The women whom you read about below are human beings, but are not treated as such by Israel. For those of you who do not know about Administrative Detention, please see B’tselem http://www.btselem.org/english/Administrative_Detention/ . In brief, AD is imprisonment without trial. The charges are kept from the prisoner and the defense lawyer, so that even were there a trial, it is next to impossible to defend. Detention can be up to 6 months, which can be rolled over again and again, adding up to years. Often AD is used when the prosecution and military authorities have no case but want to have the person (sometimes a non-violent activist against the occupation) taken, for whatever reason.
Remember these ladies when you hear again and again pleas for the release of Gilad Shalit. Of course his parents want him home. But so do the parents and families of these women, as well as of the Palestinian youngsters in jail, and also of the men. Palestinians are by and large political prisoners rather than criminals.
Dorothy
September 21, 2010
Women`s Organization for Political Prisoners (WOFPP) www.wofpp.org
