"Dear world that has shut its ears in the face of the children of Palestine: where are human rights, where is conscience, where is humanity?"

The terrible tragedy of the Prisoner Ahmed al-Sakani 

From Middle East Monitor , written by Ahmad Abu R'tema

Imagine the story of a man waiting eagerly and anxiously for the arrival of his first born child, and as he waits, he is unjustly detained and sentenced to twenty-seven years behind bars. His wife gives birth to their child while he is in prison and the child grows up without ever having set eyes on their father. However, after eleven years, the tragedy reaches its climax; while listening to a radio broadcast in prison, the man hears news of the death of his only son who had been waiting on pins and needles for his father's embrace...

In solidarity with Jordanian hunger strikers in Israeli prisons - Protest outside Jordanian Embassy, London, Sunday 30th June 2-4pm

On Sunday 30th June it will be the 60th day that 5 Palestinian political prisoners with Jordanian citizenship have been on hunger strike in Israeli occupation jails. The prisoners families are asking for the immediate release of all Palestinian political prisoners, and in the very least Israel be made to abide by its side of the shameful Wadi Araba normalisation agreement which King Hussein signed with Israel in 1994, under which Jordanian prisoners in Israeli jails should be transferred to Jordan to serve their sentences where at least the families of the prisoners can visit - something Israel is not permitting. The prisoners are also demanding Israel disclose the where abouts of 20 Jordanian prisoners which are missing, and to return the bodies of the prisoners who have died in Israel custody, which Israel has dumped in numbered graves, back to their families.

The unfulfilled wish of a 9 year old

Report by Malaka Mohamad at malaka383.wordpress

A nine-year-old boy Tariq Assakani passed away in a road accident in Gaza today. Tariq is the only child of the Palestinian prisoner Ahmad Assakani who is serving a 27 year sentence in Israeli jails.

The bus Tariq was traveling in was heading for a summer camp. It included thirty prisoners’ children. All have been injured and five are in a critical condition. All of the children have not seen their fathers for years.

International Day in support of Victims of Torture

From the Addameer website-

26 June 2013, Occupied Ramallah – In light of the commemoration of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the case of the almost 5,000 Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli prisons is of particular importance and poignancy.

Since 1967, 73 Palestinian detainees have died from torture at the hands of their Israeli interrogators.

Israel breaks pledge to allow imprisoned Gaza engineer family visits

Rami Almeghari
The Electronic Intifada
Gaza Strip
24 June 2013

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Dirar Abu Sisi’s continued imprisonment has exacted a heavy toll on his family in Gaza. (Rami Almeghari)

One year after Israel promised to allow Palestinian prisoners to receive visits from their families, it is still denying Dirar Abu Sisi the right to see his loved ones.

Abu Sisi, the deputy engineer of Gaza’s only power plant, was abducted in Ukraine, the country of his wife’s birth, in early 2011. He has been held in an Israeli prison since then. Throughout that time, his wife Veronika has only been able to have three telephone chats with him.

“The last call, which took ten minutes, was in January 2012,” she said. “When my mother died back in Ukraine, they refused to let us have a phone conversation.”

Addameer testifies about Israeli human rights vioaltions at UN Special Committee meeting

Today, 23 June 1013, the head of Addameer's documentation unit, Mrs. Ehteram Ghazawneh, will give testimony to the United Nations Special Committee to investigate Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arabs of the territories occupied since 1967. The Special Committee is meeting in Jordan and Mrs. Ghazawneh will detail the on-going violations against the almost 5,000 Palestinian political prisoners currently being held by Israel. Violations to be raised include medical neglect, torture, administrative detention, prison conditions, violations against children, as well as the on-going hunger strikes.

Israel bars children over eight from visiting fathers in prison

Israel bars children over eight from visiting fathers in prison
Joe Catron
The Electronic Intifada
Gaza City
10 June 2013

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Palestinian children in Gaza hold a protest outside the International Committee of the Red Cross, demanding the release of their relatives detained by Israel.

 (Joe Catron)

On 20 May, Obeida Shamali visited his father, Ahmad Abd Alraheem Shamali, in Israel’sNafha prison. It was the first time they had seen each other since Israeli forces captured Ahmad in August 2008.

“I was very happy,” the seven-year-old said. He was sitting under a picture of his father in his family’s house in Gaza City’s al-Shajaiyeh neighborhood. “Before it, I imagined how his face would look when I met him, because I hadn’t seen him for such a long time.”

Israel refuses medical treatment to female detainee, Lina al jarbouni

In the Prisoners' Diaries, a recurring complaint by the freed prisoners was about how they were denied medical treatment. Ibrahim Joundia states "..the prison clinic is not there to decrease pain, but to increase it." Akram Mansour endured piercing headaches for several years but received no treatment, until he went on hunger strike.

Israel 'refusing medical treatment' to female detainee

Published Tuesday 04/06/2013 20:56 by Maan News Agency


NABLUS (Ma'an) -- Israel's prison administration is denying medical treatment to a female Palestinian detainee, a human rights center said Tuesday.

Lina al-Jarbouni suffers severe pain in her gallbladder and doctors have said she needs surgery urgently, said Ahmad al-Bitawi of the Solidarity Foundation for Human Rights.

Al-Bitawi, who researches prisoner affairs, said the prison administration has repeatedly refused requests to allow al-Jarbouni to undergo surgery.

Al-Bitawi visited al-Jarbouni in Hasharon prison and said she was unable to eat or sleep and is only being given pain killers. She has lost weight and suffers a constant headache, he said in a statement.

Meanwhile, prisoner Muna Qadan told her lawyer Muhamad al-Abed that all female detainees would go on hunger strike if Israel continued to deny medical treatment to al-Jarbouni.

Al-Jarbouni was detained in 2002 and sentenced to 17 years.

One Palestinian child has been killed by Israel every 3 days for the past 13 years

From the Middle East Monitor

Official statistics from the Ministry of Information in Ramallah have revealed that 1,518 Palestinian children were killed by Israel's occupation forces from the outbreak of the second Intifada in September 2000 up to April 2013. That's the equivalent of one Palestinian child killed by Israel every 3 days for almost 13 years. The ministry added that the number of children injured by the Israelis since the start of the Second Intifada against Israel's occupation has now reached 6,000.

"The International Day for the Protection of Children is on June 1," said a spokesman, "but Palestinian children are still subject to attacks by the Israelis and Jewish settlers on an almost daily basis."

Noting that 2012 saw an unprecedented rise in the number of children arrested by Israeli forces, the report pointed out that 9,000 Palestinians under 18 years old have been arrested since the end of September 2000. Almost half of the Palestinian population is under 18. Almost two hundred and fifty Palestinian minors are being held in prison by Israel; 47 of them are children under 16 years of age.