Palestinians call for release of Khalida Jarrar to attend the funeral of her daughter, Suha

Palestinians are demanding the release of Palestinian parliamentarian and leader Khalida Jarrar from Israeli prison following the sudden death of her daughter and human rights advocate, Suha Jarrar. 

Suha Ghassan Jarrar, 30, was found dead in her apartment in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah late Sunday evening, according to local media. She reportedly died of natural causes. 

Her mother, Khalida Jarrar, is a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) and leader in the secular Marxist-Lenninist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) party. 

Khalida is currently a political prisoner in Israel, serving a two year sentence for the “the offense of holding office in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.”

Upon hearing the news from her lawyers while in prison, Khalida reportedly said: “The news is very painful. It hurts because I miss Suha, my sweetheart. Say hello to everyone and let them take care of each other. Let them know I am strong.”

Suha, a legal researcher and advocacy officer worked with Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq and specialized in gender issues, the environment and climate change. She is the youngest of Khalida and Ghassan Jarrar’s two daughters

In an obituary published on Monday, Al-Haq described Suha as “a fierce advocate for the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination, freedom, and dignity.”

“Suha will remain a legacy and a role model in her strength, patience, giving, and defiance to the oppression faced by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails,” the obituary read. 

Al-Haq, along with other rights groups like Addameer and the Palestinian Legislative Council’s (PLC) prisoners’ committee said in statements on Monday that they were working to ensure the unconditional release of Khalida so that she could attend the funeral of her daughter, set to be held on Tuesday July 13th. 

In a statement on Monday, Al-Haq said that the group had sent “dozens of letters”  to Third States and to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), calling for “the urgent, immediate and unconditional release” of Khalida so that she could attend Suha’s funeral and “mourn in human dignity.”

A large group of Palestinian demonstrators gathered on Monday afternoon outside the Ofer military prison in Ramallah and staged a protest, demanding that Khalida be released. Israeli forces reportedly threatened protesters with force before firing tear gas at the crowds. 

Activists also circulated a petition online calling for Khalida’s release, saying Palestinian activists have also circulated an online petition calling for her release, “so that she can bury and mourn her daughter and exercise her most fundamental human rights.”

On Monday evening Haaretz reporter Jack Khoury tweeted that the commissioner of the Israel Prison Service (IPS) had decided not to release Khalida, and not to allow her to attend Suha’s funeral. 

On Monday evening Al-Haq reported that Israeli authorities had denied Khalida from calling her husband Ghassan and eldest daughter Yafa.

Khalida is set to be released from prison in September. She was arrested back in October 2019, just nine months after she was released from another prison sentence. 

Since 2014 Khalida has spent much of her time in and out of prison, including under administrative detention orders, during which she was held without charge or trial. 

She is one of 12 Palestinian parliamentarians currently imprisoned by Israel, and is among 5,300 Palestinian prisoners currently in Israeli jails. 

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