Gaza presents: 'Prisoners' summer camp'
Summer fun – Narrow hallways, interrogation rooms painted
black, isolation cells and handcuffed mannequins – this is all part of the
setting of a new summer camp operated by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The Islamic group has been operating summer camps for
children in all cities and refugee camps throughout the Strip. This year, the
organizers came up with an original theme – "the suffering of the
Palestinian prisoners" – allowing children to experience first hand the
daily lives of prisoners held in Israel.
Hytham al- Madhun, one of the camp guides, explained that
the mock prison set up for the camp is divided into six rooms, each simulating
the incarceration conditions of Palestinian prisoners. The first room is an
interrogation cell, which is where prisoners are first led once entering the
prison. In this room, Madhun describes to the kids "the prisoners' firm
resilience in the face of Israeli interrogators' threats and their refusal to
admit the charges ascribed to them."
One of the main heroes of the camp is Ibrahim Hamed, who
was the head of Hamas' military wing in Ramallah and is responsible for
murdering dozens of Israelis. The guides boastfully tell the children how
Hamed, who was recently sentenced to 54 life sentences, has continually refused
to give his interrogators any information, including his given name.
In the next room, the children get to see what a
prisoner's cell looks like, and the guides warn them of Israeli agents who pose
as prisoners, trying to get the Palestinian prisoners to talk and admit to
their acts. Other rooms include a solitary confinement chamber, a torture den,
a room that simulates a prison hospital, and even a small prison courtyard.
Ahmad Rantisi, one of the organizers of the summer camp,
said that its goal is to allow children to get a tangible experience of the
suffering of Palestinian prisoners, and strengthen their belief in the
protection of Palestinian land and the high price that must be paid.
One of the camp participants, Abed al-Aziz, recounted
what he had learned, saying "we were taught about the Palestinian
prisoners who suffer greatly for the Palestinian people and that the occupation
forces deprive them from the basic human rights they deserve."
In addition to the mock prison, the children participate
in different activities, including military training, religious studies and
walking on boards with rusty nails and knife blades.
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