Tulkarm- The circumstances were similar between the first arrest of Palestinian prisoner Muhammad Arif in 2002 and the last one a week ago. The first time he returned free after 19 years of captivity, while the second time he was martyred in news that shook his family and gave a dangerous indication that the lives of the prisoners were being directly and deliberately targeted.
In a joint statement from them – Tel Aviv Tribune Net received a copy of it – the Prisoners’ Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club announced, last Wednesday, the martyrdom of prisoner Muhammad Walid Hussein Arif (45 years old) inside the Israeli “Rambam” Hospital, to which he was transferred from the Israeli “Jalameh” interrogation center, without… He gave details about the circumstances of his martyrdom.
However, they did not discount the factor of torture as a clear indication of his martyrdom as “one of the most prominent systematic policies practiced by the occupation against Palestinian detainees.”
Premeditated intention
The arrest of Arif (Abu Al-Baraa) came after a full year of persecution, and his family learned the news about two months later. A friend who was with him at the time became a martyr, and his fate remained unknown to his family until the news reached them of his arrest and his subjection for all that period of harsh investigation, and then he was sentenced. Imprisonment for 19 years.
The occupation re-arrested him on November 28, “in a manner no less intimidating and violent,” going so far as to announce his martyrdom just days later, to the grief of his family over his eternal absence. Their circumstances were only known to them from the news that he had been mourned as a martyr and that he bore the number 48 among the martyrs imprisoned since the war on Gaza on October 7, 2023.
His younger brother, “Asid,” says that the martyr was arrested after the Israeli special forces surrounded their house in the Nour Shams camp for Palestinian refugees near the city of Tulkarm after midnight, and summoned him by phone to come to them in a hurry, with only his cell phone and personal identity, and that they arrested him without saying goodbye to his elderly parents or his daughter. Or his siblings, including his eldest brother’s son.
He added to Tel Aviv Tribune Net that they did not know any news about his fate For a whole weekThey were waiting for a court session to be held for him yesterday, Thursday, to be saddened by the news of his martyrdom, which struck them “like a thunderbolt.” The occupation was accused of “assassinating and liquidating him with premeditated and premeditated intent.”
Aseed confirmed that his martyr brother was in good health and did not suffer from any diseases. Moreover, since his release 3 years ago, he had not engaged in any political or partisan activity, and he denied any allegations that the occupation would make about the circumstances of his martyrdom, especially since they are still holding his body and will perform an autopsy according to what was stated. His family knew.
He stressed that “the occupation’s hatred for his brother and his assassination of Palestinians every day is not strange, and it is the real reason behind his liquidation, but this will not constitute a deterrent because there are hundreds like Abu Al-Baraa.”
Direct execution
“Direct execution” is what the prisoner institutions also concluded – in their statement – by confirming that torture has become an unprecedented, systematic policy that leads to their killing, especially the sick and those who can no longer be counted, and said, “The harsh, terrifying and catastrophic conditions to which the prisoners are exposed and what they reveal after their release.” “They have shocking testimonies that indicate that they are facing the risk of martyrdom.”
According to the same source, “Muhammad Arif is the 48th martyr since the start of the war of extermination in the occupation’s prisons and camps. They are the only ones whose data was obtained, and there are dozens of Gaza detainees who have been promoted and the occupation continues to hide their data.”
In a previous interview with Tel Aviv Tribune Net, Abdullah Zaghari, head of the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club, confirmed that “genocide is behind the rise in the number of martyred prisoners, and that Israel is practicing it against them, especially the Gaza prisoners whom it forcibly hides.”
While Thaer Shreiteh, the media official at the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs Authority, said in a press statement: “The martyr prisoner Muhammad Arif was subjected to a real assassination resulting from torture, beatings, and inhuman treatment by the jailers.”
In the Jabal al-Nasr neighborhood in Nour Shams camp, the martyr Arif was born to struggling parents and a committed family, and a family consisting of 9 children (5 girls and 4 boys), of whom he was the middle. He grew up in the alleys of the camp and was known from a young age for his discipline and upright behavior. He was raised in the Abu Al-Arqam Mosque and learned the knowledge and etiquette of the Qur’an. He memorized more than 20 parts of it, memorizing and reciting them, and taught it as well.
Prince of prisoners
In the UNRWA schools in the camp, the martyr initially enrolled and completed the high school literary branch at the “Ihsan Samara” School in Tulkarm, after which he completed his academic studies at Al-Quds Open University in accounting, which he completed inside his prison, where he was arrested in the last semester. He continued his university education and obtained a bachelor’s degree. In history also inside his detention.
At an early age, the martyr’s suffering with the occupation began, as he was arrested for several months when he was 16 years old before his second arrest in 2002 from the Al-Manshiya neighborhood in the center of the camp. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, which he appealed and was converted to 19 years, with his family’s home demolished, and he was released in 2021.
Within his prison, the martyr Muhammad Arif held the position of “General Prince” and – due to his activity and mastery of the Hebrew language – bore the responsibility of leading the prisoners, and he, along with other prisoners, was able to achieve great achievements for them. After his release, he was busy taking care of his land and stayed away from political and party work. He remained known for his leadership and widely loved personality within the camp and throughout Tulkarm, and was known for his influence and community activity.
From the town of Anabta, which is close to his camp, the martyr married and gave birth to his daughter, Misk (two years old), and his wife is pregnant with his child, Baraa, as he wanted to name him and call him Salva.
His family and the people of Nour Shams camp were terrified by the martyrdom of prisoner Arif and described it as a “great loss.” They posted posters and banners for him and set up a “congratulatory house” to receive mourners.
