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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20220814-palestinian-families-campaigning-for-israel-to-return-their-childrens-bodies/">middleeastmonitor.com</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Palestinian families campaigning for Israel to return their children's bodies</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">August 14, 2022</div>
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<img src="cid:ii_l6tkuec90" alt="image.png" width="392" height="261"><br><p>Around 20 years ago, Mohammad Nassar, 62, lost his son, Shadi, who
was participating in resistance activities against the Israeli
occupation during the second Palestinian intifada, <em>Anadolu Agency</em> reports.</p>
<p>Nassar has since been in a constant struggle to retrieve Shadi's body from Israeli authorities.</p>
<p>"I want to bury him with full dignity, I want to rest in peace with the knowledge that he has a marked grave," Nassar told <em>Anadolu Agency</em>. "I'm 62 years today and I have never stopped struggling for this for nearly 20 years, continuously."</p>
<p>Since 2008, Nassar has been a central figure in the National Campaign for the Recovery of Martyrs' Bodies.</p>
<p>Parents of the deceased Palestinians are members of the campaign and
are fighting to have known locations for the graves of their children.</p>
<p>"Our memories together linger in every corner of this house. His name
is never absent from our daily conversations," said Nassar.</p>
<p>He said five of his grandchildren are named Shadi, a tribute to their uncle who did not return home.</p>
<p><strong>102 bodies detained</strong></p>
<p>As many as 102 bodies have been detained by Israeli authorities since
2015, according to Hussien Shejaeah, the campaign's coordinator.</p>
<p>Eight are Palestinian prisoners who died inside jails but Israeli
authorities have refused to release them to their families. Ten children
and three women are on the list.</p>
<p>Documents by Jerusalem Legal Aid and Human Rights Centre (JALIC),
which started the national campaign, show that there are 256 bodies in
the cemeteries of numbers, named after a numbering system that replaces
names on graves.</p>
<p>"The detention of the bodies is a collective punishment policy that
controls life after death for the Palestinians. It's a punishment for
the families that dug a grave for their son, and their hope just to know
where his grave is, to visit it on special days. One of the Palestinian
mothers told me every time this is an injury which is not able to be
healed," Shejaeah told <em>Anadolu Agency</em>.</p>
<p>Mohammed Shehadeh from the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said Israel
is flagrantly violating absolute prohibitions under customary
international law on three crucial levels.</p>
<p>Its policy violates the four Geneva Conventions vis-a-vis the return of the dead to their families, he told <em>Anadolu Agency</em>.</p>
<p>Withholding Palestinian bodies constitutes a policy of collective
punishment by Israel which is prohibited under the Hague Regulations of
the Fourth Geneva Convention.</p>
<p>And the policy is contrary to the prohibition on torture and inhuman
or degrading treatment, which is outlined in the International Covenant
on Civil and Political Rights. It violates the Fourth Geneva Convention
which prohibits taking hostages, including holding bodies as hostages or
bargaining chips.</p>
<p>Israel's policy of indefinitely holding the bodies of Palestinians as
bargaining chips brings enormous harm and pain to bereaved families
seeking closure and a final look at their loved ones before giving them a
dignified burial.</p>
<p>"Denying Palestinians the right to mourn loved ones is another
example of the extent of Israel's dehumanization, brutalization and
torment of the millions under its occupation," said Shehadeh.</p>
<p>He highlighted that his group has consistently urged Israeli
authorities to immediately and unconditionally release the bodies of
Palestinians and has raised the issue with the UN Human Rights Council
and several of its agencies.</p>
<p>"We have also brought the issue to the attention of the European
Parliament and External Action Service to demand they pressure Israel to
end the brutal and harmful policy. Our persistent advocacy and
campaigning for this cause will continue until the release of all 103
Palestinian bodies," he said.</p>
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