Israel holds five Palestinian mums in jail on Mother's Day

Israeli authorities are currently holding five Palestinian mothers at the Damon jail among 24 other Palestinian women prisoners as Palestinians celebrate Mother's Day, which is marked in the Middle East on 21 March every year. 

"The [Israeli] prison administration deprives the children of women prisoners from open visits, and mothers from being able to embrace their children, in addition to depriving some of them from visits altogether, or frequently obstructing these," the Palestinian Prisoners' Club said in a statement.

The Palestinian mothers currently imprisoned by Israel are: Israa Jaabis from Jerusalem, sentenced to 11 years in jail, Fadwa Hamadeh from Jerusalem, sentenced to 10 years, Amani al-Hashim, from Jerusalem, also sentenced to 10 years, and Etaf Jaradat and Yasmeen Shaaban, both from Jenin, who have not been sentenced yet.

Saadia Farajallah, 68, from the West Bank town of Idna, passed away in Damon prison following months of detention https://t.co/DJhS5WU1Pu

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) July 3, 2022

Palestinian female prisoners face the same mistreatment and abused used by the Israeli authorities against Palestinian prisoners in general.

These include abusive detention and interrogation practices and medical negligence.

68-year-old Saadia Farajallah from the village of Ithna near Hebron died on 2 July 2022 after not receiving medical care for her illnesses.  She had eight children and Israeli authorities delayed delivering her body to her family for over a month after her death.  

Medical neglect has been one of the most prominent violations against Palestinians in Israeli prisons in recent years and has led to the deaths of dozens of prisoners.

Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners, incarcerated for long periods of time, have lost their parents without being able to say goodbye, as was the case recently with Yasmeen Shaaban, whose father died a few days ago.

Wives and mothers of prisoners also face many difficulties as Israeli forces continue to jail their husbands and children, depriving families of their loved ones.

This is an edited translation from our Arabic edition. To read the original article click here.