Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails has, on April 30, 2003, issued a document
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 

I Write To You

 

Hussam Shaheen

Palestinian Political Prisoner

Askalan Prison

 

When I pick the pen to write my words I feel a marvelous happiness overwhelming me…

 

I feel happy because I write to my second half that is planted in the second half of my homeland….

 

Happy, because I have a girl – actually, a sweetheart – I write to her, flirt with her beautiful eyes…

 

Happy, while my pages paraphrase my feelings to her when I send them… Happy, when my princess sees my image through my handwriting…

 

Happy, while her soft fingers tickle my letter kindly and amiably…

 

Happy, when she reads my words once again, from her heart yearning to be loved, who is attending in her heart and far away from her eyes…

 

Happy, when her hands received my message and touch it, as if I am embodied between them…

 

Happy, because I am not an orphan in love like others…

 

Happy, because while I am writing, my sweetheart is existing in my imagination, spiritually, physically, her charming eyes and enchanting form…

 

Happy because we are united and our hearts together beat the most wonderful symphony of love defined by humanity…

 

Happy because the ground which cradles us bursts forth with gardens, groves and springs of love that can irrigate every thirsty enamored…

 

I feel jealous when my letter rambles among your fingers.  Take a look at my heart which burns of yearning and spelling out of my words, I send you a rose between every two letters, a kiss with every word, a remembrance about every sentence about the time we spent together.

 

You are the lady who writes all the women of the world in your eyes.  To me you are the past, the present and the future.  Then take lenience of my bleeding heart of love, and be careful not to burn my words by your tears.

 

At the instant of separation my time signature stopped; the like to be revived again whenever I meet your glorious face through a letter.

 

You are my sun of love, your sunbeams penetrates the walls of my jail, to turn into my hands as yarns of hope to weave it a bridge connected me with freedom and future.

 

It is your eyelashes which make miracles.

 

Is it possible for the human beings to decide what they are going to dream of? Yes it is possible, I promise you in my imagination between every two flickering, so rendezvous with me in your dreams.

 

The relationship that tied us is like a relation between blood and heart, you are the water of life, who except you is allowed to run in my arteries?

 

On the blunder and desperation thresholds men commit suicide but on the stairs of your niche, I extract life out of death.

 

My life journey with you is a period in a season, the spring season; I am like a butterfly alight kneeling on your rosy tresses, so contain me among your branches of craving, and calm down my eagerness flames.

 

If you try with me all mathematic equations - addition subtraction, multiplication or division - the only outcome will be, to infinity love you.

 

Corners of love are five, a meeting, a word, a smile, a touch and a kiss, I witness no love exists except you, and no love messenger born not for you, I swear you are the only goal of my love, I just travel on your emotion direction, I am fasting from the whole world of women except you.

 

Do you remember my love, the first moment of our meeting, we drown of silence while everything around us was talking, the stones articulate, the trees dancing, the birds singing, the rain renders, the mountains around us starting to weep on our holy moment of love, the mountain eye is a waterfall that irrigates the piece of land under your legs, to leave your footprints on that moist part, you are sanctify wherever you tread.

 

The first of love is a word as far as the first of religion is a verse, the start of your speech was good morning, riding over the waves of your lips to my heart’s beach, you are the first love boat, who scatters the virginity of my coast, leaving behind the pain of childbirth for birthing a complete love.  To celebrate later of our smile wedding collected both of us.

 

Your face is like the sky, ornate with your mouth stars, refreshed by the drops of the morning dew that comes from the clouds of your eyes.

 

To pass the distance between your eyes and lips, I need to be like the Nile River to connect between the lake and the sea.

 

Occupy me my beloved with a kiss to liberate the desert of my lips from dryness and yearning.  All occupations are injustices, except the occupation of your hands to all borders of my body’s map.  I share you occupying my entity.

 

I am raising the flags of freedom, not the banners of surrender.  You are the most welcome in the house of your first beloved.
Press Information
19/12/2005
 
As a Result of International Solidarity Campaign
And After Nearly Two Years of Isolation in the Israeli Prisons
The Palestinian Political Activist Prisoner Hussam Shaheen, the Secretary of International Relations and the Leader of Fateh Youth Organization (FYO) in Jerusalem, Moved From Isolation Cell to Ordinary Sections
 
 
Since his detention on 28/1/2004 by Israeli Occupation Forces which accompanied with severe torture for 28 continuous day’s-21 hours daily, as well as tied to a chair in a dark room, exposed to air conditioning (very could and very hot air) in addition to continuous beatings, then moved to sole isolation for nearly two years, the political activist prisoner Hussam Shaheen was moved from isolation to ordinary section in the Israeli Beer Shiva prison as a result of International Solidarity Campaign led by many friends in many countries as well as many letters from international, regional and local Human Rights Organizations that exerted  strong pressures on the Israeli Government.
 
During the Past period, all the attempts by Shaheen’s family to obtain a permission to visit Hussam were failed- especially by his old father who suffered two heart attacks after the detention of his son, but the hope was remained.  His mother obtained a permission in August 2005 and visited her son in spite of all the difficulties she faced during the trip and the humiliation during the inspection by the prison’s authority.
 
Several days ago, Hussam’s sisters obtained a permission and visited him for the first time in Ashkelon prison.  The meeting, which was through glass shield and through Phones was full of tears and emotions, but they where very happy for this meeting.  He updated them about the situations of the prisoners and the life difficulties inside the prison which lacks the minimum of the human rights which were emphasized and stipulated by all International Laws and Norms.  There are many sick prisoners who need urgent treatment and surgeries, but the Israeli prisons authorities ignore demands by the prisoners, and instead it storm the prisoners rooms at midnights and conduct naked inspection and confiscate their personal assets.
 
The visit was not so easy, the trip by Red Cross buses set out at 4a.m. (Predawn).  At arrival, the families of the prisoners were subjected to humiliated inspection- especially the children and women-.  It was very cold and the kids were naked during the inspection crying and horrified by the Israeli guards.
 
It is well known that there are more than 10,000 Palestinian Prisoners in the Israeli Prisons and detention centers, including Hundreds of Children and more than 130 women (some of them are mothers).
 
So far, the detention campaign against our people by the Israeli Occupation Forces is ongoing.
 
We would like to remind Hussams friends and all of who sympathy with his case that his trial before the Israeli court in Offer (detention center) will start on January 2nd 2006.  From his Detention, Hussam extends his greetings to all of his friends around the world for their solidarity and support to his case in these difficult conditions until the release of him and all of the Palestinian prisoners from the Israeli Prisons.
 
P.S  For more solidarity letters, you can refer to:
E-mail: nashaheenzah@yahoo.com
And  http://www.hussamkhader.org/english/internal_eng/shaheen.htm
 
Nasim Shaheen
Human Rights Activist
Hussam’s Sister
19- 12- 2005
Mobil No.: + 972 (0) 599 873 712

To all of the friends and supporters of Hussam Shaheen
A Palestinian political prisoner
The International Secretary of Fateh Youth Organization
The Leader of Fateh Youth Organization in Jerusalem more

It was a night that I will never forget.  A night that changed my life forever.

It was 4am and I was sound asleep.  Suddenly the phone rang and I sat up in bed, tired and disoriented.  Who could be calling at this time?  Answering the phone, the voice on the other end belonged to a friend of Hussam’s with whom he had been staying.  “Your brother Hussam has been arrested,” she said.  My blood immediately went to ice and I started to shake.  No, it’s not possible, I thought.  He couldn’t have been arrested.  

I dressed quickly and ran out into the street.  A cold rain was falling, chilling me to the bone.  I ran and ran, not even sure of where I was going.  Finally, I found my way to the house where Hussam was arrested.  Not only had he been arrested, but one of the other people living in the house was arrested with him.  Devastated, I sat down and began to cry.  Hussam is not just my older brother, but also my best friend.  How will I get by without him?

My next thought was for my parents.  I have to tell my mother and father what has happened.  “What happened!” screamed my father through the phone.  “What has happened to your brother?”  With anguish gripping him, he was unable to listen to what I had to say.  My mother, too, was overcome with grief and could not hear what I had to say.  Finally, I told the whole story to my sister and asked her to take care of our parents until I could be there.

The next day I gathered up all of Hussam’s belongings and went to my family’s home.  The moment my mother saw her sons clothes, she began weeping and burying her face in the material.  The stress and sadness was too much for my father, and he suffered from a heart attack.  Fortunately he is recovering, physically, but the emotional toll that my brother’s arrest has taken on our family is too great to measure.  We are struggling to advocate on his behalf to local activists and the international community, and need all of the support we can get. If you would like to help, here are some suggestions:

1.     Talk or write to the news, government representatives, embassies and consulates, and other politicians about Hussam’s case and the plight of all Palestinian political prisoners.

2.     The case of Hussam is critical.  His trial date is scheduled for 15 March 2005 in Ofra prison beside Ramallah and he needs the support of his friends now more than ever.  Travel to Palestine on 15 March to support Hussam during his trial. 

3.     Make a request to the Israeli government and the International Red Cross to visit Hussam in prison to observe the conditions and provide him with moral support.

4.     Encourage international lawyers and legal and human rights organizations to make a petition to the Israeli High Court on behalf of Hussam.

5.     Visit Hussam’s family in Palestine to show your solidarity and support, and to raise awareness about the struggles faced by the families of political prisoners.

6.     Visit Hussam in prison to observe the conditions and provide him with moral support.

We hope that Hussam’s time in prison will be short and that we will all see him soon.  Thank you for support.

Sincerely,

Nasim Shaheen

Hussam’s sister

Human Rights Activist

Women Leader’s of Fateh Youth Organization

Phone:        +972- (0) 59-873-712

E-mail:        nashaheenzah@yahoo.com

January 15, 2005

 

To Whom It May Concern

 

I am Nasim Shaheen, the sister of the Palestinian political prisoner, Hussam Shaheen.  My brother, Hussam has been in Israeli jail since January 28, 2004. Within a few days, there will come the first anniversary for his imprisonment.

 

Although my brother Hussam was an advocate of peace in his capacity as secretary of international relations in Fateh youth, the Israeli occupation authorities decided to isolate him behind bars as a punishment for his political views.  Hussam has been denied the right of visitation by our family. As a result, my elderly father had a stroke. Luckily, my father's determination to see Hussam free helped him stay alive, albeit with so much physical and psychological pain.

 

My brother's incarceration, as you very well know, is by no means an isolated incident. It is but the symbolism of the imprisonment of more than 7,000 Palestinian political prisoners, most notably the 120 women who have been denined the right to be with their children and the over 350 children, whose imprisonment is a flagrant contravention of all international humanitarian laws.

 

As Husam's sister, I turn to you to make the first anniversary of his denial of freedom, January 28, 2005 as an occasion to exert all the pressure you can on the Israeli authorities to release my brother and all other Palestinian political prisoners. Hussam was a peace loving young man. He has expended his entire life, even at the expense of living a normal life, to work towards the freedom of our people and to spread the massage of peace all over the world.

 

Our Palestinian society needs him, and we, his family, need him very badly to be close to our parents especially my father sick  before the unforeseen takes place.

 

Now is the time for human endurance. I Strongly Hope That You Will Be With us.

 

 

BEST REGARDS,

 

 

Nasim Shaheen

Hussam’s Sister

Human Rights Activist

Women Leader of Fateh Youth Organization

E-mail:  nashaheenzah@yahoo.com

Dear Friends,

 

 

My name is Nasim Shaheen and I am the sister of Hussam Shaheen, the International Secretary of Fatah Youth Organization and the leader of Fatah Youth Organization in Jerusalem. I work for the Palestinian Legislative Council as researcher on the Human Rights Committee and am one of the woman leaders of Fatah Youth Organization.  I am writing to you about the case of my brother, Hussam, a lifelong political activist and supporter of the peace process and one of thousands of Palestinian political prisoners who begin a hunger strike on 15th August in protest over the conditions in the prison, and the Hunger stike is finished on 3th September.

 

I would like to tell you the story of my brother, Hussam, so that his struggle, and the struggle of all the Palestinian people, will never be forgotten.

 

My brother Hussam has been active in the Palestinian struggle for freedom and human rights ever since he was a young boy.  In 1992, Hussam joined the Palestinian Center for the Study of Nonviolence and was assigned director of the Youth Programme.  In 1996, Hussam was recognized for his dedication to human rights and freedom and was nominated for the Reebok Human Rights award.  In January 1998, Hussam was elected International Secretary of Fateh Youth Organization and the leader of Fatah Youth in Jerusalem.  Under his leadership are thousands of young Palestinian men and women between the ages of 16 and 35 who are struggling for human rights, freedom, and a just peace between Israel and Palestine.  Hussam is the international representative of Fateh Youth Organization and has worked with youth groups and young political activists in Israel, Norway, Sweden, Germany, and France.  Engaging in political activism on both the domestic and international level, Hussam has worked with the Israeli Labor Youth Organization, the labor youth in Norway (AUF), the Social-Democratic Youth Organization in Norway, the Labor Youth in Sweden, (ECOSY), (IUSY), the Young Falcons from France, and the IGJD in Germany.

 

Since beginning of the second Intifada, the Israeli army has used brutal measures of repression including mass and arbitrary arrest, collective punishment, and restrictions on the freedom of movement.  Since Israel launched “Operation Defensive Shield” in March 2002 and “Operation Determined Path” in June 2002, thousands of Palestinian civilians have been arrested, detained, and imprisoned.  On 28th January 2004 the Israeli occupation forces arrested my brother, Hussam, in Ramallah.  Since his arrest, Hussam has not been charged with any crime and has been subjected torture.  Recently Hussam was transferred to Beir Saba prison and is being held in the newly opened “Ward 9”.  The prisoners being held in Ward 9 (in isolation room until now) are subjected to the most appalling conditions including isolation, abuse, poor nutrition, and lack of ventilation in the cells.  Prisoners have been stripped of all possessions except for a flimsy mattress that is only 4cm thick.  Hussam’s health is poor and continues to deteriorate in these conditions – prior to his arrest he weighed 67kg, and after he arrested his weighs 55kg, (through and after the hunger strike his weighs 49Kg.  Palestinian prisoners denied all of their legal rights: the right to a fair trial, the right to be officially informed of the reason for their arrest, and the denial of food, water, and medical attention.  In addition, there have been many stories and documented cases of torture and abuse at the hands of the Israeli military and police.  Reports from the prisons have revealed further abuse and human rights violations:

 

·   Prisoners who are sick or wounded are being denied medical treatment.  Prisoners with chronic medical conditions, such as cancer or epilepsy, are not receiving their regular medical treatment.  Emergency cases requiring surgery are ignored.

·   A lack of cleaning supplies has left the prison cells extremely filthy, infested with insects, and pose a great public health risk.

·   Extreme shortages of food, medicine, clothing and blankets.

·   Regular beating and abuse of prisoners, including the use of tear gas.

·   Child prisoners are frequently put in locked, dark rooms in order to frighten them.

·   Female prisoners are subjected to humiliating strip searches and are left naked.

·   Heavy fines are levied on prisoners, leaving them with no money to purchase rations from the prison canteen.

·   Most family members are forbidden to see their relative in prison.  Those who are allowed to visit are forced to submit to humiliating procedures before entering the prison, including strip searches.

 

The list of human rights violations committed by the Israeli forces against Palestinian prisoners under international law is extensive.  According to Article 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, "No one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest, detention or exile."  Article 10 states that "Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him."  In addition, Articles 71-74 and 76 of the Fourth Geneva Convention ensure the right to a fair trial, the right to appeal any verdict, and the right to medical and humanitarian treatment.  In the case of the Palestinian prisoners, all of these legal rights designed that have been designed to protect political prisoners have been violated.

 

 

We are struggling to advocate on his behalf to local activists and the international community, and need all of the support we can get. If you would like to help, here are some suggestions:

 

1.      Talk or write to the news, government representatives, embassies and consulates, and other politicians about Hussam’s case and the plight of all Palestinian political prisoners.

2.      The case of Hussam is critical.  His trial date is scheduled for 15 March 2005 in Ofra prison beside Ramallah and he needs the support of his friends now more than ever.  Travel to Palestine on 15 March to support Hussam during his trial. 

3.      Make a request to the Israeli government and the International Red Cross to visit Hussam in prison to observe the conditions and provide him with moral support.

4.      Encourage international lawyers and legal and human rights organizations to make a petition to the Israeli High Court on behalf of Hussam.

5.      Visit Hussam’s family in Palestine to show your solidarity and support, and to raise awareness about the struggles faced by the families of political prisoners.

6.      Visit Hussam in prison to observe the conditions and provide him with moral support.

 

We hope that Hussam’s time in prison will be short and that we will all see him soon.  Thank you for support.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

Nasim Shaheen

Hussam’s sister

Human Rights Activist

Women Leader’s of Fateh Youth Organization

 

Phone:        +972- (0) 59-873-712

E-mail:        nashaheenzah@yahoo.com

Call Upon for all Peace and Democracy-Loving Groups

 

Hussam Shaheen, The International Secretary of Fateh Youth Organization and the Leader of Fateh Youth Organization elected in Jerusalem, has registered on 4/10/2004 to the Palestinian Elections.

 

Hussam has been a lifelong political Peace activist and supporter of the peace process.  In 1992, Hussam joined the Palestinian Center for the Study of Nonviolence and was assigned director of the Youth Programme.  In 1996, Hussam was recognized for his dedication to human rights and freedom and was nominated for the Reebok Human Rights award.  In January 1998, Hussam was elected International Secretary of Fateh Youth Organization and the leader of Fateh Youth in Jerusalem.  He is a youth leader thousands peace activists of young Palestinian men and women between the ages of 16 and 35 who are struggling for human rights, freedom, and a just peace between Israel and Palestine.  Hussam is the international representative of Fateh Youth Organization and has worked with youth groups and young political peace activists in Israel, Norway, Sweden, Germany, and France. 

 

The Process of registration for the elections started on Sep 4, 2004, all of our Palestinian Political Prisoners were unable to register by themselves, so does Hussam who was arrested on 28/1/2004 by the Israeli occupation forces.

 

Therefore, the central committee for elections, taking in consideration the prisoner’s cause, and recognizing their rights to this process which were guaranteed by the on constitution and Law.  The committee specified several measures to facilitate the Palestinian Political Prisoners right to participate in the election by nomination and electing.

 

It is worth noticing, that although the Palestinian Prisoners registered for the elections, it doesn’t mean that they will have the chance to elect their candidates due to the Israeli measures.

 

In the name of Hussam and all Palestinian Political Prisoners we call on all Peace and Democracy loving and supporting groups to put pressure on the Israeli Government to release all Palestinian Political Prisoners and allow them to practice their right to vote in the coming elections.

 

 

Nasim Shaheen

Hussam’s Sister

Human Rights Activist

Woman Leader’s of Fateh Youth Organization

Phone: + 972 ((0)) 59 873 712

E-mail: nashaheenzah@yahoo.com

 

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