ALKHALIL (PIC)– This is just one case out of 11 thousand others. Each one of the Palestinian captives in Israeli jails has his/her own story to tell. Although there are differences depending on the person the circumstances of his/her arrest and trial much of the experiences of the Palestinian captives are common.
This report tells the of Ghassan Asaifan who was kidnapped by the Israeli Occupation from among his children and family. Ever since his detention he suffered cruel prison conditions and even more cruel prison officers. The suffering of his family is not less severe.
The day Ghassam was kidnapped
On 12 May 2005 a large Israeli occupation force raided the town of Ashiokh – North East of Alkhalil. The force surrounded the house of 39 year old Ghassan Ghazi Ahmad Asaifan stormed and ransacked it. They also ransacked his brother’s house next door. The force then proceeded to arrest Ghassan and take him to Askalan detention center.
Gassan’s wife Um Yousef told PIC correspondent that the IOF troops returned one week later with an explosives expert. For five hours they searched the house and the area around it and told her that they were looking for explosives. When they finished searching and having found nothing they brought in her husband who was kept all the time in a military jeep allowing her to see him for a few minutes before taking him again to the same detention center where he spent three months moving between cruel interrogation and solitary confinement.
Endless court appearances
Um Yousef also told PIC that Israeli occupation authority charged Ghassan with being affiliated with the armed wing of Hamas a charge which he repeatedly denied. There were more than 15 court sittings during which the same charges against him were repeated. On many occasions he was ordered to attend the court and give evidence where he had to be transported many miles from his detention center to a court at a different prison and some times he was not even called into the court.
Overcrowded Prisons
22 months has passed since Ghassan Asaifan was kidnapped. He is currently detained at Bier Saba – ‘Ishel Department’ second largest Zionist Prison after Al-Naqab prison in the number of detainees held there. On average there are 10 captives in each cell in the prison and the number is increasing due to the daily raids and arrests made by the IOF.
As to his health Um Yousef says that he is suffering from dental pains and prison food which lacks in quality and quantity adding that the Prison authority does not allow the families to provide decent food to the prisoners.
Um Yousef also talks of the torturous journey to visit her husband where the family has to prepare for the visit from the night before as they have to leave their home very early morning go through all the roadblocks and when the finally reach the prison go through a different form of humiliation searches and insults. If they are lucky they get to see the prisoner for 45 minutes after which they have to make the same torturous journey back home which they will usually reach very late.
Um Yousef’s experience is similar to that of families of thousands of Palestinian detainees that is of course if they are “lucky” enough to be allowed family visits.
Disability and a psychological trauma
Ghassan’s eldest son is hearing and speech impaired. But despite his disability and his young age he keeps expressing his sadness and suffering which have resulted from the arrest of his father who has so far spent almost 2 years without trial. Through signing and with great sadness on his face he keeps repeating the scene of his father’s arrest by the IOF soldiers.
Ghassan has eight children who greatly miss their father and keep asking their mother difficult questions the answers for which are too complicated for their young minds. Questions such as: why was father arrested? Why does he not come back? Or when is father coming home? Faced with all these questions the mother can only muster as much courage as she can and tell them that father will come back soon put them to bed and make sure they do not see or hear her when she cries at night not only for the absence of her husband but also for the responsibilities she suddenly found herself with.
