Before they married in 2005, Khader Adnan sat Randa down and explained to her the perilous future that would lie ahead if she married him.

"He told me that his life was not normal, that he might be around for 15 days and then be gone again for a long time. But I always dreamt of marrying someone strong, someone who struggles in defence of his country," she said. "When I married him I knew I should expect anything. I am proud of him whether he is under the ground or above it."

Since his hunger strike began Randa has become the reluctant spokesperson of his cause, fielding telephone calls and interviews all day long.

"It is twenty-four hours," she says. "I have a duty to respond to the media because this is how we can support him. In the past he was in the media and I was always standing behind him. Now I am the spokesperson, which is very difficult for me. I don't have these kinds of skills."

SOURCES OF SUPPORT

Randa is also five months pregnant, and has guests coming in and out of the house constantly. During our interview we were interrupted by an older woman who has three sons currently in Israeli prisons. As a woman of experience, she has come to be with Randa in her time of need.

Her mother and father-in-law, from whom she says Khader got his strength, live in the same house and are a source of support. Adnan's father, Adnan Muhammad Musa, who dons traditional Palestinian attire, is friendly and welcoming. When he speaks about his son he becomes choked up with emotion.

"I told him [in the hospital] that he was successful delivering his message to the world and that he should come home," he says, but Khader Adnan admonished his father for trying to get his son to betray his principles.