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<h1 class="reader-title">Israeli occupation authorities ban
celebration for new freed Palestinian detainees<br>
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<div class="reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">April 4, 2021<br>
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<p>Bethlehem /PNN/</p>
<p>The day of freedom from prison is a special day for
Palestinian political prisoners and their families. It
is considered a national day where celebrations are
held, and fireworks launched.</p>
<p>Yet, according to Israeli laws against Palestinians of
Jerusalem, freed prisoners of Jerusalem are not allowed
to hold any kind of celebration, whether in their
neighborhood or in their own homes.</p>
<p>Furthermore, freed prisoners are often re-arrested by
the occupation police to sign pledges to not hold any
celebrations, ceremonies, and even the Palestinian flag;
they are also not allowed to receive guests who wish to
congratulate them on their release.</p>
<p>On Tuesday, March 30, 2021, the Israeli occupation
forces stormed the home of Majd Barbar, a former
Palestinian political prisoner, released after 20 years
of detention, one day earlier. They kidnapped him and
attacked family members and friends who were present in
his home, in the Ras al-Amud neighborhood of occupied
Jerusalem.</p>
<p>Barbar was released again after one day of detention,
but under several conditions, including pledging not to
hold celebration events, not to raise the Palestinian
flag, not launching fireworks; and to pay a financial
guarantee of 1,000 NIS.</p>
<p>Barbar is a father of two and has been detained by the
Israeli occupation forces since 2001. On the day of his
release, his family, friends, and neighbors of his
Jerusalem al-Quds neighborhood welcomed him grandly.
Several touching videos of this welcoming back reunion
featuring Majd Barbar with his loved ones went viral on
social media.</p>
<p>Zaina, 20-year-old daughter of Majd said, “The
occupation always tries to snatch any joy and happiness
from our hearts. It’s really unfair! The moment of my
father’s freedom is so significant in our lives; Israel
took him away from me since I was 15 days old.”</p>
<p>Ali Almoghrabi, a spokesperson of the Asra Information
Office, said that this is a familiar pattern with
Palestinian political prisoners held in the Israeli
military prisons. “When they end their sentence, they
are re-arrested. This Israeli policy is mostly used in
Occupied Jerusalem al-Quds. Some ex-prisoners have been
forcibly deported from their hometown for days, while
others have been prohibited from celebrating or
participating in any political or peaceful events,” he
stated.</p>
<p>“The occupation aims at keeping Palestinians of
Jerusalem al-Quds in states of pain, frustration, and
sadness. It doesn’t want them to connect with their
Palestinian identity”, he added.</p>
<p>For Jerusalemite ex-prisoners, the Israeli authorities
re-detained many of them as they walked out of prison
after serving long years.</p>
<p>“They were kidnapped and re-detained by Israeli forces
and then re-released under restricted conditions by
signing pledges to not celebrate or participate in any
political or peaceful events”, said Amjad Abu Assab,
head of the Committee of Families of Prisoners from
Jerusalem.</p>
<p>Ali Almoghrabi, stated in an interview, “Such
celebrations are considered as one of the popular
resistance methods so the Occupation tries to stop them
and kill any spirit of resistance or patriotism.”</p>
<p>The total number of Palestinians held in Israeli jails
today is nearly 5,000, of whom 450 remain in
administrative detention. Over 500 prisoners, including
women and minors, are from Jerusalem al-Quds alone.</p>
<p>According to the Palestinian Prisoners Club, the
Israelis follow this policy in order to keep
Palestinians in Occupied Jerusalem oppressed and
disappointed so that no one can see the prisoner as a
hero.</p>
<p>“The Israeli policy of no-celebration is nothing new,”
the spokesman of Asra Information Office explained. “All
the Israeli policies used against the prisoners are
totally racist. They want to bury the Palestinian
identity from Jerusalemites to show that Jerusalem
al-Quds is completely Jewish.” He added that this policy
is not implemented on the Israelis.</p>
<p>The Israelis also use another policy to oppress and
harass newly freed Jerusalemites by deporting them to
another city. Such a gross injustice happened to Waseem
Aljallad a year ago.</p>
<p>Wassem Aljallad, 42, from Jerusalem al-Quds was
re-detained and transferred to al-Maskubiya police
station immediately after he had been freed from a
15-year prison sentence.</p>
<p>Aljallad was a new groom when he was arrested by the
Israeli occupation forces. While the latter raided his
home to re-arrest him, he was in pyjamas, and they
dragged him this way out of his home. He was accused of
participating in anti-occupation military operations.</p>
<p>His family planned to hold his wedding ceremony again
after finishing his sentence, but the Israeli
authorities forced him to cancel his wedding ceremonies
and not to celebrate his release nor to attend any
gatherings as a condition to his re-release.</p>
<p>They also deported him from Jerusalem al-Quds for two
weeks and compelled him to pay a financial guarantee of
$1,400 and another unpaid amount of $25,000. He was
released one day after the expected day in July 2019.
His mother said in pain that they waited this day.</p>
<p>The harassing policies that Israel applies against
newly freed Palestinian prisoners vary according to the
prisoners’ home regions and positions. Since the Israeli
occupation forces fully control Jerusalem, they have
completely banned celebrations there. In the Gaza Strip
and the West Bank, prisoners are sometimes released at
dawn or midnight to ensure families and friends cannot
immediately greet and celebrate with the newly freed
Palestinians. In cases where the detention of
Palestinian political prisoners has grabbed media
attention, like for teenager Ahed Tamimi,
long-hunger-striker Khader Adnan, and journalist
Mohammed AlQeeq, the Israeli authorities apply yet again
different post-release policies.</p>
<p>Several human rights organizations demand that Israel
stops these sadistic and harassing policies of freed
Palestinian political prisoners.</p>
<p>Source: Press TV</p>
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