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![probation, and a 6,000 NIS ($1,500 USD) fine. Lina described the
reception given her by the women in HaSharon prison, wing 2. “They
gave me a warm welcome, as well as clothes instead of the torn ones |
was wearing. They made food and gave me the confidence and strength
| needed.” She described the routine of her days in prison, “We spend
most of the time talking to each other, learning silk bead embroidery
or reading some of the limited [available] books.” At the end of each
month, there was one day where the women prisoners perform for
each other and Lina would perform the traditional dabke dance which
inspired other women to learn it as well.
Lina was released from prison on June 11, 2015, welcomed by her
family and hundreds of other people. Upon her release, she changed her
major at Birzeit University from journalism to law. Having experienced
directly the harsh conditions and abuse endured by Palestinian political
prisoners in violation of international law, she wanted to dedicate herself
to defending and advocating for them in the future. In an interview
with Al-Monitor she said, “The most important achievement of my life
will be to have the chance to shout out to the world even the voice of
one Palestinian child who is suffering under the occupation.” (Melhem,
Ahmad. “The Palestinian dancer who was locked away.” Al Monitor July
19, 2015.)
4
{ ¥.
Lina Khattab after her release from prison.](pallove 27.png)
For THE Love oF PALESTINE
STORIES OF WOMEN, IMPRISONMENT AND RESISTANCE
ten ark Sates ae ES
Drawing by Laura Whitehorn, former US. political prisoner, in the DC jail in 1989,
For the Love of Palestine
Stories of Women, Imprisonment and Resistance
Edited by
Diana Block and Anna Henry
Produced in partnership with:
Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association
‘noasteen Prigone Support and Human igh
Ula 509 sail 8) mc Saabs
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
samidoun
PALESTINIAN PRISONER SOLIDARITY NETWORK
Published by The Freedom Archives
November 2016
= FREEDOM
= tay
The stories in this pamphlet are drawn primarily from materials on the
Addameer and Samidoun websites - with deep appreciation for their
tireless work on behalf of Palestinian prisoners. An electronic version of
the pamphlet can be found at
www.freedomarchives.org/Pal/womenprisoners.pdf.
ABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction 3-6
Map 7
Glossary 8-10
International Women’s Day from HaSharon Prison 11
Stories of Women’s Imprisonment in Palestine 12
Dareen Tatour 13-14
Khalida Jarrar 15-17
Dima Al-Wawi 18-19
Lina Jarbouni 20
Mona Qa’adan 21
Ihsan Dababseh 22
Natalie Shokha 23
Lina Khattab 24-26
Hana Shalabi 27-28
Rasmea Odeh 29-30
Reflection by Laura Whitehorn 32-35
Solidarity from US Political Prisoners 36-40
Resources 40
INTRODUCTION: CULTIVATING SOLIDARITY WITH
PALesTINIAN WomeEN PRISONERS
By Diana Block & Anna Henry
This pamphlet grew out of a delegation to Palestine in March 2016.
The delegation was convened by Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi, professor at
San Francisco State University, and was the first from the U.S. to focus
specifically on political imprisonment and solidarity between Palestinian
and U.S. prisoners. The idea for the delegation had been sparked in
2013 when prisoners at Pelican Bay in California undertook an historic
hunger strike to protest long term solitary confinement at the same time
as Palestinian prisoners were on hunger strike against Israel's illegal
policies of administrative detention. Knader Adnan, a former Palestinian
political prisoner who had waged a hunger strike in Israeli prisons for 66
days, sent a message of solidarity to the California hunger strikers.
A few years later, we were able to further this exchange by bringing
together a group of U.S. activists and academics who were engaged in
the movement against imprisonment, including four former prisoners.
One of the former prisoners was Laura Whitehorn who served 14
years for her actions against the U.S. government. Inspired by the first
Palestinian intifada uprising that occurred while she was in prison, in
1989 Laura drew the picture that is on the cover of this pamphlet of a
‘woman quietly sewing a Palestinian flag.
Those of us on the
delegation who work with
women and transgender
prisoners in the United
States were particularly
interested in meeting
with Palestinian women
to understand how they
had been impacted by
imprisonment. We knew
that Israel and the U.S.
Delegation members Rachel Herzing (Left) and Diana Block (Right) have worked closely
meet with former prisoner Maysoon Ahmed Abu Sheh (Center). together to develop
coordinated strategies for repression and imprisonment of the
Palestinian, Black and Brown populations they need to control. We
3
‘Suha Abu Khdeir, mother of a son who was killed by settlers, former prisoners and family members of
prisoners speak with delegation leader Dr. Rabab Abdulhadi in Jericho.
wanted to learn how Palestinian women had sustained resistance to
these strategies that were intended to crush their struggle. And we
wanted to be able to share lessons from their resistance with people
struggling to dismantle the prison industrial complex in the U.!
including those inside women’s prisons and jails.
Until we got to Palestine, we didn’t realize the all-encompassing
effect imprisonment has had on women's lives, starting with their
involvement as mothers, sisters, daughters, wives and loved ones of
prisoners and extending to their direct experience of incarceration.
800,000 Palestinians have been imprisoned since 1967 and 40% of all
Palestinian men today have been in prison. While women only make up
1% of those imprisoned, they deal constantly with the incarceration of
their family members across generations.
Shortly after we arrived in Palestine, we met with four women who had
been in prison in the past. Now, they explained, they were visiting their
children in prison. “Palestinian mothers bring their children up to be
steadfast,” one of the women commented and went on to describe how
she taught her son not to betray the movement if he were arrested. “The
Palestinian mother loves her children very much, but you cannot believe
how much she loves her homeland,” one of the other women declared.
The women described the arduous challenge of visiting their children
in prison, traveling for 10-15 hours each way, passing through multiple
checkpoints and enduring several humiliating full body searches at
the prison itself. If no arbitrary circumstance prevented the visit from
happening, they were finally able to see their child for half an hour
through a plexiglass window. Recently the International Red Cross which
is the agency responsible for coordinating family visits for Palestinian
prisoners, reduced the number of visits it would support from 2 to 1
per month. Family members have been outraged and have initiated a
widespread campaign to restore the second visit.
Another woman we met with was Rula Abu Duhou, a former prisoner
and current faculty member at Birzeit University's Institute of Women
Studies. Rula told us a story about her experience organizing inside
prison. In the 1990's when prisoner exchanges were being arranged
as part of the Oslo Accords, women were not released. The women
prisoners began to organize themselves inside, and on the outside their
mothers formed a committee to advocate for their freedom. In 1996,
the Israeli government announced that all the women who were being
held in HaSharon prison would be released, except for five. The women
took a vote and decided that either all forty of them would be freed
together or none of them would leave. The prison threatened to forcibly
release them if necessary, so the women locked themselves into two
cells, blocking the Israeli guards from entering.
Several days later all of them were released. “We won our collective
freedom through collective struggle”, Rula concluded. The U.S. media
depicts Palestinian women as subservient and without rights, driven
to terrorist actions devoid of politics or humanity by an extremist
patriarchal society. By highlighting some stories of women prisoners,
Delegation members meet with staff, faculty and students of Birzeit University at a conference organized by
the Institute of Women’s Studies.
5
this pamphlet offers an alternative
view. Their stories exemplify the
practice of sumud, a concept
rooted in the Palestinian anti-
colonial struggle, which can be best
translated as steadfast resistance
or standing one’s ground with
dignity.
The women featured range from
Khalida Jarrar, a human rights
lawyer and a member of the
Palestinian Legislative Council, to
Dima Al-Wawi who at 12 years old
became the youngest Palestinian
girl ever imprisoned. Rasmea Odeh,
a 69 year old Palestinian American,
was tortured and raped in an Israeli
prison in 1969. Rasmea’s current
Artist: Marius Mason, formerly Marie Mason, @
; longetime activist in the environmental and labor
prosecution by the U.S. government movements. and current U.S. transgender political
on trumped-up immigration charges prisoner,
reveals the direct collusion between Israel and the United States in
criminalizing Palestinian liberation activists.
Palestinian women challenge imprisonment in multiple ways every
day when they participate in rallies and protests about administrative
detention, when they cross countless checkpoints in order to visit their
loved ones in prison, when they support prisoners who are on hunger
strikes, when they demand that prisoners have access to medical care.
Cultivating solidarity with Palestine involves support for the thousands
who are in prison and those who are at risk of going to prison every
day. It means learning from the resistance strategies that have enabled
Palestinian women and men to sustain their struggle in the face of
overwhelming odds. We hope that For the Love of Palestine contributes
to these goals.
Prisons & DETENTION
CENTERS IN PALESTINE
Kishon (Aljalameh)
Damon
Hadarim
HaSharon
Rimonim.
anes Tulkarem
Nablus
oe tarnara
Ayalon
on = west Bonk
Neve Tirza Ramallah
Ramieh prison dinic a eticho __. fer
Sa A Moscobiyeh
Shiksma (Askalan) Ashgeton _<Jenusal fire amnion Compo
Gush Evzion
Beersheba Ayala
‘Ohalei Keidar
— Estel
= _ kerio prison
(A-Nagab)
Natha
ee — amon
1m Prison
© Detention center
Interrogation center
a
7 ‘Source: Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association
www.addameer.org/prisons-and-detention-centers
GLossary
Administrative detention: A procedure that allows the Israeli military
to hold prisoners indefinitely on secret information without charging
them or allowing them to stand trial. The Israeli military commander
bases his decision on secret information, which cannot be accessed
by the detainee nor his lawyer. These procedures constitute a violation
of Article 9(2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights that recognizes the right of an individual who is arrested to “be
informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his arrest and shall
be promptly informed of any charges against him.” The frequency
of the use of administrative detention has been steadily rising since
the outbreak of the second intifada in September 2000. In fall 2016
there are approximately 700 Palestinians in administrative detention.
Administrative detainees have repeatedly gone on hunger strike in order
to demand an end to their detention without charge or trial.
Collective Punishment: The Israeli military strategy of enacting
punitive measures against a group of Palestinians, usually a family or
community, in retribution for the actions of an individual. For instance,
if one prisoner goes on hunger strike, the prison authorities may
collectively punish all prisoners by not allowing family visits.
Family Visits: Family visits take place for 30-45 minutes behind
plexiglass windows. Palestinian prisoners are only allowed visits
by first-degree relatives (children, spouses, parents, siblings, and
grandparents). No physical contact is allowed for visitors over 8 years
old, and communication takes place through telephone lines or holes in
the glass. Family members over 16 years old must receive a permit from
Israeli authorities in order to visit their loved one in prison. Often, men
between 16-35 are not granted permits to visit, meaning visitors are
usually the old and the young. Due to the permit system, Palestinians
must visit on special International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
buses on prolonged journeys and many prisoners never receive family
visits. In June 2007, Israel suspended the ICRC Family Visit Programme
in the Gaza Strip entirely. In July 2016, the ICRC cut visits from twice a
month to once a month.
G4S: G4S is the largest security company in the world, with operations
in 125 countries. In 2007, G4S Israel signed a contract with the Israeli
Prison Authority to provide security systems and services to all of the
major Israeli prisons and detention centers. The international Stop G4S
Campaign has cost the company contracts worth millions of dollars and
compelled the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to sell its shares in G4S.
International pressure must continue to make sure that G4S ends all
aspects of its support for Israel's crimes.
Hunger Strike: Hunger strikes have been used as a crucial form of
resistance by Palestinian prisoners since the 1960's, collectively and
individually, to achieve a variety of demands regarding prison conditions
and release. Recently multiple hunger strikers have focused on the
illegal practice of administrative detention. In 2016 Bilal Kayed’s
71 day hunger strike against his illegal administrative detention was
supported with protests, vigils and sit-ins across Palestine and solidarity
9
demonstrations around the world. Asa result of the pressure, the
Israeli government finally came to an agreement with Bilal Kayed and
will release him in December 2016.
Isolation: The practice of the Israel Prison Service to place prisoners
in an empty cell or with one other prisoner for 23 hours per day as a
preventative measure. Prisoners in isolation are allowed one walk per
day, mostly with their hands and feet shackled. Prisoners in isolation are
not allowed to speak with family or friends over the phone, and must
deal with restrictions on receiving letters or books.
Military Court: The Israeli military court system prosecutes all
Palestinians who are arrested by the Israeli military and charged
with crimes defined by military orders, including “security violations”.
Defendants are all Palestinian - no Israeli settlers in the West Bank
are tried in military court. Israeli military courts do not guarantee
right to fair trial or comply with international legal standards. Military
courts hand down discriminatory sentences that are much longer than
sentences given in civilian court for the same convictions. For Israelis
the minimum age for trial as an adult is 18 but Palestinian children as
young as 12 years old are tried in military courts.
Solitary Confinement: Palestinian prisoners are subject to solitary
confinement in an empty cell with only a mattress and a blanket for
up to 24 hours a day often during interrogation and as a disciplinary
measure for indefinite periods of time.
Sumud: Sumud or steadfastness, developed as a political strategy in
the 1960's as part of the anti-colonial struggle. It signifies the strong
determination to stay in the country and on the land despite occupation
and oppression. Sumud has also been used as a mental strategy for
resisting torture and imprisonment.
10
ON THis Day,
we affirm that we are Palestinian prisoners
of struggle, and part of the Palestinian
women’s movement, and that the national
and social struggle goes on constantly and
continuously until we win our freedom from
occupation, and our freedom as women
from all forms of injustice, oppression,
violence and discrimination against
women....We stand as part of a global
struggle with all the world’s women freedom
fighters: against injustice, exploitation and
oppression.
- Khalida Jarrar and Lina Jarbouni
INTERNATIONAL Women’s Day STATEMENT
FROM INSIDE HASHARON PRISON
Marcu 8, 2016
300) To) oe Ue
IMPRISONMENT IN PALESTINE
There are approximately 70 Palestinian women and girls imprisoned by
Israel in the fall of 2016. The stories featured in this pamphlet represent
a range of experiences of those who are currently in prison or have
recently been released. They highlight some of the key reasons for their
imprisonment, the conditions that women and their families endure, and
their persistent struggle for freedom and the liberation of Palestine in
the face of escalating repression by the Israeli state.
12
Resist, My Peop.e, Resist THEM
The truth in your heart is stronger,
As long as you resist in a land
That has lived through raids and victory.
Dareen Tatour, a Palestinian poet, was arrested on October 11, 2015
at her family home in Nazareth for her social media posts. On October
3 and 4, 2015, Tatour posted a video to her YouTube and Facebook
accounts with audio of her poem “Resist, My People, Resist Them”
set to images of Palestinians resisting Israeli security forces. She
was indicted on charges of incitement to violence and supporting a
terrorist organization and faces eight years in prison. Dareen was placed
under house arrest pending trial. She is not allowed to exit or use the
internet at any time. Writers from around the world , including PEN
International, have called upon Israel to drop the case against Dareen
unconditionally.
13
Policing
Social Media
Since October
2015, hundreds of
Palestinians have
been arrested by
Israel and accused of
“incitement” for social
media posts, primarily
NYC protesters outside of the offices of Facebook, Sept. 30, 2016 on Facebook. The
demanding that Facebook cancel its agreements with the Israeli evidence presented
governments to censor users’ accounts. Beninechioceenenred
includes how many
“likes” and “shares” a
post receives.
A Poet Beninp Bars (Excerpt)
By Dareen Tatour & Translated by Tariq al Haydar
The charge has worn my body,
from my toes to the top of my head,
for Iam a poet in prison,
a poet in the land of art.
Tam accused of words,
en the instrument.
Ink— blood of the heart— bears witness
and reads the charges.
Listen, my destiny, my life,
to what the judge said:
A poem stands accused,
my poem morphs into a crime.
In the land of freedom,
the artist’s fate is prison.
Written on November 2, 2015, the day Dareen Tatour received the
indictment, at Jelemeh Prison.
14
a oA z
ED Guo
Khalida Jarrar has been an elected representative on the Palestinian
Legislative Council since 2006. She is the former executive director of
Addameer Prisoner Support & Human Rights Association, a feminist,
a human rights activist and a lawyer. Jarrar led the movement to
bring the Israeli government to the International Criminal Court and
represents Palestine on the Council of Europe. She has repeatedly faced
persecution by the Israeli state for political activities. Jarrar was arrested
for the first time simply for being present at an International Women's
Day protest at Birzeit University in 1989. A month later, Jarrar emerged
from jail an advocate for prisoners’ rights.
In August 2014, Jarrar was served with an Israeli military expulsion
order displacing her from her home because she was considered a
“security threat.” She rejected the order, stating “it is the occupation
who must leave our homeland.” Such orders violate the Fourth Geneva
Convention, which prohibits forced transfer of people under occupation
from one area of occupied territory to another. Jarrar undertook a
month-long sit in outside the Palestinian Legislative Council office
where thousands of Palestinian and international delegations visited her
and helped her succeed in defeating the expulsion order.
415
During her trial, she stated “I represent a
people and my people are under occupation
and it is my right to protest.” The military
judge ordered her to be placed in solitary
confinement for saying th
A few months after this victory, Jarrar was arrested in a violent dawn
raid by Israeli occupation forces who invaded her home. Jarrar was held
in administrative detention for several months before being convicted in
the military courts on twelve charges, all related to her public political
work. She was charged with participation in events that supported
Palestinian prisoners, visiting released prisoners, and representing
the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine in the Palestinian
Legislative Council. Most major Palestinian political parties are
considered hostile and prohibited by the Israeli military occupation.
During her trial, she stated “I represent a people and my people are
under occupation and it is my right to protest.” The Israeli prison service
threatened to place her in isolation after she spoke to the press in the
courtroom, but the other prisoners protested so much that she was.
never placed in isolation. (Erakat, Noura. “Interview with Khalida Jarrar,
Prominent Palestinian Activist and Parliamentary Member, After her
Release from Prison.” Jadaliyya Aug 8, 2016.)
While in prison, Jarrar helped to organize a school for the younger
women, which for several months included 12-year-old Dima al-Wawi,
thought to be the youngest Palestinian girl ever held in an Israeli prison
(see Dima’s story on p. 18). Jarrar was released on June 3, 2016, a
month early, due to overcrowding in HaSharon women’s prison. In an
interview with Al-Jazeera following her release, Jarrar explained “I feel
that | was arrested because they wanted to send a message, maybe for
other women, maybe for other lawmakers, to keep us silent.” She made
it clear that she has no intentions of backing down from her political
commitments which includes work with various women’s organizations.
“If Israel wants to arrest me for this work, they can come and arrest
me.”
16
17
Military Order 101 -
“Order Regarding Prohibition
of Incitement and Hostile
Propaganda”
Military Order 101 was issued in August 1967, only
two months after the beginning of Israel’s occupation
of the Palestinian territory. This order criminalizes
civic activities including: organizing and participating
in protests; taking part in assemblies or vigils;
waving flags and other political symbols; printing
and distributing political material. Under the heading
“support to a hostile organization’, the order further
prohibits any activity that demonstrates sympathy for
an organization deemed illegal under military orders,
be it chanting slogans or waving a flag or other
political symbols.
Military Order 101, which is still in force in the
occupied West Bank and often provides the basis for
the arrest of human rights and political activists, has
been further amended by Order 718 (22 July 1977),
Order 938 (5 October 1981), Order 1079 (14 October
1983) and Order 1423 (26 January 1995).
Source:
www.addameer.org/israeli_military_judicial_system/military_orders
DIMA AL-WAWI
12 YEARS OLD
FOUR AND A HALF MONTHS
‘SOURCE: @UDS NEWS METWORK
Dima Al-Wawi, 12 years old, was sentenced by an Israeli military court
on February 18, 2016 to 4.5 months in prison and an 8,000 NIS fine
after she allegedly approached the Israeli settlement of Karmei Tzur in
the southern occupied West Bank with a knife. Just three days before
being detained, Dima had attended the funeral of 14-year-old Haitham
al-Baw, another youth from her village of Halhul, who was shot dead in
a field at the side of a road by Israeli forces. At twelve, Dima was the
youngest Palestinian girl ever sentenced to prison.
After her arrest, Dima was interrogated without her parents or a lawyer
present. She said she had been yelled at during her interrogation and
attended six court sessions with her feet in shackles, causing her to
develop a limp. Dima’s mother had to apply for permits to enter Israel
to visit her daughter in prison, and then could only communicate with
her through a plastic barrier, using telephones. Dima’s parent mounted
a public campaign to end their daughters’ detention which violated both
Israeli and international law regarding the detention of children.
18
While in prison, Dima took classes in Arabic, Palestinian embroidery and
other topics led by Lina Jarbouni, Khalida Jarrar and others who were in
the same prison with her. “I am very grateful to the other Palestinian
‘women who were in the prison with Dima for taking care of her,” Dima’s
mother says. In response to pressure from the popular campaign, Dima
was released six weeks early to the joy of her family, her village and the
entire Palestinian movement. After her release, Dima spoke of the other
girls who were with her in prison, “I wish all the friends | made could
be freed, | wish all the children were allowed to come out of the prison
with me.” (Khalel, Sheren. “Celebrations as Israel frees ‘youngest female
Palestinian prisoner’.” Middle East Eye April 26, 2016.)
hile Israeli law does not allow
prison sentences for children
under the age of 14, Israeli military
law, which applies to Palestinians living
under military occupation in the West
Bank, allows for children as young
as 12 to be charged for “nationalistic-
motivated” violent offenses. According
to Defense for Children International-
Palestine (DCIP), no other country in
the world systematically prosecutes
hundreds of children in military
courts each year. The number of
Palestinian minors imprisoned for
security-related offenses rose from 170
in September 2015 to 438 in February
2016.
19
Lina Jarbouni has been in prison since
2002, longer than any other Palestinian
‘woman currently imprisoned. Jarbouni
is from Akka, has Israeli citizenship, and
had a job in sewing workshops before her
arrest. Lina comes from a family known
for its contribution to the Palestinian
resistance: her grandfather Haj Ali was
one of the resistance fighters during the
revolution of 1936, as well as through
the Nakba of 1948, her father was
imprisoned several times by Israel for his
political stands, and her uncle Omar
was killed in Lebanon fighting Israeli occupation soldiers when they
invaded Lebanon in 1982.
Jarbouni was arrested in 2002 at the age of 26 and interrogated,
tortured and abused for thirty days. She was sentenced to 17
years for “aiding the enemy,” being actively involved in Palestinian
resistance. In 2012, Lina joined thousands of other Palestinian
prisoners in a mass hunger strike demanding an end to administrative
detention and solitary confinement and the right to family visits for
prisoners from the Gaza Strip. The Israeli prison authorities tried
to break her strike first by harassing her and then by moving her to
solitary confinement.
Lina suffers from a number of medical conditions and has been
subject to medical neglect and mistreatment. She was denied
essential surgery until other women prisoners launched a hunger
strike on her behalf. She has applied for compassionate release
due to her medical situation but this has been consistently refused.
In 2011, when other women Palestinian political prisoners were
released in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange, the Israeli state
refused to release her, saying that as an Israeli citizen, she was not
eligible. She serves as a spokeswoman for other women prisoners at
HaSharon prison and has played a critical role in advocating for the
educational rights of imprisoned Palestinian girls.
20
Mona Qa’aDAN
Mona Qa’adan has been imprisoned multiple times in the past 17 years.
Qa’adan was first arrested in December 1999 and subjected to torture
for 28 days. Several techniques were used against her, including the
“shabbih” which involves tying the detainee’s arms and legs to a chair
and completely blocking the person’s vision with a mask. Very loud
music is played, causing sensory disorientation. Most interrogations
occurred during the night, and her windowless isolation cell was brightly
illuminated around the clock, interrupting her natural sleep patterns.
She was often deprived of showers and forbidden to change her clothes.
Qa’adan was physically beaten once. In protest of these conditions,
Mona undertook a hunger strike for 30 days until she was released.
In May 2011, Qa’adan was arrested and held in solitary confinement.
She won her demand to be put in a communal cell after 16 days of a
hunger strike. Two months
later, she learned of her
mother’s death while
in prison. Qa’adan was
released as part of the
prisoner exchange deal in
December 2011 but then
was rearrested in November
2012 on the same charges.
Qa’adan was denied family
visits for 2.5 years and her
trial was postponed over 20
times.
In March 2016, immediately
after her release, Qa’adan
urged attention to
imprisoned Palestinian girls
who are often denied access
to their parents during
interrogation.
21
Mi
She took me in, shaken and
distraught, without even asking
my name. She took me in,
ensuring | had the necessities,
a toothbrush, a towel, some
soap and utensils for breakfast
the next morning. As | cleaned
up, she took it upon herself
to prepare my bunk, with new
sheets and pillow covers and
waited as | sat quietly in a corner
trying to understand what was
happening.
”
-Mariam Barghouti, a Palestinian
American journalist, describing Mona
Qa’adan in prison in 2014.
SE
IHSAN DABABSEH
Ihsan Dababseh was freed from HaSharon prison on July 10, 2016. She
had been in prison since October 2014 on charges of membership in the
Islamic Jihad movement which is prohibited by the Israeli government.
Ihsan had previously spent from 2007-2009 in prison on similar
charges. During that arrest, Israeli soldiers blindfolded Ihsan and made
a video of themselves dancing around her as she was standing against
the wall. When the video was re-broadcast by Al-Jazeera in 2010, to her
horror, Ihsan recognized herself as the blindfolded woman. The next
day she and her family contacted the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club to file
charges against the Israeli army.
Upon her release in July 2016, Ihsan described some of the constant
violations that women prisoners face. She described transport in the
“Bosta”, a metal vehicle in which prisoners are shackled during lengthy
and arduous trips with little ventilation and extreme temperature
variations. She also stated that her sentence was extended by 2 months
and she was fined 2000 NIS (approximately $500) after being accused
of assaulting a prison warden.
Ihsan also noted that she and five other Palestinian women had been
denied family visits for a month after they raised the Palestinian
flag on the anniversary of the Nakba (the catastrophe), which Israel
celebrates as its independence day. The denial of family visits is a form
of collective punishment, preventing mothers, fathers, spouses and
children from accessing their loved ones and family members.
22
ay CT
My greetings to all of the generous people of my
beloved village, Rammun. My greetings to the
council of the village and to everyone who supports
(0;
its development.
Mother, I am in now in prison a member of the
cultural committee. I have also become a member of
the magazine. I discuss novels and I am the fourth
in reading. Thank God at any rate.
Mom, Dad, everyone here is proud of your raising
of me. Have your head held high. And I am living
in the room with six other girls. We are the twelve
flowers (security prisoners who are minor girls).
‘We live together through bad and good times. Mom,
please say hello to all and tell them I miss them so
much and that I am sorry if I forgot anyone. May
God bring us together, united, soon. God, bring us
freedom now!
They will not imprison the scent of jasmine ina
flower!
This letter was written by Natalie Shokha, 15, in HaSharon prison.
Shokha, accused of seeking to stab Israeli occupation soldiers, was shot
in her back and chest before being arrested in April 2016.
23
NA KHATTAB
Lina Khattab was a first year student at Birzeit University and a dancer
in the prominent El-Funoun Palestinian Popular Dance Troupe when she
was arrested by Israeli troops in December 2014. She, along with other
students, had been participating in a protest on behalf of Palestinian
political prisoners, in celebration of the 47" anniversary of the founding
of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Khattab was refused bail, even though she had never been arrested
before, and was held in Israel's Ofer prison. Her mother reported that
when she visited Lina, she had lost a lot of weight and was enduring
harsh conditions and interrogation methods. Lina told her mother that
she had been subject to “extreme beatings” by Israeli soldiers but had
not confessed to anything.
In Ofer prison, Khattab was forced to stand against a wall in the rain
and cold. When she was moved to HaSharon prison, she was subjected
to further torture. From December 13" to February 16", Khattab was
taken before Israeli military court 10 times, sometimes in closed-door
sessions. Her case was typically heard in late afternoon, yet, on days in
which she was to appear before the Ofer
military court, soldiers would wake her up in the middle of the night in
order to keep her sleep deprived. In the middle of a frigid winter, they
would proceed to turn on cold air in the vehicles that transported her,
and place her in a cold room with the air conditioning blasting when she
arrived.
Lina was charged with “throwing stones” and
“participating in an unlawful demonstration”
which are frequently used arbitrary charges
brought against Palestinians. Palestinian
students can face more than a year in prison just
for being members of student organizations.
24
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Birzeit University students marched on campus calling for the release of Lina Khattab and other
imprisoned Palestinian students in December. (Photo: Progressive Democratic Student Pole at Birzeit)
Lina was charged with “throwing stones” and “participating in an
unlawful demonstration” which are frequently used arbitrary charges
brought against Palestinians. Palestinian students can face more
than a year in prison just for being members of student organizations.
According to Sahar Francis, Director of Addameer “In the last couple of
years, it was not so common to arrest women for throwing stones, but
we believe this case is part of increasing attacks on peaceful resistance
activities.” (Kates, Charlotte. “Young dancer jailed by Israel for taking
part in protest.” The Electronic Intifada February 13, 2015)
Samira Shaladeh, Lina’s mother, explained, “Lina represents an
entire people uprooted from their land by force of arms. Every day the
occupation strikes and kills and demolishes, arrests, desecrates holy
places, takes away farmers’ land and builds settlements. ... The truth is
that the Palestinian people want to recover their homeland and achieve
freedom for their people, and Lina is a part of this truth, rejecting
steadfastly all of this violence against our people.”
Khattab was sentenced to six months in prison, three years on
25
probation, and a 6,000 NIS ($1,500 USD) fine. Lina described the
reception given her by the women in HaSharon prison, wing 2. “They
gave me a warm welcome, as well as clothes instead of the torn ones |
was wearing. They made food and gave me the confidence and strength
| needed.” She described the routine of her days in prison, “We spend
most of the time talking to each other, learning silk bead embroidery
or reading some of the limited [available] books.” At the end of each
month, there was one day where the women prisoners perform for
each other and Lina would perform the traditional dabke dance which
inspired other women to learn it as well.
Lina was released from prison on June 11, 2015, welcomed by her
family and hundreds of other people. Upon her release, she changed her
major at Birzeit University from journalism to law. Having experienced
directly the harsh conditions and abuse endured by Palestinian political
prisoners in violation of international law, she wanted to dedicate herself
to defending and advocating for them in the future. In an interview
with Al-Monitor she said, “The most important achievement of my life
will be to have the chance to shout out to the world even the voice of
one Palestinian child who is suffering under the occupation.” (Melhem,
Ahmad. “The Palestinian dancer who was locked away.” Al Monitor July
19, 2015.)
4
{ ¥.
Lina Khattab after her release from prison.
Badia Shalabi, mother of Palestinian prisoner Hana Shalabi, holds her daughters portrait her daughter in at a
protest in the West Bank City of Burgin on 28 February 2012. (Photo: AFP - Saif Dahlah)
HANA SHALABI
In 2012, Hana undertook a 47 day hunger strike demanding her
freedom after repeatedly being held in administrative detention.
Shalabi had been re-arrested only a few months after she was released
in a prisoner exchange. Shalabi went on hunger strike as the only
means of protesting another term of captivity without a charge, trial or
sentence.
Shalabi’s family is originally from Haifa but was exiled by the Israeli
occupation to Burquin in the West Bank. When she was 8 years old a
boy from her village was shot to death right in front of her by the Israeli
army. After that, Shalabi began collecting rocks for the boys in the
village to confront the Israeli soldiers who would raid Burquin daily. In
2009, Hana was arrested and accused of plotting an attack on Israel.
She was interrogated and subjected to physical and psychological
torture. When the Israeli military failed to get any information from her,
they put her in administrative detention which was renewed several
times without any official charges ever being filed. Consequently,
when she was arrested in 2012 again out any charges, forcibly
stripped searched by a male Israeli soldier and then placed in solitary
confinement, she resolved to go on hunger strike.
Dozens of other Palestinian prisoners went on hunger strike in solidarity
with Shalabi as she came close to dying, losing over 35 pounds. She
became the focus of an international solidarity campaign for her
27
freedom which included fasts by university students in the United States
and Europe. On International Women’s Day, March 8, 2012, her mother,
Badiya Shalabi, appealed to the international community to save her
daughter. “I demand that the world stands by her now. My daughter is
dying in prison. We are also dying here. This is my appeal to the world.”
(‘Shalabi’s mother: My daughter is dying in prison.” Ma’an News Agency
March 8, 2012.)
Hana ended her hunger strike through a questionable agreement in
which the Israeli’s allowed her release only if she were deported to the
Gaza Strip, far from her family home in the West Bank, a violation of
international law which forbids forced deportation or involuntary transfer
of people in an occupied territory. The agreement stated that Hana
was to be repatriated to the West Bank in three years but this has not
happened. Hana described her perspective, “Resistance is insisting on
living and thriving, despite the pain.” (Baroud, Ramzy. “Hungry Warrior:
The Untold Story of Hana Shalabi.” Counterpunch December 17, 2015.)
Cuttivate Hope (EXCERPT)
Our Spring in Palestine is born in a prison cell
Our Spring in Palestine is born shackled to a hospital bed
Our Spring in Palestine is born with an administrative
detention order against it.
But, it blossoms even in hunger!
I pray you strength
I pray you justice
I pray you freedom
Hana’, I pray your heart muscle, holding all of us tonight
holds on a day stronger - a sunrise longer - a day longer -
a sunrise stronger
A poem for Hana Shalabi on the 40" day of her hunger strike by Rafeef
Ziadah, Palestinian Canadian spoken word artist
28
RasmeEA ODEH
Rasmea Odeh, a 69 year old
Palestinian American, was
tortured and raped in an
Israeli prison for 45 days in
1969, forcing her to confess
to a bombing that she denies
committing. She spent ten
years in an Israeli prison
before being released as
part of a prisoner exchange
in 1979. Upon her release
she testified about her
torture at a hearing of a UN
special committee in Geneva,
“S Switzerland.
\y ##IUSTICEURASINEA
Soe Rasmea became a U.S. citizen
in 2004 and has been a
leading member of Chicago's Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim
communities. She has been an organizer with the Arab American Action
Network (AAAN) since 2004 where she coordinates its Arab Women’s
Committee and leads the organization’s work in the areas of defending
civil liberties and immigrants’ rights.
In 2013 Rasmea was arrested on charges of immigration fraud.
Rasmea’s continued persecution by
the U.S. government on these trumped-
up charges reveals the direct collusion
between Israel and the United States in
criminalizing and prosecuting Palestinian
liberation activists.
29
The U.S. government claimed that Rasmea failed to disclose on her
citizenship application that she had been convicted of a crime in Israel.
Rasmea, who suffers from PTSD as a result of her torture and rape,
explains that she did not understand the question on the immigration
form and thought it only referred to convictions in the United States.
In a 2015 railroad trial, where Judge Drain refused to allow defense
attorneys to present evidence that Rasmea suffers from Post-Traumatic
Stress Disorder (PTSD), Rasmea was convicted of immigration fraud and
given an eighteen month sentence followed by deportation.
In February 2016, a 3-judge appeals panel determined that Judge Drain
wrongfully barred expert torture witness, Dr. Mary Fabri, from testifying
at the trial and remanded the case back to Drain for a determination
as to the admissibility of the expert testimony. In response Drain ruled
that Rasmea would have to submit to up to 18 hours of a government
expert's examination of her mental state even though it is a known fact
that Rasmea is a survivor of vicious physical, sexual and psychological
torture at the hands of the Israeli military. The international work to
demand Justice 4 Rasmea will continue until she is free!
30
“Of course resisting imprisonment is the
task of all revolutionary movements today...
We join the call to free Mumia Abu Jamal,
the MOVE 9 and all of the revolutionary
prisoners. This is a link between the struggles
of revolutionary prisoners from the United
States to Ireland to France to the Basque
country to the Philippines and elsewhere:
today Bilal Kayed represents all of these
struggles. He must be freed.”
Leila Khaled message to the international solidarity movement supporting
Palestinian prisoner Bilal Kayed on the 56th day of his hunger strike
against administrative detention, August 9, 2016.
pk aa Ale
pci wos)
sy
cial en A
Q 'G
Leila Khaled mural painted on the Apartheid Wall in Bethlehem.
31
Former U.S. prisoners and political prisoners Claude Marks, Laura Whitehorn, Manuel LaFontaine, and Hank
Jones at the Addameer office in Palestine.
Reflections from the Prison, Labor &
Academic Delegation to Palestine
by Laura Whitehorn
Atrip to Palestine in 2016 on a prison, labor, and academic delegation
left me with indelible impressions of the depth of Palestinian resistance
and the role political prisoners play in that resistance. Everywhere we
went, from the West Bank to the ’48 (the Palestinian land seized and
renamed “Israel” by the Zionists in 1948), images and names of current
and former political prisoners adorned walls. Over a ten-day visit,
we met with nearly 100 people and found that almost every one had
been, at some point, a political prisoner. As a former US-held political
prisoner, | was embraced with special warmth. No one had to ask what
a US political prisoner is. No one wondered what might make someone
who grew up in the US take actions that could result in a long prison
sentence. No one questioned what “solidarity” means in the scope of
resistance against imperialism and white supremacy.
The parallels between the white settler colony called Israel and the
32
white settler colony called the United States were clear, and the
students, parents, workers, artists, and social justice advocates we met
all shared that view with us.
As we spoke with one after another courageous, deep-hearted woman
and man who had served years as a political prisoner under Zionist
rule, we witnessed what one man described as the role of political
prisoners: “we prevent the Zionist state from succeeding in occupying
the minds of the people as well as their land. Political prisoners face
the occupation forces head on, and in our resistance we preserve the
political consciousness of a people.”
We saw the results of this
everywhere: Brightly colored
Arabic words on a ceiling in
the Ibdaa community center
in Deheisheh refugee camp—
the names of some of the
500-plus villages destroyed
when Israel seized and
occupied Palestinian land in
the Nakba (disaster) of 1948,
establishing the Zionist state al a
of Israel, a Ceiling at Ibdaa community center in Deheisheh refugee camp.
state only for Jews. Land Day rallies in the Naqab, where a yellow
Caterpillar bulldozer waited to uproot another Palestinian village and
replace it with yet another illegal Israeli settlement, and at the gate
of the Ofer military court, where Palestinian youth are punished for
challenging the occupiers. A family in Sheikh Jarrah, East Jerusalem,
fighting for their home, forced to live in just one part of their house
because Israel had confiscated the other half and installed Jewish
settlers there. Tarps stretched over stalls and streets in Hebron’s Old
City to protect Palestinian shoppers and shop keepers from the human
waste thrown down on them by settlers occupying apartments above.
And we saw it in the depth of solidarity and love as former political
prisoners greeted the former US-held political prisoners in our
delegation. We saw it as each Palestinian woman and man we met
insisted on being seen not as an individual but as part of a collective.
Resistance is not an individual act but rather a gathering of strength
33
from a common struggle for national liberation
and freedom.
We met with many women who had been
political prisoners. Some had also seen other
family members, including children, serve time
for resistance. Men and women alike offered,
as a stunning example of the collectivity that
confers strength on a struggle, a story of the
resistance of women political prisoners who
refused to be released unless every other
a Mariam Shakhsher, former prisoner
woman political prisoner was released as well and scholar.activist, speaks to the
which is referred to in the introduction to this delegation at An-Najah National
University in Nablus.
pamphlet.
| recognized the story as it was told, although I'd never heard it before.
It is an emblem of what it means to stand together, and it stirred
memories of my years inside, when US political prisoners, along with
our other incarcerated sisters and brothers, fought together for our own
dignity and for the freedom of other political prisoners. In particular in
those years, we united from prison to prison across the country to do
what we could to stop the state from executing Mumia Abu-Jamal, and
to prevent the government from killing the late political prisoner Alan
Berkman through medical neglect when he had cancer.
The story of the unity of the
Palestinian women political
prisoners also stirred a sharp,
aching memory. It was a feeling
| had tried to express
in a drawing | made, in D.C. Jail
in 1989, when the fierce longing
for freedom that sparked the
first Intifada ignited in me an
Laura Whitehorn and the mother of former poltical_ Motion of solidarity, a yearning
prisoner Mukhels Burgal. for an end to oppression so that
we could all be free and whole together. | saw a photo of a Palestinian
woman patiently and determinedly sewing a flag, and | tried to
reproduce it with colored pens.
Throughout our trip to Palestine | was also painfully aware of how
34
dangerous, how brutal, how devastating the current attacks by the
Israelis on the Palestinian people are. No matter how many articles |
had read from my desk in New York City—and how many protest rallies
| had attended—there is no way | could have comprehended the utter
cruelty of the Zionist state, the gross daily implementation of genocidal
strategies and tactics at every level of life, the military prisons, the
arrogance of the settlers, the apartheid that characterizes every corner
of every neighborhood. Those are the things that give rise to the
constant stream of political prisoners into the prisons of Israel, and that
provoke such ongoing resistance.
This also stirred me to realize once again that to be a US political
prisoner—or a US activist—means fighting consistently here, in the
stronghold of Zionist propaganda, for a free Palestine, an end not only
to the occupation begun in 1967 but to the occupation begun in 1948.
Every time we say free all political prisoners in the US, we will say, too,
free all Palestinian political prisoners. We will say, Free Palestine!
35
PELICAN BAY FE
PALE STINE
BPPRESSION BREEBS
RESISTANCE
WE ARE ENE
Drawing by Nidal E}Khairy
From THE USA To PALESTINE:
ee ae URE)
Prisoners held in the U.S. have long found inspiration in the struggles of
Palestinian prisoners, dating back to George Jackson. Current political
prisoners, Herman Bell, Jalil Muntaqim and David Gilbert wrote the
messages on the next pages to recognize the particular importance of
Palestinian women prisoners in the movement.
36
To the Palestinian Women from Herman Bell - 2016
| heartily support your struggle to sustain
your traditional way of life as you fight
to rid Israeli occupation of your land.
Translated as steadfast resistance or
standing one’s ground with dignity, the
Palestinian concept of “Sumud,” seems
most fitting to any age or any time
wherein a people find a common foe
camped at their doorstep. For the most
part women watch over their people's
culture and its traditions. They are to be
loved, cherished and respected. They are
mothers.
And during times of war, times of great
hardship and affliction, children seem to grow up too fast, or succumb
too readily to forces that slowly waste away their young lives. The loss of
innocence in a state of innocence. Most mothers know another mother’s
heart. And no mother wants to see her child in harm’s way. Yet, as
the fierce winds of Israeli and Palestinian war rages on, it is said that
Palestinian women almost instinctively instruct their sons and daughters.
not to betray the movement if ever they are captured or arrested.
So how do mothers cope under these circumstances: feed their children,
provide some semblance of normalcy often in patchwork shelter after
bombs stop falling out of the sky, comfort them in their fitful slumber as
they dream of choking dust flung in the air by booming explosions that
crumble buildings and tremble the earth?
All this pressure on Palestinian women who find themselves having to
hold everything together while other family members are away or are
otherwise engaged digging people out of rubble, seeking food, fighting
for the land. Pressure requiring that they be many things: plumber,
teacher, doctor, care giver, visitor, provider, center of gravity and family
supporter, a comforter to grieving neighbors. Tomorrow, they face
interminable check points on the way to visit husbands, sons, daughters,
and wives in Israeli prisons.
37
Despite the seeming prevalence of the dark side of human nature,
the sky still will be blue and some days will rain. As this Israeli
occupation plays out in your life and everywhere else in the hearts and
mind of people who support you, your exemplary resolve, poise and
steadfastness in this fight inspires the resolve of people who fight along
with you against oppression and domination. | heartily support you.
In solidarity
Political Prisoner
For more information about
political prisoner Herman Bell, see
www.freehermanbell.org.
38
As Salaam Alaikum
Sisters in Islam and Struggle:
As many of you know, the first martyr in Islam was a woman, a standing
bearer of fortitude and sacrifice. It is this example of courage and
determination that each of you emulate as you struggle against the
Apartheid of Zionist occupation. Here in the U.S., we have a long history
of women engaged in the struggle for liberation and freedom, including
Harriet Tubman, the General of the Underground Railroad, our late
BPP/BLA comrade Sister Safiya Bukhari, our late revolutionary anti-
imperialist comrade Marilyn Buck and Assata Shakur, our formidable
exiled BPP/BLA revolutionary nationalist. We recognize that women
have always been a substantial, committed part of our struggle and
we honor them. It is in this spirit that | send this message because it
is extremely important for today’s generation of activists to recognize
your present sacrifices and struggles in Palestine. By making these
connections, we strengthen the resolve of each of us going forward.
For as long as the U.S. continues to support Zionist Apartheid and
oppression of the Palestinian people, we will support your freedom as
we fight for our own.
Ma’Salaam - Revolutionary Love
Jalil Abdul Muntagim
For more information about
political prisoner Jalil Muntaqim,
see www.freejalil.com or his latest
book Escaping the Prism....Fade to
Black.
39
From David Gilbert, Anti-Imperialist US- held Political
Prisoner - - September 26, 2016
Wide scale imprisonment - whether of Palestinians or Black people in
the U.S. — is not accidental but rather a cruel strategy to incapacitate
entire nations who have fought valiantly against colonialism and
oppression. The damage done goes way beyond the pain of those held
and mistreated behind bars because family members, breadwinners,
and mentors are ripped out of the fabric of the community. Most
crucially, children are grievously harmed when they have a parent in
prison. Women, although only a small percentage of prisoners, usually
bear the brunt of the damage done with greatly intensified burdens
of earning a living, raising children, supporting prisoners, keeping
communities together. And now the number of women in prison, where
they're often subjected to anguishing abuse, has been growing at a rapid
rate.
These accounts of Palestinian women prisoners are of crucial
importance. First, they are another window into the brutality of the
Israeli colonial project seeking to obliterate Palestine. Second, these
women provide inspiring examples of real world steadfastness, a
courage and determination based on love.
For more information about
political prisoner David Gilbert, see
www.kersplebedeb.com/mystuff/profiles/gilbert.html
or his most recent book Love and Struggle.
40
Books
Abdo, Nahla. Captive Revolution: Palestinian women’s Anti-
Colonial Struggle Within the Israeli Prison System. Pluto
Press, 2014.
Films
3000 Nights. Dir. Mai Masri. Les Films d’Ici, Nour Productions,
Orjouane Productions, Philistine Films. 2015.
Tell Your Tale, Little Bird. Dir: Arab Loutfi. Cinema Ma. 2007.
Women in Struggle. Dir: Buthina Canaan Khoury. 2004.
Organizations & News Sources
Addameer Prisoner Support & Human Rights Association
addameer.org
Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions
bdsmovement.net
Defense for Children International (DCI) Palestine
dci-palestine.org
Electronic Intifada
electronicintifada.net
Mondoweiss
mondoweiss.net
Samidoun Palestine Prisoner Solidarity
samidoun.net
41
‘Mural on the Apartheid Wall - Bethlehem