Jenin / Ali Samoudi for PNN – The heart of daughter Kawther beats for the renewed hope brought by an initiative or an exchange on the horizon; anything that will lead to a hug with her father.
Sami Younis has spent a quarter century in Israeli prisons and now his name has been removed from all negotiating lists. All Palestinians imprisoned before Oslo were required to be released at that time, but that is one of several Israeli obligations under the 1993 agreement that have not been honored.
He is in hell and the Israelis refuse to release him
“He gave his life for his people and I will not give up hope,” Kawther Younis said this week. Her father is ranked eighth on the International Friends of Humanity list of forgotten prisoners.
Palestinian political prisoners from inside the Green Line, or Israeli boundaries, are not considered for negotiations or the soldier exchange, however Younis’ family is holding on to hope, as is he.
Grey haired with skin deprived of adequate sunlight, Younis is 77 years old. He was born in 1932 in the village of Ara, now within Israeli boundaries. He suffered Al Nakba (the Catastrophe that was/is the founding of the Israeli state) first hand, along with racial discrimination.
Kawther says her father is a compassionate human being who used all of his ability to provide a decent life for the family. “He worked as a taxi driver,” his daughter told Friends of Humanity. “Before his arrest he also studied architecture in Haifa,” a largely Palestinian city within Israeli boundaries. “He worked in the spirit of loving the land and did not waste it,” she said.
The story of detention
It was after midnight on the fifth of January, 1983, describes Kawther. “Dozens of military vehicles stormed the village of Ara and surrounded our house. We were surprised and didn’t understand the questions or the purpose. We were totally shocked when shortly after we realized the purpose of the operation was to take my father. He was transferred to an interrogation center where he stayed for several months.”
The story continues: “At the outset the military court issued a ruling for the death of my father which shocked us even more. But by the grace of God an appeal to that sentence was won and the court issued a sentence of life imprisonment. Although this provision is unjust and painful it is still better than death because we can all remain hopeful for release.”
Her father is Dean of Palestinian Political Prisoners from inside the territory of 1948, Israeli boundaries, and his case is unique because he is nearing 80 years old. “But still the occupying power continues his detention and exacerbates the suffering,” says Kawther.
Chronic diseases
After that many decades, and with a quarter of a century spent in Israeli prisons, Younis is suffering many health issues: heart attack, an operation to remove a tumor in the intestine, inflammation in the joints, eyes and ears, which requires about twenty tablets of medicine per day.
Decades
Kawther says her father “always said to us that we adhere to our rights even if it is the last day of our lives.”
Younis requested of his family that in the case of his death in Israeli prison he be taken for burial to his home town. “He told us that he wants to be put in the place he loves.”
