Mother of detainee: “I don’t know how to tell him that his father is dead”

April 29, 2007

by Maisa Abu Ghazala

Um Da’oud (the mother of Da’oud) does not know how she can tell her son, Amer, who has been detained by Israel since seven years, that his father died, especially since he only saw him once during those seven years.

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“I don’t know how would my visit to my son this month be, I do not know what to do, what to say”, she stated, “I don’t know even if he knew about his father’s death, I just don’t know what to do, what to say”.

“We will all die, this is a fact of life, but I always prayed that my husband will live long enough to see his son free”, she added, “His fathere suffered heart problems, he only visited Amer once”.

She stated that her husband died last Saturday, when the father died, she shouted and screamed “bring me Amer, let him at least participate in his fathers’ funeral”.

The father, Abu Daoud, spent his final days talking about Amer, and spent lots of time just looking at his pictures hanged all over the house, he would sometimes keep looking at the pictures and say “I fear that I will die before you are freed”.

Um Amer appealed the international community and the Arab countries to interfere and practice pressures on the Israeli Prison Authorities to allow the detainees to see their parents in cases of death, and to participate in the funeral, “but the Israeli occupation does not know what humanity is, does not know what compassion is, dozens of detainees were barred from attending the funeral of their fathers, mothers..”.

The father was barred from visiting his son for seven years since the Israeli authorities said that he was arrested and imprisoned thirty years ago, in 1975. His brothers are also barred from visiting him.

Ten months ago, the father was finally allowed to visit his son, but when he went to see him, he was shocked to find a glass barrier separating them, and barring them from any physical contact.