Ramallah: In the latest move by the Israeli regime to inflict collective punishment on Palestinians, children born from smuggled sperm are being denied permission to visit their fathers in prison.
As an act of resistance, some prisoners serving lengthy terms in Israeli prisons have had their sperm smuggled to their wives so as to have children through in-vitro fertilisation.
Fifty-three children have been born as a result of the campaign, Mohammad Qabalan, spokemsan for the Razan Medical Centre for Infertility and IVF, told Gulf News.
The Israeli regime refuses to issue birth certificates for these children and, without birth certificates, the children are not assigned identification numbers.
Palestinian legal and human rights organisations are pondering legal action against the Israeli regime for its unfair treatment of prisoners’ children. They have teamed up with international rights groups and lawyers to focus international attention on the issue.
Amani Srahna, a spokeswoman for the Palestinian Prisoner Club, says the Israeli regime’s use of collective punishment is nothing new.
“When Palestinian men smuggle their sperm while in prison, it is an integral part of the resistance to occupation. It shows that despite their circumstances, they wish to live normal lives,” she said.
“What is more cruel than denying a newborn from obtaining a birth certificate and from seeing their own father?” she asks.
