PALESTINIAN journalism student Mays Abu Ghosh has spoken out about her interrogation in an Israeli detention centre where she was subjected to brutal torture and humiliation for 30 days.

Ms Abu Ghosh spoke to lawyers from the Palestinian Prisoners’ Affairs Commission last week and described her violent treatment at the hands of her interrogators.

The Bir Zeit University student has written about the treatment of Palestinian political prisoners and refugees and was seized by Israeli forces when they raided her family home on August 29.

She was blindfolded and handcuffed as soldiers dragged her to a military camp, from where she was transferred to the notorious Moskobiyeh interrogation centre in Jerusalem.

Lawyers explained: “She was strip-searched and then transferred to the interrogation cells. She recalled that her interrogations lasted for many hours at a time while she was shackled to a small chair inside a very cold cell.

“After six days, the ‘military interrogation’ began with her, which included the use of stress positions like the ‘banana’ and ‘squatting’ or the ‘false chair’ for long periods of time, in an attempt to coerce a false confession from her.”

Ms Abu Ghosh was also beaten and deprived of sleep. An interrogator smashed her head against the wall when she tried to escape from her cell.

She explained to the lawyers that the conditions were harsh, with no bed covers or pillow, the lights left on 24 hours a day. Sewage and human waste poured into her cell.

According to the Addameer Prisoner Support & Human Rights Association, hundreds of Palestinian university students are held in Israeli jails, including about 80 from Bir Zeit alone.

The Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network has called for international solidarity in support of Ms Abu Ghosh and Palestinian students jailed by Israel along with support for the boycott, divestment & sanctions (BDS) campaign.