Pale and frail, with an unkempt beard and a prosthetic eye, his emaciated body testifies to the neglect and torture he experienced inside Israeli prison. “Stay away,” he shouts at the eager crowd surrounding him upon his release. “I don’t know what disease I’m carrying — I have a rash and can’t risk shaking hands.” But his parents, overcome with emotion, move forward to embrace him. He shrinks away, fearfully insisting that he should remain untouched.
Mo’ath Amarnih, a Palestinian photojournalist from the occupied West Bank, was released from Ktzi’ot prison in July. Even before this, he was no stranger to Israeli state violence: in 2019, while covering protests against settlements, an Israeli soldier shot him in the face, causing him to lose his left eye. But nothing could prepare him for these nine months in administrative detention — imprisonment without charge or trial — during which he was held in dire conditions, subjected to abuse, and denied medical attention despite suffering from diabetes. ….more
