“A released prisoner is normally received with cheers and celebrations by her family, friends, and community, formal and informal bodies in her city or village. But within few months, she is dragged back to the realities of her social and cultural background and ranking”. A released women prisoner gave a short description on the women prisoners’ agonies they had to face outside the prison cells.

The talk was part of a seminarheld at WATC headquarters in Ramallah on the status of released women prisoners.

 

Lubna Al Ashqar, chief editor for the VOW said that the meeting is to give floor to released women prisoners to speak on their issues and the obstacles and difficulties they had to face outside the prison cells; social acceptance and lack of work opportunities are on top of their agonies.

 

Siham Al-Barghothi, board member of WATC, referred to the women prisoners as freedom fighters and core component of the Palestinian National struggle for freedom. She described the fears of released prisoners regarding their future to be legitimate and asked the meeting to highlight on the current status of the released women. 

 

 The Palestinian prisoner’s law

MP Khalida Jarrar talked about the 10 thousand Palestinian prisoners in the Israeli jails and the women prisoners in particular as they are part of the national women’s’ movement, the Palestinian prisoners’ movement , and the Palestinian national movement at the same time.

Jarrar said that the Palestinian society have always embraced the struggle of women against the occupation and accepted the fact that some women might be imprisoned for their struggle; “however, some of those women are still having serious issues within the society”.

Jarrar confirmed that women prisoner’s issues can only be handled through application of the prisoner’s law that had been ratified by the PLC and still awaiting the proper implementation on ground. The law guarantees dignifying life for all released prisoners men and women, help them to fit within society and find them proper jobs that would replace them within the productive system of the society.

 

Taghreed Hanini from Mandilla institute talked about the fantasies of the prisoners upon their release compared to the realities on the ground, “before her release, the prisoner thinks that the whole society had been waiting for her and would be opening all doors and opportunities to her. Such illusion disappears quickly as soon as the prisoner is back in her community”.

 

In the Palestinian society, to have a woman imprisoned for a political cause is a pride and honor for the family. However, some families do not take it as such and this is apparent by refusal of families to visit their imprisoned women, and their refusal to welcome them back home when they are out of jail. In one particular case, formal and civil society institutes had to mediate with a family before they agreed to take their released daughter back home.

  

Some released women said that they have been badly treated by family members and the people around them; they found themselves stuck at home and closely watched to make sure they don’t get involve with any action that might take them again to prison. Some single released prisoners said that they have lost their chances to get married and start a family, as men by large would be hesitant and reluctant to propose to them.

 

Referring to the prisoner’s affairs institutes, Hanini said that although they do good jobs in welcoming released prisoners and document their stories, they are not fully engaged in facilitating those women’s lives and in find jobs for them to secure independent and dignifying lives.

 

 Released prisoner Hiba Hmedatfrom Al Jalazon refugee camp near Ramallah said that she misses that feeling of being home again, “ I feel like an alien in my community, and I do not receive any support or affection from the people around me”.

Jihan Dahadhi from the village of Atarah near Ramallah addressed the Ministry for prisoner’s affairs, the prisoner’s club, and the civil society and urged them to make their duty to provide jobs for the released prisoners for those to be able to start normal lives and merge into the society once again.

 

The meeting summed up the recommendations they agreed upon as follow:

-                      Start a specialized body to assist released women in merging into the society, and to coop with the new lives waiting for them.

-                      Start projects to train and rehabilitate the women, empower them, and build their capacities.

-                      Launch a body to enable those who want to resume their academic study to do so by assisting them financially.

-                      Provide women with needed medical insurance as most of them can’t afford to pay for their medical checkups and medications.

By: Taghreed Hanini- Mandela institute

 

Translated by: Samar Qutob

 

a.       imprisoned women in the Israeli jails- 67

b.      imprisoned women in Damoun Jail- 23

c.       Imprisoned women in Talmond jail - 44

d.      Young female prisoners - 9

e.       Detained women- no sentences- 19

f.       Married imprisoned women -21 (4 divorced+ one widow)

g.      Married imprisoned women with children outside jail -13

h.      Children accompany their imprisoned mothers -1 ( Yusef Al-Zaq was born in prison on 17/1/2008)

i.        Administrative women prisoners- 4, they are:

-          Abeer Odeh served her sentence and sent after that to administrative detention.

-          Sarah Siyori from Bethlehem, detained since 5/6/2008

-          Salwa salah from Bethlehem, detained since 5/6/2008

-          Majeda faddah from Nablus, detained since 6/8/2008

j.        Four married prisoners have their husbands in jail as well:

-          Arina Sarahneh wife of prisoner Ibrahim Sarahneh

-          Iman Gassawi wife of prisoner Shaher Al Ashi

-          Ahlam Tamimi wife of prisoner Nizae Tamimi

-          Nawal Sa’di wife of prisoner Bassam Sa’di

-          Kifah Habash is the ex-wife of prisoner Omar

k.      Ahlam Tamimi is serving the longer sentence ever -16 life sentences; 4 other prisoners are serving one life sentences each. ( Sana’ shahateh, Dua’ Jayyousi, Amena muna, Qahira Sa’di).

l.        12 Palestinian women were imprisoned in 2009, 3 out of the 12 were detained days after being released. Half of the 12 are from the district of Hebron.

 

1.      Drinking water: women prisoners are not given clean drinking water, most of them are developing diseases and infections from the contaminated water they had to drink.

2.      Insects and bugs: prison cells are contaminated with stinging insects and bugs; prison administrations are not taking any measures to eliminate threats.

 

3.      Malnutrition: Poor quality and quantity of the food offered to the prisoners is causing malnutrition among the prisoners; prisons kitchens are controlled by Israeli criminal prisonerswho would decide quality and quantity of food to be provided for all; fruits and vegetables are scarce and come in limited amounts.

 

4.      Medical treatment: most prisoners are subject to health negligence as cases of mysterious infections, discs, and gynecological diseases are not followed properly by medical experts; medicines given to patients are said to be ineffective.

 

5.      Abrupt strip search: Prison administrations launch sudden raids on prison cells, strip search prisoners in humiliating manners and without any respect to their privacy or dignity; prisoners are most humiliated when transferred from one prison to the other and when transported to courts for the hearing sessions.

 

6.      Solitary confinement: Prisoners are isolated and kept in solitary confinement and are subject to transfer from one place to the other without any justification; such measures would affect and delay visitations of family members and put prisoners under added pressures and stress.

 

7.      Cantina: Prisoners have to fully rely on the prison cantina for their needs as they are not to get their needs from any other sources. Prisoners for instance are not allowed to bring their own shows to the prison and have to buy new ones from the cantina’s expensive selection of shows. 

 

8.      Education and knowledge: some prisoners were prevented from taking the General secondary exam, and those who were allowed to take the test were provided with the books only few days before date of the exam. Scientific and literally books and periodicals that are allowed in, are limited. Getting handcraft material has also been prohibited recently; handcrafts materials supplied by relatives of prisoners used to help prisoners to pass the time and fill the void of their daily lives.

 

9.      Oppressive measures during family visitations: Thick glass barrier separate between the prisoner and visiting family members that can communicate only through a telephone line. Younger children of women prisoners can’t touch their mothers or feel them. Prisoners are strip searched before and after visits; they are cursed and verbally humiliated and threatened of depriving them (individually and collectively) from family visitations if they dared to show their rejection to any of the prison regulations.

 

 

 

By: Hiba El Tahhan

 

Translated by: Samar Qutob

A new huge iron gate was added recently to complete the siege surrounding the village of Azzon Atmeh in the district of Qalqilia, in the north of West Bank.

 The 6 years old Israeli wall has been isolating the village and its 2 thousand citizens from the rest of northern areas, and now with the new Iron Gate, the wall encircled rest of the village and left away 9 houses with their 75 residents outside village borders. Those who were left out have to obtain Israeli permits each time they want to cross through the gate to reach the other side of the village.

 

Gate is open for permit holders from the village citizens only between 5.30 am until 10 pm. Children under 12 years of age can’t cross without showing their parents ID cards, their birth certificates, and their parent’s permits to be able to reach their schools; some times they are kept waiting for an hour or so before they are allowed to enter through the gate.

 

 The citizens of Azzon Atmeh have strong family ties with neighboring villages like sneria and Bit Amin that are now totally isolated from their village; family members and relatives are devastated as they are unable to communicate and be in touch in normal manners.

 

Abdel kareem Ayyoub, head of village local council said that for more than a year, the Israeli authorities have prevented owners of lands and water wells that reside in nearby villages from reaching their lands or wells in Azzon Atmeh.

 

Ms. Rana Nashashibib from the Palestinian center for guidance describes impact of the separation wall on the mental and psychological stability of the Palestinian individuals and families to be very devastating; social and family structures are broken because of the wall which destroyed the fields and farms that had been the major source of living for Palestinian villagers. 

 

Mariam Salameh, a teacher at Azzon Atmeh high school for girls can’t communicate with her family in Silfeet, “the wall is standing between me and my family; we don’t see each other even in the holidays and anniversaries”.

 

 Amal Ahmad, the nurse in the village clinic, says that visiting family members and friends is not a pleasure any more, as one is alerted and afraid that Gates might be closed at any time, “I prefer to be locked up at home than taking the risk of being shut away from home” Amal adds: “ I can’t bear to see one soldier controlling our lives and movements, he could hold us for hours behind the gate for no reason and when this happens, we give up the idea of visiting our relatives and turn back home”.

 

Ms. Nashashibi says that the wall is not only destroying the economy and tearing down family and social ties, but also affecting the educational process for many children who can’t reach their schools most of the days; girls are often convinced to leave school as families can’t secure their safety and wellbeing while crossing to schools in other neighboring villages.

 

Salameh thinks that the wall is hindering most girls from getting married to proposing men from areas outside the wall; girls are afraid of not being able to host or visit their families if they get married outside the wall. For those who would take the risk, the scene seems absurd as proposing man and his family would meet the bride to be and her family on the gate; details of wedding arrangement and living conditions for the couple are discussed through the bars of gate. 

 

On his own experience, Mr. Ayyoub said: “half of my family members including my brothers live behind the gate and are unable to visit my parents unless they are granted Israeli permits to do so”. The new erected gate would take the village to a catastrophe as it cuts away vital industrial establishments, stones mines, aluminum factories, water wells, nurseries, as well as 3000 Dunoms of the fertile agricultural lands of the village. 

 

The wall is indeed a major threat to the Palestinian lives and Palestinian existence in their villages and cities as it is driving more Palestinian away from home and turning them into refugees in other cities and villages.

 

By: Mageda Al-Bilbisi

 

Translated by: Samar Qutob

 

On the pavement of Omar Almukhtar Street in Gaza city stands the eight years old girl Subhiyah, trying to sell her goods; some mint leaves, tissues, and cheap earrings and bracelets. The skinny frustrated girl was hesitant and a bit frightened when I approached her and asked her if she goes to school at all, she then opened up and said that she is helping her mother after school by trying to sell those goods as her father is disable and can’t work; “we are four working family members, we stay with mother in the street till 10 pm to provide for our living”.

 

Salah is another street vendor selling Egyptian corn wheat and peanuts; eleven years old Salah, being the family’s oldest son, has dropped out of school to assist his unemployed father to feed their family of seven. He said “I used to sell fruits on a cart, but when government forbad the stalls in Gaza I turned into selling corn and peanuts, I hold the sacks on my shoulder and move from one place to the other until I sell them, sometimes I go home with some unsold bags”. Salah is happy with the coins he takes back home in the evening as he can now buy himself the things he likes most.      

 

Trading in Cigarettes has become popular in the past two years in Gaza as many brands of cigarettes are infiltrated through the tunnels; unfortunately children have been used by older merchants to help promote this product and sell it.

 

 In a very busy area in central Gaza a small and very thin young boy was selling cigarette, Ihab who is in the six grade at school said that he is assisting his older brother in selling cigarettes as their father have lost his job in Israel. After spending sometime watching the scene I noticed that several members of the same family are engaged in the same business with a portable cigarette stand for each. I approached the older brother and asked if he is ever worried that his young brother might be tempted to smoke while selling cigarettes, he said they have no other choice and that this was the only profitable work available for them to be able to provide for the 14 family members, “however, I am not away from my brother, I stand on the opposite pavement and watch him all the time”.   

 

 Children and tunnel trading:

For the past two years, tunnels trading have been attracting children that are manipulated in digging the tunnels and smuggling goods. With the besiege of Gaza and disability of families to meet all needs of their children, ten’s of the children have gone their way against the well of their families and tried tunnel trading. Muhammad Masoud said that he was persuaded by a friend to go to the tunnels; he went once and was away from home for two days without telling his mother, who was about to loose her mind while searching for him. The fifteen years old boy, came back home with bruises all over his body and head, as he had been crawling down a tunnel for two days. The 500 shekels he earned in his trip did not stop his mother from harshly punishing him to make sure he never put himself in danger again. 

 

Mr. Dawoud Barawi from the International Movement for the Defense of Children (DCI) said that 23 thousand working children were registered in the Palestinian areas before the uprising; however, statistics shows that figures are on the rise as 40 thousands children are found to be working now. This comes after 3 years of the tight siege of Gaza and the collapse of the economic situation and increase number of unemployed people in the strip.

 

The Palestinian secretariat for children along with the UNICEF and some other ministries are putting together a project by which more than 1000 working child would be brought back to schools; children would be able to earn their living and study at same time.

   

Although the Palestinian labor law prohibits children under the age of 15 from working, figures of the Palestinian Bureau of statistics shows that 40 thousand out of the one million Palestinian children do work. However, 48% of the working children would prefer to be studying and not working. 25% of the kids parents and family members said that families would be badly affected if their working kids stopped working; common concern for the working children is to be able to provide for their families after their fathers were made redundant and had to stay at home.

 

Social worker Sumayya Habib described working children to be deprived from their right to enjoy normal childhood; those children are driven towards the adults’ territories and were led to adopt adult’s vocabularies and behaviors, play roles not tailored for them, and get engaged in the labor market with the exploitations that comes with it. “Working children are exposed to misconducts like steeling, especially if a child suddenly looses his income from work and feel the urge of the money he used to earn. Several working children ended up in Juvenile centers for committing felonies. 

 

Hanan Siam, the field worker at the Palestinian working women association said that some boys and girls are recruited for domestic works inside the houses, and although there are no figures on the number of children working in this sector, it is apparent that they are employed for tougher cleaning jobs within the households; many children undertake such jobs without the consensus of their families to earn extra money that would fulfill some of their desires.  

 

 No body ever thought that a Palestinian would ever go to bed hungry, but recent data on the situation in Gaza shows that quiet a good number of Gaza children had to go to bed with empty stomachs; children appear to be developing physical and mental problems that affect their educational and social wellbeing.

 

Since 2007, the Israeli besiege of Gaza strip has became even tighter and the population of the strip were put under a sort of collective punishment. Humanitarian aid has become the main source of living for most families, especially those who lost their jobs as workers in Israel.

 

The aid provided by the UNRWA covers the very basic needs for the refugees in Gaza (around 60% of the population). Only other source for all kinds of products is the Israeli crossing points that are tightly controlled by the Israeli occupation authority. About 10% of the food and energy needed for Gaza is allowed in, which leaves the families in short of water, electricity, fuel, and food most of their time.

 

It is estimated that with the rising number of unemployment, 90% of the population are now living below the poverty line; impact on children is most obvious as increasing numbers of kids are reported to be anemic, underweight, and have mobility problems.

Dr. Adnan Wheidi, director of the center for children nutrition describes his young patients as very quiet, pale, small and thin. He added that children mortality because of malnutrition is increasing and that 14% of the children under the age of 5 are shorter than average, 4.2% are underweight, and 9.8% are pale and weak.

 

Gaza children by large, do not get proper nutrient meals as they do not eat enough fruits and vegetables; exported fruits do not get into Gaza on regular basis, and prices of vegetables are tripled. Last Israeli war on Gaza have caused damage to 18% of the citruses and olive trees, 17% of the cattle, 10% of the poultry; bread has become the only and basic food for most people which explains the spread of nutrient related diseases especially among children. Prices of poultry have risen by 46%, fresh meats by 33%, wheat by 28%, and cooking oils by 16%.

 

 Ms. Mahasin Muhaisin, director of the education projects in the UNRWA confirms that 32.4% of the pupils in the UNRWA schools in Gaza have malnutrition that is not only affecting their physical well being but rather leaving them lazy, distracted, and unwilling to learn; underachievement and school dropout are on the rise.

 

Dr. Ra’fat Hassoneh from the UNICEF said that 22% of the school children between 5-12 years are reported to be anemic; most common illnesses are related to deficiencies of Vitamins A and D, Iron, and Iodine. Infected children are distracted, underachieving, and unable to interact in the educational process, which eventually leads them to run away and drop out of schools. Dropout among boys is higher than girls in younger ages, but this is not true when they approach high schools as girls dropout reach 11% while the boys 8.4%; girls are driven out of schools to be married in an early age. 

 

Studies and researches suggest that deteriorating health problems are one of the reasons behind dropout from schools. However, those studies shows that financial status of the families is the major drive behind the phenomenon, as parents would force their children into the labor market hoping to get extra income for the family from their work. Children do not only work as street sellers, but are also recruited in harsh places like blacksmiths and ironsmiths workshops for very small wages and longer working hours. Many small size children are used to transport illegal goods in the underground tunnels that proved to be a true life threatening experience to most children.

 

Schools on the other hand are becoming unfriendly in the eyes of the children, broken windows, damaged playgrounds and toilets, and shortage of desks and chairs are some of the miseries children have to face at school; one major dilemma for them is to coop with the loss of a school mate or teachers that were killed during the Israeli attacks. The Israeli selective policy for goods to be exported to Gaza is also affecting the educational process as books, print papers, and stationeries are not allowed into Gaza, basic building materials as well as wood and glass needed to rehabilitate the school buildings are not available in the strip.

 

Mr. Saied Sarsawi, the psychoanalyst in the center for democracy and conflict resolution says that children dropout because they do not see their schools as an interesting or motivating place; schools are not good for innovation or playing. Mr. Sarsawi also thinks that oppressed adults (parents and teachers) are taking their frustration back on the children and this is reflected in the rise of violent practices among school children. Eventually those children would be punished and kicked out of school- that if we assumed that they didn’t leave school willingly.

Children of Gaza are deprived from all the basics needed for them to behave or act normally. They are deprived from the sense of security and safety, from the pocket money, school equipments, proper meals, and from the parks and entertainment places.  

Surviving children of Gaza like the rest of population are paying high prices for the Israeli siege of the strip.