Israel offers rare glimpse of Ofer prison ahead of Palestinian Prisoner Day

Israel Prison Service on Sunday opened up Ofer prison's gates to the press only days before Palestinian Prisoner Day, to show Palestinian inmates' daily lives and quiet rumors of abuse after the recent deaths of two prisoners in Israeli jails.After the recent wave of protests across the West Bank following Ahmed Jaradat's and Maysara Abu Hamdyeh's death while they were incarcerated, Israeli authorities are trying to clarify that living conditions for Palestinians in Israeli prisons are in line with international standards."We have nothing to hide," Ofer's warden Yaakov Shalom, who has been working for the Israel Prison Service (IPS) over 25 years, told the press that gathered to visit the prison.Built over the ashes of a complex composed of tents, instead of walls, which were burnt by Palestinian prisoners in 2008, Ofer is not exactly a prison, but an incarceration facility. This means that it usually holds detainees, currently over 800, who are awaiting trial and sentence until they are taken to another prison.The detainees are divided into two wings; male and underage, while the male section is also divided politically with different sections for Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, Fatah and other smaller factions."I don't belong to any group," Barghouti, a 20-year-old inmate at the Hamas section told Xinhua. When asked what he was accused of, he simply replied, "I love Palestine and that's why I'm here, because of the occupation, I've been here for five months."Though the cells are small, only 25 square meters with 10 bunk beds, prisoners get more than eight hours a day to exercise, Shalom said. Children have daily classes, but for now they only have one accredited teacher for 100 minors, so other inmates teach the young prisoners.Almost all of the minors are in Ofer for throwing stones at the soldiers or at Israeli cars in the West Bank. These rocks have caused deadly accidents when drivers steer as they receive a rock impact on their windshield."I threw stones and they took me here 15 days ago, but I still didn't see my family," one minor, named Mohammed Saidahmad told Xinhua.The minors aged between 12 and 17, and according to international law, all the minors who are detained must have a relative with them when they are interrogated."We make sure the minors have contact with their families and lawyers," Justice Ministry Legal Advice and Legislation Deputy Director Yifat Revah told the press, adding that they also have access to a small playing room where they can watch videos.Prisoners also access to purchasing hygienic goods and food and can receive up to 1700 shekels (about 486 U.S. dollars) per month to buy whatever they want, asides of their three daily meals, according to IPS authorities."When they do hunger strikes, I can assure you, they have plenty of food in their rooms to eat if they want," Shalom said, " but when they do stage hunger strikes, they are put in solitary confinement and can lose their privileges like television and family visits."There are over 5,000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails today, out of which 2,325 are security prisoners, IPS authorities said.Regarding the deaths of the two Palestinian inmates that took place in other prisons, officials said that a doctor is on duty five days a week at Ofer, and a paramedic is also available for any prisoner who demands medical attention."We opened an investigation regarding Abu Hamdyeh's death," Prison Service representative Deputy Commander Naftali Shmulevitz said, after claims by the Palestinian National Authority that Hamdyeh was not properly treated and died of cancer last month."We are still working on Jaradat's autopsy," Shmulevitz said about Ahmed Jaradat, the prisoner who died of a heart failure while he was in custody last month.