{"id":1949,"date":"2022-08-25T12:53:46","date_gmt":"2022-08-25T12:53:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/a-palestinian-mother-on-hunger-strike-for-her-son-held-by-the-pa-israel-palestine-conflict\/"},"modified":"2022-08-25T12:58:02","modified_gmt":"2022-08-25T12:58:02","slug":"a-palestinian-mother-on-hunger-strike-for-her-son-held-by-the-pa-israel-palestine-conflict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gulftimes.ae\/?p=1949","title":{"rendered":"A Palestinian mother on hunger strike for her son, held by the PA | Israel-Palestine conflict"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

Beitunia, occupied West Bank \u2013<\/strong> Mukaram Qurt, 58, has been on hunger strike for more than a week, protesting her son\u2019s prolonged detention in a Palestinian Authority (PA) prison.<\/p>\n

Despite her tough exterior, the toll of the strike is apparent from the constant tremble in her hands, and the creases under her dark grey eyes.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince the day Ahmad was imprisoned, I haven\u2019t slept for more than five hours at a time. My mind races all night and I keep praying. I\u2019m always exhausted,\u201d Qurt, a soft-spoken mother-of-eight, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n

Her son, 28-year-old Ahmad Hreish, has been languishing in a solitary cell without trial or charge in the PA\u2019s notorious Jericho prison for more than 80 days since his arrest. The jail is dubbed the \u201cslaughterhouse\u201d, with rights groups and lawyers saying political detainees are tortured behind its walls.<\/p>\n

Hreish\u2019s case has made headlines in Palestinian media outlets after he claimed in court that he had been tortured, including with shabeh (strappado) and beatings with sticks and rubber ropes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is no humanity in their treatment. What they [PA] are doing is a stain of shame on the history of Palestine,\u201d his mother said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just like unjust administrative detention \u2013 they keep extending his arrest without us, or even the lawyer, knowing what the charges are. This is the same thing,\u201d said Qurt, in reference to Israel\u2019s controversial policy of detaining Palestinians for months or years on end without trial or charge.<\/p>\n

Hreish\u2019s detention has come as part of one of the largest political arrest campaigns conducted by the Fatah-run PA in recent years and is officially related to a carpentry shop explosion in Beitunia, a town near Ramallah.<\/p>\n

However, Hreish\u2019s family say that his detention is political, and is because of his affiliation with Fatah\u2019s rivals, Hamas.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, the mother of two brothers who were arrested as part of the same case as Hreish and currently held with him in Jericho prison also announced an open-ended hunger strike to raise attention for their plight.<\/p>\n

Mukaram Qurt stands in the living room of her son\u2019s apartment, with an image of Ahmad and his wife in the background [Zena Al Tahhan\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018We all love you\u2019<\/h2>\n

Sitting in her son\u2019s living room in the town of Beitunia, west of Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Qurt, a grandmother to 13 children, is unafraid to speak her mind.<\/p>\n

To her and her family, her son\u2019s arrest is purely political and is part of the PA\u2019s attempt to secure its own interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe PA engages in this oppression for its own goals along with the [Israeli] occupation and the United States, to work against the people of this country, to keep coordinating with the Israelis for financial goals and to remain in power,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

For its part, the PA has said that the arrests are not politically motivated. The spokesperson for the Palestinian security services, Talal Dweikat, said in a Tuesday press conference that there were \u201cno political arrests\u201d, and added that the latest arrests had come \u201cin the context of addressing law and order, and to preserve civil peace\u201d.<\/p>\n

Al Jazeera attempted to contact the PA to ask about the specifics of Hreish\u2019s case, and the allegations of torture but did not get a response by the time of publication.<\/p>\n

PA security forces are trained and provided with significant financial support from the United States and the European Union.<\/p>\n

Established in 1993 as an interim governing body, the PA was meant to serve for five years before the creation of a Palestinian state in the 1967-occupied territories of East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. That state was never created.<\/p>\n

The PA has faced growing opposition in recent years, including over its controversial policy of \u201csecurity coordination\u201d in which it shares intelligence information on Palestinians wanted by Israel for their political activism. It also regularly arrests and mistreats detainees over their criticism and opposing political views.<\/p>\n

\u201cPA President Abbas and other officials give speeches about what the [Israeli] occupation is doing to us as a people. This is all just talk, for the media. Why don\u2019t they do the opposite? Why don\u2019t they release the political detainees they are holding?\u201d said Qurt, sitting in front of a large pencil portrait of her son and his wife hanging on the wall.<\/p>\n

In between blunt and bold statements, she breaks down in tears.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat is happening is beyond my imagination,\u201d she cried. \u201cHe\u2019s been in a solitary cell for almost three months, how is his mental health supposed to be?\u201d<\/p>\n

In the two 15-minute visits she has had with her son since his detention, Qurt said she focused on lifting his spirits, despite the profound pain she is feeling.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat can I tell my son in 15 minutes? I would support him mentally and encourage him \u2013 telling him \u2018We all love you,\u2019 and to stay strong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ahmad
Mukaram Qurt looks at a photo of her and her son Ahmad on his wedding day [Zena Al Tahhan\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sacrificing for her family<\/h2>\n

Qurt used to teach English at local primary schools but was eventually forced to stop working.<\/p>\n

Her husband, Nouh Hreish, just like her three sons, was repeatedly imprisoned by Israel and the PA, over his affiliation with the Gaza-based movement, Hamas.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey [Israel] would keep taking Abu Muhammad [Nouh] into administrative detention, sometimes from three months up to a year,\u201d she recalled, noting that she had to take on more responsibilities in his absence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first six years after I got married were very difficult, I focused on raising my children, which I was doing alone, and working with my mother-in-law in the small supermarket we owned,\u201d said Qurt.<\/p>\n

She takes pride in the fact that all eight of her children \u2013 five daughters and three sons \u2013 went to university, with some completing their masters. \u201cI paid attention to my children, to their education.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the family had struggled financially, they now own and run a sizeable event supplies store in Beitunia. \u00a0\u201cNobody gets to where they are without sacrificing and struggling,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Ahmad
Mukaram Qurt holds up a photo of Ahmad embracing her upon his release from prison in August 2021, following eight months in Israeli administrative detention [Zena Al Tahhan\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u2018Not our leadership\u2019<\/h2>\n

The PA has\u00a0long arrested members and supporters of its main rival political group, Hamas, which has been the de facto ruler in the besieged Gaza Strip since 2007 when it defeated Fatah in parliamentary elections. Fatah was driven out of the Strip as it attempted a preemptive takeover, which resulted in several weeks of fighting.<\/p>\n

Hamas and Fatah have governed the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank respectively ever since, with internal divisions deeply plaguing Palestinian politics and both parties accused of clamping down on opponents.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople like Ahmad are honourable men who were imprisoned by Israel,\u201d said Qurt. \u201cThe PA is supposed to stand with them, help them, provide them with work. They should have a badge of honour \u2013 they sacrificed for their homeland \u2013 not be mistreated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ahmad
Mukaram at the hospital in Ramallah with Ahmad\u2019s wife as she was due to give birth, Monday, August 15 [Ameer Abo Aram\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last week, Hreish\u2019s wife Fatima gave birth to their first-born son, Karam, meaning generosity in Arabic.<\/p>\n

The family said they repeatedly asked PA officials to release Hreish temporarily for the birth but they refused, casting a dark shadow on what was meant to be a celebratory moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told the officials after one of the hearings: \u2018If you have any sense of humanity, he should be released to embrace his son. We are a people under occupation. You are pressuring your own people?\u2019 They said: \u2018Would you ask Israel to release a prisoner?\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cI said: \u2018Those are Israelis \u2013 they are the enemy, I would not ask them.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

To Qurt, and to many on the ground, the PA is not representative of the Palestinian people.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have misguided people that we do not believe in, that we do not take as our leadership,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must stand against them before we stand against the Israelis. For the Israelis to get out of here, these people must leave first, because they are Israel\u2019s foothold and source of support.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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