Inhuman Israeli police assault mother, her son for hugging in court

Israeli police officers on Tuesday assaulted young prisoner Mohamed Abu Ghannam and his mother after they had the chance to embrace each other inside the district court in Occupied Jerusalem after not allowing them to do so for long months.

This happened after the Israeli district court in Jerusalem held a hearing for 20-year-old Abu Ghannam and extended his detention on allegations of his involvement in throwing stones and Molotov cocktails.

“I could not help myself. For a year and five months, they have been depriving me of hugging and kissing him. I could not stand it anymore. I pushed them (officers) away and hugged him for a few seconds and then they started pulling and hitting us,” Muntaha Abu Ghannam, the young man’s mother, said.

“For one year and five months, I had been unable to touch him, and each time I asked the judge to let me hug him, she declined under a different pretext,” she added.

She pointed out that the Israeli police interrogated her after that incident and informed her that she would not be allowed to attend any hearing held for her son.

Mohamed Abu Ghannam, who was kidnaped on September 18, 2020, has been exposed to police persecution since he was 14 years old.