11 feb 2017
A 17-year-old former prisoner from the Wadi al-Joz neighborhood of occupied East Jerusalem, who was released this week from Israeli custody after over a year in prison, detailed the account of his detention to Ma’an on Friday, saying he was “on the verge of death” in Israel's Megiddo prison.
Majd Nadir Saida told Ma'an of the day he was detained, Sept. 30, 2015, saying “six undercover Israeli officers attacked me near my house, beating me violently and firing gunshots into the air to prevent anyone from helping me.”
Shortly after, Israeli forces took the teenager -- who was 15 at the time -- to Israel’s “Oz” police station in the Jabal al-Mukabbir neighborhood of East Jerusalem, and then to the Russian Compound interrogation center.
Saida told Ma’an he sustained bruises and cuts on his head, neck, and face, during the violent detention.
The teenager was then taken to Israel’s HaSharon prison before being transferred to Givon prison, which he says was a prison for African migrants and asylum seekers who enter Israel without proper documentation.
"The living conditions in Givon prison were very bad and very hard. I stayed there for two months and the wardens used to storm the prisoners' rooms violently every week for inspection, beating us every time."
He was then moved to Megiddo prison.
My "tragedy", he said, started in April 2016 when I started to feel severe abdominal pains which lasted for a week. "A doctor at Megiddo prison checked me and gave me standard painkillers. However, pains increased day after day and were more severe than I can describe. One day the doctor checked me and asked me to drink a Coke so he can diagnose the cause of pain,” Saida said.
“After I drank the Coke at the doctor's request, I couldn't sleep due to the severe pains and tiredness I felt."
Saida told Ma’an that his pains reached such a severe point that his fellow prisoners shouted at the Israeli guards to bring a doctor, who only came after Saida’s cellmates continued shouting.
The doctor checked Saida through a small window in the room's door without opening the door.
"He just took my temperature and asked me to drink water."
An hour later wardens opened his room and moved him to another room with older prisoners. "The next day I was taken to Afula prison hospital in a police vehicle. Both my hands and feet were cuffed."
Doctors decided that Saida urgently needed surgery on his appendix, saying that it had been left untreated and was perforated “spilling poisonous and infectious material into the abdomen.”
"I stayed 22 days in hospital with both my hands and feet tied. Whenever I needed to go to the toilet, I had to wait half an hour until they obtained approval from the prison manager,” Saida said, pointing out that he also needed approval to take a shower, a process that would take about one hour and required the presence of an officer inside the room while he showered, and another outside.
Saida said suffered from severe weight loss and weighed only 37 kilograms (81 pounds) after his stay in the hospital.
His father Nadir told Ma’an that a doctor from the Afula hospital called him for permission to operate on Majd, which was the first time he learned that his son was even sick in the first place.
“I asked to go to the hospital myself, but the doctor told me that if I don't approve the surgery I would see my son as a dead body, so I approved the surgery on the phone,” Nidal said.
Saida's mother and uncle were able to visit him after the surgery and stay with him for an hour, his father said, highlighting that the two had to wait for hours before being allowed to see Majd.
"I visited him three times at Afula hospital, once every week, " Saida’s mother said, saying that Israeli officers prevented her from actually touching or getting close to her son.
Rights groups have widely condemned Israel for its medical negligence of Palestinians in its prisons, which Addameer has called a "deliberate policy of neglect."
In August, a number of Palestinian rights organizations established a committee to follow the cases of Palestinians in poor health being held in Israeli prisons.
Rights groups have accused the Israel Prison Service (IPS) of practicing a policy of medical neglect on Palestinian prisoners, leading to at least 17 Palestinian prisoners dying in Israeli custody as a direct result of medical negligence from the beginning of the Second Intifada in 2000 until 2008, according to prisoners’ rights group Addameer.
In addition to deliberate medical negligence, Addameer has cited the environment in Israeli prisons, which is reportedly far below international standards, the tendency for the Israeli prison administration to ignore their responsibility for the well being of Palestinian prisoners, and the overcrowding in Israeli prisons as all factors that adversely impact the health of Palestinians in Israeli custody.
Prisoners’ rights group Addameer has reported that 6,000 Palestinians are curently being held in Israeli prison, according to their January statistics.
Majd Nadir Saida told Ma'an of the day he was detained, Sept. 30, 2015, saying “six undercover Israeli officers attacked me near my house, beating me violently and firing gunshots into the air to prevent anyone from helping me.”
Shortly after, Israeli forces took the teenager -- who was 15 at the time -- to Israel’s “Oz” police station in the Jabal al-Mukabbir neighborhood of East Jerusalem, and then to the Russian Compound interrogation center.
Saida told Ma’an he sustained bruises and cuts on his head, neck, and face, during the violent detention.
The teenager was then taken to Israel’s HaSharon prison before being transferred to Givon prison, which he says was a prison for African migrants and asylum seekers who enter Israel without proper documentation.
"The living conditions in Givon prison were very bad and very hard. I stayed there for two months and the wardens used to storm the prisoners' rooms violently every week for inspection, beating us every time."
He was then moved to Megiddo prison.
My "tragedy", he said, started in April 2016 when I started to feel severe abdominal pains which lasted for a week. "A doctor at Megiddo prison checked me and gave me standard painkillers. However, pains increased day after day and were more severe than I can describe. One day the doctor checked me and asked me to drink a Coke so he can diagnose the cause of pain,” Saida said.
“After I drank the Coke at the doctor's request, I couldn't sleep due to the severe pains and tiredness I felt."
Saida told Ma’an that his pains reached such a severe point that his fellow prisoners shouted at the Israeli guards to bring a doctor, who only came after Saida’s cellmates continued shouting.
The doctor checked Saida through a small window in the room's door without opening the door.
"He just took my temperature and asked me to drink water."
An hour later wardens opened his room and moved him to another room with older prisoners. "The next day I was taken to Afula prison hospital in a police vehicle. Both my hands and feet were cuffed."
Doctors decided that Saida urgently needed surgery on his appendix, saying that it had been left untreated and was perforated “spilling poisonous and infectious material into the abdomen.”
"I stayed 22 days in hospital with both my hands and feet tied. Whenever I needed to go to the toilet, I had to wait half an hour until they obtained approval from the prison manager,” Saida said, pointing out that he also needed approval to take a shower, a process that would take about one hour and required the presence of an officer inside the room while he showered, and another outside.
Saida said suffered from severe weight loss and weighed only 37 kilograms (81 pounds) after his stay in the hospital.
His father Nadir told Ma’an that a doctor from the Afula hospital called him for permission to operate on Majd, which was the first time he learned that his son was even sick in the first place.
“I asked to go to the hospital myself, but the doctor told me that if I don't approve the surgery I would see my son as a dead body, so I approved the surgery on the phone,” Nidal said.
Saida's mother and uncle were able to visit him after the surgery and stay with him for an hour, his father said, highlighting that the two had to wait for hours before being allowed to see Majd.
"I visited him three times at Afula hospital, once every week, " Saida’s mother said, saying that Israeli officers prevented her from actually touching or getting close to her son.
Rights groups have widely condemned Israel for its medical negligence of Palestinians in its prisons, which Addameer has called a "deliberate policy of neglect."
In August, a number of Palestinian rights organizations established a committee to follow the cases of Palestinians in poor health being held in Israeli prisons.
Rights groups have accused the Israel Prison Service (IPS) of practicing a policy of medical neglect on Palestinian prisoners, leading to at least 17 Palestinian prisoners dying in Israeli custody as a direct result of medical negligence from the beginning of the Second Intifada in 2000 until 2008, according to prisoners’ rights group Addameer.
In addition to deliberate medical negligence, Addameer has cited the environment in Israeli prisons, which is reportedly far below international standards, the tendency for the Israeli prison administration to ignore their responsibility for the well being of Palestinian prisoners, and the overcrowding in Israeli prisons as all factors that adversely impact the health of Palestinians in Israeli custody.
Prisoners’ rights group Addameer has reported that 6,000 Palestinians are curently being held in Israeli prison, according to their January statistics.
10 feb 2017
Israeli Central Court in occupied Jerusalem sentenced Thursday four Jerusalemites, including three minors, to prison.
Head of the Jerusalem Committee for Families of Prisoners Amjad Abu Assab affirmed that the young man Yasser Basti, 21, was sentenced to three years imprisonment for stone-throwing charges.
Basti was detained on Oct. 12, 2015 and currently held in Ohalei Kedar Detention Center south of Israel, he added.
Meanwhile, the 17-year-old boy Youssef Abu Shukheidim was sentenced to nine months plus a fine of 800 $US.
The two children Mohamed Khatib, 15, and Ahmed Fawaqa, 14, were also sentenced to ten months in prison after being convicted of throwing stones at Israeli soldiers.
Both boys were detained on Dec. 13, 2016 and currently held in Megiddo prison.
In Nov. 2015, Israel passed a law establishing a maximum prison sentence of three years for Palestinians who are allegedly involved in stone-throwing attacks.
Defense for Children International (DCI) – Palestine said the legislation will have "an even more harmful effect" on Palestinian children, who are often "detained arbitrarily" or arrested without reliable evidence of accusations.
According to DCI-Palestine's statistics, at least 53 percent of Palestinian children in occupied Jerusalem arrested by Israeli forces are subjected to violence, while 86 percent are coerced into signing confessions in Hebrew, a language they do not know.
Head of the Jerusalem Committee for Families of Prisoners Amjad Abu Assab affirmed that the young man Yasser Basti, 21, was sentenced to three years imprisonment for stone-throwing charges.
Basti was detained on Oct. 12, 2015 and currently held in Ohalei Kedar Detention Center south of Israel, he added.
Meanwhile, the 17-year-old boy Youssef Abu Shukheidim was sentenced to nine months plus a fine of 800 $US.
The two children Mohamed Khatib, 15, and Ahmed Fawaqa, 14, were also sentenced to ten months in prison after being convicted of throwing stones at Israeli soldiers.
Both boys were detained on Dec. 13, 2016 and currently held in Megiddo prison.
In Nov. 2015, Israel passed a law establishing a maximum prison sentence of three years for Palestinians who are allegedly involved in stone-throwing attacks.
Defense for Children International (DCI) – Palestine said the legislation will have "an even more harmful effect" on Palestinian children, who are often "detained arbitrarily" or arrested without reliable evidence of accusations.
According to DCI-Palestine's statistics, at least 53 percent of Palestinian children in occupied Jerusalem arrested by Israeli forces are subjected to violence, while 86 percent are coerced into signing confessions in Hebrew, a language they do not know.
9 feb 2017
The Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) has reported that Israeli soldiers abducted, overnight and until dawn hours Thursday, eleven Palestinians, including two children, during invasions and violent searches of homes and property, in different parts of the occupied West Bank.
The PPS in Ramallah, in central West Bank, said the soldiers abducted Ahmad Odah al-Qadi, 50, and his son, Mustafa, from their home in Mazare’ Nobani town, after interrogating them and searching the property.
The soldiers also invaded and searched homes in the southern West Bank district of Hebron, and abducted two Palestinians, identified as Mohammad Kamel Eqteil and Nafeth Shawamra.
In Bethlehem, the soldiers also invaded a print shop in Bethlehem, in addition to abducting Mohammad Ibrahim al-‘Amour, 23, from his home in Teqoua’ town, east of the city.
Also in Bethlehem, the soldiers invaded homes in ‘Aida refugee camp, and abducted a child, identified as Ali al-Jawareesh, 13.
In occupied Jerusalem, the soldiers abducted a former political prisoner, identified as Samer ad-Deesi, and Mohammad ad-Deesi, from their homes in Kufur Aqab town, north of the city, in addition to abducting a child, identified as Mohammad Yacoub Saidawi, 14, from his home in the ar-Ram town, north of Jerusalem.
Furthermore, the soldiers invaded and searched homes in Shweika area, in the northern West Bank district of Tulkarem, and abducted Abdul-Salaam Mustafa Badawi, 40.
Another Palestinian, identified as Ahmad Fayez Sa’adi, was abducted in the Jenin refugee camp, in the northern West Bank district of Jenin, after the soldiers invaded and searched several homes.
In related news, the Israeli air force fired several missiles targeting a siege-busting commercial tunnel close to the Egyptian border, in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, killing two Palestinian workers, and wounding at least five others.
The PPS in Ramallah, in central West Bank, said the soldiers abducted Ahmad Odah al-Qadi, 50, and his son, Mustafa, from their home in Mazare’ Nobani town, after interrogating them and searching the property.
The soldiers also invaded and searched homes in the southern West Bank district of Hebron, and abducted two Palestinians, identified as Mohammad Kamel Eqteil and Nafeth Shawamra.
In Bethlehem, the soldiers also invaded a print shop in Bethlehem, in addition to abducting Mohammad Ibrahim al-‘Amour, 23, from his home in Teqoua’ town, east of the city.
Also in Bethlehem, the soldiers invaded homes in ‘Aida refugee camp, and abducted a child, identified as Ali al-Jawareesh, 13.
In occupied Jerusalem, the soldiers abducted a former political prisoner, identified as Samer ad-Deesi, and Mohammad ad-Deesi, from their homes in Kufur Aqab town, north of the city, in addition to abducting a child, identified as Mohammad Yacoub Saidawi, 14, from his home in the ar-Ram town, north of Jerusalem.
Furthermore, the soldiers invaded and searched homes in Shweika area, in the northern West Bank district of Tulkarem, and abducted Abdul-Salaam Mustafa Badawi, 40.
Another Palestinian, identified as Ahmad Fayez Sa’adi, was abducted in the Jenin refugee camp, in the northern West Bank district of Jenin, after the soldiers invaded and searched several homes.
In related news, the Israeli air force fired several missiles targeting a siege-busting commercial tunnel close to the Egyptian border, in Rafah, in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, killing two Palestinian workers, and wounding at least five others.
6 feb 2017
Over the course of the month of January alone, at least 64 Palestinian minors were detained and incarcerated in Israel's Ofer detention center, while the minors were imposed with a collective 52,000 shekels (approximately $14,000) in fines, the Palestinian Committee of Prisoners' Affairs said in a statement Monday.
The committee said that eight of the minors were detained after Israeli forces shot them.
Of the minors detained in January and held in Ofer, 28 were detained from their homes, 27 from the street, six at Israeli military checkpoints, and two after they were summoned for interrogation.
One 16-year-old detainee was transferred to administrative detention, Israel's widely condemned policy of internment without trial or charge under undisclosed evidence.
The committee said that 28 of the underage Palestinians were handed actual prison sentences ranging between one month and 12 months, while the remaining were still being held and interrogated.
Ofer detention center is one of the most common sites used by Israel for the interrogation of Palestinian children. Last October, the committee reported that the “overwhelming majority” of Palestinian minors held in Israel’s Megiddo and Ofer prisons are tortured during their detention and interrogation.
Rights groups have also widely documented the mistreatment, abuse, and torture of Palestinian minors in detention, and the harsh interrogation practices used to force their confessions.
Meanwhile, Palestinian NGO BADIL warned last year of an increasing trend of Israeli forces shooting Palestinian youth in a deliberate attempt to leave them crippled for life.
The committee said that eight of the minors were detained after Israeli forces shot them.
Of the minors detained in January and held in Ofer, 28 were detained from their homes, 27 from the street, six at Israeli military checkpoints, and two after they were summoned for interrogation.
One 16-year-old detainee was transferred to administrative detention, Israel's widely condemned policy of internment without trial or charge under undisclosed evidence.
The committee said that 28 of the underage Palestinians were handed actual prison sentences ranging between one month and 12 months, while the remaining were still being held and interrogated.
Ofer detention center is one of the most common sites used by Israel for the interrogation of Palestinian children. Last October, the committee reported that the “overwhelming majority” of Palestinian minors held in Israel’s Megiddo and Ofer prisons are tortured during their detention and interrogation.
Rights groups have also widely documented the mistreatment, abuse, and torture of Palestinian minors in detention, and the harsh interrogation practices used to force their confessions.
Meanwhile, Palestinian NGO BADIL warned last year of an increasing trend of Israeli forces shooting Palestinian youth in a deliberate attempt to leave them crippled for life.
Approximately 300 children are among 7,000 Palestinian prisoners currently held in Israeli jails amid very difficult detention conditions, rights sources revealed.
The researcher in prisoners Affairs Abdul Nasser Farwana affirmed that 300 Palestinian children and 51 women, including 11 minors, are arbitrarily held in Israeli prisons.
600 of those prisoners are held in administrative detention without charge or trial, Farwana elaborated.
The number of imprisoned Palestinian journalists has also increased to reach 21, he pointed out.
The researcher in prisoners Affairs Abdul Nasser Farwana affirmed that 300 Palestinian children and 51 women, including 11 minors, are arbitrarily held in Israeli prisons.
600 of those prisoners are held in administrative detention without charge or trial, Farwana elaborated.
The number of imprisoned Palestinian journalists has also increased to reach 21, he pointed out.
