‘Israel’ forbade me from planting kiss on my daughter’s forehead, says former Palestinian prisoner

Occupied Palestine (QNN)- Yesterday, September 27, Israeli occupation authorities released the Palestinian political prisoner Khalida Jarrar from its jails after serving two years.

Watch | Israeli occupation forces release the Palestinian freedom fighter and lawmaker Khalida Jarrar after serving 2.5 years in the Israeli prisons.#FreeThemAll pic.twitter.com/18HWIj0OWW

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) September 26, 2021

Who’s Khalida Jarrar?

58-year-old Khalida Jarrar, who is a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), has been imprisoned several times since 2015 by the Israeli occupation and spent numerous terms under administrative detention.

Jarrar, who has long been a target of the Israeli occupation due to her outspoken nature and political activism, was first arrested in 1989 and held for a month without trial

Since 1988, the occupation authorities have banned her from travel, except for a three-week trip to Amman, Jordan, for medical treatment.

For her second detention in 2014, she was sentenced to 15 months in prison.

She was arrested for a third time in 2017.

She was released from Israeli jails in February 2019 after spending 20 months in prison, but the Israeli occupation detained her again in October 2019 from her home in Ramallah city, and she was accused of taking a position in the PFLP.

Jarrar was held under administrative detention until March 2021, when an Israeli military court charged her with “membership in an illegal organization” due to affiliation with the PFLP and was sentenced to two years and a fine of NIS4,000 ($1,200).

Jarrar was elected as a member of the Legislative Council in the last Parliamentary elections held in 2006.

First Moments of Freedom

Last July, despite the mass calls, the occupation authorities refused to release Jarrar to be able to attend the funeral of her daughter, Suha, whose body was found near Palestine medical complex in Ramallah as she died of a sudden heart attack and health complications.

“It was very hard and painful to know that my darling Suha passed away, I have missed her too much. Please tell all my beloved ones to take care, I am strong,” Jarrar told her lawyer after being informed about her daughter’s death.

Jarrar knew about the death of her daughter on the radio, before even her lawyer informed her.

Yesterday afternoon, the occupation authorities released Jarrar at the Salem checkpoint, West of Jenin city.

After her release, Jarrar went to the Ramallah Cemetery where her daughter Suha is buried.

“They forbade me from participating in the funeral of my beloved daughter and from planting a kiss on my daughter’s forehead,” Jarrar said at the cemetery.

“They denied me her farewell,” she added before breaking down in tears.

“The last time I hugged Suha was the night of my arrest in 2019,” she continued.

“It was a hard moment. But I felt her spirit was accompanying me,” Jarrar said.