Interview with a female detainee imprisoned by Israel

Sunday March 09, 2008 01:13 by Ali Samoudi – Jenin - Translated by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC

One again, the world celebrates the International Women’s Day while dozens of Palestinian women and mothers are still imprisoned by the occupation, stripped of their fundamental rights of even hugging their children.

Detainee Qahira Al Sa'dy

Detainee Qahira Al Sa’dy, imprisoned in Telmond Israeli prison voiced an appeal to every Palestinian woman to act for the “support of all detained women, for the pain, sadness and anger of the imprisoned women who are suffering and dreaming of a day when they can hug their children once again.”

Qahira voiced an appealed to the conscious of women around the gold, to aid the Palestinian women who are still suffering, chained, surrounded and attacked under the occupation.

“The whole world is celebrating the International Women’s Day, where is the support to the Palestinian women, living under occupation and stripped of their basic rights by an occupying force which is encouraged by the international silence”, Al Sa’dy stated.

Six years have passed since Qahira was kidnapped by the army and was sentenced to a life term, if the walls of her cell could speak they speak for her and tell the world “enough silence while we are facing slow death, enough silence while these cells are more similar to graves, small cold  graves, wet in winter, hot and filled with humidity in summer, filled with bugs and cockroaches”.

On International Women’s Day, Qahira wonders whether the women know the amount of abuse and brutality the detained Palestinian women are subjected to.

“We have to chose hunger, as the food given to us is bad and causing sickness”, she stated, “several detainees are sick, need immediate medical attention and surgeries but the administration is ignoring them and practicing collective punishment”.

“International laws and regulations talk about women, and their rights, but the occupation challenges everything  and punishes every Palestinian woman”, she said, “they are barring us from having visitations, they are depriving is from medical attention and treatment, and they are confining us to solitary for extended periods”.

“one of the worst injustices is depriving the detained Palestinian women from hugging their children, I was kidnapped more than six years ago, taken away from my four children, they are getting bigger day by day, and when they come to visit me I can’t hug them or have direct body contact with them as we are separated by glass barriers, and the whole visitation time is no more than 30 minutes”.

“I see their tears which they try to hide from me, and I hear the shaky voices going through my heart and body, this is the suffering of more than 100 detained women”, she said, “On International Women’s Day, we appeal to every women, living between their kids and families, to remember our suffering, and remembers our dream of a day when we can hug our children, to remember our dream that one day, maybe one day, the international laws and human rights principles will be implemented”.

palestine | prisoners | interview saed at imemc dot org