Detained Palestinian mother Anhar al-Deek, 25, is currently in her ninth month of pregnancy, jailed in the Israeli occupation’s Damon prison. Her baby is due in the coming days, and she has already been told that she will receive a Caesarean section to deliver her baby and that she and her baby will be isolated after the delivery, ostensibly because of COVID-19. Rather than receiving the support of her husband and her loved ones, she will be accompanied by Israeli occupation prison guards and jailers only.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network echoes Anhar’s call to the world for action to demand her freedom, joining Palestinians and people of conscience everywhere calling for Anhar to be immediately released.
Anhar al-Deek, from the village of Kafr Ni’ma, west of Ramallah, was seized by Israeli occupation forces on 8 March 2021 — International Women’s Day — when she was four months pregnant. With only a small fruit knife in her possession, she was accused of attempting to stab an Israeli illegal settler.
Throughout her imprisonment and her pregnancy, she has experienced severe physical and mental health symptoms and was diagnosed with bipolar depression. Rather than receiving the support and medical care that she needs and the presence of her loved ones, she has been thrown into the Israeli military legal system, where she continues to await trial and sentencing even as her delivery date approaches. Her military trial has been postponed 7 times; the Israeli military courts convict over 99% of the Palestinians brought before them.
The Israeli occupation has not permitted al-Deek family visits with her husband and baby daughter, Julia. Her husband was able to see her three months ago during the military court, and her brother said that he saw his sister five months ago in another military court hearing.
She issued a touching letter from inside Israeli prisons, which sparked a firestorm of outrage on social media, calling for her immediate release:
I miss Julia, my beloved daughter, so deeply. My heart cries for her, wishing I can hug her and hold her in my heart. The pain in my heart cannot be expressed.
What can I do if I have to give birth away from you, shackled? You know what it is like to go through a Caesarean delivery outside of prison. How will it be to go through it chained inside the prison?
I am so tired and have severe pain…I do not know how I will take my first steps after the surgery, when the jailer holds my arm with disgust…How can I protect the baby from the terrifying jailers?
I ask all free and honorable people of conscience to act, even by raising a word!…
Anhar is currently among 40 fellow Palestinian women prisoners held in Israeli jails, out of a total of 4,750 Palestinian political prisoners. Eleven of the detained women are mothers separated from their children by the Israeli occupation; just last month, Palestinian political leader and feminist Khalida Jarrar was denied early release or even the opportunity to see her daughter’s body after the untimely death of her daughter, Palestinian activist and human rights defender Suha Jarrar.
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network joins with organizers throughout Palestine and internationally in raising our voices and our words to demand Anhar al-Deek’s immediate release. We urge all supporters of justice in Palestine to join in the campaign to #SaveAnhar and her child. Take action to stand with Anhar al-Deek and urge freedom for Palestinian women, Palestinian children, and all of Palestine, from the river to the sea!
Join the social media campaign!
Thousands of people around the world have already posted about Anhar under the hashtag #SaveAnhar. Use the images on this page to post and call for her immediate release.
Protest at the Israeli Embassy or Consulate in Your Country!
Join the many protests taking place around the world — confront, isolate and besiege the Israeli embassy or consulate in your city or country of residence. Make it clear that the people are with Palestine! Send us your events at [email protected].
Take to the streets: Organize a protest in solidarity with Palestine!
Take to the streets and join the actions on our full list of events, which is constantly being updated as new actions are announced! Organize your own if there is none in your area, and send us your events at [email protected].
Boycott Israel!
The international, Arab and Palestinian campaign to boycott Israel can play an important role at this critical time. Local boycott groups can protest and label Israeli produce and groceries, while many complicit corporations – including HP, G4S, Puma, Teva and others, profit from their role in support Zionist colonialism throughout occupied Palestine. By participating in the boycott of Israel, you can directly help to throw a wrench in the economy of settler colonialism.
Demand Your Government Sanction Israel!
The racist, settler colonial state of Israel and its war crimes against the Palestinian people are enabled and backed extensively by the over $3.8 billion each year given to Israel by the United States — targeted directly to support the Israeli occupation military killing children, women, men and elders throughout occupied Palestine. From Canada to Australia to the European Union, Western governments and imperialist powers provide ongoing diplomatic, political and economic support to Israel as well as selling billions of dollars of weaponry to the settler-colonial state. Meanwhile, they also purchase billions of dollars in weaponry from the Israeli state. Governments in league with imperialist powers, such as in the Philippines, Brazil, India and elsewhere, also buy weapons and “security” services — all “battle-tested” on the Palestinian population. Call your representatives, MPs, political officials and demand your government sanction Israel now, cut off all aid, expel its ambassadors, and stop buying and selling weapons!
