Women's Organization for Political Prisoners (WOFPP)



Newsletter September 2014

About the released women prisoners in Gaza Strip

We express our deepest condolences to 'Aisha Alqurd a released prisoner who lost her son Yasser on 1 August 2014 in Israel's criminal Israeli war against civilians in Gaza. A bomb destroyed the house where her son was in Rafah. Aisha gave birth to Yasser in 1988 when she was a prisoner in an Israeli jail. She was the first prisoner that WOFPP fought for her release.
During the cruel war on Gaza Strip, we worried about the released women prisoners who live in Gaza Strip and were in constant contact with them. Like all the people of Gaza, they suffered from the very hard conditions prevailing there.
Two of the women are residents of Sug'aih neighborhood that was badly bombed: Fatma elZuk and Rawda Habib were forced to leave their homes during the bombing. Fatma and her family found shelter in an UNRWA school in Gaza and Rawda and her family stayed in her brother's house. Fatma's house was seriously damaged. Almost all their homes were damaged in varying degrees.
Wafa elBis who gave birth to her second son on the fourth day of the war, was transferred to another hospital because a bomb exploded right next to the hospital that she was in. Taking care of babies during the war was very difficult: without electricity, water, medicine and other necessities as Wafa told us.
When we had difficulty contacting released prisoners in the Gaza Strip we talked with their families who live in the West Bank.

Hasharon Prison (Tel Mond)

There are currently 21 women political prisoners held in Israeli jails: 19 in Hasharon Prison (Tel Mond) and 2 in Neve Tirza Prison.

Family visits

Over a period of some two and a half months from June 2014 the Israeli authorities denied family visits to political prisoners.

Access to Incoming Mail

Women prisoners are still rarely allowed to receive letters and few, if any, were received during the last year. They received no letters from abroad except one for Lina Jarbuni in January 2014, after WOFPP's lawyer confronted the Prison Authorities in this regard. We know of people who sent letters from abroad that were not given to their recipients.
Recently dozens letters were sent to Lina Jarbuni from Europe and she has not received any of them. We thank all those who did send letters and hope that these women political prisoners will receive better medical care in the future.
We plan to continue demanding that the Authorities permit the women to receive their mail on a regular basis.

Transport to the Courts

The detainees who have to attend court session at the Ofer Military Court complain that they are held for long periods in the Prison Service wagon: They are brought to the wagon at 03:00 am and they return to the prison at about 11:00 pm.
Sometimes they have to wait on the way to the court in Ramle Prison in a very dirty cell infested with mice and cockroaches.

New Prisoners

Fida Shibani, 36 years old, mother of two, from Arabeh, Jenin district, was arrested at her house on 11 May 2014. She was brought to Kishon Detention Center (Jalame) where she underwent interrogation during a period of three weeks. On 2 June 2014 she was transferred to Hasharon Prison.

Hiba Abu Jaja , 27 years old, mother of two, from Walaga, Bethlehem district, a former prisoner, she was arrested again on 28 May 2014 at Qalandia checkpoint.

Bushra elTawil, 21 yeas old, from elBireh, Ramallah district, a former prisoner, was arrested by soldiers at her home in a night raid on 1 July 2014. Bushra was brought to Ofer Detention Center handcuffed and bllindfolded. From 03:00 am until 08:00am she underwent interrogation and on the same day she was transferred to Hasharon Prison. Bushra was released on 18 December 2011 in the prisoners exchange deal for Shalit.

Toriya Taha, 21 years old, from Beit Ilu Ramallah district, was arrested on 26 July 2014 in the Old City of Jerusalem. She is studying media and technology in the Al-Quds Open University.

Fida Suliman, 22 years old, from Bet 'Ur elTahta, Ramallah district, was arrested on 26 August 2014.

Sentences

Reem Hamarsha, 41 years old, mother of ten, from Ya'abed, Jenin district, was arrested on 16 February 2014. Sentenced on 5 June 2014 to 8 months imprisonment and 10 months suspended sentence for four years from the date of her release. She was fined 25,000 NIS (about 7300 dollars).

Released Prisoners

In'am elHasanat, 33 years old, from Deheishe Refugee Camp, Bethlehem district, was arrested on 4 September 2012, and released on 8 July 2014.

Intisar elSayd, 39 years old, from Jerusalem, mother of four, was arrested on 22 November 2012. The parole board decided to release her earlier on 9 June 2014.

Aiat Yusef Mahfuz, 21 years old, from Hebron was arrested on 8 September 2013. On 19 May 2014 and sentenced to eight and half months' imprisonment. Aiat was released on 20 May 2014.

Rana Abu Quik, 31 years old mother of four, from Ramallah, was arrested on 26 October 2013, and released on 5 June 2014.

Maram Hasona, 19 years old, from Rafidia, Nablus district, student of English at the A-Najah University, Nablus, arrested on 13 November 2013, and released on 19 May 2014 on bail of 5,000 NIS (about 1460 dollars).

Zienab Mustafa, 42 years old, from the Balata refugee camp, Nablus district, arrested on 8 December 2013. The parole board decided to release her earlier on 27 May 2014.

Ahlam Ribhi Isa, mother of two, from Qalqilya, was arrested on 16 February 2014. On 27 May 2014 she was sentenced to six months' imprisonment. The parole board decided to release her earlier on 26 June 2014.

Nasreen Tabakhna, 37 years old, from Jalazun Refugee Camp, Ramallah district, a social worker, was arrested on 18 July 2014 and released on 7 August 2014 on bail of 3,500 NIS (about 1000 dollars).

Neve Tirza Prison (Ramle).

Sentences

Fadwa Ghanem, mother of four from Shweike, TulKarem district was arrested on 29 September 2013, released to house arrest in Taibe on 13 November 2013 and on 6 April 2014 she was transferred to Neve Tirza Prison (Ramle). She was sentenced on 26 June 2014 to 11 months imprisonment. The period of house arrest is not deducted from her sentence, only the period that she was actually imprisoned.

In'aam Qanambo, from Jerusalem, a former prisoner, was arrested on 27 August 2014 and sentenced to 45 days imprisonment


For donations to WOFPP :
Bank account:
Women's Organization for Political Prisoners (WOFPP)
Account number: 471067
BANK HAPOALIM
Branch 532
Daniel Frisch St. 3,Tel Aviv 64078, ISRAEL
IBAN number: IL 60-0125-3200-0000-0471-067
BIC (swift): POALILIT

Address to receive the contribution:
WOFPP
Frug Street 30
Tel Aviv 63417, ISRAEL

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