Yesterday, Tuesday, 7 April, marked the second anniversary of the death of prisoner Walid Daqqa (Abu Milad), who died in Israeli prisons after 38 years of detention and intellectual and political struggle.
This anniversary comes as Israeli authorities continue to withhold the body of Daqqa in "numbered graves" or mortuary freezers, refusing to hand it over to his family in the city of Baqa al-Gharbiyyeh for burial with dignity.
Human rights organisations described this as a "compound crime", added to the crime of deliberate medical negligence that led to his death in 2024. "Forging consciousness" across time Despite his physical absence, national forces and cultural institutions said that Walid Daqqa's intellectual legacy continues to lead the cultural and struggle landscape.
From his well-known study " Forging Consciousness" to his young adult novel " The Secret of the Oil" , his works have become key references for understanding the conflict of wills inside and outside prisons.
Dar al-Adab recently published the book " The Ticket Seller " by Walid Daqqa in Beirut. He is one of the most prominent thinkers and creators of the Palestinian prisoners’ movement.
Walid Daqqa was arrested in 1986 for his activism within the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and was sentenced to life imprisonment .
He died on 7 April 2024, and his body remains held in Israeli mortuary freezers.
In 1999, he married activist Sana Salameh, and they had their daughter Milad through smuggled sperm in 2020.
Among his most notable works are " Diaries of Resistance in Jenin Camp ", " Forging Consciousness or Redefining Torture ", and " The Tale of the Secret of the Sword ".
Palestinian cities and Arab and European capitals have held events and seminars reviewing his literary trajectory, which made him "an ambassador of truth from behind bars". Daqqa family: hope is stronger The Daqqa family said the legal and popular struggle to retrieve his body will continue.
“Walid is free in his thought and spirit. They fear his body, and this proves the weakness of their system in the face of the will for liberation,” the family said.
The Palestinian Prisoners Club said in a statement that Daqqa’s death was an “alarm bell” that went unheard, noting that hundreds of sick prisoners face the same fate under ongoing punitive policies.
The club called on the international community to urgently intervene to release the bodies of prisoner martyrs held as political hostages.
Walid Daqqa, born in 1961, was a leading figure in the prisoners’ movement. Despite suffering from a rare cancer, Israeli authorities rejected all petitions for his release on humanitarian grounds. He died, leaving a legacy of struggle and thought that will continue to inspire future generations. Excerpts from his writing: In response to the papers of the secret file before you, I say, Arab women, Your Honour, give birth, just like your women, to children. There is not a single scientific proof that an Arab woman has given birth to an explosive device. So why all these secret files? Why are representatives of the General Security Service summoned instead of an obstetrician or a midwife? Why did you not summon an explosives expert? I know what your court will decide. That is why I allow myself to pre-empt matters and present such an argument, which no rational person but me would present , because, in the logic of your law, it provokes the court. But when your judiciary allows itself to provoke a being not yet born, then what it issues no longer concerns me because it is unethical …Milad may compose a melody not yet written, become an astronomer, perhaps discover a cure for cancer, or perhaps achieve what our generations have failed to – a solution to the conflict, bringing real peace and security instead of your illusory security.
Therefore, Your Honour, your negative decision will prevent a life, while I create one. Between one who creates life and one who prevents it lies an ethical distance, even if the former is a prisoner and the latter a judge.” Article translated from Arabic by Afrah Almatwari. To read the original, click here .