Sunday 21 October 2012

Palestinian Prisoners Society

Over 4,500 Palestinians are in Israeli jails including 150 children and 7 women. The Society is made up of former prisoners who provide support for current prisoners and their families.

Nablus alone has 850 prisoners. In total, about 900,000 Palestinians have been in Israeli jails. Of a population of about 2.5M this is around 1/3.

Of particular concern to the Society are the many prisoners who are arrested by Israel and then kept under Administrative Detention. So they are not charged with any crime but merely detained for 6 month, renewable, periods. The Mayor of Nablus was himself held under such an arrangement for 15 months even though there were no indications that he was involved in anything untoward. There were certainly no charges brought against him and he was never brought to court or found guilty of any crime.

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