Despite prisoner releases this week, Saleh El-Naami finds out that freedom is somewhat intangible Although his eight siblings are trying to engage him in play, Youssef is hanging onto his mother. This two-year-old was born and has, so far, lived in a prison cell with mother Fatma "Al-Zaq", a Palestinian woman who was detained in Hasharon Prison in central Israel until released on Friday as part of the "videotape deal" between Hamas and Israel. Youssef, the first Palestinian child to be born and raised behind Israeli prison bars, is still uncomfortable in his new environment. But his brothers and sisters will not give up, constantly trying new tricks to make him warm up to his new surroundings. His brother Ali, 14, is ecstatic to be playing with his baby brother. "My mother left alone and came back with Youssef," he told Al-Ahram Weekly with a big smile. "We have been counting the minutes until God reunites us once again with our mother and our brother. From now on, life will have a better outlook." Ali added that without his mother, "the seconds passed as if they were years." Since her return, Fatma -- known as Umm Mahmoud -- has not had a moment's rest from the sheer volume of well- wishers who are stopping by the family home. Although the house lies on the edges of Al-Shagaiya neighbourhood in the east of Gaza City, a volatile area close to the dividing line between Israel and the Gaza Strip, this has not stopped an endless stream of vehicles from braving the treacherous road to reach Fatma's abode. While she embraces guests, Fatma's eyes are fixated on her eight children as they move all around her. Then she stops, and holds one of them tightly. "When I was told I would be released, I was overwhelmed with the thought of seeing and holding my eight children whom I've yearned for over two years." Fatma, a member of the Islamic Jihad movement, told the Weekly. She wept uncontrollably when her children greeted her with cries of "Mother, mother" as she approached her house, after journeying from the border checkpoint. "This was the moment I had prayed for and dreamt of for so long," she said. "Not a moment passed when I didn't have visions of my children. Even during the most painful moments during interrogations and torture, my children were with me." But this joyous reunion is incomplete as Fatma remembers her fellow inmates who are still behind bars. "I wish they would release the women who are sick or imprisoned for life or on superior orders," she said. "If we had a choice, we would have chosen them over ourselves to be freed. My heart still aches because I left behind these brave Palestinian women; my happiness is incomplete as I recall the women who are perishing in the detention camps of the occupiers and the prisons of those criminals." Fatma described the appalling conditions in which Palestinian detainees live in occupation prisons, noting that jailers ignore the special circumstances of detainees and "enjoy finding ways to make their lives miserable". Although she is now a free woman, this mother of eight is still unable to settle into family life at home. She behaves as if she were still living behind bars, and her husband often reminds her that she is home, not in prison. Abu Mahmoud is delighted that his wife has returned because he will no longer bear the burden of raising the children alone. "I am relieved," he declared. "No matter how hard I tried to compensate the children in the absence of their mother, I was not successful; they asked for her night and day." While 20 female prisoners were released, it appears that a comprehensive deal will take some time to conclude because disagreements between the two sides are deep. The Ezzeddin Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, said that Israel would not release some Palestinian detainees on the basis that they are a "high security risk". A report published on their website stated that, "Israel still refuses to free a number of Brigades leaders who languish in Israeli prisons, most important of whom is the former leader of the Brigades in the West Bank, Ibrahim Hamed. Israel holds him responsible for the death of tens of soldiers and settlers." Informed sources told the Weekly that another obstacle blocking a comprehensive prisoner exchange deal between Hamas and Israel lies in differences over Palestinian detainees whose families reside in Jerusalem and Israel. Hamas wants the release of all detainees residing in Jerusalem and Israel, while Israel adamantly rejects releasing these prisoners, arguing that they are Israeli citizens carrying Israeli identification cards, and their discharge as part of a prisoner exchange deal would represent a dangerous precedent that would encourage emulation. The source added that the German mediator suggested that instead of releasing prisoners from Jerusalem and Israel, the Israeli authorities would release Arab prisoners in their jails. This was rejected by Hamas. Some Palestinian sources told the Weekly that broadcasting the videotape that Hamas handed over to Israel showing captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in good health in the Israeli media puts pressure on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's government to finalise an agreement. Other sources, however, believe that handing over the tape was a mistake, because showing Shalit alive and well gives the Israeli government a bigger margin of manoeuvre. Israelis are also divided about the impact of the "videotape deal" on prospects of a comprehensive prisoner exchange agreement. Avi Issacharoff wrote in Haaretz that the release of the videotape would increase popular demand on the Israeli government to accept Hamas's terms and free all Palestinian detainees in exchange for Shalit's freedom. In agreement, Yael Paz-Melamed wrote in Maariv that Israel must not repeat the same mistake of 1982, when it did not appear serious about negotiating the release of Israeli pilot Ron Arad -- who was kidnapped by the Amal Movement during the first war in Lebanon -- and whose trace is now completely lost. Israel claims that Arad died or was killed during captivity. Paz-Melamed demanded that Israel respond positively to Hamas's conditions without hesitation. While the Israeli press was swamped with articles echoing the same demand, many observers believe that releasing the tape will indefinitely delay reaching a comprehensive deal. Haaretz 's military correspondent, Amir Oren, wrote that by releasing the tape, Netanyahu wanted to present proof that Shalit is safe and sound, implying that Hamas wants to keep the soldier alive since he represents strategic ammunition. Hence, the prime minister will be able to drag his feet and procrastinate in the hope that either Hamas would compromise on some of its demands, or that Shalit is rescued in a military operation. In fact, Israeli security circles claim that they are close to identifying the location where the soldier is being held. Another reason why Netanyahu is taking his time in meeting Hamas's conditions is because there is much resistance in Israeli security circles regarding meeting these demands. The director of internal intelligence (Shin Bet), Yuval Diskin, for one believes that the imminent release of large numbers of detainees who participated in operations killing vast numbers of occupation soldiers represents a coup de grace for Hamas. It would also come on the eve of Palestinian legislative elections, scheduled in the first half of next year, and would improve the odds of Hamas winning once again. This would serve a devastating blow to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas who -- many Israeli observers believe -- saved Israel from a grave dilemma when he sacrificed his credibility and requested that the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva not ratify the Goldstone Report. The report indicts Israel for war crimes and possible crimes against humanity. Hence, many believe that brokering a prisoner exchange deal promptly is certain to hand more power to Hamas.
