s poverty is exacerbated by closure, civilian infrastructure continues to disintegrate, and Israeli attacks persist, Palestinians collectively suffer under siege. Behind the shadows, a substantial group within Palestinian society bears the additional sorrow of separation from their loved ones.
Um Saber has not seen her son in over four years. Although in the past she was able to visit him multiple times a month, presently it is impossible for family members of Gazans held in Israeli prisons to visit them. There are 6180 Palestinians presently being held in Israeli prisons, 691 of which are from the Gaza Strip (Addameer 2010). Israel's imprisonment of these individuals within Israel proper violates Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention entailing that occupied people cannot be transferred to the lands of their occupiers. In addition, Israel denies these prisoners their fundamental human right to be visited by their family members. Since June 6, 2007, Israel has prohibited all family visits to Palestinian prisoners from Gaza, and in December of 2009, the Israeli High Court of Justice upheld this inhumane practice.
In spite of her old age and poor health, Um Saber traveled in 2006 to visit her son in the Nafha Prison located in the Negev desert. Along with a Red Cross bus full of family members of other prisoners, Um Saber traveled a total of 20 hours so that she would be granted a 45 minute visit with her son. She left her home at 2:00AM and arrived at the prison at 12:00PM. "There was thick glass between us and them; they couldn’t hear us through it. We spoke to each other with signals. There were telephones for us to use, but we couldn’t hear anything through them because of the other families meeting with their relatives so close by. And we know that the Israelis record what we say on the phones, so we don't want to use them," Um Saber says describing the conditions under which she saw her son. She explained that the Israeli guards let her enter a room and sit with him just long enough to take a few photos together, photos she was eager to share.
Um Saber explained that when her son was first imprisoned, about 20 years ago, she would visit him twice every fifteen days, once through the Red Cross and once out of her pocket. Unfortunately as her age progressed and her health worsened, it became physically impossible for her to visit him this often. Eventually security on the borders grew more and more tight and clashes caused the visits to be terminated for periods of time. This inconsistency lasted until the election of the Hamas government in 2006, when borders were permanently shut and visits prohibited.
Although Um Saber is weak and her health is poor, she misses her son dearly and is willing to travel days to visit him. At the mention of her son's name, she is brought to tears. Wrapped in five double-folded heavy blankets, she shares the conditions under which her son and other prisoners live, "In the winter, when the cold was unbearable, all they had were shirts missing their buttons, they were kept in solitary confinement, a tiny room with an open window [bringing in more cold air], and they shook so violently from the cold." As she shares these details she is unable to hold her emotions. She tells of how the Israeli prison guards found a mobile phone in one prison hidden within the cell's walls, and now they are searching each and every cell. "There are four soldiers restraining each prisoner as the rest of them search the cells. They look in the mattresses, they carve into the walls. Four soldiers on each prisoner."
Um Saber's desire to be reunited with her son is reflective of the emotions of many mothers separated from their children, but her story represents the sorrow and suffering of all of the Gazan families of the Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. With the Israeli refusal to permit the Red Cross to facilitate family visits, the forced estrangement between loved ones grows more and more unbearable.
Grandma and 3ammu Hazem last time she visited him in the Nafha prison in Israel 5 years ago. She's been denied a visit since.
The last time they saw each other, five years ago.
3ammu Hazem (bottom left) as a child being photographed with two of his brothers and his mother, Um Saber.***Sadly, this was one of the pieces I wrote for my internship at PCHR that for some undisclosed reason they never got around to publishing. Maybe because I suck at writing or maybe because I'm a crappy intern-- either way, it allows you to see the human side of this prisoner issue. Please do your best to learn more about the international laws and human rights Israel is violating through their political imprisonment of so many Palestinians.
Israel violates the following articles of the Declaration of Human Rights in regard to its prisoners:
-articles 5 (no torture),
-6 (recognition before the law),
-7 (protection under the law),
-9 (no arbitrary arrest, detention, or exile),
-10 (full equality to a fair trial),
-11 (innocent until prove guilty),
-30 (one person's human rights cannot be violated to guarantee another's)
Other issues to consider:
-incarcerated minors
-accommodations for women prisoners
-administrative detention
-civilians being tried in military court
-inadequate clothing, food, and linens for prisoners
-physical and psychological torture
-poor health care services
Explore this website for more information on this important issue:
http://addameer.org/index_eng.html
Even though we cannot have 3ammu Hazem in our daily lives, we place his picture in as many places as we can as a way to preserve his presence in our lives.
A plaque featuring 3ammu Hazem and prominent slain Palestinian leaders.
Another plaque, we truly love, honor, and miss him.
Clearly his physical absence has not diminished the love we have for him.
3ammu Hazem (right) shortly before he was imprisoned, over 20 years ago.
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