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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/palestine-israel-quadruplets-born-prisoner-smuggled-sperm">middleeasteye.net</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Palestinian quadruplets born from prisoner's smuggled sperm</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">By MEE staff - June 13, 2023<br></div>
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<p>Defying Israeli occupation, Rasmiya Shamali gives birth to four babies in precarious circumstances</p>
<p><img src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/article_page/public/images-story/000_33JB72G%20%281%29.jpg?itok=VDlWEaOs" alt="Newborn Palestinian quadruplets, conceived with smuggled sperm from their father imprisoned in Israel, are laid on a bed at their home in Gaza city, on 13 June 2023 (AFP)" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" style="margin-right: 0px;" width="422" height="238">
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<p><font size="1">Newborn quadruplets, conceived with smuggled sperm from their
imprisoned father, on a bed at their home, Gaza, 13 June 2023 (AFP)</font><br>
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<p><span>Published date:</span> 13 June 2023 17:14 BST
<span>| </span>
<span>Last update:</span> <span id="gmail-date-updatedago">2 hours 29 mins </span> ago </p>
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<p>The family of a <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/palestine" target="_blank">Palestinian</a> prisoner's
wife who gave birth to quadruplets using smuggled sperm have
welcomed her and the babies home with "great joy" after they
were released from the hospital.</p>
<p>Rasmiya Shamali returned to her hometown of Gaza on Monday with the four babies - three boys and one girl.</p>
<p>They were born last month in a hospital in occupied East Jerusalem.</p>
<p>The 38-year-old is married to Ahmed Shamali, who has been held in
Israeli detention since 2008 serving an 18-year sentence over his "<a href="https://qudspress.com/45465/" target="_blank">involvement in anti-occupation resistance activity</a>". </p>
<p>Rasmiya, who resides in the Al-Shujaia neighbourhood of Gaza City,
told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper that her attempts to conceive using
smuggled sperm began in 2018. </p>
<p>The first two attempts failed, but the third in October 2022 proved
successful and she became pregnant with four children: three boys named
Abdul Rahim, Rakan, and Rayan, and a girl called Najah. </p>
<p>Rasmiya added that her pregnancy was filled with challenges due to
the weight of carrying quadruplets. She adhered to doctors' advice not
to reduce the number of fetuses in her womb, which could have affected
her pregnancy.</p>
<p>In May, she was transferred from Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza to Al-Makassed Hospital in Jerusalem after experiencing stress.</p>
<p>Najah Shamali, Ahmed's mother, told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that the
children reminded her of her son, with whom Rasmiya already had two
children - now aged 15 and 17 - who were conceived before his arrest. </p>
<p>"The prisoners continue to challenge the occupation in all its forms,
including through smuggling sperm to give birth to ambassadors of
freedom," Najah said.</p>
<p>She added that "happiness remains incomplete in the absence of their father," whose sentence ends in three years. </p>
<h3>Defying occupation with smuggled sperm</h3>
<p>Palestinian detainees and their families resort to conception through
smuggled sperm as the only means available to those held in lengthy or
indefinite prison terms, with restricted family visits.</p>
<p>Some Palestinian prisoners are reportedly permitted conjugal visits
where they can be intimate with their partners, however many decide not
to opt for this due to a lack of trust regarding privacy issues.</p>
<p>Ahmed and Rasmiya's quadruplets raise to 122 the number of children
that have been born to parents inside Israeli jails over the last 10
years, according to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed. </p>
<div>
<p><a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-female-prisoners-brutal-crackdown-guards-accused" target="_blank"><img src="https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/styles/read_more/public/images-story/Protesters%20hold%20a%20banner%20sponsored%20by%20Hamas%20calling%20for%20the%20release%20of%20Palestinian%20prisoner%20Anhar%20al-Dik%20during%20a%20demonstration%20in%20the%20centre%20of%20the%20city%20of%20Ramallah%20in%20the%20occupied%20West%20Bank%20on%20August%2029%2C%202021%20AFP.jpg?itok=hRaB9_cZ" alt="" class="gmail-moz-reader-block-img" width="400" height="250"></a></p><p><font size="1">Israeli guards accused of brutal crackdown on female Palestinian prisoners</font></p>
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<p>In August 2012, Ammar al-Zaban became the first Palestinian prisoner
known to have fathered a child with his wife using smuggled sperm. </p>
<p>Since then, smuggling sperm has come to be seen as a key part of the Palestinian struggle against the Israeli occupation. </p>
<p>However, the smuggling process used remains shrouded in secrecy, with
the prisoner's family having the responsibility for delivering the
sperm to special laboratories.</p>
<p>In Shamali's case, the process began two days after receiving the smuggled sperm and delivering it to the laboratory.</p>
<p>Abdullah Qandil, the director of the Waed Association for Prisoners
and ex-Prisoners, said that Palestinian prisoners' will to father
children while incarcerated "symbolises their ability to create life
despite pain, constraints, and imprisonment".</p>
<p>"It serves as a defiant response to the Israeli occupation's attempts
to diminish their spirit within prison walls," Qandil said.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.addameer.org/statistics" target="_blank">the Addameer</a> rights group, there are 5,000 Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails as of June 2023.</p>
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