السجون والمعتقلات الإسرائيلية وآثارها الاجتماعية على الأسرى الفلسطينيين وأهاليهم
Date
2020-12-21
Authors
زياد علي حسن القواسمه
Ziad Ali Hasan Alqawasmi
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Al-Quds University
Abstract
This research aimed to identify some of the social impacts of the Israeli prisons and
detention centres (detention centers are administered by the Israeli army while prisons are
administered by the prison authorities) on the Palestinian prisoners/detainees and their
families. It also explored the architecture of these prisons and detention centres, how they
manifest colonial knowledge of subjugation, and how these eventually impact the
Palestinian prisoners’/detainees’ relations with their families. The study also analyzed the
Palestinian prisoners’/detainees’ lives inside the Israeli prisons and detention centres, and
methods they developed to reduce the impact of imprisonment on themselves and their
family members.
The researcher utilized some of the ideas and concepts of Patrick Wolfe and Michel
Foucault regarding settler colonialism and the formation and function of prisons within
the colonial context. These were merged to inform about the Palestinian situation as
manifested in Israeli prisons and detention centers, and their social impact on the
Palestinian prisoners/detainees and their families. The research give an overview of the
emergence of a Palestinian prisoners’ society within the Israeli prisons and detention
centers (the Palestinian Detainees’ Movement) and identified the most important bodies
within that society as well its various social relations and the social groups. The study
covered the stages in which the prisoners/detainees developed methods to break the
forced isolation imposed upon them by cutting them off from their families and their
broader community. One of the main steps was the phenomenon of “distant
insemination” whereby a prisoner/detainee is able to have his sperm smuggled out to
reach his wife who in turn undergoes artificial insemination - this enables the couple to
have a family with children despite being apart. Other steps included smuggling cell
phones to the incarcerated, and acquiring education and academic degrees during
imprisonment and detention. The research refers to (Durkheim’s theory of) social
solidarity and the theory of perceptual disorders to understand how the Palestinian
Detainees’ Movement confronted the social effects of incarceration upon them and their
families.
The main research problem the research addressed was to analyze the negative impact of
the policies and practices of the Israeli prison/detention administrations on the Palestinian
prisoners/detainees and their families. The study adopted two analytical methods – the
quantitative and qualitative (described above); it also utilized historical analysis. The
quantitative aspect of the research entailed data collected through 143 questionnaires
distributed among incarcerated prisoners/detainees; this in addition to three interviews
that were conducted: one with a Palestinian prisoner in prison, and another two with
Palestinian officials involved in prisoners’ affairs. Furthermore, the researcher’s own
personal experience provided additional insight into the research given that he spent over
17 years in Israeli prisons and detention centers.
The most important outcomes of the research were: Israeli prisons and detention centers
constitute an important apparatus of Israeli settler-colonization to isolate Palestinians who
counter their policies to subjugate them while usurping their land. Insight is provided
about the architecture design and technical set-up of the Israeli prisons and detention
centers, in addition to their internal-systems and regulations over the prisoners/detainees
targeting their being, their consciousness, and their spirit – these impact the
prisoners/detainees and their families socially particularly as they are isolated from their
families and larger community.
The study also found that the prisoners/detainees inside the Israeli prisons and detention
centers succeeded in establishing their own society to address the social effects of
incarceration upon them and their families. Official and unofficial Palestinian institutions
have worked in solidarity with the prisoners and detainees to support them in confronting
the negative effects of their incarceration upon them and their families. The researcher
found that the Palestinian internal factional divisions negatively impacted the
effectiveness of countering the effects of incarceration and weakened the strength of the
prisoners' community inside the prisons and detention centers.
The main outcomes of the research were: Israeli prisons and detentions centers are an
important apparatus of Israeli colonization of Palestinian land. Furthermore, the
architecture of the prisons and detention centers as well as the systems and regulations
therein, constantly monitor the prisoners and detainees targeting their being, conscience
and spirit; these have significant impact on the prisoners/detainees and their families.
These effects increase as their isolation is increased from family and community. The
study also shows that the Palestinian prisoners/detainees inside the Israeli prisons and
detention centers were able to establish their own society, which has countered the effects
upon them and their families. Palestinian official and unofficial organizations have
helped the prisoners/detainees by defending their rights and by providing assistance to
their families. However, the research shows that the Palestinian division has impacted
negatively upon the prisoners/detainees and their achievements inside the prisons and
detention centers, weakening the prisoners’ society.
The main recommendations the researcher provides are: the need to develop Palestinian
policies that dismantle the settler-colonial thought and practices manifested in Israeli
prisons and detention centers, and to go beyond merely describing violations. The
researcher also emphasized the need to support the Palestinian Detainees’ Movement in
multiple ways as it represents the cornerstone for facing Israeli policies inside the prisons
and detention centers; it is also necessary to include Palestinian prisoners/detainees in the
Palestinian leadership. The researcher also recommended to support the
prisoners/detainees in their steps: to resist the effects of the Israeli prisons and detention
centers upon them and their families, to support the process of “distant insemination” as a
way to overcome social isolation, to develop academic education in the prisons and
detention centers, to make Israeli authorities install public telephones inside the prison
sections, and to support the Palestinian Detainees’ Movement in countering the Israeli
prison and detention authorizes. Furthermore, the researcher recommended to spare the
prisoners/detainees from the Palestinian factional political rivalry and division, and to
develop in unity an effective mechanism for prisoners’ release. A final recommendation
was to conduct further research and studies covering the various aspects of this topic as a
way of giving it the attention it deserves in the academic domain.