Al Jazeera Net correspondents
Occupied Jerusalem- The occupation authorities prepared exceptionally Jerusalem Occupation of the prisoner exchange deal between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Israel, which took place this evening.
Preparations were launched at the direct instruction of the Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir He ordered his police to suppress any demonstrations of joy, receptions, and gatherings in the city in conjunction with the release of the Jerusalemites whose names were included in the deal, and he threatened, saying, “We will not allow demonstrations of joy in Jerusalem.”
In addition, it was noted that a large number of Israeli flags were hung in the east of the city, especially in the Arab neighborhoods intermingled with the settlements, and in areas adjacent to the historic city wall, specifically in the vicinity of the Islamic Yusufiya Cemetery near Lions Gate (one of the gates of the Old City).
Bulk recalls
As soon as the names of the cubs and female captives were published today, Friday, and they are 11 from the Jerusalem Governorate, the occupation intelligence summoned their families to the Al-Maskobiyya interrogation center in the west of the city, and the roads leading to this center were closed to hinder the arrival and gathering of Jerusalemites and the media in front of it.
The occupation forces were not satisfied with that, but rather deliberately stormed the towns of Jabal Mukaber and Beit Hanina, which received 4 female prisoners, and evacuated the homes of a small number of relatives who had gathered to receive them, and of the press crews, some of whom gathered in the vicinity of the homes.
Some families were also threatened not to conduct press interviews, as happened with the family of prisoner Zeina Abdo in Jabal Mukaber, and sweets were confiscated from the home of prisoner Amani Al-Hashim in Beit Hanina, which the family was preparing to distribute to well-wishers.
The mother of prisoner Marah Bakir, Sawsan Bakir, told Al Jazeera Net that her husband was summoned for interrogation at the Al-Maskobiyya Investigation Center this afternoon, adding that his phone remained switched off and therefore she lost contact with him and she was unable to know the conditions for the release of her daughter, who entered the prison as a 16-and-a-half-year-old girl. A baby girl also emerged from it through her mother’s eyes, even though she was 24 years old.
Sawsan Bakir added that she does not intend to organize any reception for her daughter, liberated in the deal, because of the exceptional situation the country is going through, and it is enough for her to have Marah freed, embrace her, and sleep next to her after 8 years of forced absence.
Terms and commitments
The lawyer of the Wadi Hilweh Information Center, Muhammad Mahmoud, told Al Jazeera Net that the families of the Jerusalem prisoners were summoned to the “Rooms 4” section in Al-Maskobiyya, and that according to the plan that was prepared, each guardian had to take his daughter or son from the investigation center to the house alone, without being accompanied by them. Sunday.
Lawyer Mahmoud added that some conditions were imposed on the people, including their pledge not to organize any gathering or celebration or show any signs of joy or reception, in addition to preventing them from raising flags or chanting slogans, and that doing so would expose them to legal accountability.
Mahmoud does not rule out preventing the families and liberated prisoners in Jerusalem from making any statements to the media in light of the new and old restrictions to which the prisoners are subjected after their release from prisons.
It is noteworthy that Jerusalem’s share on the first day of the exchange deal amounted to 11, including two children and 9 female prisoners, led by the female prisoner representative in Damoun Prison, Marah Bakir, who was sentenced to 8 and a half years in prison and was supposed to be released next April.
The phenomenon of fighting the joy of releasing Jerusalemite prisoners dates back to 2015, when the prisoners began to be harassed by re-arresting them immediately after their release, then releasing them again under certain conditions, including preventing celebrations, deporting them outside the borders of Jerusalem for weeks, and not speaking to the media.
According to the Committee of the Families of Jerusalemite Prisoners, the apparent immediate goal of these measures is to dampen the families’ joy at the liberation of their children.
The most dangerous strategic goal, according to the committee, is to program Jerusalemite society to fear rallying around the prisoners and rejecting them, and to besiege any national Palestinian activity in Jerusalem.
She stated that the restrictions were not limited to liberated prisoners and their families, but rather extended to include the arrest of young men on charges of participating in a celebration of the release of a prisoner and raising party flags during it.
