GAZA, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Some Palestinian in Israeli jails and prisons have found a novel way to keep their names alive in the outside world.
Abbas al-Sayed, a 38-year-old engineer from the northern West Bank town of Tulkarm who heads the armed wing of the militant Hamas movement, is in an Israeli jail, but that didn't deter him from coming up with an idea that would preserve his right to have children during his detention.
Al-Sayed, who is chief of Hamas' al-Qassam Brigades, has been wanted by the Israeli army since 1989, a situation that led him to ensure -- out of fear of being detained for long periods -- that a sperm sample be retained at a local medical center.
After his arrest by the Israeli army last year, al-Sayed was accused of masterminding a number of attacks inside Israel, charges that could leave him imprisoned for life. He has not yet been sentenced, however.
Before his capture, al-Sayyed decided he wanted another child, in addition to his 6-year-old daughter and 3-year-old son, though his wife initially opposed the idea.
"At first, I was so shocked at hearing about ... (the) idea, and I couldn't believe that Abbas really intended to have another child this way; it was so hard for me to consider having a baby while my husband is in jail," Ikhlas, al-Sayyed's wife, said.
Soon, however, she began to warm to the idea.
"With time, I realized that what is much more difficult for all prisoners is that they are deprived of having a normal and decent life ... (and) their basic human and marital rights," she said.
Doubts about whether Islam permitted children to be conceived through artificial insemination were soon dispelled.
The process is seen as another way to resist the imprisonments, which the Palestinians want ended under the "road map" to peace that is now being implemented.
"As long as a man and a woman are married, they can have children naturally or artificially," said Hamed al-Bitawi, head of the Palestinian League of Islamic Studies.
Al-Bitawi, along with a number of his colleagues at the league, supports the idea of allowing prisoners sentenced for life to have children.
"They have the right to get married and have children like all humans," he said.
The head of the political prisoners' organization, Issa Qaraqea, concurs.
"I totally agree with this; prisoners have the right to have children, and we should also demand the Red Crescent and other humanitarian organizations press the Israeli jails administrations to allow prisoners to spend more time with their wives."
For Ikhlas, too, the idea seems natural.
"Abbas finally convinced me that it was the only way for us to have children," she said. "Many members of my family agreed with him, and they all tried to persuade me after making sure that such a process would be acceptable according to our religion."
Ikhlas, who is a kindergarten teacher in Tulkarm, has spoken about her experiences to her community and her colleagues. She hopes it will help childless prisoners and their wives to have children.
After two failed attempts, Ikhlas succeeded. She had her family's encouragement as well as that of other prisoners' families and prisoners' rights associations.
She is the not alone.
"Four Palestinian prisoners detained inside Israeli jails have sent to the center spermatozoid samples in order to go through the same process," said Dr. Salem Abul-Khayzaran, director of the Razan Gynecologic Center.
The trend may be the only way for many of the some 6,000 Palestinians in Israeli custody, 700 of who have are serving life sentences, to keep their memories alive in the outside world.
