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Private Israeli companies profit millions every year from the incarceration of Palestinians. And with around <\/span>40 per cent <\/span><\/a>of males living in the occupied Territories detained at some point in their lives, it is the women who are bearing the brunt of the cost. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Husbands, brothers, and sons detained under Israeli Military Law in either criminal or administrative detention, in many cases, leave women as the primary economic providers in the household.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “In 2017, we (Palestinians) paid six million dollars to the courts for paperwork and fines,” Lana Ramadan, an international advocacy officer for Addameer <\/span>told<\/span><\/a> Al Jazeera. This figure excludes the amount of money spent on prison food and medical care.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Founder of the Palestinian Prisoner Club, Raed Amer spoke to Palestine Monitor about how Israel is profiteering off Palestinian prisoners. “It is a huge business for Israel,” Amer explained.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Palestinian Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) <\/span>reported<\/span><\/a> that in 2018 the unemployment rate among women in the labour force was 51 per cent and of this group, 54 per cent unemployed with 13 schooling years.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Saja Barghouthi, the Program and Development officer at <\/span>Sawa<\/span><\/a>, a Palestinian NGO that advocates for women’s’ rights, spoke to the Palestine Monitor about the obstacles women face when trying to find work in the West Bank, especially those living in rural communities with limited access to the cities. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n “Even for women with a college degree, an employer will not offer any support or opportunity for them if they have children, they cannot afford childcare so they cannot leave the house,” Barghouthi stated.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n The PCBS also <\/span>reports<\/span><\/a> the percentage of poverty among individuals in households headed by women to be 54 per cent in Gaza and 19 per cent in the West Bank.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n While Israeli prisons do provide detainees with meals, the food is often unsubstantial and of poor quality, in violation of the 3rd Geneva <\/span>Convention<\/span><\/a> which “obligates Israel to provide Palestinian prisoners and detainees with sufficient food and general hygiene that are sufficient in quantity, quality and variety to preserve their health”. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Consequently, prisoners are forced to supplement the food with items available for purchase at the <\/span>‘canteen’<\/span><\/a>, sometimes double average prices of goods found in supermarkets across the West Bank.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “A prisoner needs around 700 shekels ($200) a month just for food, all provided by the families,” Amer stated. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Miriam Shaheen, a 46-year-old cook from Hebron spoke to Al-Jazeera about bearing the economic burden of her five sons, all who have spent time in an Israeli prison. Shaheen explained that each time one of her sons is imprisoned she was forced to spend a quarter of her month’s salary on food and other essential goods from the canteen for him.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n "We were paying around 400 shekels [around $113] a month," Shaheen told Al-Jazeera. "They have to pay when they‘re in jail and they pay a fine when they get out."<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Prisoners can also be <\/span>fined<\/span><\/a> before their sentencing if they refuse to be strip-searched, give a DNA sample, or wear the prison uniform.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In a military court, prisoners can be <\/span>fined<\/span><\/a> up to 5,000 shekels (about $1,422), if they cannot afford it they must serve a longer sentence.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n An Addameer <\/span>report<\/span><\/a> labels the Israeli prison system as a ‘cycle of dependency’ where fines are collected regularly from an individual prisoners canteen accounts as a form of retaliatory punishment.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Detainees are also forced to pay for their own medical care and medication while in custody. Addameer <\/span>reported<\/span><\/a> cases in which prisoners had to purchase their own hearing aids, prescription glasses, and fund surgeries. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Yasmina, a 21-year-old architecture student at An-Najah University in Nablus whose brother who was imprisoned in 2015 spoke to Palestine Monitor about the lack of aid available to families with detained relatives. <\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n “We didn‘t have any financial support from any organisation, the Red Cross only afforded us free transportation to the prison every month when we visited my brother we would pay him the amount of money we could afford him for food and drinks, usually between 200 to 400 shekels. We also had to hire a lawyer from Nazareth for 15,000 shekels,” Yasmina said.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n