PNN – Raed Saadi was in Israeli prison for more than 35 years, during which time he lost a number of family members, including his mother. His father also lost his sight.
According to the report of Pakistan News Network, citing Al Jazeera, “Raed Muhammad Sharif Saadi,” a Palestinian prisoner who has been given the title “Sheikh of the Jenin Prisoners,” was born in 1966 in the western province of Jenin. He was captured by the Zionist enemy in 1989 and sentenced to two life sentences and 20 years in prison.
Biography and education
Raed Sharif completed his primary education in the city of Jenin and received his bachelor’s degree from Al-Aqsa University. During his captivity, he also graduated from Al-Quds Comprehensive University with a degree in sociology, during which time he also memorized the Holy Quran.
History of struggles
Raed Saadi began his anti-Zionist struggle as a teenager. He was 17 years old when he was imprisoned for raising the Palestinian flag on a lamppost in the city of Jenin and spent 6 months in an Israeli prison. He began his struggle under the influence of Abu Ali Shahin, a leader of the Fatah movement, and learned from him how to use weapons and make hand grenades.
With the beginning of the Stone Intifada, the Israeli military pursued him for two years. They detained his parents for four months to pressure him and attacked their family home dozens of times. He was finally arrested on August 28, 1989.
After being detained for 100 days, he was tortured and interrogated until he was sentenced to two life sentences and 20 years in prison. He was in Israeli prison for more than 35 years, during which time he lost a number of family members, including his mother. His father also lost his sight during this time.
In 2022, she wrote a novel titled “My Mother Mary, a Palestinian Woman,” which she dedicated to her mother and the mothers of all Palestinian martyrs and prisoners. In this book, she describes her experience of fighting against the Israeli occupiers.
Al-Saadi was supposed to be released in late 2013 as part of negotiations between the Israeli regime and the Palestinian Authority, but this did not happen. Although the Israelis pledged to release prisoners held before the Oslo Accords, they opposed the release of 29 of them, including Saadi.
During his captivity, he suffered chronic illnesses and underwent several surgeries due to extensive torture and frequent transfers between different prisons.