Nelson Mandela and Aung Suu Kyi are known worldwide as prisoners of conscience who have spent lengthy periods in prison for standing up for their beliefs. South African political prisoner and later President Mandela spent 27 years in prison, many of them in solitary confinement; Aung San Suu Kyi, a political prisoner in Burma, spent almost 15 years under house arrest. Their time imprisoned was well publicised over the years and an international movement of supporters campaigned endlessly for their release.
In stark contrast, there is near silence from the international community on the 133 Palestinian political prisoners who have been held in Israeli jails for two decades or more. They have endured unjust trials and harsh prison conditions; they receive inadequate medical and psychological care, and many are in solitary confinement. Most of these prisoners were detained as young boys and young men and have reached their late 30s and 40s having spent their entire adult life in prison, with little or no contact with their loved ones and the outside world.
The Middle East Monitor will be profiling 25 of these Palestinian prisoners over the coming weeks, bringing an end to their anonymity and highlighting the injustices that these men and their families face at the hands of the state of Israel.
- Wael Salih al Barghuthi – Imprisoned 4-4-1978
- Fakhri Asfour al Barghuthi – Imprisoned 23-6-1978
- Akram Mansour – Imprisoned 2-8-1979
- Fuad Qasim al Razim – Imprisoned 30-1-1981
- Ibrahim Jabir – Imprisoned 8-1-1982
- Hasan Salameh – Imprisoned 8-8-1982
- Othman Musleh – Imprisoned 15-10-1982
- Sami Younis – Imprisoned 1983
- Karim Yunus – Imprisoned 1983
- Maher Yunus – Imprisoned 1983
- Salim Kayal – Imprisoned 30-5-1983
- Hafiz Qundus – Imprisoned 15-5-1984
- Issa A Rabbo – Imprisoned 20-10-1984
- Ahmed Fareed Muhammad Shehadeh – Imprisoned 16-2-1985
- Muhammad Nasr – Imprisoned 11-5-1985
- Rafe’ Karajeh – Imprisoned 20-5-1985
- Talal Abu al Kabash – Imprisoned 23-6-1985
- Mustafa Ghunaymat – Imprisoned 27-6-1985Ziad Mahmoud Mohammed Ghunimat – Imprisoned 27-6-1985
- Uthman Abdullah Bani Husayn – Imprisoned 27-7-1985Haza’ Muhammad Haza’ Sa’adi – Imprisoned 28-7-1985
- Siddqui Sulayman Ahmad al Maqt – Imprisoned 23-8-1985
- Hani Badawi Muhammad Jaber – Imprisoned 3-9-1985
- Muhammad Ahmad Abdul Hameed al Tous – Imprisoned 6-10-1985
- Nafiz Ahmad Talib Harz – Imprisoned 25-11-1985
- Fa’iz Mutawi’ al Khour – Imprisoned 29-11-1985
- Ghazi Jumu’ah al Nams – Imprisoned 30-11-1985
- Muhammad Misbah Ashour – Imprisoned 18-2-1986
- Ahmad Abdur Rahman Abu Hasireh – Imprisoned 18-2-1986
- Muhammad Abdul Hadi al Hassani – Imprisoned 4-3-1986