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Palestinian teen recounts first hug with jailed father in 12 years

September 15, 2016 at 10:28 am

A Palestinian teenager has recounted what it was like when she hugged her father, serving a life sentence in an Israeli prison, for the first time in 12 years.

18-year-old Yara al-Sharabati told Al-Jazeera about the events of July 10, when she was allowed to be in the same room as her father.

“When I walked through the door, I felt free that I could hug him. I suddenly felt like I wanted to run. So I ran to him, and he held me and hugged me. We held each other for about four minutes.”

During their time together, which lasted just minutes, the guards took their photo together.

“I didn’t get the picture immediately”, Yara explained. “I got it after one month, when people who visited my father asked for it from the prison administration. That’s why I could only publish it on Facebook a month later.”

The teenager explained it “was the second time I was allowed to hug him.”

“The first time I was only six years old. I’m 18 now. I was born when he was in jail. But when I was six, I wasn’t aware; I wasn’t conscious that I was hugging my father. Basically, this is the first time, because it’s the first time I felt I knew what it means to hug him.”