Brazilian Arrested in the West Bank Is Released by the Palestinian Government

07/22/2015 - 10h04

Islam Hamed, of Palestinian-Brazilian descent, was released on Tuesday, July 21st, by the Palestinian National Authority after having endured one hundred days of hunger strike.

Hamed, who was detained in the city of Nablus in the West Bank, was released from prison after his family signed a liability waiver for his safety.

According to the Palestinian ambassador to Brazil, Ibrahim Al Zeben, Hamed was "in custody" and not imprisoned since 2013, when he finished his three-year sentence.

"He was in custody so as not to be under any risks," says Al Zeben. The Palestinian argument is that, if released, Hamed could be detained by Israeli forces.

At 17, he was arrested by Israel on charges of throwing stones and homemade explosives, and was arrested for five years.

After nine months free, he was arrested for the second time by the Israeli government in a case of "administrative detention" -in which a person can have his or her sentence renewed without a clear charge.

The arrest on the Palestinian side came in 2010. For his family, the arrest would have been motivated by Hamed's support for Hamas.

Hamed's mother says that with the release of her son "things are more complicated." "He spent more than one hundred days on hunger strike. He needs a hospital, regardless whether it is an Israeli hospital. We wanted to have taken him to a doctor."

Nadia blames the Brazilian government for the worsening of the crisis and says they have not been given the expected support.

"They had to have helped him. He must have been protected against whatever could happen. I'm very hurt. I thought that the government would help us, but it did not."

Translated by CRISTIANE COSTA LIMA

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	Islam Hamed, of Palestinian-Brazilian descent, was released by the Palestinian National Authority