Vigil at Sheffield Station on Friday 12th April
Here is the transcript of the video.
SPEAKER 1
We hear a great deal about the Israelis taken captive on October 7th, the need to release them and bring them home safely, the distress of their families – all of which are legitimate concerns, and we want them to be released.
However, we hear next to nothing about the 8100+ Palestinians taken as captives by Israel in the West Bank since 7th October. Nor do we hear about the hundreds recently taken captive from Gaza.
Long before October 7th, thousands of Palestinians were captured by Israel and imprisoned, many without trial or charge, for years on end.
And abuse and torture of Palestinians have occurred for decades in Israeli prisons – but now it is the standard treatment, a shocking norm.
BUT the truth is coming out and it is an ugly truth.
SPEAKER 2
Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir is responsible for all Israeli jails. This is what he says about the treatment of captives: “In accordance with my instructions, the terrorists receive the most stringent conditions: eight handcuffed terrorists in a dark cell, iron beds, toilets in a hole in the floor, and Israel’s national anthem constantly playing in the background. We need to remember that our prison guards are dealing with the scum of the earth, murderers, who pose a security threat”.
Amjad a-Najjar from the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society said: “Ben Gvir has declared war against the prisoners. The tools of communication are batons and beatings. Death hovers over the prisons, awaiting a decision from the guards to strike any of the detainees.”
SPEAKER 3
Amjad is right. Reports to the UN from groups like Adameer, Adalah and Amnesty International describe the treatment of captives — physical assault on a frequent basis; enforced nakedness and demeaning humiliating acts; threats of sexual violation and, in some cases, actual sexual violation; forced removal of women’s headscarves and denial of sanitary products; denial of essential medical attention food and water; overcrowded cells with no functioning toilet facilities; all this to the constant backdrop of abusive dehumanising language.
SPEAKER 4
Mahmoud Katnani, is a released prisoner and he said. “On Nov. 18, at 6 p.m. during the security count, the Israeli Prison forces began to break into the room. There were 10 prisoners in the room, and we sat as usual: kneeling with our hands over our heads and heads down. Suddenly, the forces attacked us for no apparent reason, beating us with batons and kicking us. The beating continued violently.
SPEAKER 5
Mahmoud added: “They slammed the prisoner Thaer Abu Assab on the floor and dragged him to a corner near the bathroom, beating him on his head and body for several minutes. Then they exited the room, leaving Thaer covered in blood flowing heavily from his head. We approached him [and realized that] his heart had stopped beating. We pulled him to the middle of the room; he had died.
We covered him with a blanket and began screaming at the guards for an hour and a half until a nurse, guards, and members of the same force arrived in the room, Abu Assab’s body was taken away.”
SPEAKER 1 AGAIN
Lama Khater is a mother of five, a journalist and writer from Hebron. She was arrested and tells us: “I could not have imagined the severity of the situation. I was taken to a military vehicle where I was forced to lie down on the floor, handcuffed and blindfolded. I asked to go to the toilet and drink water, but the female soldier refused. They claimed not to understand Arabic; I tried English, but to no avail. After an hour of detention, I was allowed to use the restroom and drank water from the tap there. The female soldier refused to allow me to close the toilet door completely.”
SPEAKER 2 AGAIN
After making threats against Lana and her daughters that are too horrible to repeat, her interrogator said “I could go to your house and burn your children down while they sleep. Here there are no laws or rights. You are a prisoner of war, and I hope that a government will come that will allow us to do what we want with you [Palestinians].’
SPEAKER 3 AGAIN
Foad Hasan, a 45-year-old father of five from the village of Qusra, near Nablus gave his story: “The conditions in Megiddo are terrible, impossible to describe. They tried to make me kiss the Israeli flag, and when I refused, they beat me so badly that they broke three of my ribs. One other guy from Jaba’, near Jenin, also refused to kiss the Israeli flag, and the prison guards broke his leg and ribs too. When you arrive at Megiddo, they say ‘Welcome to hell.’
SPEAKER 4 AGAIN
The special base in Southern Israel for people taken from Gaza is as bad as it gets. A doctor in a field hospital there describes conditions for captives as so bad that amputations of hands and even legs – caused by the constant use of tight ligatures on all four limbs – are becoming routine; the way captives are tied up cuts off the blood supply and cause irreversible damage.
Captives are handcuffed, legs bound, eyes blindfolded even during the inadequate medical care they receive. The doctor said the captives were systematically “dehumanised”, violating medical ethics.
But the IDF says it operates “with extreme care for the human dignity of detainees”.
SPEAKER 5 AGAIN
These are just some of many testimonies coming out of Israeli prisons.
When Israel claims it has the most moral army in the world, let’s remember these stories, not told in our media, and let’s challenge false narratives with the truth.
We stand with all Palestinians and today we especially stand with Palestinian captives held and tortured by Israel in defiance of human decency and international law.
Tell the Truth Sheffield 