Palestinian ex-captive tells the story of his victory (interview)

The released captive journalist Mohamed Qeiq confirmed that the vast campaign of solidarity with his cause during the battle of open hunger strike he fought for more than 90 days, demonstrated the serious role of solidarity actions and public information campaigns, and that it is not impossible to break the will of the occupier. Qeiq said  hunger strike without taking any food supplements and when asked why he said, “Because I was truly ready for martyrdom.”

He pointed out that he fought his strike with great faith and determination to achieve victory, with a strong will for “victory or martyrdom”. He pointed out that after 79 days of his hunger strike he was visited by Sheikh Raed Salah in Afula hospital. Sheikh Salah told him that his case has become a popular case after which he realized that there is no way to back down, and that he is not far from martyrdom.

He stressed that his arrest came on the background of his remarks, adding that the Israeli investigators had sought to force him to confess on inciting against Israel. He stressed that the media represents the first authority not the fourth, and that the workers in the field of media make the change towards liberation and independence, so he urges them to continue these efforts.

Qeiq spoke about his brutal arrest by the Israeli occupation forces (IOF), saying: “IOF soldiers stormed my house in Ramallah, searched it, wreaked havoc on it, terrorized my family, and then took me for interrogation”.

He affirmed that the Israeli interrogators practiced violent methods of interrogation against him including beatings, verbal abuse, psychological pressure, threats and intimidation, solitary confinement, and sleep deprivation.

He remembers how the room (362) in Afula Hospital was the room of sorrows, and sighs, during the strike, and how it turned to a place of comfort and tranquility, and the room of victory against the Israeli occupation and the Shin Bet officers who threatened him, saying: You will be deprived from seeing your wife and children for three years, and will be isolated in a prison without any communication means.

Qeiq said that employing the various media means, and the role of the public masses besides the remarkable events they organized and participated in, as well as his patience and persistence had contributed, along with the care and will of Allah Almighty, to this victory and freedom.