22 October 2008
Ma’an News
The longest-serving female Palestinian prisoner, Suna Ar-Ra’i, will be released by Israel on Sunday after serving 12 years in her second term in prison.
Ar-Ra’i is from the West Bank city of Qalqilia. Her brother, Ibrahim Ar-Ra’i, was a leader in the Palestinian resistance who was killed by the Israeli intelligence services on 13 April 1988. He was killed during an interrogation session in which he refused to admit to the accusations of his captors.
Suna Ar-Ra’i joined Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation at the age of 16. She was a co-founder of Palestinian women’s committees. She joined the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). On the ninth anniversary of the killing of her brother, she carried out a military operation against Israeli soldiers and security guards at the Allenby Bridge border crossing, and was arrested after the shooting. She was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment.
When Ar-Ra’i was sentenced, she was married and had a three-year-old son, Muhammad. The Israeli prison service jailed her with Israeli criminal female prisoners as there were no Palestinian female “security prisoners” at the time due to a recent prisoner swap.
Israeli intelligence deprived Suna of family visits for eight years. Her son was only permitted to visit her once during her imprisonment.
The longest serving Palestinian detainee of all time, Sa’id Al-Atabah, was released by Israel along with 197 others as an Israeli “goodwill gesture” in late August. Al-Atabah spent 32 years in Israeli prisons.
Ma’an News
The longest-serving female Palestinian prisoner, Suna Ar-Ra’i, will be released by Israel on Sunday after serving 12 years in her second term in prison.
Ar-Ra’i is from the West Bank city of Qalqilia. Her brother, Ibrahim Ar-Ra’i, was a leader in the Palestinian resistance who was killed by the Israeli intelligence services on 13 April 1988. He was killed during an interrogation session in which he refused to admit to the accusations of his captors.
Suna Ar-Ra’i joined Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation at the age of 16. She was a co-founder of Palestinian women’s committees. She joined the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). On the ninth anniversary of the killing of her brother, she carried out a military operation against Israeli soldiers and security guards at the Allenby Bridge border crossing, and was arrested after the shooting. She was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment.
When Ar-Ra’i was sentenced, she was married and had a three-year-old son, Muhammad. The Israeli prison service jailed her with Israeli criminal female prisoners as there were no Palestinian female “security prisoners” at the time due to a recent prisoner swap.
Israeli intelligence deprived Suna of family visits for eight years. Her son was only permitted to visit her once during her imprisonment.
The longest serving Palestinian detainee of all time, Sa’id Al-Atabah, was released by Israel along with 197 others as an Israeli “goodwill gesture” in late August. Al-Atabah spent 32 years in Israeli prisons.
