what, you know, what he’s going to have in his head when he comes out.
Um Ramadan 16:43
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 16:43
She’s saying, you know when he went in he was, you know, just a child playing in the neighborhood and now he’s gonna come out and he’s gonna be like you know a middle aged man. And she has no idea what, you know, what he’s going to have in his head when he comes out.
Um Ramadan 17:05
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 17:06
Maybe now he’s making plans, but she has no idea what he’s making plans for.
Tom 17:12
[Speaks Arabic].
Translation 17:17
Maybe now he’s making plans. And she has no idea what he’s making plans for.
Tom 17:27
thank you so much. We hope for freedom for all of them, all of the prisoners
On the 14th May 2017, the day the new US embassy to Israel was due to open in Jerusalem, protests were held across Palestine.
Protesters set up a barricade to protect themselves from the violence of the border police
In Bethlehem, hundreds of children, women and men marched from Nisan Square to the gate in the apartheid wall separating them from Jerusalem. This unarmed protest was immediately met by brutal force. Border police fired at protesters with a vehicle mounted tear-gas cannon. People ran into alleyways suffering from the effects of the gas.
Protesters soon regrouped, setting up a burning barricade to protect themselves from Israeli forces. Border police shot into the crowd with tear gas and foam baton ammunition. Both these types of ammunition are potentially lethal.
Vehicle mounted tear gas launcher used to fire at crowdThe launcher is of the type manufactured by US company Combined Systems
All of this deadly crowd control equipment is of the type supplied to Israeli forces by US company Combined Systems. The company have been the target of solidarity protests in the US.
Israeli forces occupy a balcony to shoot at protesters.
International Solidarity Movement volunteers were present, and saw several people being treated for the effects of tear gas inhalation.
Women were at the forefront of the demonstration, with affinity groups of women strengthening the barricade and protesting in the street. Some activists brought a large wooden door to protect themselves from tear gas and baton rounds.
Demonstrators use a wooden barricade to shelter from the baton rounds
East Jerusalem was illegally occupied by Israeli forces in 1967. Since then, the Israeli state and Zionist settler movements have claimed all of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and have embarked on campaigns and policies to marginalize and uproot Palestinian communities. Palestinian neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem, such as Silwan and Sheikh Jarrah, are currently resisting evictions, settler harassment and racism. Donald Trump’s relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem supports these apartheid policies. The protest in Bethlehem was just one of many protests by Palestinian communites across the West Bank, Gaza, and the territories occupied by Israel in 1948, intended to show Palestinian opposition to the embassy relocation.
|December 23rd 2015 | Hamza Abu Eltarabesh | Gaza, occupied Palestine
Palestinian journalist from Gaza, born in 1991, studied journalism at the Islamic University of Gaza, and works as a freelance journalist for various local media outlets.
Participated in covering the third aggression against Gaza, & basically writes in social and political issues.
(According to Marah’s family)
As they left the gate of their school, residing at the western area of Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in east Jerusalem, Marah Bakeer, a student in her last year of high school (Tawjihi), insisted to her friend, Asma’a Elkhatib, to join her family to take lunch at her home. At first, Asma’a refused her friend’s invitation, but after many attempts of convincing her, she had eventually accepted Marah’s request.
On the way home … The two 16-year old girls, wearing their dark blue uniform, and school bags on their backs, left the bus at the entrance of Beit Hannina town, and were excitedly talking about their school life and the crucial year they have to pass; to move to college and build up their future.
Marah in her house.
In the midst of their talk, the Israeli forces stopped them at the main road of the town. One of the soldiers came close to them, and fired twelve bullets towards Marah’s small body, while he was shouting “Subversive .. subversive!”.
Asma’a freaked out and had no idea about what to do or where to go when she saw her friend Marah covered with blood, crying, while the soldiers were only watching her bleeding.
Marah was left bleeding till she lost consciousness; then the soldiers moved her to the Israeli hospital Hadassah to receive medical treatment, while her friend Asma’a was finally able to escape. This was on 10.12.2015 at noon.
The moment Marah was being shot by Israeli forces on the street.
The Family in a Shock
With too much fear and tension, Asma’a quickly called Marah’s mother, Sawan, and told her what happened to her eldest daughter. At the beginning, the mother did not believe what she heard and what came to her mind was that she was only joking. But the fear and crying sound of Asma’a made her believe the story, which then caused her to lose control and fall on the ground.
With a faint voice, the forty year old mother said: “When we heard the news, we immediately went to the Israeli prison in Al Isawia; to ask about what happened with my daughter, but the occupation forces refused to tell us anything”, and according to the mother, the only information the occupation forces gave the family was that their daughter was having a surgery at Hadassah hospital.
Israel Tells Lies
Israel claims that “Marah”, who lives in a family of five members, was holding a knife in her hand to stab one of the soldiers who were in the place of the accident. However, their story was denied by Asma’a and a group of students who were in the place at the time of the incident. Also, a video tape was published and widely shared via social media showing Marah screaming and crying with no knife near her.
The mother refused the accusations made against her daughter that she tried to stab an Israeli soldier; and said during our phone call with her: “My daughter is dreaming of getting the university certificate; to make us proud of her, and all the Israeli accusations are totally refused”
Prison & Hell
After she was moved to the Israeli hospital, she was taken to the operations’ department for a nearly two-and-half-hour surgery in her left shoulder; where multiple bullets had settled. According to the lawyer assigned by the family for Marah’s case, Sana’a Kwaik, the doctors had inserted platinum bars to the injured girl’s shoulder and hand, as a result of significant fragmentation in the shoulder’s bone.
Marah spent twenty days in the hospital bed, without a mother beside her to comfort her, or a father to give her strength. The only thing she had was herself, with too much pain and weeping, and a little sleep.
Amjad Abu Asab, head of the Jerusalem district committee of prisoners’ families, said that Marah was heavily guarded by security personnel after being accused of planning to execute a stabbing.
Meanwhile, Marah’s father, who is working as a small trader, ensures that his daughter is an innocent school student who is clear of all the charges, saying: “Marah is doing her best since the beginning of the academic year; to get a high score that will enable her to study medical secretary, and her only goal now is to obtain a university certificate that will build a bright future for her.”
In that period, the Bakeer family made many desperate attempts to have the occupation’s permission to visit their injured daughter at the hospital. But all their attempts failed.
Their lawyer, Sana’a Kwaik, ensured during her interview in the phone: “Israeli soldiers assaulted Marah, and during the trial, which was held in absentia, no evidences were provided to prove that stabbing was to take place, and every time I ask about evidences, a short Israeli answer is given to me: “this is a secret file that we cannot talk about””.
Injuries in Marah are not yet cured. However, the Israeli authority didn’t heed to her deteriorating health condition and moved her to Ashkelon prison, to stay with another two wounded young female prisoners, Istabraq Nour and Ihan Arafat, 14 and 15 years of age, in an isolated room lacking the basics of a decent human life.
“When I was moved to Ashkelon prison, one of the wardresses removed the dressing covering my injury; I’m in need for medicine and medical care for my injury” This is what Marah told the lawyer after three days of her stay in jail.
Despite the medical negligence and the pain that took over Marah’s body, Israel didn’t show any mercy to her when she was assaulted along with other prisoners by Israeli policewomen.
Nour, Marah’s sister, a 13-year old child, innocently said: “Every time the lawyer tells us that Marah is being beaten while she’s in need for medication, I spend my whole night crying, and praying to Allah to ease her pain,” and concluded her talk with the statement “I miss my sister too much … oh God, please let them release her”
Marah spent a week in Ashkelon prison, and then she was moved along with her mates to El Ramla prison. It is worth mentioning that this prison is specific for female criminals, to find themselves, again, living in hell-like life conditions.
“I was inspected while I was semi-naked in a humiliating way. The prison condition is very bad, they never treated us with mercy” another quote Marah told her lawyer in her second visit.
Returning to the grieving father, he continued: “When we were informed that Marah was transferred to the criminals’ prison, we contacted the prisoners’ committee, and sent a letter to the Palestinian president, but none of this brought any result”
In her seventh day of jail, when the Israeli authority finally gave permission to her family for a visit, her mother said: “Marah is keeping her spirits high, she asked me to bring her books to continue what she planned for, but her body is very ill and she’s in too much pain as a result of her shoulder’s injury”.
The visit was only for fifteen minutes, the injured girl returned to her prison, and the family returned home praying to God to ease the pain of their daughter. Marah stayed with her mates for nearly two weeks at El Ramla prison, and then they were moved to the Hasharon Israeli prison.
According to Marah’s mother, when Marah reached the Hasharon prison, Haneen Zoghbi, member of the Israeli parliament (Knesset) visited Marah, who told her: “I want to complete my year of school, prison and medical negligence won’t hinder my way to achieve my dream”.
I’ll Achieve My Dream
Marah’s story is not the first, and seemingly won’t be the last; as the head of the Palestinian prisoners’ issues committee, Issa Qraqeh, clarified that besides Marah, there are four other injured female prisoners among 39 others arrested during the Jerusalem intifada (uprising) since the beginning of October, and these are: Istabraq Nour, Amal Taqatqa, Shoroq Dwyat, and Helwa Mhamra.
In the same context, Riad El Ashqar, researcher of prisoners’ issues and Head of the Jerusalem Center for Studies, said: “Arrested female prisoners since October are living in very bad conditions.” And he added: “There’s a possibility that Israel will release some prisoners, however, it’s not easy to do so; as female prisoners constitute a pressure tool over Palestinians to accept the Israeli demands.”
At the end of our talk with the Bakeer family, they all agreed that: “Marah, in spite of arresting her, and in spite of all the pain she suffers from, will keep determined to get her high school certificate, and nothing will stop her except death”
9th February 2015 | International Solidarity Movement | Occupied Palestine
Update 10th February 2015:
Today, 10th February, Kayla Mueller’s family confirmed she has been killed.
Abdullah Abu Rahma, coordinator of the popular committee in the village of Bil’in where Kayla joined the protests, told ISM: “Kayla came to Palestine to stand in solidarity with us. She marched with us and faced the military that occupies our land side by side with us. For this, Kayla will always live in our hearts. We send all our support to her family and will continue, like Kayla, to work against injustice wherever it is.”
Photo by ISM volunteer
*****
Kayla Mueller volunteered with the International Solidarity Movement from August to September of 2010.
Kayla, sitting under a poster of Ashraf Abu Rahma from Bil’in.
On 4 August 2013 Kayla, 26, originally from Prescott, Arizona, was working with Syrian refugees when she was kidnapped after leaving a Spanish Doctors Without Borders hospital in Aleppo. Since that time she has been held in captivity by Da’esh (ISIS). This information was not previously released publicly out of concerns for her safety. On February 6th, Da’esh announced that she had been killed by Jordanian airstrikes in Raqqa, northern Syria. The validity of their announcement has not been confirmed.
Our hearts are with Kayla, her family, friends, and all those who have lost liberty, lives and loved ones in the global struggle for freedom and human rights.
With the ISM, Kayla worked with Palestinians nonviolently resisting the confiscation and demolitions of their homes and lands. In the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of Occupied East Jerusalem, she stayed with the Al Kurd family to try and prevent the takeover of their home by Israeli settlers.
Kayla sitting in a protest tent in Sheikh Jarrah.
Kayla accompanied Palestinian children to school in the neighborhood of Tel Ruimeda in Al-Khalil (Hebron) where the children face frequent attacks by the Israeli settlers and military. She stayed with villagers in Izbat Al Tabib in a protest tent to try to prevent the demolition of homes in the village. She joined weekly Friday protests in Palestinian villages against the confiscation of their lands due to Israel’s illegal annexation wall and settlements.
Kayla, standing beside two other ISM activists in Bil’in.
Kayla published writing online about her work in Palestine with the International Solidarity Movement in August and September 2010. “How can I ignore the blessing of freedom of speech when I know that people I deeply care for can be shot dead for it?” she wrote.
Below are excerpts from two of Kayla’s posts.
October 29, 2010:
“I could tell a few stories about running desperately from what you pray are rubber-coated steel bullets launched from the gun tip of a reckless and frightened 18-year old.”
“I could tell a few stories about sleeping in front of half demolished buildings waiting for the one night when the bulldozers come to finish them off; fearing sleep because you don’t know what could wake you. . . . I could tell a few stories about walking children home from school because settlers next door are keen to throw stones, threaten and curse at them. Seeing the honest fear in young boys eyes when heavily armed settlers arise from the outpost; pure fear, frozen from further steps, lip trembling.”
“The smell and taste of tear gas has lodged itself in the pores of my throat and the skin around my nose, mouth and eyes. It still burns when I close them. It still hangs in the air like invisible fire burning the oxygen I breathe. When I cry tears for this land, my eyes still sting. This land that is beautiful as the poetry of the mystics. This land with the people who’s hearts are more expansive than any wall that any man could ever build. Yes, the wall will fall. The nature of impermanence is our greatest ally and soon the rules will change, the tide will turn and just as the moon waxes and wanes over this land so too the cycles of life here will continue. One day the cycle will once again return to freedom.”
“Oppression greets us from all angles. Oppression wails from the soldiers radio and floats through tear gas clouds in the air. Oppression explodes with every sound bomb and sinks deeper into the heart of the mother who has lost her son. But resistance is nestled in the cracks in the wall, resistance flows from the minaret 5 times a day and resistance sits quietly in jail knowing its time will come again. Resistance lives in the grieving mother’s wails and resistance lives in the anger at the lies broadcasted across the globe. Though it is sometimes hard to see and even harder sometimes to harbor, resistance lives. Do not be fooled, resistance lives.”
On New Year’s Day of 2011, Kayla received news that Jawaher Abu Rahma, from the village of Bil’in where Kayla had demonstrated in solidarity with her and her family, had been killed by tear gas asphyxiation. On the first of January 2011, Kayla wrote:
“I felt compelled to blog on this today. The first day of 2011, the actual day that she died, just a few hours ago in a village called, Bil’in.”
“Every Friday in Bil’in villagers and international/Israel activists march to the barbed wire fence where an enormous and expanding illegal settlement is visible to protest the theft of their land and their livelihoods. The Palestinians are armed with rocks, the other activists with cameras and collectively they are armed with their bones. Each Friday the demonstration is met with violence; rubber-coated steel bullets, tear gas and sounds bombs are the usual choice of artillery. Lives are taken as a result of the violence and Jawaher Abu Rahmah’s life was taken today.
I have been to this village,
I demonstrated in this village,
I demonstrated arm in arm with her brothers,
and I knew her.”
……………
“My first demonstration in Palestine was in Bil’in and that is when I met Ashraf, Jawaher’s brother. Despite his broken English he always made a point to make sure we were ok when we were at the demonstration in his village, to help us cough up the tear gas and walk off the anxiety. He showed us his village and we played with the kids. Ashraf would bring us water or tea and help us find rides out of the village back to the cities. In the summer of 2008, Ashraf was participating in the demonstration and was detained by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). After he was blind-folded and his hands bound, an IDF soldier shot him in the foot from a distance of about 2 meters shattering his toes and leaving him in trauma as one could imagine.”
(As with all of these video clips, the content may be too graphic for some, please use discretion).
“Just the next year in 2009 Ashraf’s brother, Bassem Abu Rahma, was participating in the demonstration and was attempting to communicate with the IDF soldiers telling them to stop shooting the steel-coated rubber bullets as an Israeli activist had been shot in the leg and needed medical attention. Not soon after an Israeli soldier illegally used a tear gas canister as a bullet hitting Bassem in the chest, stopping his heart and killing him instantly.”
And now just today, the daughter of the Rahmah family, Jawaher, has been asphyxiated from tear gas inhalation. Jawaher was not even participating in the weekly demonstration but was in her home approximately 500 meters away from where the tear gas canisters were being fired (by wind the tear gas reaches the village and even the nearby illegal settlement often). There is currently little information as to how she suffocated but the doctor that attended her said a mixture of the tear gas from the IDF soldiers and phosphorus poisoned her lungs causing asphyxiation, the stopping of the heart and death this afternoon after fighting for her life last night in the hospital. The following is a clip from today showing hundreds of Palestinians, Israelis and international activist carrying her body to her families home where they said their final goodbyes.
“This family has a tragic story, but it is the story of life in Palestine.”
“Thank you for reading. Ask me questions and ask yourself questions but most importantly, question the answers.
