Testimony from Nassim Shaheen about her brother, who is on hunger strike
Niki Carter | 01.09.2004 19:47 | Oxford
The story a young Palestinian man arrested on January 28th, and still held in an Israeli prison without charge, as told by his sister. He is one of the hunger-strikers.
Today Nassim Shaheen called me over to where she was sitting at the Baladna
Centre and asked if I was a journalist and I said no but she talked anyway, into the night, about her brother in prison, who is one of the hunger-strikers. We are bearing witness, if you like, trying to make contact with people, to tell their stories when they want them told.
At the Centre we found a couple of dozen people going hungry in support of
their imprisoned relatives and only photographed with permission. Nasim is
going to send us the details about her brother because she is creating a web
site for his cause but, till she does that, and because now is the time to
support prisoners, I can tell some of her story.
Her brother, Hasan, has always supported the peace process, though he was
arrested in a demonstration during the first Intifada when he was 15, beaten
and kept in prison for 6 months. He was arrested again on 28th Jan this
year. He was staying in Ramallah at a friend’s house and the soldiers burst
in and took them both, brutally, into custody. He was stripped and for the
first 28 days he was kept handcuffed to a wall in a punishment cell, naked,
and not allowed to sit down.
Nassim was phoned at around 4 in the morning, when it was pitch dark, and told Hasan had been arrested. Nassim raced over to her parent’s house but....
(There was just an explosion, & I was going to stop but we’ve been told
“It was nothing. Just soldiers”.)
...couldn’t tell them any details, didn’t know if he was alive or dead.
Her sisters and brothers ran into the room and her mother fainted. When she
came round, she started screaming in a high voice. They could get no information for hours and called many organisations (Ansar Asajeen, Mandella, Al Haq and the Red Cross) and it was the Red Cross finally found him.
Her brother has still not been charged. Though he was in Ofra Court
yesterday, the judge postponed the case again. Their father is ill in
hospital after suffering a stroke and would like to see his son or hear
from him but none of the family have been allowed to visit or talk to him.
He must talk to his lawyer (he is lucky to have one) though glass and via
a phone in an interview room and the guards make such a noise that it is
hard to hear.
Centre and asked if I was a journalist and I said no but she talked anyway, into the night, about her brother in prison, who is one of the hunger-strikers. We are bearing witness, if you like, trying to make contact with people, to tell their stories when they want them told.
At the Centre we found a couple of dozen people going hungry in support of
their imprisoned relatives and only photographed with permission. Nasim is
going to send us the details about her brother because she is creating a web
site for his cause but, till she does that, and because now is the time to
support prisoners, I can tell some of her story.
Her brother, Hasan, has always supported the peace process, though he was
arrested in a demonstration during the first Intifada when he was 15, beaten
and kept in prison for 6 months. He was arrested again on 28th Jan this
year. He was staying in Ramallah at a friend’s house and the soldiers burst
in and took them both, brutally, into custody. He was stripped and for the
first 28 days he was kept handcuffed to a wall in a punishment cell, naked,
and not allowed to sit down.
Nassim was phoned at around 4 in the morning, when it was pitch dark, and told Hasan had been arrested. Nassim raced over to her parent’s house but....
(There was just an explosion, & I was going to stop but we’ve been told
“It was nothing. Just soldiers”.)
...couldn’t tell them any details, didn’t know if he was alive or dead.
Her sisters and brothers ran into the room and her mother fainted. When she
came round, she started screaming in a high voice. They could get no information for hours and called many organisations (Ansar Asajeen, Mandella, Al Haq and the Red Cross) and it was the Red Cross finally found him.
Her brother has still not been charged. Though he was in Ofra Court
yesterday, the judge postponed the case again. Their father is ill in
hospital after suffering a stroke and would like to see his son or hear
from him but none of the family have been allowed to visit or talk to him.
He must talk to his lawyer (he is lucky to have one) though glass and via
a phone in an interview room and the guards make such a noise that it is
hard to hear.
Niki Carter
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