[News] Palestinians burn ‘humiliating’ shirts after release from Israeli prisons

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Palestinians burn ‘humiliating’ shirts after release from Israeli prisons

*Freed Palestinians burn ‘racist’ shirts forced onto them by Israel in
exchange for captives after tense negotiations.*
[image: A Palestinian burns a sweatshirt featuring the prison service logo,
a Star of David, and the slogan: "We do not forget and we do not forgive",
that was given to freed Palestinian prisoners at the European Hospital in
Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip]
A Palestinian burns a provocative sweatshirt that was forced on released
Palestinian prisoners [Bashar Taleb/AFP]
By Al Jazeera Staff
<https://www.aljazeera.com/author/al_jazeera_staff_150119130629458>
Published On 15 Feb 2025 -
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/15/palestinians-burn-shirts-forced-to-wear-upon-release-from-israeli-jails
<https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Faje.io%2Fu1f3lg>
<https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Palestinians%20burn%20%E2%80%98humiliating%E2%80%99%20shirts%20after%20release%20from%20Israeli%20prisons&source=sharethiscom&related=sharethis&via=AJEnglish&url=https%3A%2F%2Faje.io%2Fu1f3lg>
<https://aje.io/u1f3lg>

Israel’s move to force the released Palestinians to wear shirts with a Star
of David logo and “we will not forget or forgive” written in Arabic has
prompted anger and been slammed as a “racist crime”.

On Saturday, 369 Palestinians were released
<https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/15/israeli-captives-story> in
exchange for three captives in Gaza following days of tense negotiations.

Before the exchange, the Israel Prison Service released photos of a few of
the Palestinians dressed in those provocative shirts. As the Palestinians
were being returned, a number of them wore their shirts inside out in order
to cover the messages.

Footage shot in Gaza by Al Jazeera showed a few Palestinians setting fire
to the shirts upon their arrival at the European Gaza Hospital in Gaza’s
Khan Younis.

“We condemn the occupation’s crime of placing racist slogans on the backs
of our heroic prisoners, and treating them with cruelty and violence, in a
blatant violation of humanitarian laws and norms,” Hamas said in a
statement.

It added that this is “in contrast to the resistance’s firm commitment to
moral values in treating the occupation’s prisoners”.

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group also condemned the shirts as a “racist
crime”.

According to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority, quoting an Israeli source,
there was criticism in Israel over the uniforms as well. A source was
quoted as saying that Israel’s political echelon was not informed of the
move.

The decision to have the Palestinians don the shirts was made by Israel’s
Prison Commissioner Kobi Yaacobi, the source told the broadcaster.

Mohamad Elmasry, a professor in the media studies programme at the Doha
Institute for Graduate Studies, told Al Jazeera that this was “another
method” under which Israel intends to “dehumanise” Palestinians.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which is facilitating
the exchange, called on all parties for more “dignified” releases.

“Despite repeatedly calling for all transfers to be carried out in a
dignified and private manner, more must be done by all sides, including the
mediators, to improve future transfers,” the ICRC said in a statement on
Saturday.

The furore surrounding the provocative shirts underscores a long policy of
“humiliation”, according to Xavier Abu Eid, a political analyst speaking to
Al Jazeera from Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank.

“We’ve been analysing throughout these past weeks the humiliation of
Palestinian prisoners,” Abu Eid said. He noted this was “nothing new” but
not only damaged the prisoners but also their families.

A total of 24 captives and 985 Palestinians have been released since the
ceasefire began in January, according to the ICRC.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20250215/ed0f57d2/attachment.htm>