Um Mahmoud Al-Barbari did not know that the night of her son Mohammed’s arrest would be the last day he would get the blessing of his mother and kiss her hands and forehead and that their final separation would be soon.
A year after his arrest Um Mahmoud from Al-Ezza refugee camp in Bethlehem left this life after a long battle with illness.
Unfulfilled hopes
In a previous interview with the Palestinian Information Center Um Mahmoud expressed her hopes for the return of her captive son Mohammed who is sentenced to 15-year-imprionment expressing hope he would be released in the next prisoner swap deal which Palestinians prisoners are waiting to happen between the Palestinian resistance and the Israeli occupation.
“Mohammed promised me immediately after the judge of the Israeli court sentenced him to 15 years in prison that he would not complete his sentence inside the prison and that he would come out despite their will” Um Mahmoud said. “His morale was high and he did not care about the occupation. He was raising our morale and reassuring us that the occupation will definitely end” she said.
Mohammed was arrested for two years before his last arrest after shooting at settlers’ vehicles in retaliation for the martyrdom of Hadeel al-Hashlamoun who was executed at a military checkpoint in Hebron in 2015.
Mohammed was arrested in May 2016 for his participation in the preparation of the human-bomber Abdul Hamid Abu Sorour along with the Qasimiya cell which also included prisoners Said Hermas Ahmad al-Mashaykh Muhammad Sami Muhammad Majdi and Ali al-Arouj.
Calm rebel
The mother said in a previous interview “The family was surprised by the arrest of my son and was more surprised by the charges against him; because he was quiet and did not show signs of engaging in resistance work.”
She pointed out that he had a job in the adjacent refugee camp and despite his love of his homeland the family did not imagine that he might participate in a military cell indicating that the Israeli intelligence officer of the region told him at the interrogation center that he was watching his movement because he is a former prisoner. The intelligence officer however said that he was shocked when he learned that Mohammed was a member in the cell Um Mahmoud added.
Um Mahmoud Najah Abu Sorour the mother of prisoner Mohammed Al-Barbari passed away on the fourth of September after suffering from a stroke and entering a coma for a few days.
