Nour Rida, 19-11-2009

It is Lebanon, which gave an oath to put utmost efforts for the sake of the cause... and for that very same cause, there fell martyrs and captives... to attain freedom.

It is a country of which all families and homes have harsh and painful memories... memories of agony caused by the occupier, which got eyes teary and hearts broken for the missing of a brother, a father or even a sister, but all for the sake of the homeland and its victory.

Among those who fell victims of the enemy's violence, are captives imprisoned in the "Israeli" jails.

The enemy, which knows neither humanity nor mercy, held captives- and still holds some- amid the silence of the Lebanese government that set a blind eye to the case.

But there were others who fought for the return of those captives, and who swore not to drop the case until all sons of this country return safe and sound to their parents, siblings and friends.

And there was the first swap in 2003 followed by another in 2008.
Those fighting for the plight swore not to leave one captive in the "Israeli" jails. The last and latest declaration of fighting for this plight - and like all previous declarations that soon became acts- was stated by the Secretary General of the Islamic Resistance H.E. Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah during his speech on Martyr's day as tackled the issue of the young Lebanese who are still in captivity, in spite of all prisoner exchange operations, such as Yehia Skaff and Abdallah Khalil Elayyan whose family have again submitted important documents from the International Red Cross organisation, which prove he was still alive for many years after 1982.

Supporting Sayyed Nasrallah and following his lead on such a cause are the men of resistance who barely know sleep for the sake of the land, are the Lebanese loyal people that stood firm and strong in the face of the occupier and were neither frightened by drone planes nor by tanks in addition to entities in the society who fight from their position and take action.



Lebanese lawyer Ms May Khansa has insisted on raising the issue as "The humanitarian cause deserves tremendous attention."

Lawyer Ms Khansa presented documents that "Prove beyond a reasonable doubt" the existence of captive Abdullah Aliaan inside "Israeli" jails.

Khansa has also informed us that she possesses reports proving the existence of two other prisoners Mohammad al-Jarrar and Ali Merhi; moaqawama.org will be the first to raise the issue of their existence in enemy prison cells. moqawama.org conducted an interview with the Lawyer Ms May Khansa supported by documentations and evidence.

A statement issued by the International Committee of the Red Cross on the October 15 1992 and signed by the ICRC delegate Alan Root, also presented by Lawyer May Khansa, proves that prisoner Abdullah Aliaan had received several visits by International body's delegates in the place of his detention during the period between June 16 and July 28 of 1981.

Khansa also presented a statement signed by a number of people who also saw Aliaan inside "Israeli" jails, in which the names of his jailers are visible, namely "Haim Arif" and "Abu Temara."

In addition Ms Khansa provided us with documented information on the prisoner Mohammad al-Jarrar who was captured in 1979 by collaborator Ibrahim Georges Hajj, who had admitted to handing al-Jarrar over to the "Israeli" enemy along with a number of other prisoners.
Georges Hajj still roams free enjoying his full rights "As if nothing whatsoever had happened."

Moreover, Ms Khansa said she also has valuable information on the Palestinian captive Nizar Ali Merhi, born from a Lebanese mother and captured in 1982 in front of Daoud Al-Ali building. A picture of him was seen in a German newspaper shows him standing with a number of Arab prisoners inside an iron fence. She says through a simple comparison between Merhi's photo in his mother's possession and the one in the newspaper, one could clearly tell the photo belongs to Nizar Merhi, confirming he is still alive inside "Israeli" jails.

Ms Khansa's documents reveal beyond any reasonable doubt, that the three prisoners are still alive inside "Israeli" jail cells, and she indicated that "This requires an international investigation and an impartial international mediator that deals seriously with this information, because they are not just ordinary arbitrary news but documentation of a high degree of importance, which directly condemn the ‘Israeli' enemy."

With her resistance tone Khansa stressed that "The release of prisoners and detainees will only be accomplished by the Secretary General of Hizbullah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, through a new operation to capture Zionist soldiers to exchange for resistance prisoners," emphasizing that "The resistance continues to be a need and a special requirement," and that "The Lebanese state does not have sufficient capabilities to carry out a special prisoner exchange operation," adding that "The jails in ‘Israel' are still full of Lebanese and Arab prisoners from various nationalities."

Going back to the captive Aliaan, Khansa noted that one of the recently liberated captives had met prisoner Aliaan in "Israeli" jails during the period of his captivity.

As for Ghada Qassem Aliaan -daughter of the collaborator who handed Abdullah over to the occupier- and her denial of the information given by her brother to the Aliaan family, Ms Khansa considered her denial as "Just fear of reactions that may come from the prisoner's family," but she affirmed that Ghada Aliaan will be called in to testify before the Lebanese judiciary.

As for collaborators who fled to the occupied territories, Khansa said "It is possible to pursue them through international justice, except that the process can be very costly and difficult to afford by the prisoners' families."

Concerning the issue in question, the captives Muhammad al-Jarrar and Nizar Ali Merhi, Khansa said that "Their parents had not been able to raise their cases in front of the Lebanese public opinion before, because of their difficult financial situations."

However, despite absenting the case it has not been forgotten, but has only died in the eyes of the Lebanese judiciary, which shortly after the liberation of the south in 2000 from the evil occupier, issued an amnesty law for collaborators.

According to this amnesty offenders could walk free at large, while their victims remained prisoners suffering alienation and torture, and the heartache of the prisoners' mothers still continues, with their freedom again entrusted to the hands of the sincere pledger, the Secretary-General of Hizbullah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.

In parallel, Khansa confirmed she would pursue the case to the "last moment" whatever the sacrifices, stressing she will pursue collaborator Georges Ibrahim Hajj before the Lebanese courts to impose the maximum sentences against him, especially since in year 2000 he had admitted to handing over to the "Israeli" enemy al-Jarrar along with a number of other prisoners; but the irony is that he was not arrested or imprisoned.

In conclusion, Khansa asked the Lebanese politicians to champion the cause and not to just drown it with praises and laudations, because freedom is not taken but extracted.