The case of Palestinian prisoners held in administrative detention in Israeli prisons is a particularly horrible side of Israeli oppression. Of the roughly 11,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, there are over a thousand languishing without charge, without a release date, without access to any evidence held against them.
Administrative detention is a system of incarceration without charge, where secret evidence from the Israeli General Security Services (GSS) is shown to the military judge and used to justify incarceration for a period up to six months, on a renewable basis. The information provided by the GSS is not communicated to the detainee or to his/her lawyer. The mental suffering caused by not knowing the grounds for detention can amount to torture as defined under the UN Convention Against Torture and such lengthy detentions without charge or trial also constitute “arbitrary detention” which are a violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 9[1]) and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 9).
For the Zionuts about to trip over their panties in the rush to justify this practice, note the part where the detainees are held without charge. As in, they have not been charged with any crime. As in, many of these prisoners serve many years at a time under administrative detention without ever being accused of anything.
10 students from Birzeit University currently languish under administrative detention in Israel, among them the former head of the student council, Fadi Hamad, and his deputy, Abdallah Oweis.Also amongst them is Omar Qassis. Omar has been detained since March 17, 2008. He was taken from his home in the mostly Christian village of Birzeit where he lived with his mother and older brother Hanna, and has spent his time in incarceration between the Mascobia Detention Center in West Jerusalem, notorious in Palestinian society for its harsh interrogation methods that frequently include torture, the Naqab Prison in the middle of the Naqab desert, notorious for its inhumane detention conditions (prisoners are kept in tents in the desert), and Ofer military court near Ramallah. Throughout his detention, the Israeli occupation and its intelligence services failed to charge Omar with any crime. On May 1st, a month and a half after his arrest, he was placed under administrative detention for three months. He was also charged with throwing stones sometime between 2001 and 2002. He pled not guilty.
The ridiculousness of the charge is breathtaking, but within the maze of Israeli oppression, hardly unique. Note also the fact that Omar is being accused of throwing stones when he was 16 years old, a minor, yet is being tried in a military court as an adult. Several months after his detention, his family have yet to receive permission from the occupying forces to visit him.
I know Omar and Hanna personally. We all worked together at a local newspaper a couple of years ago, and Omar was due to graduate with me last week. He will now have to wait until he is freed. Omar is an unbelievably hyperactive dude, always ready with a quip or a quote one of the many varied thinkers he has read. I missed seeing his lanky body bouncing up and down at campus handing out flyers around student union election time, or volunteering his time to guide foreign delegations around the school. But it doesn’t matter what kind of person he is-what matters is that he is being held without charge (or a pathetic, trumped up charge if you choose to count throwing stones 7 years ago) , under deplorable conditions, with no idea of when he will be let free.
A detailed account of Omar’s ongoing ordeal.
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Congratulations, Mo. Your friend has been identified by the IDF or Shabak as possessing certain leadership qualities that required some face to face time.
Nothing will happen to him, and no one will touch a hair on his head, as long as he is not suspected of having information relevant to ongoing operations.
You’re right, the charges are trumped up. Imagine, however, Israeli agents approaching your friend in the light of day and asking him to come to Israel so that they could get to know him better. The next day he would be accused of collaboration with the Yehudim.
This way, Israeli intelligence can establish a historical and psych profile of your friend, without risking his life at the hands of Palestinian terror factions.
If anything, this is a sort of promotion of your friend’s status, as everyone know that Israel only takes individuals it feels are leaders, or future leaders.
Having spent six months in jail, your friend will come out a national hero, having spent time with other Palestinians of “high interest” and ready to plunge into Palestinian political life.
He is going through a scary time, no doubt, (an education time, as well) but if he is not engaged in something serious, he will not be mistreated or “stressed” unnecessarily.
I’m sure he will be debriefed several times as to the status of political parties at Birzeit, the power of various factions on campus, other students who he feels may have a bright political future, etc.
Unfortunately, such detentions are one of several tools used by Israeli intelligence to tap into the pulse of Palestinian life.
By the way, I’m assuming he was not just turned in to Israel by Palestinian informants, who are rampant throughout the West Bank. They are paid for tips and information, and some abuse this process to accuse innocent people, or those they have a problem with.
Posted by Firouz | July 9, 2008, 8:40 pmhe was an orientation leader during my summer program at bir zeit. i hope he gets out soon…
Posted by sunbula | July 10, 2008, 12:26 amGod Firouz you’re so kind. Thank you for comforting me with the knowledge that the reason Omar will be held for at least 5 months without charge in inhumane conditions without access to his family or lawyers or access to any charges against him is all for his own safety.
Go fuck yourself.
Posted by Mohammad | July 10, 2008, 7:36 am“He will not be mistreated or ‘stressed’ unnecessarily….”
No, apart from being held in an Isralei prison without charge for six months for no fucking reason…
You. Are. Fucking. Insane.
Posted by NOX | July 10, 2008, 9:06 amAnyone who expresses unending support of Israel has to be fucking insane because it stretches the mind beyond the bounds of reason. No doubt our friend Joe is now spending a little holiday recovering from his mental gymnastics in this area.
Posted by safiyyah | July 10, 2008, 9:13 amMo, you seem to care quite a bit about unjust imprisonment. Yet, I don’t recall you ever mentioning the fate of Gilad Shalit, no older than your friend, who has now been imprisoned by Hamas for two years in truly inhumane conditions, “without access to his family or lawyers or access to any charges against him”, not the puny 5 months that your friend is doing in Club Israel.
I’m tired of taking our boys back in bodybags because your cousins didn’t can’t get laid and need to prove how big their dick is.
You started a war, and now you whine about it. Why don’t you go fuck yourself.
Posted by Firouz | July 10, 2008, 9:49 amSHALOM! Firouz I recently finish STOLEN YOUTH: THE POLITICS OF ISRAEL’S DETENTION OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN. I think you can learn from this for knowledge on how palestinian prisoners receive treatment. This study show torture even for innocent is ROUTINE.
bUY used from AMAZON for only $4.60
http://www.amazon.com/Stolen-Youth-Politics-Detention-Palestinian/dp/0745321615
~Chaim~
Posted by Chaim "Hussein" Sugarman | July 10, 2008, 12:15 pmSHALOM! Firouz I recently finish STOLEN YOUTH: THE POLITICS OF ISRAEL’S DETENTION OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN. I think you can learn from this for knowledge on how palestinian prisoners receive treatment. This study show torture even for innocent is ROUTINE.
bUY used from AMAZON for only $4.60
http://www.amazon.com/Stolen-Youth-Politics-Detention-Palestinian/dp/0745321615
~Chaim~
Posted by Chaim "Hussein" Sugarman | July 10, 2008, 12:15 pmSHALOM! Firouz I recently finish STOLEN YOUTH: THE POLITICS OF ISRAEL’S DETENTION OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN. I think you can learn from this for knowledge on how palestinian prisoners receive treatment. This study show torture even for innocent is ROUTINE.
bUY used from AMAZON for only $4.60
http://www.amazon.com/Stolen-Youth-Politics-Detention-Palestinian/dp/0745321615
~Chaim~
Posted by Chaim "Hussein" Sugarman | July 10, 2008, 12:15 pmSHALOM! Firouz I recently finish STOLEN YOUTH: THE POLITICS OF ISRAEL’S DETENTION OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN. I think you can learn from this for knowledge on how palestinian prisoners receive treatment. This study show torture even for innocent is ROUTINE.
bUY used from AMAZON for only $4.60
http://www.amazon.com/Stolen-Youth-Politics-Detention-Palestinian/dp/0745321615
~Chaim~
Posted by Chaim "Hussein" Sugarman | July 10, 2008, 12:15 pmSHALOM! Firouz I recently finish STOLEN YOUTH: THE POLITICS OF ISRAEL’S DETENTION OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN. I think you can learn from this for knowledge on how palestinian prisoners receive treatment. This study show torture even for innocent is ROUTINE.
bUY used from AMAZON for only $4.60
http://www.amazon.com/Stolen-Youth-Politics-Detention-Palestinian/dp/0745321615
~Chaim~
Posted by Chaim "Hussein" Sugarman | July 10, 2008, 12:15 pmSHALOM! Firouz I recently finish STOLEN YOUTH: THE POLITICS OF ISRAEL’S DETENTION OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN. I think you can learn from this for knowledge on how palestinian prisoners receive treatment. This study show torture even for innocent is ROUTINE.
bUY used from AMAZON for only $4.60
http://www.amazon.com/Stolen-Youth-Politics-Detention-Palestinian/dp/0745321615
~Chaim~
Posted by Chaim "Hussein" Sugarman | July 10, 2008, 12:15 pmSHALOM! Firouz I recently finish STOLEN YOUTH: THE POLITICS OF ISRAEL’S DETENTION OF PALESTINIAN CHILDREN. I think you can learn from this for knowledge on how palestinian prisoners receive treatment. This study show torture even for innocent is ROUTINE.
bUY used from AMAZON for only $4.60
http://www.amazon.com/Stolen-Youth-Politics-Detention-Palestinian/dp/0745321615
~Chaim~
Posted by Chaim "Hussein" Sugarman | July 10, 2008, 12:15 pmI’ve read portions of it. Terrible.
Palestinians should really stop fighting a war against the Jews. It’s not healthy for anyone.
Posted by Firouz | July 10, 2008, 1:56 pmthey should just kiss, make-up and have interricial marriages. I will then come over and give them my blessings for a happy future.
Posted by Anonymous | July 10, 2008, 9:08 pmMaybe the Palestinians will all convert to Judaism, or discover that really they are all Jews. Some of them have the Kohen gene, and they are closer to Jews, genetically, than to anyone else, even other Arabs.
Posted by Anonymous | July 10, 2008, 9:11 pmI think the wife swapping ideas I’ve seen floating around on the internet would be a good way to test the waters. I’m sure Nasrallah could perform the necessary temporary marriages and temporary (or not so much so) divorces. I wonder if they’d need to temporarily convert to Shi’ism first though?
Posted by programmer craig | July 10, 2008, 9:46 pmSHALOM!
“I’ve read portions of it. Terrible.”
Hohoho! What portions? The one page preview on AMAZON perhaps. You lie. What did you find so terrible for it?
Dumb.
~Chaim~
Posted by Chaim "Hussein" Sugarman | July 11, 2008, 7:38 amSHALOM!
“I’ve read portions of it. Terrible.”
Hohoho! What portions? The one page preview on AMAZON perhaps. You lie. What did you find so terrible for it?
Dumb.
~Chaim~
Posted by Chaim "Hussein" Sugarman | July 11, 2008, 7:38 amSHALOM!
“I’ve read portions of it. Terrible.”
Hohoho! What portions? The one page preview on AMAZON perhaps. You lie. What did you find so terrible for it?
Dumb.
~Chaim~
Posted by Chaim "Hussein" Sugarman | July 11, 2008, 7:38 amSHALOM!
“I’ve read portions of it. Terrible.”
Hohoho! What portions? The one page preview on AMAZON perhaps. You lie. What did you find so terrible for it?
Dumb.
~Chaim~
Posted by Chaim "Hussein" Sugarman | July 11, 2008, 7:38 amSHALOM!
“I’ve read portions of it. Terrible.”
Hohoho! What portions? The one page preview on AMAZON perhaps. You lie. What did you find so terrible for it?
Dumb.
~Chaim~
Posted by Chaim "Hussein" Sugarman | July 11, 2008, 7:38 amSHALOM!
“I’ve read portions of it. Terrible.”
Hohoho! What portions? The one page preview on AMAZON perhaps. You lie. What did you find so terrible for it?
Dumb.
~Chaim~
Posted by Chaim "Hussein" Sugarman | July 11, 2008, 7:38 amSHALOM!
“I’ve read portions of it. Terrible.”
Hohoho! What portions? The one page preview on AMAZON perhaps. You lie. What did you find so terrible for it?
Dumb.
~Chaim~
Posted by Chaim "Hussein" Sugarman | July 11, 2008, 7:38 amDon’t call yourself names, Chaim. I’m sure you’re a wonderful person. Your name itself exudes life.
I meant the treatment of specific young people that they wrote about was horrible, if true. Their conclusions were entirely “world communists unite” drivel.
Posted by Firouz | July 11, 2008, 8:16 amGreat article, Mohammed.
Firouz, the comparison to Gilad Shalit is a misleading one; for starters, Gilad Shalit is held hostage by Hamas, whereas Birzeit is in the West Bank. Beyond that, taking a soldier hostage during a declared, ongoing state of war (with the intensity varying over time) is not good, but it is an entirely different matter from indefinite detention of civilians of the West Bank without charges. Finally, even if the Fatah government in the West Bank were kidnapping Israeli civilians without reason, why on earth would that give Israel the right to do the same? Israel derives moral legitimacy from the fact that as a liberal democracy it must be held to different standards than its enemies (though, again, describing Fatah as Israel’s ‘enemy’ stretches the term much too far).
Posted by Joe | July 15, 2008, 8:46 pm