35 female prisoners, including 11 mothers, behind Israeli bars,
Syed Tahir Rashdi
Sunday, March 07, 2021 – The Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS), a local NGO which advocates for the rights of the Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails, said today that the Israeli authorities are currently incarcerating 35 female Palestinian prisoners, 11 of whom are mothers.The PPS said in a statement on the occasion of the International Women’s Day, which coincides on March 8, that 26 of the female political prisoners in Israeli detention have been sentenced for varying periods, the longest of whom are Shurooq Dwayyat and Shatila Abu Ayyad, who are serving a jail sentence of 16 years each.The Israeli occupation continues its detention of 35 Palestinian women in its jails while the international community keeps silent over Israel’s violations of international laws and human rights and ignores the constant Palestinian calls for international intervention to pressure the occupation into releasing these women as well as the rest of the Palestinian prisoners. A statement by the Palestinian Prisoners Club, issued on Sunday marking International Women’s Day, said that there are 35 Palestinian women prisoners in the Israeli jails, 8 of them were wounded during arrest campaigns, WAFA news agency reported. These women are being exposed to the ugliest forms of psychological and physical torture besides deliberate medical negligence and solitary confinement. The occupation also prevents the relatives and children of these women from visiting them, the statement added. The statement pointed out that like all other prisoners in the Israeli jails, female prisoners face intensive isolation in the light of the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, as the occupation banned all family visits as well as phone calls between the prisoners and their families.The statement noted the difficult conditions of the sick female prisoners, especially the wounded, as a result of the occupation’s deliberate delay in providing medical treatment to them, clarifying that the most difficult case is that of prisoner Israa Al-Jaabis, who needs several surgeries on the hands, ears and face and skin. (-Writer is a freelance writer based in Shahdadpur. He’s Pursuing BS (Pakistan Study) at University of Sindh)
