The persecution experienced by Palestinian people in Israeli jails and their unwavering strength in the face of this was discussed at a forum on April 12, hosted by the Palestinian Community of Western Australia and All for Gaza/All for Palestine.

The forum, held at the State Library of WA, highlighted the stories of Dr Issam Hijjawi, a Scottish-Palestinian doctor, recently incarcerated for his activism, and Mahmoud Al Arda, who spent 32 years in Israel’s prison system and staged a daring escape in 2021.

Both spoke online with interviews and translations provided by the organisers.

Al Arda gave an insider account of the abuse many Palestinians experience under occupation and which has become worse since October 7, 2023.

“It was not the killing, although some people did die under the extreme torture — and they know this, and it’s documented,” Al Arda said. “But it’s the level of humiliation that we had to endure. They would not even give us the rights that animals have.

“We were not allowed to stand, we had to kneel; they would move us around from cell to cell while kneeling and handcuffed, on all fours.

“But the worst was when they made us prostrate to them, while naked. Then they would abuse us, they would put their hands behind our neck and press to indicate that we were to move. But then we would........

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