Sunday, July 06, 2008

“Will you remember my name?”


Iqbal Tamimi, Palestine Think Tank, July 4, 2008

prisoners-kneel.jpg


When one Israeli person is killed or kidnapped, the media makes sure every single person hearing the news would know the name of that person, giving the incident a human dimension. But this has never been the case with Palestinians who have been killed, imprisoned or kidnapped by the Israeli authorities.

Palestinians are considered as a demographically abundant population, it is alright not to know their names; they are ignored on a human level. Their names are never mentioned. When Palestinians are killed you only hear about numbers, their blood is diluted by the media manipulators who do not have the decency to respect human life on both sides.

This is why I thought of mentioning the names of a few young Palestinian men who died inside Israeli prisons. When you read their names, remember that each one of them has a family and friends, and each of them has his own dreams and hopes, and his blood screams at you, "WILL YOU REMEMBER MY NAME?" And most of all, almost all of them were killed inside Israeli prisons during interrogations before being convicted or standing in a court to a fair trial. The majority are very young, this is another tactic of Israeli authorities to empty the country of its people as soon as possible.

Fadi Abdellateef Abu Alrob, 19 years of age, born 1987 in the town of Qabatiya near the city of Jenin, has died inside the Israeli prison after 5 months of imprisonment. Jamal Elsaraheen, another young man from my hometown Hebron, died on the 16th of January 2006. Maher Dandan, from the city of Nablus died inside an Israeli prison on the 9th of June 2007. From the city of Tulkarm the young man Mohammad Elashqar, was shot by Israeli soldiers directly in the head at the Naqab prison on the 21st of October 2007!!!!!!!

Does this seem reasonable, all those young men dying at such a young age, maybe as young as yourself, or as your own son!

It would be total ignorance to think that all those young men died of natural causes. Fadi Abu Alrob, 19 years of age, was victim number 74 to die inside an Israeli prison since only December 1987 (those who I knew of). He died inside Jalbooaa Israeli prison after being denied treatment. This number does not include 193 prisoners killed while being arrested.

Jalbooaa prison was built in 2004 to the north of Palestine, copying US high security prisons in structure and system, and not far from Shatta prison in Beesan area. The prison of Jalbooaa is the sardine tin where 800 Palestinian prisoners are waiting their turn to die of medical neglect or direct assault by the Israelis. Or to be used as a negotiating card when the need arises.

Fadi Abdellateef was the second prisoner to die at Jalbbooaa prison, after Bashshar Arif Bany Oodeh 27 years of age, who died on the 23rd of June 2005 because of medical neglect as well. Bashshar is from the city of Tammoon.

Those young people died before savouring life, not because they were driving fast cars, or because they had injured themselves while being drunk or while playing dangerous sports. They all died because they were not only imprisoned by the racist cruel Israeli government, but because they were denied access to medical aid when they needed it too.

Please think of each of the following names as someone you know. For now, I have listed the names of only 42 young men only who were killed inside the Israeli prisons before even being tried, but the list is much longer than you would expect.

1- Khader Elias Fuad Altarzi, 19 years of age, from the Alsabra area in Gaza. Died in Soroka Hospital after a torture session on the 9th of February 1988.

2- Qandeel Kamel Ilwan, from Albraij Camp in Gaza, died on the 24th of February 1988 at Ashkelon Prison, of medical negligence.

3- Ibraheem Mahmood Mohammad Elraee, 28 years of age, from the city of Qalqeliya, died on the 11th of April 1988 of torture during the investigation.

4- Ayyad Mohammad Aql, 17 years of age, from Albraij camp in Gaza, died on the 2d of August 1988 after being kicked and hit severely during investigations.

5- Ata Yosif Ahmad Ayyad, 20 years of age, from Qalandya camp near Jerusalem, died on the 4th of August 1988 after being beaten and strangled during investigation.

Continued . . .

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