Human rights lawyer Huwaida Arraf has been defying the Israeli blockade since 2008

Veteran of Gaza aid flotillas refused to allow Israel to steer her off course.

Israel has released all other detained U.S. citizens from the Freedom Flotilla—but continues to hold Palestinian-American activist Huwaida Arraf in Shikma Prison. This is not just unjust—it’s discriminatory. We demand her immediate release.

Israel released all the other US citizens, but is refusing to release Huwaida Arraf because she is a Palestinian. She is being held in the notoriously brutal Shikma Prison.

In a move drawing international condemnation, Israel has released all other U.S. citizens detained during the recent seizure of the Gaza-bound Freedom Flotilla, yet continues to hold Palestinian-American human rights attorney Huwaida Arraf in Shikma Prison—one of the country’s most notorious detention facilities.

Shikma Prison is an Israeli prison located in Ashkelon. There are many Palestinian prisoners there including the engineer Dirar Abu Sisi who was kidnapped in Ukraine in February 2011. Among the former prisoners is Israeli scientist Mordechai Vanunu

Arraf, a longtime advocate for Palestinian rights and co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement, was among the activists aboard the Handala vessel intercepted in international waters. While dozens of foreign nationals have since been deported or released, Arraf remains imprisoned, prompting accusations of discriminatory treatment based on her Palestinian heritage.

Reports from fellow detainees and legal advocates paint a grim picture of conditions inside Shikma Prison.

Arraf and others have described psychological and physical abuse, including strip searches, shackling, and denial of legal counsel.

According to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition and legal group Adalah, Israeli authorities have pressured detainees to sign false confessions and threatened indefinite detention for those who refuse.

Arraf, along with two other activists, is currently on hunger strike in protest of her continued imprisonment.

Her case has sparked outrage among human rights organisations and U.S.-based supporters, who argue that Israel’s refusal to release her underscores a broader pattern of racial and political bias in its detention policies.

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Shikma Prison | Israel Prison Service

https://www.gov.il address PO Box 17, Ashkelon general phone 08-6775155 general fax 08-9193080 days and hours for inviting a visit Sunday Wednesday and Thursday 8:00-16:45 ..