For a long time, I didn’t know the precise reason for my imprisonment since all the proceedings were in Hebrew, but I supposed it at least had to do with the water pipe and phthalates. During my early time in the Cube, Arabic newspaper clippings were slipped through the door, maybe to demoralize me. There they were, long-forgotten photos of my nineteen-year-old self, dancing in the midst of hungry men, one of whom was showering me with money. Their faces were obscured, but not by the newspaper. Um Buraq had done that many years ago when I forced her to hand over the photos to Abu Moathe. I don’t know how Israeli intelligence managed to get them, but I suppose they simply followed rumors right to Abu Moathe’s door. And maybe Abu Moathe saw an opportunity to finally get revenge on me for cleaning out his bank account all those years ago.

I stared at those pictures, not even noticing the headline initially. I thought how hurt my family would be. How ashamed. The thought made me glad to be locked up, even though I ached to see them.

Then I noticed the headline: “Heroic or Heinous?” It seemed the media had reported on my trial, and some were inspired by the spectacle I had created of the proceedings. Israel had not been able to censor the footage that showed their court humiliated and their authority diminished by a Palestinian woman in shackles. I hadn’t known any of this until I read the article. And it was in that same report that I learned for the first time that my crime had been “terrorism.” Of course, I already knew that and understood the specifics from the interrogation, but this was the confirmation. It said I aided Bilal in planning multiple terrorist attacks, one of which they referred to as “silent terrorism.” That’s what they called the water-pipe setup.

Israel tried to conceal many of the details, lest others get ideas.

Bilal’s legend grew among Palestinians, especially as he remained at large. Israel concluded publicly that he was most likely dead, and that it was a good thing because he was a “rising Hitler.” They said Saddam was Hitler too. Any leader they don’t like is a Hitler.

If Israel knew the extent of what we did with the pipe, they didn’t let on publicly, because the media downplayed the effect of our sabotage at the same time that they hyped the crime. A reporter was allowed to show me an article during an interview in the Cube. It said,

Although the terrorists succeeded in breaching the water pipe, the cause of illness among our brave settlers was the misuse of pesticides. The original investigation into this matter still stands.