One Year in Prison/ Story of Faculty of Journalism’s Student. / Palestine

One Year in Prison/ Story of Faculty of Journalism’s Student.



I got a call from my brother telling me that some Israeli jeeps were on the way to arrest me, and that they had taken two of my brothers as hostages in order to ensure that I did not try to escape.



I was shocked and did not know what to do. I was afraid of being put into detention, and surprised by this unexpected turn of events, but I could not put my family at risk. So I stayed where I was in my village Huwarah. The Israeli soldiers arrived, searched me, and put me into a jeep. The soldiers released one of my brothers, but detained the other for one week.



I tried to discuss the matter with the Israeli commander who arrested me. He defended his government’s policy, and furthermore claimed that Palestinians don’t want peace; that we are bringing trouble down upon ourselves. All I could do was wonder how anyone could think - could say - that a whole society does not want peace and stability.



As is usually the case with detained Palestinians, we were taken to the questioning center in the Qadomim settlement. Once there, the commander tried to blackmail me, and threatened to place me under administrative detention for one year without charge or trial. From the Qadomim settlement I was taken to the Huwarah military camp, and then sent back again to the Qadomim settlement where I ended up staying for four days in a small room under bad conditions, with little food.



After that, we were taken to the Ofer settlement, which is being used temporarily as a detention center. I stayed there for one and a half months until I was moved to the desert detention camp (Ansar) where I spent almost a year.



That detention camp is so horrible it does not even deserve to be called a prison. It is completely isolated, during the summer the temperatures are extremely hot, and it is infested with rats, mosquitoes and flies. At first I did not think that I would be able to survive under such conditions, but I, like all the other prisoners, learned to adapt with the help and support of the other prisoners.



When this all happened, I was in my final year of university; a year that was very important for me and the completion of my course. I had to spend that year in that awful detention camp without any charges ever being made against me.



I tried to find out why I was there but was only told that the case was top secret and that I was a threat to security. I was taken to court five times without any changes being pressed, and without being given any information about my case. Sadly, this is a common tactic that is employed by the Israelis as part of their ongoing military occupation.



I was released few weeks ago, on the 23rd July, 2003, and am now back at school trying to get my life on track, and do what I wanted to do over a year ago: graduate.