Watchdog: 9 Palestinian mothers held behind Israeli prisons bars

Occupied Palestine (QNN)- As people around the world celebrate the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, there are 9 Palestinian mothers held in Israeli jails.

The Palestinian Commission for detainees and ex-Detainees Affairs said in a statement that 9 mothers out of 32 female prisoners are not only suffering the hardships of the Israeli prisons but are also suffering from their inability to be with their children.

The mother prisoners in Israeli jails are even living difficult psychological conditions as a result of extreme anxiety and stress, and constantly thinking of the conditions of their children and how they live without their mothers, but the more difficult for the mother prisoner is when her husband is also in prison, which means their children have to live without the care of their parents, according to the watchdog.

Among the 9 mother prisoners are:

•Isra’a Jaabis, from Jerusalem, serving 11 years and a mother of one child.

•Fadwa Hamadeh, Jerusalem, 10 years, mother of five children.

•Amani Hashim, Jerusalem, 10 years, mother of two children.

•Nisreen Hassan, Gaza, six years, mother of seven children.

•Aya Khatib, from 1948 territories, in detention, mother of two.

•Khitam Saafin, Ramallah, administrative detention, mother of three.

•Shurouq Badan, Bethlehem, administrative detainee, mother of a child.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, Israeli occupation authorities detained more than 16,000 Palestinian women since its occupation of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip in June 1967.

Over the last 43 years, an estimated 10,000 Palestinian women have been arrested and/or detained under Israeli military orders.

Between 2007 and November 2008, 125 Palestinian women were arrested, detained or imprisoned in Israeli prisons and detention centers (56% of them between the ages of 20 and 30 and 13% of them under the age of 18).

There are now 32 Palestinian mothers and women held inside Israeli jails.

Inside Israeli jails, Palestinian women suffer from harsh imprisonment conditions including medical negligence, denial of education, denial of family visits, solitary confinement, overcrowded cells that are often filled with insects and dirt and lack natural light. Personal health and hygiene needs are rarely addressed by prisons authorities, even in cases involving the detention of pregnant women.

Moreover, the majority of Palestinian women prisoners are subjected to some form of torture or ill-treatment throughout the process of their arrest and detention, including beatings, insults, threats, body searches and sexually explicit harassment and psychological abuse.