Conversation Classes / Tulkarm Prisoner's Club

Today we had two interesting meetings.  The students at the Khaddouri University (also spelled Kaddori) had exams and then a break until Jan 29^th.  However, the group that regularly meets with us wanted to hold conversation classes even though they were on break.  One student named Bassma assists us in coordinating with the others about when we are coming.  It was quiet on the campus today so she also gave us a tour of the campus before we met with the conversation class.  A large mural in one of the hallways caught my eye. 

It showed a couple with an infant gazing up at the sky.  All around them was ash and beyond that was the barb wire fence that is everywhere in Palestine.

The conversation class consisted mainly of young women today.   We shared about feelings and what we do when we are sad or angry.  Many of the women said they either keep to themselves or sleep.    The expectations for women are to be home and they are restricted in what they are allowed to do.    They said:  “boys can go anyplace they want…girls only can be at home.  A woman’s life is very boring.”  Another woman added:  “I love my life….I love my parents.”  She went on to say she could talk to them and that they weren’t too strict. 

However, when it was almost finished a young man who has been there also showed up.  When he arrived he talked about how men have complete freedom to do what they want when they want. He added:  “men are not allowed to cry.”

Later in the day, Abdulkarim Sadi, our contact in Tulkarm, met us at a familiar restaurant from where we walked to the office of Halima Irmilot, the director of the Prisoner's Club in Tulkarm.  We introduced ourselves and shared our backgrounds.  Sadi said that Halima is like a sister to him and that they have worked together on many projects.   

Halima grew up in Palestine in a family of 5 brothers and 4 sisters.  Their land was where the Ben Gurian Airport is now located.  In 1948 they were forced to flee from their homes and like many other Palestinians ended up in other areas.  Several members of her family including four brothers, her father, and Halima herself have been in prisons in Israel.  Halima commented that all the years since 1948 have been difficult but the years between 1950 and 1972 “were horrible.”  One of her brothers was arrested and sentenced for life imprisonment because “he was an activist.”  She remembers that there was a great deal of pressure put upon her father to get him to cooperate and reveal the activities of his sons.  Consequently the whole family lived in fear and uncertainty.  Another brother was arrested and sentenced to 15 years in prison in Jordan. 

She said:  “in 1990 at the age of 64 my father was imprisoned and sentenced to 15 years.  Another brother was imprisoned and in 1991 Halima was incarcerated for 6 months in an Israeli prison as well.  She was 37 years old at the time of her arrest.  The reason for her imprisonment was because she was assisting other Palestinians.  She said:  “it was a very bad time for me to be in an Israeli prison.  I had little ones at home who needed me.  They were pressuring me to sign papers and cooperate with them.”

We asked her how she was able to survive the prison experience.  She said:  “I believed in my God and I believed that justice would come to our people.”  Her coping mechanism was to try to ignor the reality of her situation and to look beyond the pain to the time when she would be reunited with her family.

After she was released from prison she decided to form an organization to help the Palestinian prisoners.  On Sept. 27, 1997 the first Prisoner’s Club became official in Ramallah.  It has been operational since that time throughout Palestine.  She was instrumental is raising necessary funds by going to local merchants, farmers and individuals and pleading her cause.  The money came in and they were able to provide support and service to prisoners and their families.

Halima said she’s worked with many families of prisoners.  She added:  “when you enter their home you feel the sadness.”  A secretary came in and Sadi and Halima signed another letter on behalf of one of the prisoners.  He said about Halima:  “she is known as the Mother of the Prisoners.”  Helima added:  “I am all the time optimistic but like a mother, I worry about my family.”   Slowly there have been improvements made in the prisons.  Because of the work of the Prisoner’s Club each prison has a library.  She said prisons used to be like tombs but she credited Arafat for his assistance in helping the libraries became a reality.

According the the Geneva convention prisons are supposed to provide adequate food for the prisoners.  Halima remembers “the food was unfit for human consumption.”  Has the situation improved?  She answered:  “now the prisoners have to buy their own food so families send money to the prisoners.  They pay a high price for food products sold by Israeli companies.”  How about their medical needs?  That also is often neglected.  She told us about one prisoner who needed surgery.  But instead of getting the medical care he needed he was just transferred from one prison to the other before any surgery could be scheduled.

She outlined three major tasks of the prisoner’s club.  1)  providing assistance including legal support for the prisoners and their families and arranging regular visits.  2)  providing support for educational opportunities while they are in prison, 3) providing support, educational opportunities, counseling and job opportunities upon their release from prison.  Halima is a guest speaker at many schools to increase their awareness of the prison situation.  Of the current 8,000 Palestinians imprisoned in Israeli prisons, 550 are from the Tulkarm area.  Nearly every family in the area has or had a relative in prison. 

Susanne and "Mother of the Prisoners"--Halima

As we were saying our good-byes,  Halima told me I was the first American EA she had met in this area.  She wanted me to tell people back home “that we are not terrorists and we just want a peaceful end to the occupation.” 

Please add Halima and her 8,000 "children" to your prayer list.  Thanks.

Susanne