Thousands of Palestinians are languishing in Israeli prisons simply for existing and upholding their right to live freely on their ancestral land. Among them are fathers, mothers, children, the elderly – each carrying stories of resilience and pain. Many suffer from chronic illnesses and injuries yet remain deprived of adequate medical care, subjected instead to deliberate medical neglect and physical and psychological torture.
Within these prison walls, there are children under the age of 14, robbed of their childhood and forced to grow up behind bars. There are mothers who have been separated from their children and families, who yearn every day to see the faces of their loved ones. There are women who, despite their vulnerability, endure beatings and harsh interrogations. And there are elderly men, whose only “crime” was to stand firm against occupation, who suffer daily humiliation and hardship.
Today, more than ten thousand Palestinians fill these prisons, enduring unimaginable suffering. They face overcrowded cells, poor nutrition, degrading treatment, and the constant anxiety of an uncertain future. Their only “charge” is the defense of their homes, their families, and their dignity, against settlers who arrive from across the world to claim land that has been Palestinian for generations.
For many prisoners’ families, the pain does not end at the prison gates. They are often denied the right to visit, kept in the dark about the health and well-being of their loved ones, and left with no means of contact, forced to rely only on prayers, hope, and memories.
Let us not forget them. Let us pray for every mother whose heart aches to see her child again; for every father who longs to embrace his daughter; for every family desperate to hear even a single word from their loved one behind bars. Let us pray for the day when these families are reunited, for the day when no one in the world must endure forced separation from those they love.
May our prayers and solidarity be a light in their darkness and a reminder that their struggle is not unseen, and their resilience not in vain.
