first two times I was imprisoned it didn’t affect me at all. However, the third
time it affected me so much because it was the first time I got imprisoned
after I was married. I couldn’t stop worrying about my children. I couldn’t
stop thinking of how much they needed me, especially my three-month-old
daughter. One of my sons now doesn’t leave me alone at all because he’s afraid
that I will go away again and never come back. I’ve seen women in prison
who were separated from their children for ten years. I am thankful I was
separated from my children for only 14 days. I was not physically tortured. But
psychologically I was completely devastated.”
Former female prisoner, Yatta, West Bank
Interview: 23 November 2016
Israel has used the arrest and incarceration of women as a tool to suppress
wider resistance in two ways. First, they have displayed an interest in
“target[ing] and arrest[ing] women that are active in human rights issues,
particularly female activists on issues concerned with prisoners and female
prisoners in the occupation prison.”279 This can be seen as a tactic to deter
women from participating in political activity and activism. Second, they
have also targeted women married to men that are involved in politics or
resistance purely in order to place pressure on their husbands to cooperate
with Israel. By threatening to harm the women, Israel has found a useful way
to break or coerce male activists.280
279 Ibid.
280 MIFTAH, Fact Sheet – Palestinian Prisoners, op. cit., last update: June 2012
77
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