“Every time I catch sight of a child walking alongside his/her father in streets I just feel pain deep inside” prisoner Nazih Abu Oun’s 12-year-old son Yassin said with tears in his eyes.
“The Israeli occupation forces prevented me from enjoying Ramadan with my father” said Yassin. “Ever since I was born I do not remember having spent a single month with my father.”
“There is nobody else to accompany us to Tarawih (Ramadan night) prayers at the mosque or to share with us Ramadan meals on the same table” Yassin told the PIC. “What hurts me more than anything else in the world is the sight of my peers clinging to their fathers’ arms or holding their hands.”
“My father was held behind Israeli prison bars when I was born in 2005. Ever since I was brought into being my father has not left Israeli jails except for a few months” he added.
Prisoner Abu Oun was first arrested on June 10 1993 and sentenced to four months in Israeli jails. In 1998 he was arrested again and sentenced to six years on charges of commanding al-Qassam Brigades in Jenin. He was re-arrested in 2005 as part of a mass abduction sweep launched against the affiliates of the Change and Reform parliamentary bloc and was made to serve an administrative prison term without charge or trial until March 17 2006.
He served another administrative term from May 24 2007 to March 17 2010 and became the longest-serving administrative detainee.
On the 16th day of Ramadan of 2010 Abu Oun was kidnapped by the Palestinian Authority (PA) preventive forces and subjected to harsh torture marring the joy his family was supposed to feel during the holy month.
He was arrested for the sixth time on July 5 2011 and released on September 17 2013. February 12 2017 marked the 10th occasion during which Abu Oun was arrested and sent to jail.
“This is the 22nd time my father spends Ramadan in Israeli jails since 1993” said his other son Islam.
“It seems that the Israeli occupation has left no stone unturned to spoil our happiness and make us pay for my father’s commitment to the liberation of his motherland” stated Islam.
“Despite the pain we feel deep inside due to my father’s absence we will keep rallying around him. Our father is our source of honor. We are so proud of him. May Allah bring us all together soon” added Islam.
