(17 Apr 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ramallah, West Bank – 17 April 2024
1. Various of protesters waving Palestinian and Fatah flags (yellow) to mark Palestinian Prisoners Day
2. Woman carrying Palestinian flag next to picture of prisoner
3. Various of protest, some protesters waving Palestinian flags, others holding pictures of prisoners
4. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Qadura Fares, head of Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs:
"The Palestinian people everywhere are trying on this day (Palestinian Prisoners Day) to be the voice of the prisoners and to raise this voice that the fascist occupying state of Israel is trying to curb and silence behind prison walls. We are trying to be the voice of the prisoners and to assure them and their families that the prisoners will remain symbols of the struggle until there is freedom and victory."
5. Sign reading (Arabic): "Their freedom is our duty. Freedom for the Palestinian prisoners in the occupation’s (Israeli) prisons."
6. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Amani Khandaqji, sister of prisoner Basim Khandaqji:
"Basim was subjected to a fierce campaign inside the occupation’s prisons because he was the first prisoner in the world to be nominated for the ‘Arabic Booker,’ for literature. There was incitement against him (Basim) by the right wing, by (National Security Minister Itamar) Ben Gvir. We are very concerned for Basim’s life and for the lives of the prisoners inside prisons, especially since the international institutions have failed us at a time when we need them to reassure us about our children."
7. Basim’s pictures
8. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Amani Khandaqji, sister of prisoner Basim Khandaqji:
"We the families of the prisoners are gripped with more and more fear every day, especially after the martyrdom of people from the prisoner’s movement, the last of whom was the martyred prisoner and hero, the thinker Walid Daqqa. We call upon the whole world to stand by us, especially when it comes to the issue of the prisoners, which took a different turn after Oct. 7."
9. Various of Palestinians rallying on Palestinian Prisoners Day
STORYLINE:
Hundreds of Palestinians took to the streets of Ramallah on Wednesday to mark Palestinian Prisoners Day, reminding the world of their loved ones on this day.
The fate of prisoners is an emotional issue for Palestinians as nearly everyone knows someone who has spent time in an Israeli jail.
"We are trying to be the voice of the prisoners and to assure them and their families that the prisoners will remain symbols of the struggle," said Qadura Fares, head of the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.
Holding poster-sized photographs of people currently held in Israeli prisons, the protesters marched and chanted to call for the release of all Palestinian prisoners.
Violence has surged in the West Bank since the war between Israel and Hamas started in October.
Near daily Israeli raids across the territory have resulted in mass arrests of Palestinians.
Amani Khandaqji, sister of prisoner Basim Khandaqji who has served 20 years out of three life sentences, said the families of prisoners are gripped with more and more fear everyday.
"We call upon the whole world to stand by us, especially when it comes to the issue of the prisoners, which took a different turn after Oct. 7," she said.
Israel holds 9,500 Palestinians in its jails for a variety of crimes including attacks against Israelis, according to the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs.
AP video shot by Imad Issied
Production: Jalal Bwaitel
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/cb8dce4b882a42ab8365408f7f5652d4
