In commemoration of the National Women’s Day… Stands in support of female prisoners inside Israeli prisons

Yesterday, Monday, hundreds of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank participated in vigils in support of female prisoners in Israeli prisons, in commemoration of the National Women’s Day.

The participants in the vigils – organized by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and human rights organizations specialized in prisoners’ affairs – raised Palestinian flags and pictures of male and female prisoners, and chanted slogans calling for their release.

Palestinians celebrate National Women’s Day on October 26 of each year, according to a decision adopted by the Council of Ministers on July 17, 2019.

In the vigil – which was organized in front of the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza City – the participants raised a large banner that read, “On the occasion of the National Day of Palestinian Women… We renew the covenant and loyalty to our brave prisoners and prisoners.”

“This stand comes to highlight the suffering of female prisoners inside Israeli prisons,” said Dina Ismail, coordinator at the Ministry of Women’s Affairs.

During her participation in the stand, she added, “The prisoners suffer from very difficult conditions and deprivation of their most basic rights without taking into account their privacy, in addition to following the policy of medical negligence against them and restricting visits.”

The coordinator called on local and international human rights and human rights institutions to “make the issue of female prisoners and detainees a top priority, as it is one of the central national issues.”

On the other hand, hundreds of people participated in solidarity vigils that were organized in various governorates in the West Bank, one of them in front of the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the city of Al-Bireh (center).

During the sit-in, head of the Prisoners Affairs Authority (governmental) Qadri Abu Bakr said, “Israel has arrested about 17,000 women since the start of the occupation in 1967, out of about one million and 100,000 registered cases.”

Abu Bakr added, “In Israeli prisons, there are 30 female prisoners, 7 of whom are wounded (by the Israeli army), and the female prisoner of a 16-year-old girl, and 170 children.”

“Among the prisoners, 300 have spent more than 20 years in Israeli prisons, and some of them are more than 40 years old, in addition to 24 prisoners who have cancer,” he said.

The Palestinian official called on the international community to “stand up to its responsibilities and not use double standards.”

The number of Palestinians in Israeli prisons stands at 4,700, including 30 female prisoners, according to data from institutions specialized in prisoners’ affairs until the end of last September.