Jailed for nearly nine years without charge or trial, Palestinian nurse re-arrested by Israeli occupation forces

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Among 24 Palestinians arrested late night Sunday, 8 May and early morning Monday, 9 May by Israeli occupation forces included former prisoner Thabet Nassar, 32, a nurse from Madama village, south of Nablus.

thabet-nassar-2Nassar, who has spent approximately 12 years in Israeli prisons over multiple arrests, was released recently from administrative detention, in which he was held for over two years. In total, he has spent nearly nine years in administrative detention without charge or trial on the basis of secret evidence.

In 2015, he was part of the Battle of Breaking the Chains hunger strike for 40 days demanding an end to administrative detention; one year before, in 2014, he joined the collective hunger strike of administrative detainees for over 60 days, also demanding an end to the practice of Israeli imprisonment of Palestinians without charge or trial. He also participated in the Karameh hunger strike of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in April-May 2014 for nearly 30 days, demanding an end to isolation and denial of family visits.

Nassar and his wife have three children, Yaman (8), Amal (5), and Mais (2), the latter born the same day as his 2013 arrest. Born in 1978, Nassar was first arrested in 1997 when he was shot in the head with a rubber bullet during a Land Day demonstration; he was jailed for 27 months. Since then, he has been repeatedly arrested and imprisoned under administrative detention,in 2002 for three years, in 2008, in 2009 for several years, and again in 2013.

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Early Monday morning, the Nassars’ family home was attacked and ransacked by Israeli occupation forces and Thabet once again taken away. Their beds, dressers and belongings were pulled apart and strewn all over the floor, a scene that repeats itself nightly in dozens of Palestinian homes.

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Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network expresses its strongest solidarity with Thabet Nassar and all Palestinians detained by Israeli occupation forces, demanding their immediate release. The case of Nassar clearly illustrates the constant threat of administrative detention as a weapon to arbitrarily detain Palestinians for years on end with no charge, no evidence, and no trial.