Amal Shujayeh, a 23-year-old Arab student, has finally left after seven times in an Israeli jail.
A vehicle dropped her off in Beitunia, in the occupied West Bank, where she had been a waiting passenger for the evening and friends who had waited patiently for her return, on January 20.
” The pleasure is indescribable”, Shujayyeh told DW, surrounded by her family at home in Deir Jarir. ” We thank God”.
In order to stop the conflict that has ravaged Gaza for more than 15 months, Israel and Hamas reached a peace agreement that included Shujayeh’s transfer.
As part of the deal, nearly 2, 000 Arab captives are to be released. The agreement aims to stop the struggling for six weeks, force 33 hostages to be released from Gaza, and improve the flow of gas and aid into the area. Among the Arab prisoners who will be freed are those who have been convicted of killing Israelis and have been detained for crimes like throwing rocks or Molotov cocktails.
When Jewish forces detained Shujayyeh on suspicion of inciting violence, she was in her last month of media studies at Birzeit University near Ramallah. She said, nevertheless, that her engagement was completely within college rules.
” Largely, the job was opposed to student engagement on campus”, she said. Even though the school administration has officially licensed and approved this scholar activism,
One of “deep tyranny and humiliation” in Israeli jail.
Shujayyeh powerfully recalled the day of her imprisonment. ” When we arrived at the detention facility, the forced naked requests for sexual prisoners began”, she said. All Palestinian women must go through a degrading and greatly unpleasant experience before entering a detention facility.
These requests were carried out regularly, generally late at night, she said, along with the expropriation of clothing, personal possessions and even simple items like dishes and pots. ” We were deprived of basic needs, perhaps items for ease like hairbrushes, which they deemed’ pleasures.’ Books and writings were likewise confiscated”.
Shujayyeh’s community was barred from visiting her during her prison. She said,” We would only see our people for a short while during digital court proceedings.” The man had split off the relationship if I attempted to convince them that I was in excellent health. It was a feeling of profound persecution and shame”.
In Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and eastern Jerusalem, where one or more people are incarcerated in an Zionist jail, is a common tale in Arab world. The effects frequently last years, leaving households without earners and making children without one or, in many cases, both kids for years.
Some Palestinian prisoners are not informed of their whereabouts. Israel’s “administrative incarceration” coverage allows the state to prison individuals based on key facts, without filing proper charges or holding a trial.
The number of inmates from Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and eastern Jerusalem has doubled to over 10,000 since the war started in October 2023, according to the Jewish legitimate business Hamoked.
Fear of imprisonment remains for released Palestinians
Then reunited, Shujayyeh and her household are treasuring easy times together. However, for her and different released prisoners, independence remains brittle. The possibility of future confinement is a looming question, which is a common occurrence in her society.
According to information agency The Associated Press, Israeli prisoners released by Israel may be re-arrested on the same fees or put back in jail to complete serving time for previous offenses as per the terms of the peace. When a prisoner is released, they are not required to sign any documents. But, advocacy group Addameer warns that re-arrest remains a major risk.
According to Jenna Abuhasna, an global advocacy agent for the human rights organization Addameer, “every detainee released into the West Bank or east Jerusalem needs to consistently show up for court appointments.”
” It’s quite possible that the defendant could be quickly targeted and forced to go back to jail. We’ve seen this happen regularly in past trade deals, including the November 2023 deal”, she told DW.
Shujayyeh’s second court date is on February 3. But for now, she’s focused on settling up into her old career. She even hopes to continue her podcast, which she started during college.
” Being detained won’t prevent us from delivering our concept or spreading our produce around the world,” she said. ” But we will be more careful in how we do that.”
At house, she sits at her table, scrolling through radio ideas. Shujayyeh’s final goal is to complete her education and be a journalist, determined to keep telling the tales of Palestinians like herself.
