Palestinian prisoner Khalida Jalal was released by Israel on Sunday as part of the first round of prisoner exchanges agreed with Hamas in the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
The 61-year-old parliamentarian, feminist and prisoners’ rights advocate has been held in administrative detention, a policy that allows Israeli authorities to detain individuals without charge or trial, since December 26, 2023. Ta.
Jalal’s detention was renewed multiple times.
In August, she was transferred to solitary confinement as a “form of punishment” and held for six months in a 1m x 1.5m cell at Ayalon (Ramla) prison, according to the Palestinian Prisoners of War Club.
Rights group Adamer reported that her cell had “barely enough space for a mattress” and that her clothing, hygiene products, food and water were all severely restricted.
Jalal’s long career as an activist has meant he has spent the past three decades in and out of detention, losing a father, daughter and nephew while behind bars.
Her sister Salam Altratot told Middle East Eye that the detention was the most difficult thing Jalal had endured.
lifelong activist
Jalal, a native of Nablus, is a prominent political leader and human rights and feminist advocate.
Her career started early. As a teenager, she reportedly volunteered with a group cleaning local communities and public schools, against the wishes of many of her family members who believed the job was for boys. .
She went on to become one of the most prominent leaders of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). The PFLP is a nationalist, Marxist-Leninist organization and the second largest and designated faction in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). As a terrorist group by Israel and the United States.
In 2006, she was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council, the parliament of the Palestinian Authority, and was appointed chairman of the Prisoners of War Committee.
She is credited with playing a leading role in cementing Palestine’s accession to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2015.
Mr Jalal was also a tireless campaigner for the rights of Palestinian prisoners of war, serving on the board of the Ramallah-based prisoners’ rights group Adamer from 1993 to 2005.
repeated detention
Ms. Jalal’s activities have made her a repeated target of Israeli authorities, who have arrested her numerous times over the past three decades and often placed her in administrative detention.
Her first arrest was in March 1989, when she took part in an International Women’s Day demonstration.
In April 2015, Israeli authorities arrested Jalal and initially held him in administrative detention without charge.
Following mounting international pressure, an Israeli military court charged her with 12 security-related crimes related to her membership in the PFLP.
Jalal was found guilty and sentenced to 15 months in prison, five years suspended, and a $2,600 fine.
Palestinian leaders continued to be active in prisons, establishing schools and teaching English to young female prisoners.
She was released in June 2016, but was arrested a year later during a dawn raid on her home in Ramallah. She was released in September 2021.
Jalal also faces a long-term travel ban from Israeli authorities, and her husband has been detained more than 10 times.
(me)
caption
Khalida Jalal, pictured in the West Bank, left the country after being released in September 2021, and the one on the right left the country after being released in January 2025 (AFP News Agency)