Palestine Political Prisoners

(1) Resources (oldest first):
(2) Articles: below (latest first)

Abeer BAKER & Anat MATAR (edd.), "Threat. Palestinian Political Prisoners in Israel. " Pluto Press, 2011, 261pp., ISBN 978-0-7453-3020-4.

"This book provides an imperative illustration of how the Israeli Occupation has imprisoned the political voices of the Palestinian people. Featuring a spectrum of authors with a range of expertise, this volume offers readers a refreshing insight into and documentation of Israel's revocation of Palestinians' right to justice. For many years, the judicial process has been turned against Palestinians, and this comprehensive analysis is essential to understand how Israel has achieved that, and how to overcome this injustice." (Mustafa Barghouti).

Smadar BEN-NATAN, « The One Carceral State: Mass Incarceration and Carceral Citizenship in Israel/Palestine. » (Social Science Research Network - SSRN, 11p., 3 Jan 2023 ): click here. Abstract ─ Paper (pdf).

The discussion about the one state condition in Israel/Palestine can greatly benefit by looking at Israel's carceral state. This paper shows that underneath the formal separation of Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT), lies one carceral state. Following the 1967 occupation, Israel initially designed the legal and carceral systems of the OPT as separate, in accordance with international law, and created a military prison system in the OPT. However, this situation has changed dramatically after the failure of the Oslo Accords and the Second Intifada in 2000.

DETAINEES' INSTITUTIONS: “The occupation authorities arrested 7000 Palestinians in 2022” (4 January 2023) : click here.

The Commission of Detainees' Affairs, The Palestinian Society Prisoner's Club, Addameer Association for Human Rights, and Wadi Hilweh Information Center pointed out, in the joint annual report, that 2022 was the bloodiest year full of crimes and violations. The report showed that there are a lot of changes across arrest campaigns implemented by the Israeli forces, which were basically connected to the escalation of struggle against the occupation. The Israeli occupation forces arrested (7000) Palestinian people, including Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, where this was the highest rate of arrests in comparison with last year, especially in the West Bank. Last year, arrest cases in the West Bank and Jerusalem were (6000) cases, including (2000) arrests in the lands occupied in 1984. (882) minors have been detained in 2022, in addition to (172) women and (2409) administrative detention orders. There are (40) injured persons who got arrested in 2022, including children.

ADDAMEER Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association: « The Impact of Israel's New Ultranationalist Government on the Palestinian Prisoners' Movement » (January 31, 2023, pdf, 5p.) : click here.

This news report covers the impact of the occupying power’s new government on the Palestinian Prisoners Movement from December 2022 to January 2023. In the short time that Netanyahu’s coalition has taken power, a number of key developments have occurred that demonstrate the Israeli occupation authorities’ extremist stance towards Palestinian political prisoners incarcerated and held captive by the State of Israel.

« IMPRISONING PALESTINE. » Zionist colonialism through an abolitionist lens, by RAWAN MASRI & FATHI NEMER (SCALAWAG, June 19, 2023) : click here.

The mechanisms of dehumanization have long been debated in the fields of psychology, sociology, and genocide studies. It is a phenomenon we inevitably encounter in our daily lives, insidiously molding how we are seen, how we are treated, and how much we are worth. The struggle to assert our humanity, to demand a life free of injustice and want is onerous and, for most, never achieved. In this way, for many in the world, suffering is systemically ordained.

« Administrative Detention of children at 15 year high (Military Court, June 30, 2023) : click here.

" I had five military court hearings in all. At the fifth one I was handed an administrative detention order for four months based on secret evidence. I was devastated because it meant I could not defend myself because I was not told what I was accused of. A day before I completed my administrative detention and was ready to go home I was handed another administrative detention order for another four months. My spirit was crushed. Then again, 10 days before I completed my second four-months in administrative detention I was handed another four-month extension. It was unbearable."

UN OHCHR: «Dismantle Israel’s carceral regime and “open-air” imprisonment of Palestinians: UN expert » (OHCHR, July 10, 2023) : click here.

GENEVA (10 July 2023) – Israel’s military occupation has morphed the entire occupied Palestinian territory into an open-air prison, where Palestinians are constantly confined, surveilled and disciplined,” a UN expert said today. “Over 56 years, Israel has governed the occupied Palestinian territory through stifling criminalisation of basic rights and mass incarcerations,” said Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, in a new report to the Human Rights Council. “Under Israeli occupation, generations of Palestinians have endured widespread and systematic arbitrary deprivation of liberty, often for the simplest acts of life and the exercise of fundamental human rights,” Albanese said.

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Articles (latest first):

Haaretz Edit.: « Israel Must Stop Abusing and Humiliating Palestinian Prisoners » (Haaretz, Jan 3, 2024): click here.

The accumulating evidence of the harsh treatment meted out to Gazans held at the Sde Teiman military detention center, as well as to Palestinian prisoners and detainees accused of security offenses who are held at the Gilboa and Megiddo prisons, requires immediate attention.

ADDAMEER: « The occupation forces arrest human rights activist Khalida Jarrar as part of their policy of pursuing and persecuting former prisoners » (Addameer, Dec 27, 2023): click here.

Ramallah – Addameer: The occupation forces arrested the human rights activist and former member of the legislative council Khalida Jarrar from her home in the city of Ramallah on Tuesday, December 26th, after raiding and searching it. Jarrar is a former prisoner and a human rights activist who works as a researcher at the Muwatin Institute at Birzeit University. She has been arrested several times and was released from her last detention in September 2021, after spending two years in occupation prisons.

« What Israelis won’t be asking about the Palestinians released for hostages » (JVL, Nov 26, 2023, orig. AlJazeera, Nov 24): click here.

JVL Introduction: Al Jazeera has published this very helpful explainer on the Palestinian prisoners who are being exchanged and on Palestinian prisoners in general. Were you aware that over 3,000 Palestinians have been arrested on the West Bank since October 7? Or that common offences for being gaoled are “threatening security” and “throwing stones”. Or that trials, when they are held (at present over a quarter of prisoners are held without charge or trial) are under Israeli military law. Al Jazeera’s up-to-the minute article is complemented by B’Tselem’s background information post, also reproduced below. It is clear that very many prisoners are in effect hostages under another name.

Orly NOY: « What Israelis won’t be asking about the Palestinians released for hostages » (+972, Nov 23, 2023): click here.

The list of Palestinians slated to be exchanged for Israelis should provoke reflection over the role of mass imprisonment in the occupation... Most of all, the list is a dizzying testament to just how central detention and imprisonment are to Israel’s occupation and control over Palestinians. According to data from the Israeli human rights group HaMoked, as of November 2023, Israel holds 6,809 “security prisoners.” Of these, 2,313 are serving a prison sentence; 2,321 have not yet been convicted in court; 2,070 are being held under administrative detention (indefinitely imprisoned without trial or due process); and 105 are “illegal combatants” who were arrested during Hamas’ October 7 attacks in southern Israel.

Layth HANBALI: « Locked in Despair: Palestinian Hostages in Israeli Prisons » (Tribune, Nov 6, 2023): click here.

Last month, Israel arrested over 2,000 Palestinians, subjecting them to degrading treatment that amounts to torture. The failure of our governments to demand the release of these hostages exposes their rank hypocrisy.

Fayha SHALASH: « Israel-Palestine war rages, Israeli authorities direct their anger at Palestinian prisoners » (Middle East Eye, Oct 24, 2023): click here.

New punitive measures include daily beatings, daily raids, limiting food and access to medical clinics, cancellation of family visits.

Tamara NASSAR: « Israel cuts off water and electricity to Palestinian prisoners » (EI, 22 Oct, 2023): click here.

The prison authorities also shut down clinics inside prisons and are preventing prisoners from accessing medical care at hospitals and clinics outside, despite how detainees with cancer require continuous treatment. The Israeli authorities barred visits from family members and are restricting prisoners from meeting their lawyers. The Israeli prison authorities have “violently mistreated prisoners” – by damaging or confiscating their personal belongings, including clothing and food..

ADDAMEER submits urgent appeal to UN special procedures on the continued arbitrary administrative detention of Kayed Al Fasfous: click here. Pdf, 2p., click here. :
On 3 October 2023, Addameer submitted an urgent appeal on the arbitrary administrative detention of Kayed AlFasfous to the UN Special Procedures. On 3 October 2023, Palestinian detainee Kayed AlFasfous entered (63) days on hunger strike to protest his continued administrative detention by the Israeli occupation regime.
Tamara NASSAR: « Ben-Gvir seeks to tighten noose around prisoners » (EI, Sept 14, 2023): click here.
Israel’s interior minister Itamar Ben-Gvir is pushing forward new policies against Palestinian political prisoners – whom Israel calls “security” prisoners. These policies only serve as punitive measures to tighten the noose around prisoners’ necks.
Josh BREINER & Jack KHOURY: « Ben-Gvir Imposes Restrictions on Family Visits of Palestinian Prisoners, Ignores Israeli Security Orgs' Alarm » (Haaretz, Sept 1, 2023): click here.
Israel's security establishment warned that this change could lead to prisoner unrest and potential rocket attacks from Gaza, along with an increase in terror incidents. Prisoners are expected to threaten a hunger strike if the measure persist.
« 14 Palestinian prisoners now on hunger strike to confront administrative detention as movement grows in occupation jails » (Samidoun, August 13, 2023): click here.
As the struggle continues inside occupation prisons for justice and liberation, there are currently 14 Palestinian prisoners engaged in an open hunger strike to demand freedom from administrative detention, imprisonment without charge or trial. There are over 1100 Palestinians jailed without charge or trial under such orders, over one-fifth of all Palestinian prisoners (approximately 5,000) including 19 children and three women, and over 2000 administrative detention orders have already been issued in the past year. The escalation of Israeli arbitrary detention to its highest point in 20 years is accompanied by ongoing raids and assaults on Palestinian prisoners, including the use of isolation and solitary confinement as a further form of torture and abuse against imprisoned Palestinians.
Fayha SHALASH: « Heatwave in Israeli jail: An 'unbearable' life for Palestinian prisoners » (Middle East Eye, Aug 13, 2023): click here.
As temperatures soar, detainees live in ‘oven-like’ prison cells with no available means to cool off.
Rajaa SALAH: «“Prisoners are alive but without life” » (The Electronic Intifada, 19 July, 2023): click here.
Yusri Atiya al-Masri will never forget the day he was transported from Nafha prison in southern Israel to Soroka hospital in Bir al-Saba. The transport vehicle had metal seats, and Israeli prison guards sat on either side of him. He was in restraints, and the pain was so excruciating that he was uncertain if he would survive the trip.
Mariam BARGHOUTI: « Walid Daqqah: the story of a nation » (Mondoweiss, June 9, 2023): click here.
Walid Daqqah broke free during his nearly four-decade imprisonment through his writings, his resistance, and the birth of his daughter, Milad. His lifetime of refusing the prison's walls has brought us all closer to freedom.
Michal FRUCHTMAN: « Who Will Protect the Thousands of Palestinian Children Israel Detains? » (Haaretz, May 28, 2023): click here.
From nighttime detentions without a court order, to blindfolding and beatings: the silence of Israeli mental health therapists in the face of severe harm to Palestinian children is particularly alarming.
« Despite Critical Health Condition, Israel Returns Cancer-Stricken Palestinian Writer to Prison » (The Palestine Chronicle, May 26, 2023): click here.
Israeli authorities transferred cancer-stricken Palestinian prisoner Walid Daqqa out of intensive care, at the Israeli Asaf Harofeh hospital, and back to the Ramleh prison clinic on Thursday, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club confirmed. Daqqa, 61, is a renowned writer and father of a three-year-old daughter. He was diagnosed with bone-marrow cancer last December.
Maram HUMAID: « What is Palestinian Prisoners’ Day? » (AlJazeera, April 17, 2023): click here.
Marked every year on April 17, the event is dedicated to the centrality of prisoners to the Palestinian cause.
Mahmoud MUSHTAHA: « ‘Muting My Pain’: Israel’s ‘Psychological Warfare’ against Palestinian Prisoners’ Families » (The Palestine Chronicle, April 17, 2023): click here.
For the past six years, 60-year-old Hasna Zourob has been fighting a battle on two fronts. One against cancer, and the other against the Israeli occupation that has deprived her of seeing her son. Hasna’s son, Assad Zourob, was only 21 years old when he was arrested by Israeli forces in 2002. He was sentenced to life imprisonment as a result of being accused of belonging to the Palestinian resistance. The detainee, who is now 42 years old, has spent half of his life behind bars and continues to be imprisoned today. The emotional toll on his mother is great. Due to the psychological hardship of being unable to see her son, her fragile health has been further weakened after she was diagnosed with cancer.
Maram HUMAID: « What is Palestinian Prisoners’ Day? » (AlJazeera, April 17, 2023): click here.
Marked every year on April 17, the event is dedicated to the centrality of prisoners to the Palestinian cause.
« ICHR holds Israeli authorities responsible for the life of political prisoner Khader Adnan » (Independent Commission for Human Rights, April 13, 2023): click here.
The Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) expresses its deep concern over the life of political prisoner Khader Adnan, who has been on hunger strike for 68 days in a row. The ICHR holds the Israeli government responsible for the lives of both Adnan and all other Palestinian political prisoners held in inhumane conditions. The ICHR further demands the immediate release of Adnan, who is incarcerated under administrative detention (arrest without charge or trial).
Haaretz Editorial: « Israel Detains 967 Arabs With No Trial. This Must Stop » (Haaretz, April 2, 2023): click here.
Detention without charges or trial is an instrument used only by dictatorships. The latest figures prove unequivocally: The tool that is supposed to be reserved for only the most exceptional cases has become a modus operandi of Israeli rule in the territories. The administrative detainees must be either prosecuted or released.
Hagar SHEZAF: « Number of Palestinians Under Detention Without Trial Has Doubled in Israeli Prisons” (Haaretz, March 27, 2023, Ref: 13/2023): click here.
As of March 1st, Israeli prisons hold 971 administrative detainees, the highest number of prisoners without trial in 20 years, data from the Israel Prison Service provided to the Center for the Defense of the Individual (Hamoked). The figures show all but four of the detainees are West Bank Palestinians, East Jerusalem residents or Israeli Arabs. The other four are Israeli Jews.
Elis GJEVORY: « Israel introduces bill to limit medical treatment for Palestinian prisoners » (Middle East Eye, March 24, 2023): click here.
Israel's parliament on Thursday passed the first stage of a bill to stop funding non-essential medical treatment for Palestinians in Israeli prisons, in the latest series of punitive measures taken against detainees. The authors of the bill, which was supported by 42 Knesset members, described Israel's existing prison policy as "unreasonably lenient" towards security prisoners... The bill was introduced by the Jewish Power, the party of far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and the opposition National Unity Party.
AL MEZAN: « Palestinian prisoner Ahmed Abu Ali dies because of Israel’s deliberate policy of medical negligence” ( Al Mezan Human Rights Center, press release 13 Februari, 2023, Ref: 13/2023): click here.
10 February 2022, Palestinian prisoner Ahmed Badr Abdullah Abu Ali, a 48-year-old from Yatta (Hebron), was pronounced dead at Soroka Hospital (Beersheba) following the deterioration of his health while in detention at Al-Naqab Prison.
« Palestine: Women prisoners assaulted by Israeli jail authorities » (Middle East Eye, January 31, 2023): click here.
Detainees monitoring group warns punitive measures 'will have consequences in all Israeli jails.' Israeli jail authorities assaulted Palestinian women prisoners on Tuesday morning amid a push to enforce strict new measures against Palestinian inmates introduced by Israel's far-right Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir. The Palestinian Prisoners' Society said in a statement that Israeli forces beat women prisoners in Damon jail, fired tear gas at them and used pepper spray. The Palestinian Authority's prisoners' affairs commission said the Israel Prison Service (IPS) also confiscated electronic devices and some personal items from the prisoners in what it called "collective punishment". In response, the prisoners set some cells ablaze. The IPS said Yasmeen Shaaban, the representative of the Palestinian women prisoners who was among those assaulted, was put in solitary confinement for attempting to set her cell on fire.

ADDAMEER: « The Impact of Israel’s New Ultranationalist Government on the Palestinian Prisoners’ Movement » (Addameer, Prisoner Support & Human Rights Association, January 31, 2023): click here. For the report (pdf, 5p.): click here.

By the end of 2022, the Israeli occupation forces arrested in total around 7,000 Palestinians across the occupied Palestinian territories, with April 2022 recording the highest number of arrests reaching 1,228 cases, followed by May and October 2022, with 690 cases.

HAMOKED: « On Flimsey Grounds: Israel's Pervasive Night Arrests of Children » (HAMOKED - Center for the Defense of Individuals, January 2023 (11p.): click here.

Each year, hundreds of Palestinian boys ages 13-17 are arrested from their homes in the middle of the night by the Israeli security forces. Such arrests begin when a large group of soldiers arrives at the home without warning. Sometimes they pound on the door to wake the family, but often, they burst in after blowing open the door.

Baker ZOUBI: “Ben Gvir turns up the heat on Palestinian prisoners” (+972, Jan 24, 2023): click here!

Faylah SHAHASH: "Dying in the ‘Waiting Prison’: Why Palestinian Prisoners Die in Israeli Detention at High Rate" (The Palestine Chronicle, Jan 6, 2023): click here!

From restricting visitations to demanding the death penalty, the national security minister has begun rolling out his harsher vision for Israeli prisons.

Zvi BAR'EL: "The Puppet Theater of Detentions" (Haaretz, Aug 24, 2022): click here!

There is no procedure that does more harm to human rights. Administrative detention is a practice that denies the right of a person to try and prove that they are innocent and to consult with a lawyer, in which the detainee must guess how long the detention will last, since it can be renewed over and over). In practice, there is no possibility to appeal, as the High Court of Justice consistently deny such appeals.

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