BETHLEHEM (PIC)– Israeli soldiers at Bethlehem roadblock coerced Palestinian women to strip at the pretext of conducting a security search Palestinian women revealed to press sources and Jamal Zahalka the Arab member in the Israeli parliament.
A Palestinian woman confirmed to the MP that Israeli soldiers manning the roadblock forced some Palestinian women to strip completely in a room at the pretext of security search regardless of their age but she and others refused to comply with those soldiers’ orders.
The woman added that she along with others managed to cross to their homes in Bethlehem without stripping after conducting contacts with centers for human rights.
Zahalka raised the question in the Israeli parliament saying: “There is no limit to the moral degradation of the Israeli occupation; whoever compels women to strip has reached his nadir and he is mean and degraded. We must stop this shameful action immediately.”
In the same context the Israeli Megiddo prison authority persisted in its strip search policy and arbitrary measures against Palestinian prisoners according to a letter leaked from the prison.
The internees complained that the prison administration deliberately coerces them to strip and shackles their hands and legs before they move to trial or before any visit by their families.
They appealed to all human rights institutions to pressure the IOA to stop repressive practices against prisoners.
