The families say they will never give up hope

GAZA CITY, January 19 (IslamOnline.net) - Families of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails staged Monday, January 19, their "weekly" sit-in before the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) headquarters in Gaza City, crying that the prisoners crave for more care and attention.

The weekly march included mothers and children of detainees as well as a number of representatives of national and Islamic powers, shouting slogans in support of releasing their loved ones.

"We are ready to sacrifice you prisoners," read one of the banners in the rally. "Our freedom will not be complete unless our prisoners are freed."

Mothers of detainees embraced the photos of their prisoner sons, demanding their release as Eid Al-Adha (Eid of the Sacrifice) is drawing closer.

"We could not visit our son or his Palestinian fellow fighters as Israeli soldiers lay obstacles to see them," Salem Abu Moussa told IslamOnline.net.

Attia Abu Moussa has been in Israeli prisons for 10 years. He was sentenced to life imprisonment after he had carried out an operation that took the lives of a number of Israelis.

Abu Moussa, the bereaved father, complained about the obstacles the Israeli authorities put on the way of the families of detainees to deprive them of visiting their relatives in Israeli prisons.

"When we visit our sons, we suffer a lot, as we leave in the morning and return in the evening due to the many Zionist procedures that precede the visits," he said.

The father added he was willing to take part in the marches that support the issue of detainees, despite the difficulties and risks encountered on his way to Gaza.

"I live in Al-Tuffah neighborhood in Khan Younis. Every Monday, I head to Gaza to take part in the weekly march. Occupation troops fire at us every time we move from Khan Younis to Gaza," he complained.

Mahmmoud Al-Shaer, a father of another detainee, told IOL that his son Saleh has been in Nafha prison for 11 years, serving a life sentence.

"They prevent me from visiting my son, as they put glass barriers on the windows. I haven’t seen him for seven months," Saher said.

"Such visits are a backbreaking burden. We go in the morning and stay up to nine o’clock at night. Human rights organizations should defend the detainees and demand to improve their living conditions and release them," Al-Shaer added.

Meanwhile, head of Hossam Association for Detainees Gamal Farwana hailed the people’s support to the signature campaign for the freedom of the Palestinian prisoners.

He said the campaign is widely reported in the media and received an increasingly growing support from the people.

"We received thousands of signatures from the Gaza Strip. There are other signatures from some Arab figures and supporters of human rights in Europe and Latin America," Farwana told IOL.

Farwana reiterated that his NGO still has enough time to collect more signatures, boasting about the positive feedback his campaign has received so far.

"We launched a signature campaign inside Open Jerusalem University in Gaza City. This week, we will launch another campaign in both Al-Azhar and Al-Aqsa universities," he added.

"Visits are not allowed yet. The Israeli authorities, in effect, are waging a psychological war on the prisoners by building such glass barriers that separate between them and their relatives and loved ones," the Palestinian activist added.

He warned that the number of the sick detainees is on a meteoric rise due to poor prison and hygiene conditions.