When Palestinian activist Bushra Al-Tahil was released from an Israeli prison in exchange for hostages held by Hamas earlier this week, many media reports referred to her as a prisoner — or worse, a terrorist.
This was despite the fact that no Israeli court had convicted her of a crime, nor charged her, nor presented her with any evidence about why she was incarcerated for more than 10 months.
Nonetheless, in the eyes of the world, Al-Tahil says she was made to look guilty.
“They are only trying to make us criminals,” she told CBC News in an interview in her mother’s living room in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank, a few days after her release.
Palestinian detainees and their advocates say the broad characterization of Palestinians as prisoners is part of a deliberate strategy.
“The [Israeli hostages] that are in Gaza are considered ‘kidnapped,’ because criminals kidnapped them,” Al-Tahil said. But because she was held in an Israeli prison, she says she became “a prisoner.”
Thousands of ecstatic Israelis celebrated in the streets of Tel Aviv and other cities when Romi Gonen, Emily Damari and Doron Steinbrecher were finally released from Gaza this past Sunday. Hamas says it will release four more Israeli hostages this coming Saturday, in exchange for another large group of Palestinian detainees.
The ceasefire between Hamas and Israel has started with the first three hostages released from Gaza in return for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. The shaky, temporary truce also sees an increase in humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza.
While there’s no doubt the three women lived through a 470-day nightmare in Gaza, Al-Tahil says her time in an Israeli jail was also arduous. She says she endured months of isolation, mistreatment and psychological abuse from her captors.
Prisoners’ rights activist
Al-Tahil, 30, has been well known to security officials in Israel and the Palestinian Authority for many years.
A prominent prisoners’ rights advocate in the West Bank with a high-profile social media presence, she has been arrested or detained seven times since she was 18