Democratic Palestine : 21 (ص 24)
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- Democratic Palestine : 21 (ص 24)
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your personal weapons? Where are
your hideouts? Where did you get
food? Who were your contacts and how
did you make contact to the outside?
(referring to the resistance outside of
Palestine) Who are your comrades?
Where is Guevara hiding? What opera-
tions did you carry out?»
«When I refused to answer, he
ordered torture. A number of methods
were used: beating me on all parts of
my naked body; cursing me and spitting
in my face; deprivation of food and
sleep. They also threatened to kill me,
and made me sign a paper saying that I
was going to commit suicide. Using
psychological torture, they tried to en-
courage individualism, getting me to
think of saving myself, quoting tradi-
tional sayings like: ‘A hundred mothers
crying, but not mine’ and ‘Kiss the
hand you cannot bite.’ They said that
my comrades were happy, together with
their wives. They tried to make us
suspect the leadership of the resistance
outside, saying that they were comfor-
table while we were suffering.»
Zuhdi said that he couldn’t add to
what had already been said. Instead he
stressed: «While under torture we
gained strength from our belief that our
cause is just, and our belief in our par-
ty; that enabled us to be steadfast in the
face of the enemy.»
IN SOLITARY
We asked each of the comrades how
long their period of interrogation and
torture was, and how their feelings were
during the times when they were in
solitary confinement, deprived of the
morale support of comradeship.
Zuhdi began, «For me, that period
lasted 45 days. I felt strange. Mainly I
wotried about the things that I knew
concerning the whereabouts of other
comrades and weapons. Still, that con-
cern gave me strength.»
Abu Waffa spoke next: «I stayed for
two periods, from May 9th until June
7th, and from June 16th until June 23rd
(1968). They gave my body nine days of
rest because of my physical condition.
Under such torture as we have des-
cribed, even the revolutionary will have
confused feelings like anyone else, but
his ability to be steadfast depends on
his revolutionary experience and aware-
ness.»
Zakaria said, «I stayed two months
in that situation, because I was sent toa
different area in the 1948 occupied
land, to be interrogated about different
operations. I thought mainly about the
comrades outside, and how to protect
them and not give any information.»
Abdul Hamid told us that he
remained under interrogation about a
month. «In the first period of torture,
you think of how to end it without
harming the party and other comrades.
You think about when you will get a
rest, relief. What can you feel when you
are in the hands of such sadists? You
sometimes wish for martyrdom. I
stayed altogether four months in soli-
24
tary confinement. There you wish for
the period to end, because you want to
be back with other comrades in the jail,
at least to know what is going on. One
of the main weapons of the enemy is
making you feel lonely.»
Mohammad stayed under interroga-
tion and torture for seven months, in
three different stages. The first was
when he was arrested. The second was
after he tried to escape. The third was
after a traitor spoke about him, and he
was brought to trial another time. He
explains his feelings: «During the tor-.
ture, I was in such severe pain that I
only wanted to be returned to the cell.
In the cell, I would not talk with any-
body. I would remember my family and
friends, the sun, walking freely, my
painting - I am a painter. At night |
dreamt of freedom. In the morning I
woke up and stayed in a corner of the
dark cell. The morning means a new
round of torture. When the door opens,
everybody freezes. They call a name
and that person goes with the guard.
We relaxed for five minutes. Then the
door opens again and another name is
called...»
PRISONER SOLIDARITY
We asked the comrades how it was to
enter the ‘normal’ prison after the
interrogation was finished. Abdul
Hamid began, «In prison, the revolu-
tionary is welcomed warmly by the
other prisoners. They contribute per-
sonal belongings to make life easier.
Your morale is raised greatly after the
difficult period of torture... There were
45 of us ina room fit for 15. There was
no space for sleeping. If you woke up in
the night to use the bathroom, you lost
your space and had to sleep sitting.
There were not enough blankets, just
four old rags with a dirty, thin piece of
plastic for a matress. However, the
crowded room had one benefit in the
winter - body heat! The food was very
bad - a bow! of rice for six militants,
four pieces of bread, and so-called soup
which was only hot water with salt and
onions or bread in it.»
«The quality and quantity of food
changed because of the _ prisoners’
struggles. After the uprising in Ash-
kelon prison in 1971, we started seeing
fruit. Before that, there was none. In
the beginning, books and radios were
not allowed, but after hunger strikes in
which several prisoners were martyred,
they allowed books, papers and pencils.
We started studying. Through struggle,
we also gained the right to sports and to
write to our families. With organized
work, we were able to transform the
imprisoned national movement into a
cadre school. As Sahar Khalifeh wrote,
the prisons were intended to be the
graveyard of the Klashnikovs, but they
turned out to be universities of nation-
alism.»
Zakaria’s experience was similar:
«After interrogation we were moved to
a room three by four meters with about
fifty militants. They gave each of us
two plates, a spoon and cup, a shirt and
overalls or pants. We each had a space
20 cm wide to sleep. In my time, the
food was horrible. In the morning, we
got half an egg, four olives and a cup of
cold, horrible liquid that was only tea in
name. Sometimes they gave us half a
tomato. For lunch, three times a week,
there was macaroni; two times a week,
half a plate of rice and 20 grams of bad
quality fish; and two times a week, 20
grams of bad quality meat with soup,
i.e., hot water with salt and a carrot in
it. Supper was boiled potatos and half
an egg and a piece of cheese. We were
not allowed books in the beginning.
Then they let in trashy novels and reli-
gious books; but after our struggles, we
were allowed some Marxist books. We
spent our time studying, holding meet-
ings and doing sports.»
«Being received by the comrades in
the jail after the interrogation period is
like a miracle,» said Mohammad, «just
to see people in solidarity with you after
the torturers and sadists. The comrades
and brothers in the cells give you soap,
clean clothes and a toothbrush. These
are small things, but priceless after the
period of torture... We used to speak
about the revolution, our families, the
outside and our aspirations. We were
allowed a hot bath once a week; the
toilet and bath were all in the cell... We
used to joke a lot.»
Abu Waffa said, «After the period of
interrogation, when we were moved
into prison cells, the militants suffered
from different injuries and an average
weight loss of 20 kilos. Still, we were
proud of our steadfastness and kept our
belief in victory. I especially remember
the comrades of that time, that I shared
the prison experience with: Abdullah Al
Ajami, Fuad Al Ghosain, Ahmed Al
Karawi and Al Arori.»
REVOLUTIONARY CODE OF
BEHAVIOUR
In any society there will be social
problems and conflicts among indivi-
duals. This is more so in the prison,
where many people are compressed in a
small, closed space, in uncomfortable
conditions at best. For the imprisoned
national movement, resolving daily
problems is an integral part of keeping
up the prisoners’ morale, solidarity and
ability to struggle together in the face of
the enemy attempts to divide them,
break their will and find collaborators.
For these reasons, the political priso-
ners gradually worked out a code of
behaviour within the prison, and
enforced it with the few methods of
control at their disposal.
An internal structure emerged where-
by every cell was led by a coordi-
nator, usually the most respected
person in the group. There was an over-
all committee in each prison with
representatives of the different resis-
tance organizations, to regulate any
problems that arose among the organi-
zations, such as competition in recrui-
ting, or who had the final say in whe- - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 21
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