We Are All Children of Nine Months

by tanya Habjouqa

We Are All Children of Nine Months

(Levantine Arabic proverb meant to remind us of our shared humanity and our fundamental equality at birth)

by Tanya Habjouqa

Video footage from the Razan Center for Infertility in Ramallah, West Bank (assisting in pregnancies from smuggled sperm of Palestinian prisoners) juxtaposed with audio from Maraseel, a weekly Palestinian radio show where wives, mothers, and children call into the radio program to express their feelings to incarcerated family members, hoping the prisoners have managed to smuggle a phone or radio to hear the messages.

How do you have kids when the potential fathers are locked away and conjugal visits are forbidden? Palestinians have developed a new solution, and it involves semen hidden in candy wrappers, lighters, and bags of cookies. Today, wives of 74 Palestinian prisoners have successfully conceived children and the practice has become widely accepted, though many are still hesitant to talk about it and are fearful of consequences from the Israeli authorities.