A new Israeli Law to deprive Palestinian prisoners of seeing their family members will affect thousands

By Iqbal Tamimi

The researcher and specialist in
Palestinian prisoners affairs Fuad
Elkhoffash wrote to Palestinian
Mothers about a new law put
forward to the Israeli Knesset
for preliminary approval.

This law is to give full powers
to the Israeli Minister of Interior
to deprive families of the
Palestinian prisoners
belonging to organizations classified as terrorist by
Israel from seeing their families.

Mr Khoffash said such decision is contrary to the
most elementary norms and conventions and international laws.

He said this law was submitted by the racist Midfal Party and
MK racist member "Arye Eldad" clearly confirms that Israel is
striving to stifle the Palestinian prisoners in an attempt to kill
their spirit and deprive them of contact with other humans
outside the prison walls.

He added that the international humanitarian law and
human rights law stipulates in Article 116 of the Fourth
Geneva Convention on the protection of civilians in time
of war that "allows each person detained to receive
visitors and especially his relatives as frequent as possible.

He said there are many prisoners deprived by the
management of the occupation authoritis in prisons
from seeing their relatives since a long time any way,
under flimsy arguments like there is no family relationship
between the mother and her son, because the names of
the mother did not match perectly the family name of her son.
Besies there are more than a thousand Palestinian prisoner
deprived of seeing their families for no reason what so ever.

But now, after the approval of this law there will be an
increase in the number of prisoners deprived of visiting
their relatives in thousands because of racist motives.
They will remain captive depending on the Israeli
racial mood.

Mr Khoffash called on Knesset Arab members to address
and reject this law, and called upon the Palestinian
lawyers Association Union to act fast and raise a
protest note to all international and official bodies in
order to expose the Israeli practices against
the Palestinian prisoners.