Youngest Palestinian prisoner in Israel sends mother heart-wrenching letter

'Mum, I want you to keep your head up high,' 12-year-old Shadi Farrah tells his mother in a hand-written letter from an Israeli prison.

Society

2 min read

The New Arab

01 June, 2016

There are more than 400 Palestinian minors in Israeli prisons [TNA]

The youngest Palestinian prisoner in Israel has sent his mother a heart-wrenching letter from jail, after being denied the right to meet his family members while in detention.

Twelve-year-old Shadi Farrah recently posted his mother the hand-written message to give her the strength to carry on and put her mind at peace.

"To my kind mum, to the most important thing in my life. I know that I have caused you trouble ever since I was young," the boy wrote.

"To my dear mum who has been patient, even while I've been in prison, I want to tell you I'm sorry that I haven't made you happy and kept you up at night."

Farrah and his friend Ahmad Zatari, also 12, were both arrested by Israeli police last December in Jerusalem on charges of possession of knives and intent to murder – charges the boy's family deny.

"Mum, I want you to keep your head up high like a palm tree that cannot be moved by the wind or even an earthquake," he wrote.

"Don't be sad about what's happened, mum. Today I stand in front of the mirror to shed my faults and I can see my good side."


	A recent wave of violence has killed 205 Palestinians [Getty]

Israeli authorities have denied the boy's family visitation rights over the past three months of his detention and forced them to pay thousands of dollars in fines and bail.

His mother Farihan Daraghmeh has spoken out about the pain of knowing her young son, who is one of six siblings, is languishing behind bars.

"Shadi's letter really moved me and has given me a lot of strength and patience. Most adults couldn't write so rationally and mindfully," Daraghmeh told The New Arab.

"I am safe because God is at my side but how can I sleep while I think about my son and what could to him in prison," she added.

In April, Israeli human rights group B'Tselem said that of the around 7,000 Palestinians held in Israeli jails there were 414 minors, including 13 administrative detainees.

Israel released a 12-year-old prisoner in April more than two months after jailing the young girl for an alleged attempted attack.

Since last October, a wave of violence has killed 205 Palestinians, 28 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese.

Israeli authorities claim that most of the Palestinians have been killed while carrying out knife, gun or car-ramming attacks.