Horrific reminiscences of a 14-year old Palestinian prisoner

By Salam Abu Sharar



RAMALLAH (AA) – On Friday, when Palestinians around the globe observe Prisoners’ Day, Istabrq Noor goes nostalgic, recalling terrifying days, she spent in Israeli detention centers.



This year there is an added concern for the captive population, as they are not only exposed to persecution but the threat of coronavirus of COVID-19 pandemic as well.



Those who have come out from Israeli prisons alive are replete with sordid tales of torture and indignation. When 14-year old Istabrq Noor was taken to the detention center on Oct. 21, 2015, she was not sure to return alive.



"The Israeli soldiers first fired shots and injured me. Then they dragged me through treacherous mountain pathways. The Jewish settlers were trying to snatch me from soldiers. I thought it is the end of my life,” she said while describing the moments of her arrest.



She was arrested from her mountainous village of Madama, near Nablus, closer to Yitzhar Jewish settlement. “The soldiers severely beat me while my bullet wounds continued bleeding. They screamed at me heaping insults,” Istabrq said.



The former prisoners say they are not only subjected to ill-treatment but racism as well.

In Schneider Hospital near Jaffa city, when Istabrq regained her consciousness, she was handcuffed and her ankles tied to bed with chains.



“The women officer, escorting me, was throwing provocative racist slurs, ridiculing me and playing songs that described the suffering of Palestinian children under occupation to irritate me, “she said.



During her prison period, she was transferred to the hospital many times with handcuffs, chained ankles and accompanied by the Israeli Army’s Nahshon Unit, responsible for escorting prisoners.



Israeli citizens in the hospital kept insulting me and made racist comments, she told Anadolu Agency.



She said during her interrogation in the hospital, Israeli intelligence authorities threatened to detain her family and demolish her home. Her veil was confiscated and returned to her after 40 days.





-Humiliating searches



After four days in the hospital, Istabrq was kept in a solitary confinement cell in Ashkelon Prison, where she had no clothes except the hospital wear. Every time the journey from prison to court was even more humiliating. The 14-year old girl was subjected to embarrassing searches.



“I was forced to go through a naked inspection, the jailer removed the bandages. It was not only medically harmful but humiliating, “she said.



All Palestinian prisoners are subjected to degrading strip and body-cavity searches.



After spending 40 days in solitary confinement, she was transferred to Hasharon Prison, early December 2015, in difficult health conditions, and very cold winter. She was kept in a prison cell, which had 15 adolescents and 30 adults.



"The Prisoners' Representation Body played a critical role in nursing the injured girl and in preparing a schedule to engage her in various activities. We were learning English, Hebrew, Math and handcrafts” she told Anadolu Agency.



Her father and sister were allowed to meet her the first time after six months of detention. Her mother was continuously denied permission to visit her daughter throughout 20-months of detention.



“My uncle who was just 18 years old had been sentenced to life imprisonment. Throughout my detention, he kept sending me handwritten letters asking me to remain patient and never stop dreaming,” she said. Dreams are prisoner’s best friends.



On her last night in jail, she recalled that inmates wrote farewell letters and prepared handmade souvenirs for her, which are priceless treasures for her.



Since 1967, Israeli forces have arrested more than 13,000 Palestinian women. In two years from 2015-2016, more than 20 teenage girls were arrested from different military checkpoints, many of them first shot at.



According to the Commission of Detainees and Ex-detainees' Affairs, 5000 detainees are currently imprisoned in Israeli jails including 41 women, 180 minors and 430 administrative detainees. Israeli authorities have issued 92 new administrative detention orders.



Palestinian women are detained at Al-Damon jail near Haifa, 16 of them are mothers, 12 are patients with chronic diseases and eight had been shot at the time of the arrest.