Female activists and human rights campaigners held silent vigil in front of Israeli embassy in Warsaw commemorating 37 Palestinian women held in Israeli jails and detention centres. The vigil was attended by over a dozen women each holding a picture of a female political prisoner and a candle. The female protesters were joined by several men.
The call to action came from Palestinian prisoner support and human rights organization Ramallah-based Addameer. Similar vigils and protests were held in the occupied Palestinian territory and several European cities.
The protests demanded that Israeli authorities immediately release all Palestinian female political prisoners and detainees from Israeli jails, including women in administrative detention. There was a special call for release of Eman Ghazzawi, 35-year-old, mother of two. Arrested on the 8th March 2001 she been locked in Israeli jail for 10 years now.
Eman developed respiratory problems in prison and suffers from constant pains in her head, stomach and joints as a result of the harsh incarceration conditions. She still has to serve 3 more years. Eman’s husband is also a prisoner in Israeli jail. Their children, Samah, 12, and Jihad, 13, are living with their maternal grandmother.
The protesters condemned the cruel and discriminatory treatment that Palestinian female prisoners and detainees are subjected to during their arrest, interrogation and in prison, including sexual harassment, psychological and physical punishment and humiliation.
There was a high number of police on the spot of the Warsaw protest. The protesters stayed in silence at first and then shared stories of female prisoners.
