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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas showcases reformed prison in Gaza Strip
2007-07-11
Hamas is claiming it has vastly improved Gaza's only prison, having seized control of the institution during its violent rout of Fatah last month. The group boasts the place is cleaner, the food is better and that Islam will reform the offenders. "Hamas has come to build the homeland with the mercy and justice of Islam," prison director Ali Hmaid told CTV News.

Graffiti on the wall promises that "Islam is the solution," along with "No injustice from now on." The prison's barber no longer shaves beards, in a gesture of Islamic devotion. And in another twist, cell doors are now open and prisoners can play sports. Rules governing family visits have been loosened and the sewing factory has been reopened. One prisoner said he should not have been jailed for having just one marijuana cigarette. But he had no complaints about his treatment, even with his guards out of earshot.

Most of the cells emptied out at the height of fighting between Hamas and Fatah, a conflict that left Hamas in charge of Gaza and Fatah holding on to the West Bank. More than 500 prisoners escaped, and files were burned. People saw Fatah guards changing out of their uniforms into civilian clothes to blend into the exodus. They too wanted to escape.

Promising an end to the injustice that existed under Fatah, Hamas urged the escapees to return. Sixty did. One accused collaborator with Israel came back because he said he would be safer in prison. He said Hamas promised to review his case.

Hamas claims to have no political prisoners, although Fatah and some human rights groups claim they are being held elsewhere in the confines of the Gaza Strip. There are also allegations of torture.

Hamas opened the prison to the media, in part because it wants to show it can be an effective governing force. Right now, the regime finds itself ostracized, mainly because of its hardline stance against Israel.
Posted by:ryuge

#5  Islam will reform the offenders

replace "islam" with any other religion and you'll be weirded out. Sure, some fundamentalist Christians might say something like that, but even they are willing to work within the system. yet, we have come to expect this crap from these guys and it doesn't seem particularly out of the ordinary. How frikkin superior they are. How self important they are.

Our expectations for muslims are so much lower than those we have for any other group.
Posted by: PlanetDan   2007-07-11 19:25  

#4  "Hamas has come to build the homeland with the mercy and justice of Islam," prison director Ali Hmaid told CTV News.

Thieves line up at dawn... Islam will reform you!

Posted by: BigEd   2007-07-11 17:15  

#3  A clear case of overdosing on lollipops and sunbeams, and pehaps an allergic reaction to the fur on his new pony. Too bad, so sad.
Posted by: Seafarious   2007-07-11 12:48  

#2  But it sounds like they just might have a littttle more work to do...

PCHR calls upon the Attorney-General to open an immediate investigation into the death of Fadel Dahmash in Gaza Central Prison on Tuesday evening, 10 July 2007, and to instruct the conduct of forensic checking to find out the reasons of his death.

According to investigations conducted by PCHR, at approximately 19:00 on Tuesday, 10 July 2007, the body of Fadel Mohammed Saleem Dahmash, 31, from Deir al-Balah, was brought into Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. The body was transferred to the hospital from Gaza Central Prison. According to a letter from the manager of the prison to the hospital, Dahmash suffered from a heart failure and had difficulties in breathing. The body is still at the hospital, and has not been checked by forensic medicine specialists so far due to the lack of instructions from the Attorney-General.

The al-Quds Brigades (the armed wing of the Islamic Jihad) captured Dahmash for suspicions of his collaboration with Israeli occupation authorities. The web page of the al-Quds Brigades showed on Thursday, 5 July 2007, a video clip of a person, whom it described as a collaborator with Israeli security services, and named as F.D. The web page reported that the al-Quds Brigades were able to capture him red-handed on Wednesday, 4 July 2006, in the east of the Gaza Strip. The video clip shows a person getting out of an Israeli military jeep, taking off his military uniform and putting on civilian clothes at the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, and then jumping over the border to enter the Gaza Strip.

PCHR then called upon the al-Quds Brigades to ensure the safety and life of the suspect, and to hand him to concerned bodies at the Palestinian National Authority. PCHR learnt that the al-Quds Brigades handed Dahmash to the Executive Force on Wednesday evening, 4 July 2007. He had been detained in Gaza Central Prison.
Posted by: tu3031   2007-07-11 12:28  

#1  A prison only for those who want to be there?

That is a new wrinkle!
Posted by: Bobby   2007-07-11 10:57  

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