Free From Israeli Prison, Female Palestinian Politician Goes To The Grave Of Her Daughter Who Died While She Was Detained

Illustration of Khalida Jarrar's release. (Wikimedia Commons/Zaher333)

JAKARTA - Israeli authorities have released one of the Palestinian political leaders Khalida Jarrar, 58, after detaining the woman politician for nearly two years.

The left-wing political figure and member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) was released at the Salem checkpoint in the western city of Jenin on Sunday afternoon local time.

Israeli soldiers arrested Jarrar from her home in Ramallah on October 31, 2019, eight months after she was released, after 20 months in administrative detention without trial or change.

In July, one of Jarrar's two daughters, 31-year-old Suha, died in Ramallah after health complications, which led to mass calls for Israel to release the politician early to attend her daughter's funeral, which Israel refused.

After being released, Jarrar went to the Ramallah Cemetery on Sunday where Suha was buried. Dozens of prominent members, supporters, and leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), chairman of the Palestinian Prisoners Club, Qadura Faris, governor of the cities of Ramallah and al-Bireh, Leila Ghannam, and dozens of Palestinian journalists were present at the cemetery when Jarrar arrived.

"They forbade me to participate in the funeral of my beloved daughter and from giving my daughter a kiss on the forehead," Jarrar said at the funeral, citing Al Jazeera on September 26.

"They refused to let me say goodbye. The last time I hugged Suha was on the night of my arrest in 2019," she broke down in tears.

A senior PFLP leader said, "this is a very painful time and words do not express our deep feelings of sadness, we are happy that Jarrar is free from the prison of occupation".

Jarrar was held in administrative detention until March this year, when an Israeli military court charged her with membership in an illegal organization for being affiliated with the PFLP, charges that previously made her imprisoned.

Meanwhile, Ramallah-based prisoner's rights group Addameer said "all such detentions and arrests constitute a flagrant violation of international law and are contrary to internationally established legal principles and the prohibition of trialing a person for the same act twice".

Israel has banned more than 400 organizations, including all Palestinian political parties, including the ruling Fatah party and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which it labels a 'terrorist group'.

This provision regularly punishes many Palestinians on the pretext of 'membership in an illegal organization' or 'providing services to one of these groups, because of their political affiliation, or any kind of peaceful activity.

Jarrar herself has long been a target of the Israeli occupation due to her outspoken nature and political activism. She has spent most of the last six years of his life in and out of Israeli prisons.

This includes between July 2017 and February 2019 in administrative detention, an Israeli policy that allows indefinite imprisonment of Palestinians for 'confidential information', without bringing formal charges against them or allowing them to be tried.

In 2015, she was sentenced to 15 months on the same charge, 'membership in an illegal organization'. Israeli authorities have banned her from traveling since 1988, except for a three-week trip to Amman, Jordan, for medical treatment.

Jarrar was elected a PLC member on the PFLP list in 2006. She was also appointed to the Palestinian National Committee for follow-up with the International Criminal Court.