The phenomenon of smuggled sperms, and the huge controversy around it, has struck again in the Arab world and not only in Palestine this time. Highly increasing since 2013, the smuggling of sperms has become more common, with around 99 babies being born this way since 2012. At first, this process received a huge backlash, especially from a religious perspective. However, it is now widely seen as an achievement that has given hope to many.
Indeed, Israelis have banned prisoners from seeing their partners, especially when they are faced with life-long sentences. Hence, seeing the difficulty of the situation, numerous prisoners have started to adopt the sperm smuggling method. They try to smuggle sperm to their wives to conceive children through in vitro fertilization.
In the year 2020, eight detainees were successful in smuggling sperm, and their wives gave birth to nine children, some of which were twins. The women would deliver the sperm to the doctor in a variety of containers, including bottles, plastic cups, a plastic lamp, a bag of chips, or the wrapper of a chocolate bar smuggled out of jail.
According to Abdul Nasser Ferwana, director of the Census Department of the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees’ Affairs, these children are dubbed "ambassadors of freedom" by Palestinians because they serve as a conduit between Israeli detainees and their families.
A recent concern that has raised the issue again is the newly released movie Amira, selected by Jordan to compete in the 94th Academy Awards.
The movie tells the story of a girl, Amira, who is conceived through the smuggling of sperm from Israeli prisons. Her father then turns out to be an Israeli soldier. The storyline has thus provoked a significant part of the detainees’ families' community.
Indeed, the movie was described as being an “abuse and prejudice to a sacred cause,” and circulation of the film will have “serious repercussions on the issue of prisoners” according to the Palestinian Minister of Culture. Qadri Abu Bakr, head of the Palestinian Commission of Detainees Affairs also clarifies that “The process of smuggling sperm is carried out properly, and with the approval of the two families, the prisoner's family and his wife.” He also clarifies that DNA tests are always conducted for all cases.
Arab audiences also resorted to a social media campaign under the name “Withdraw Amira Film,” pressuring Jordanian authorities to remove the nomination of the movie and pushing the Egyptian government to stop its screening.
What we can conclude here is that the phenomenon of sperm smuggling has become more and more accepted by the Palestinian community, as it constitutes an important form of resistance against the Israeli regime that attempts to erase Palestinians in any way possible. This is a type of struggle which has been praised by the public as a continuing force against all odds that Palestinian inmates go through in Israeli jails.