Thursday, November 19, 2009

The Maximum Security Nafha Prison Outside Mitzpe Ramon

         
Interesting links:
Yigal Amir moved to Ramon Prison
Ahmed Saadat, who planned 2001 murder of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi, moved to Ramon Prison
Onsite wastewater recycling at Nafha Prison, Mitzpe Ramon

Five miles north of Mitzpe Ramon on Route 40 lies a curious sight. An isolated prison sitting in the middle of the Israeli desert.  It has always reminded me of some kind of Devils Island, a prison surrounded by a harsh no man's land. Escape is impossible, and if you do, there's no where to go, no where to hide. I've only whizzed past it on the highway, but further research shows it to be the maximum security Nafha Prison, housing some of Israel's most dangerous terrorist criminals.

Nafha Prison, 5 miles north of Mitzpe Ramon

There is a population of some 700 Palestinian terrorists housed here, including Ahmed Saadat, who masterminded the murder of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi in 2001, and the infamous Yigal Amir, who assassinated Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin. One curious piece of online information I found said half of the bus passengers from Be'er Sheva headed to Mitzpe Ramon are bound for the prison, visitors I suppose. (I find this statistic hard to believe.)

 An Internet Photo of Nafha Prison, outside Mitzpe Ramon


Another fascinating factoid about the prison: It reclaims 375,000 gallons of wastewater per day. Use that in your next trivia game!



Wastewater recycling at Nafha Prison, outside Mitzpe Ramon

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