Zana’s Reviews > Dreaming of Freedom: Palestinian Child Prisoners Speak > Status Update

'“No one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails.” Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom'

'“Kiss and hug your mother goodbye,” a Shabak agent told one boy. “You may never see her again.”'

"I was transferred to Megiddo prison where I experienced first hand the suffering and pain of prisoners. The living conditions were miserable. Could these jailors actually have kids who they kiss and tell beautiful stories to before going to sleep? I could not believe that the soldiers who assaulted me had children whom they cared about."

"In the prison’s cells, I would sit on the ground, putting my head between my knees, trying to use my imagination to take me to my own world away from imprisonment, interrogation and rotten food."

'After I was released, I constantly feared being arrested again. That night changed my life a lot and my name became listed among those classified as “wanted” and “terrorists.” I have since been arrested again and held for a few days. Nowadays, before I go to bed, I tell my parents “Don’t be sad if I get arrested again tonight.”'

"I served the sentence at Hasharon prison. Words can’t describe the situation there. It looked like a grave, full of boys and teenagers from every city, village and refugee camp. The room we were in had stories written on its walls by former inmates, covered with dust. Boys acted like men and except for age, there was no distinction between them and adults."

"The moment I was arrested I expected to be beaten. However at the interrogation centre, I was hit so badly in the face, that when my family saw me at court, they could barely recognise me because of the marks and bruises."

Jfc

"Although by world standards I am considered a child, Jerusalem’s children are forced to become adults by this Occupation."

"Passing through the checkpoint, I realised that the meaning of freedom was not what I had thought at all. It has a bigger and more beautiful meaning – freedom is when this checkpoint and its soldiers, military towers, wires, degradation and humiliation are gone."

"They took me from my home, leaving behind my dreams and my innocent life.... I was severely beaten and hit by the soldiers all the way until we reached the village’s entrance. I almost fainted. They were not satisfied with beating me, an innocent child.... In the middle of the road, they grabbed me and threw me to the rough ground forcing me to crawl. I never stopped screaming and pleading for mercy..."