There are more than 10,000 Palestinian prisoners currently being held in Israeli jails. Amongst them are 750 administrative detainees who have never been charged or tried for any crime, as well as 350 children and 182 women in Israeli prisons. Israel was the only country in the world where torture was still lawful before it was made illegal by the Israeli high court in 1999. But since the start of the second intifada in 2000, it has been reported that torture is regularly practiced in Israeli detention centers. Crossing the Line host Christopher Brown speaks with advocate, author and law professor Lisa Hajjar about the issue of political prisoners.

Next, Brown speaks with ex-political prisoner Jabber Wishah from Gaza. Wishah, now the deputy director of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, spent almost 15 years imprisoned in Israel and talks about the treatment and torture he endured during that time.

As always, Crossing the Line begins with “This week in Palestine,” a service provided by The International Middle East Media Center. The program finishes with a segment called, “The Occupation’s Impact” which lists the names of people killed as a result of the occupation.

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Crossing the Line is a weekly podcast dedicated to giving voice to the voiceless in occupied Palestine. Through investigative news, arts, eyewitness accounts, and music, Crossing the Line does its best to present the lives of people on the ground.

Crossing the Line’s host, Christopher Brown, is an independent journalist currently living in San Francisco. Brown’s South African roots and desire for social change are the reason for his strong solidarity with the Palestinian people. In 1990 Brown was arrested in South Africa where he was detained and tortured for nearly two years by the South African secret police. Brown also lived and worked in the Old City of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.