The 90 recently released Palestinian prisoners were women and teens, often imprisoned for social media posts. A large number had never even been charged with a crime.
by Kathryn Shihadah and IAK staff
Trey Yingst, chief foreign correspondent for Fox News based in Jerusalem, reported from Israel Sunday, providing his listeners with misinformation about the Palestinian prisoners released as part of the ceasefire agreement.
Yingst asserted:
The prisoners that are being released just today from Israeli prisons are convicted murderers and people who planned suicide bombings.
In reality, Sunday’s batch of released prisoners were 69 women and 21 teenage boys from the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem.
According to BBC, all of those freed were either convicted of a “relatively minor offense,” or under administrative detention, that is, held without charge or trial. None had been convicted of murder or planned any bombings.
A number of the prisoners released Sunday had been arrested for simply writing a social media post decrying Israel’s violence in Gaza, which has killed over 47,000 people, most of them women and children.
After October 7th, the Israeli government initiated a “zero tolerance policy” towards social media activity that could be construed as support for resistance, or as Israel describes it, “incitement, identification, and support for terrorism” – and worthy of arrest.
Yingst’s report not only omitted these facts, but contradicted them.
Who are these Palestinian prisoners?
Just like the 3 Israeli women who finally tasted freedom on Sunday, the 90 Palestinian women and boys were happy to be free and eager to pick up the pieces of their lives. In the case of those from Gaza, this means returning to rubble.
Unlike the Israeli women who were released quickly, the Palestinians were made to wait until over 13 hours after the ceasefire had come into effect.
Israeli forces blocked roads, used teargas, steel bullets with rubber coating, and sound grenades against civilians in an attempt to prevent celebrations and disperse crowds gathered to welcome their loved ones.
More than 10,000 Palestinians still remain imprisoned by Israel.
Each Palestinian prisoner has a family and a story – and many had experiences in prison that they want the world to know about.
Below are just a few we were able to find. Palestinians, living under Israeli military operation, do not have even a semblance of the PR machine that Israel deploys.
Khalida Jarrar, 62, is considered an icon of feminist and human rights advocacy in Palestine. She is an elected official in the Palestinian Legislative Council.
Khalida has been imprisoned for her participation in a protest, for making public statements critical of Israel, and for membership in one of the over 400 political organizations that Israel has declared illegal.
Khalida experienced her first arrest in 1989 for participating in a demonstration to mark International Women’s Day.
Since then she has been in and out of prison many times, especially in the last ten years – sometimes charged with “membership in an illegal organization” or “incitement,” sometimes under administrative detention with no charge. See video report here.
The Palestinian prisoners’ rights group Addameer characterized every one of her detentions and arrests “a flagrant violation of international law,” adding that her treatment “points to the systematic policy of the occupation authorities in targeting Palestinian political leaders to prevent any political action against the occupation.
Human Rights Watch said Khalida’s repeated arrests were part of Israel’s wider crackdown on non-violent political opposition to its half-century military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
Before her release on Sunday, Khalida spent the last four months in solitary confinement in a tiny, windowless cell with no ventilation. She was denied access to the most basic needs, including exercise. She was reportedly denied access to her glasses, leaving her visually impaired.
Social media platforms have been flooded with images comparing Khalida Jarrar’s appearance before and after her imprisonment. The “before” photos depict a strong, determined activist, while the “after” images show her visibly frail.
Fatima Al Rimawi, 52, from the occupied West Bank city of Jericho is the President of the Jericho branch of the Palestine General Union of Workers in Kindergartens and Private Schools, and a member organization of Education International.
Fatima, a kindergarten teacher for over 30 years, was abducted on January 2, 2024 for “incitement” on social media for speaking out against Israel.
Her colleagues commented, ‘Fatima is the most loved teacher in our school. She’s always been so close to the kids, and they miss her so much.’
Her young female students, in particular, missed her maternal touch, as one shared, “We want her to come back and comb our hair like she used to, treating us like her own children.”
Fatima and her students must have had a joyous reunion.
Yasmeen Abu Srour, 26: According to her mother, Yasmeen has been imprisoned five times – the first when she was in 10th grade. About 3 years later, she was charged with being a threat to the security of the State of Israel. 6 weeks after her release, she was again detained.
Most recently, Yasmeen was imprisoned under administrative detention – without charge or trial.
Yasmeen’s two brothers, Arafa and Khalil, are both imprisoned by Israel. She and her parents have all been detained, apparently in order to pressure her brothers to confess to the charges pressed against them.
Bara’a Al-Fuqha, 22, a medical student at Al-Quds University in East Jerusalem, returned Sunday from six months in administrative detention – that is, she was behind bars for an entire semester, but never charged with a crime.
Bara’a was detained based on “secret files” that neither she nor her attorney could access. This is a violation of her human rights.
Bara’a has been detained before. In June 2023, she was interrogated about her participation in student union activities at the university. She denied all accusations, but was suspended from school for six months anyway.
Middle East Eye points out, “This Israeli policy is not new. In 2018 and 2019, the Israeli army issued similar decisions to suspend several Palestinian university students in the West Bank for several months, which hindered the completion of their studies and delayed their graduation with their colleagues.”
“Thank God, I am here with my family, I’m satisfied,” Bara’a said Sunday night. “But my joy is limited, because so many among us Palestinians are being tortured and abused. Our people in Gaza are suffering. God willing, we will work to free them, too.”
Bara’a said her conditions in Israeli prison were “terrible,” her access to food and water limited. “It was like, when we tried to hold our heads high, the guards would do their best to hold us down,” she said.
Journalist Rula Hassanein, 29, must have been particularly joyful to come home. She was arrested, again for incitement on social media, on March 19, 2024. Rula had to leave behind her baby, who had been born premature and suffered from health problems, such that she could only be fed with breast milk.
The Committee to Protect Journalists tried to intervene on her behalf, to no avail.
The military court postponed Rula’s trial again and again, and rejected requests to post bail. Now at last, after ten months, she has been reunited with her daughter.
“My heart broke for her. Whenever I thought of her, I cried bitterly. I knew she needed me, but it turned out that I needed her more,” she said.
Regarding prison, Rula said, “We were all subjected to strip searches—a degrading policy that violated every law, religion, and tradition. It was purely humiliating and harsh.”
Shatha Jarabaa, 24, was arrested on 14 August 2024 over a social media post in which she criticized the “brutality” of Israel’s campaign in Gaza. She and a brother were arrested in August on charges of incitement on social media. Another brother was detained a year ago.
Shatha described the bitter cold of the detention center where she was kept, and the lack of enough to wear. She lost about 30 pounds due to the inadequate food.
Abla Rinawi Saadat, 68 the wife of imprisoned activist leader Ahmed Saadat from Ramallah, spoke about her experience in Israeli prison: “The conditions are inhumane. The food, the healthcare, the treatment, everything is terrible on every level.
“They try to make us feel like we’re beneath them, and they’re dominant. They try to crush a person’s spirit and dignity.”
Abla spent 12 days in solitary confinement, where there was no space, no opportunity for movement.
“On October 7th, 2024, she said, “the guards brought everyone out for punishment: the prisoners were sprayed with gas, blindfolded, forced to kneel on the ground, and terrorized.
“We truly felt like we were living in graves.”
Dr. Zahra Khadraj, 53, is a teacher and school deputy head. Dr. Zahra is a mother of 7, and suffers from severe health conditions, including back pain and arthritis.
Dr. Zahra was detained on January 28, 2024 on the charge of “incitement,” and in spite of her poor health, the Israeli courts postponed her trial multiple times, prolonging her wrongful captivity for nearly a year.
Latifa Misha’sha, 34, was arrested on November 2023 and accused of incitement: posting a picture supporting Gaza on Instagram.
The Guardian reports that “as soon as she emerged from the bus, she hugged her brother Basil, in tears, without saying anything for minutes.”
“She was so skinny,” Basil said. “In those 20 months she has lost over 6 or more kilograms of her weight.”
Lana Fawalha, 25, was abducted by Israeli soldiers in November at the military roadblock at the northern entrance to the city of Ramallah. She is a graduate of Birzeit University in sociology, part of the 119th graduating class of the university.
Dania Hanantsheh: Dania Hanatsheh, a student at Birzeit University student, kidnapped by Israeli forces in the early hours of August 19, 2024 in Ramallah, occupied Palestine. She had just been released from prison in the November 2023 prisoner exchange.
Dania told Reuters the female prisoners are “strong” but the situation is “bad on all prisoners.”
Read here about Israel’s false claims from October 7th
Bushra al-Tawil, a Palestinian journalist, has spent more than five of her 32 years in Israeli jails. In all of her arrests, she has been kept under administrative detention, except for once, when she was tried because of a speech she delivered in a mosque.
About that incident, she said, “I am a journalist. I have the right to express myself.”
Bushra was part of a prisoner exchange in 2011, when 1,000 Palestinian prisoners were released in exchange for one Israeli soldier held hostage in Gaza. She was rearrested in 2014, 2017, 2019, 2020, and 2022.
She said that during her various arrests, she has been badly beaten, threatened, humiliated, and stripped.
Israel’s prison service has said all prisoners are treated according to the law.
Tamara Abu Laban, 24, was studying to be a medical secretary and holding down a job before she was detained due to her social media posts.
Her trial was postponed 10 times before she was eventually sentenced to 16 months.
Tamara reportedly experienced extreme violence, insults, and sexual abuse, as well as repeated strip searches during interrogations, which left her with bruises all over her body.
Nidaa Zaghebi: Wearing a crown of flowers and wrapped in a traditional Palestinian scarf, Nidaa Zaghebi, a Palestinian who was released as part of the ceasefire, had a tearful reunion with her three children whom she left behind after her arrest eight months ago.
Rose Khwais, 17, was the youngest female Palestinian held by Israel. She was arrested in May 2024 (age 16 at the time) and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
“I didn’t even know what a prison cell looked like. All I had heard about prisons was from other prisoners – that it was a small room with a mattress. But I never expected it to be this bad,” she added.
“Prison means darkness,” Rose said. “You don’t see anyone. It’s just a lit grave.”
“We were subjected to oppression, including the use of weapons, intimidation, and threats.”
Rasha Hijawi – 40, is a single mom and a hospital accountant.
She has a daughter Zeina, 13, and a son Reda, 10.
At 3 AM on July 4, 2024, occupation forces invaded Tulkarem and arrested her from her home. After her arrest, her son, crying, refused to eat, to play or to go out.
Rasha was accused of writing a status on Facebook opposing the genocide and the occupation.
She was imprisoned for six months over the post.
(Translated from Arabic) “Beside the handcuffs, they dragged us everywhere, made us keep our heads down, continuously pushed us to the ground; we were attacked by dogs. There is nothing you can imagine they didn’t do…The treatment was really bad.
“Just before the Red Cross arrived, they took off our handcuffs to make it look like they were treating us well.
“I hope for freedom for Palestinians everywhere, and may God support those who supported us, and bless those who stood with us.”
Margaret Al-Rai, 53, is a Palestinian Red Crescent employee to whom Israel assigned 6 months of detention – another case of incarceration with no charges, no trial.
Margaret suffered
a broken hand when assaulted by Israeli guards.
An unidentified woman reunites with her daughter upon being released from an Israeli prison on January 19th.
How did Fox get it so wrong?
Fox News’ reporter Trey Yingst managed to entirely mischaracterize the 90 Palestinians released on Sunday as terrorists and murderers, especially since journalists had access to their names.
It is unknown what caused Yingst’s distorted report, not the first time this has happened in his largely Israel-centric reporting.
One factor could be that while Yingst is an American citizen, the producer behind his reports, Yonat Friling, is an Israeli citizen who has described the impact of seeing victims of the October 7th attack has had on her.
Perhaps a more significant factor is the ownership of Fox News: the Murdoch family. Muti-billionaire Rupert Murdoch has a long history of support for Israel, and his son Lachlan seems to be following in his father’s footsteps.
The New York Times has noted Fox’s “unflinching support for Israel.”
The Times reports: “More than any of the other major cable news channels — and perhaps more than any other major American media outlet — Fox News has wrapped itself in the Israeli flag in the weeks since the Hamas attack.
“Its coverage tends to emphasize the radical and antisemitic elements of the pro-Palestinian opposition, particularly on college campuses, while playing down the civilian casualties from Israeli strikes.”
Kathryn Shihadah is an editor and staff writer for If Americans Knew. IAK staff contributed to this report.
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