Six years of agony in Israeli prisons
The following is an exclusive Press TV interview with Shrirn Sehikh Khalil, a former Palestinian prisoner who had been held in Israeli custody for six years. Shirin is a resident of the occupied West Bank but has been released in the Gaza Strip. Press TV: Shirin tell us what it was like to spend six years in Israeli jails?
Khalil: I was in Israeli prisons for six years and they [Israelis] kept transferring me from one prison to another. I did not visit my family for six years because although my family lives in the West Bank, they hold Gazan ID cards and Gazans were not allowed to meet me. I had a hard time not being able to see my family.
Press TV: Shirin you were there for six years, tell us how the Israelis treat Palestinians prisoners?
Khalil: Their treatment was definitely terrible. They adopt a policy of solitary confinement and punishment toward us.
They moved detainees from one prison to another to destroy their morale and in the latest of such moves they transferred female prisoners from Hamas and Islamic Jihad to HaSharon prison and female detainees with Fatah and the Popular Front [for Liberation of Palestine] to Damun Prison.
Press TV: What can you tell us about the situation of the detainees -- especially women -- held in Israeli jails?
Khalil: Like other prisoners in Israeli jails who are subject to mistreatment, they ill-treated me; they were no difference between male and female detainees in this regard.
For example, Amal Joma suffered from uterine cancer and Amni Mona developed another disease, Sina Abu Qalam suffered from gastrointestinal and other chronic diseases and Israelis did not provide us with adequate medical care -- they would just give us analgesics.
Press TV: Many describe Gaza as an open air prison. How do you describe it?
Khalil: The situation in Gaza is certainly very painful. No body has been able to enter or leave the Gaza Strip for two years, while unemployment and the lack of vital supplies have made life difficult for the Gaza people.
Press TV
posted by Gert @ 2:02 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
One very important detail is missing from the report: what did she do to get her into prison?
I'd take her words with a grain of salt. It's in her interest to make Israel look as bad as possible.
Assuming her account is more or less accurate, why then does it matter to you what she was in for? Do you feel those detained for 'worse' crimes should be treated more harshly than those guilty of 'lesser' crimes? It's not supposed to be that way.
Most criminals would reply: "I got caught!" ;-)
That's just the thing - I don't assume her account is more or less accurate. For one thing, I highly doubt that prisoners with cancer didn't get treatment. I don't think she fabricated everything, but I don't think she's completely truthful either.
Knowing what she was in prison for might help assess her reliability. One of the prisoners she mentions, Amni Mona, used the Internet to seduce a 16-year old Israeli kid to come to Ramallah, where he was ambushed and murdered. People who are involved in these kinds of things aren't the most reliable when it comes to what they have to say about Israel's treatment of them.
Their reliability has nothing to do with their crime.
And I could easily imagine that if someone like Amni Mona was guilty of that, that her chance of receiving a fair treatment wouldn't be too high...
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