Aysha Ibrahim Hudali
Mother of political prisoners
My granddaughter keeps saying, “I want my Mommy, I want Daddy.” She waits. When she hears the doorbell she expects her dad, but when it turns out to be someone else, like her uncle, she cries, “Where is Daddy? You said Daddy was at work, why didn’t he come home?”[...]
Fatima Shehada Ja’fari
Political activist, women’s organizer, and former political detainee
No institution has given Palestinian women anything. Women have to grab their rights from men. I was the only woman invited to the anniversary celebration of the Fatah movement. I asked the men, “Was the revolution launched by men only? No, it was launched by men and women. Women have always struggled. Have any of you brought your wives, sisters, or mothers to the struggle? You only get us involved when you want us involved. Then you put us aside. You vote for women because you have to, not because you choose to.” [...]
Khawla Dawoud Ahmad Alazraq
Director of Psycho-Social Counseling Women’s Center
The occupation puts immense pressure on women. The men used to earn incomes by working in Israel, now they cannot go to Israel. They are frustrated, cannot feed their kids, and do not feel like real fathers who can support their families. This expresses itself in violence against women and children. [...]
Hekmat Bessiso Naji
Project Assistant with Medico International for health services
The world hides its ears and eyes from the miserable life of the refugees in the camps in Gaza and the West Bank. The issue is not just living here, but who’s responsible for this and when will this change. For refugees, all our lives have been under a question mark. [...]
Muna Salim Saleh Mansour
Member of Palestinian Legislative Council (Hamas party), Nablus
My husband joked, “What would you do if I were killed?” I said, “I would cry.” He said, “It is okay to cry.” I said, “The house is too small to accommodate mourners.” Mourners arrived in busloads. The march on the day of his death was the largest ever in Palestine. People from surrounding towns and villages joined the funeral even though the Israeli occupation placed roadblocks. [...]
Sawsan Shaheen
Law student and former political detainee
All of my family, we are active in the Fatah party. We are under occupation. There are settlements on our land. We must have our land, and a special situation with Jerusalem. It belongs to the Palestinians, to Muslims, because of Al-Aqsa Mosque. We cannot see our families inside Jerusalem. [...]
Faiha Abdulhadi
Writer, poet, consultant, and lecturer
They lifted the curfew one day during the invasion of 2002. I went to the gym and was on the treadmill when a bullet broke a window behind me. I said to myself “I will not notice this, life has to go on.” Such actions are resistance—to continue your daily life [...]
Buthaina Doqmaq
Chair of Mandela Institute for Human Rights
More than 380 Palestinian children under 18 years of age are in Israeli prisons. They need to be educated—not tortured, abused inside prisons, deprived of their parents’ visits. The Israelis tour the world demanding the release of one abducted soldier. I demand the international community intervene to free prisoners who are seekers of freedom and peace. We want our detained children home with their families.
