Malak Ziyad AL-Hanfa
- They destroyed my home
- Ramallah city
“Occupation forces destroyed my house and arrest my husband and daughter in the eve of the Eid,” said Um Tariq, Malak’s mother.
One story of tens hidden stories
In Palestine, people sometimes prepare for the occasional event of happiness; but more often than not they are faced with sadness during that event. People see and opportunity of calm and quiet on the horizon but are shocked with brutality and destruction at that time. This is the story of Malak and her family as they awaited the Eid (festival and holiday). But on the eve of the Eid, their house was destroyed and their family torn apart by the arrest of the father and his daughter Malak.
Malak’s mother, Um Tariq describes what happened to them saying, “Our story began on 19 January 2005 as we were preparing Eid Al-Adha. But in a blink of an eye, things changed from happiness to sadness and destruction. Tens of soldiers spread in the streets of the village and the loudspeakers shouted on civilians to leave their homes and gather in certain places.”
“We went out of the house with our neighbors. The troops took us all to Ibn Al-Haytham school. They forced the women of the village to set in a classroom and the men in another. Then, they began to interrogate us,” continues Um Tariq.
“Occupation forces were afraid from everything around them. We could see it in the eyes and behavior of the soldiers. They interrogated everyone in the area, even the children. Although they failed in capturing the wanted member of Al-Qassam brigades, the soldiers terrorized everything that moved," she added.
“Then, we heard a big explosion which devastated our house and shocked the houses around it. The house was our only place of residence. But it is better to lose our house than to lose a Qassam member,” she said.
“The family remained in the open near the destroyed house for two nights. During the second night, occupation forces came and arrested Abu Tariq and his daughter Malak. They claimed that they will interrogate them and that they will return to the family,” said Um Tariq.
“But they haven’t returned since then. They are held in occupation jails and spent more than two months under interrogation and torture. Now Abu Tariq is in Majeddo prison and Malak is in Ramla prison. And I’ve been prevented from visiting them since their arrest,” recounts Um Tariq.
“The occupation forces accuse my husband of giving logistic assistance to Al-Qassam Brigades, accuse my daughter of helping the mujahideen to use computers,” she says.
Some Characteristics
Describing her daughter, Um Tariq says, “Malak is a compassionate Muslima. She in concerned with Muslim affairs. And she always cried about the suffering and torture of our people. She dedicated herself to here sisters and classmates in and outside the university.”
“In the prison, I hear that Malak is the best in helping her sisters and teaching them the Quran. She utilizes every minute in the prison in reading the Quran and studying Islam more thoroughly.”
