NOVANEWS

Palestinian youth in Beit Ommar face regular repression, arrest and detention by Israeli soldiers during demonstrations against encroaching settlements and land confiscation.
The streets of Beit Ommar are lined with posters of Palestinian boys and men, martyrs and prisoners of the Israeli occupation. One house is plastered with more posters than the others: the house of the Awad family, whose two sons were, until recently, being held in Ofer prison on the charge of throwing stones.
Mohammad Awad, 16, and his brother Ahmad, 19, were released from Ofer prison near Ramallah in the second phase of the prisoner swap deal in December. For Mohammad Awad, it is a particular relief to be free — his time in prison had an almost fatal effect on his health.
Awad has Familial Mediterranean Fever (FMF), a rare genetic disease which causes severe abdominal pain and chest and joint inflammation. “Sometimes I feel like my stomach is about to explode,” he told The Electronic Intifada. During his time in prison his condition was largely ignored, and the prison doctors seemed unable to deal effectively with his health problems.
Awad was sentenced to six months in Ofer prison after throwing a stone during a demonstration against Israeli settlements, but was released a month early as part of the prisoner swap deal.
According to Israeli human rights organization B’Tselem, 835 minors were prosecuted for throwing stones between 2005 and 2010. The act of throwing stones is punished harshly under Israeli military law and usually results in a penalty of three components: imprisonment, a conditional prison sentence, and a fine.
Mohammad’s father, Ali, and other family members said that Awad was severely beaten by the Israeli soldiers who arrested him, and his health deteriorated further after being medically neglected during his time in prison.
Medical negligence
“They gave me five types of drugs and medicine,” Awad explained. “The prison doctor gave them to me. They weren’t drugs for my illness, they were just painkillers to ease the pain. Some children have cancer and all that they give them is painkillers. I felt that they neglected me, and I was ignored as a patient.”
According to the United Nations’ Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, “[t]he medical officer shall have the care of the physical and mental health of the prisoners and should daily see all sick prisoners, all who complain of illness, and any prisoner to whom his attention is specially directed.” This international rule, however, was not applied to Awad.
Ahmad was in the same prison cell as his brother, and says the doctors were not attentive to Mohammad Awad’s needs. “Sometimes we would wake up and see him and he couldn’t talk, he couldn’t walk, he looked like he was dead,” Ahmad said.
“All the prisoners called for the officers, and asked them to save his life, give him some painkillers, anything. After many tries and many knocks on the door they came to take him to the doctor, and gave him some painkillers. That’s all they did.” Awad was eventually taken to Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem, where he was treated for his illness. “I believe if they had taken him to the hospital the first day he was ill, he wouldn’t get this worse condition,” said Awad’s father.
“He wouldn’t go [to hospital] unless he was dying. That’s the only reason they would send him. He was handcuffed and his legs were cuffed. He wasn’t taken as a patient, he was treated as a prisoner. They neglected him and ignored his condition, and that’s why he got so ill.”
Lack of proper care

Mohammed Awad (far left) and his family in Beit Ommar.