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Abstract

This thesis examines the emergence of Israel’s modern-day prison regime along with its associated policies, tactics, and modes of control and violence. It traces the changes in the modes and ramifications of imprisonment following the signing of the Oslo Accords between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel, along with the fragmentation that has categorized Palestine’s geographic and political reality since. The research argues that the Israeli settler-colonial state restructured the modes of torture and violence practiced inside its jails not only to inflict more pain and isolation on prisoners, but more importantly, to reshape their movement and dissuade Palestinians from engaging in resistance practices. The thesis analyzes manifestations of torture and violence in military courts, interrogation centers, in the prisons’ canteen and through restrictions placed on family visitations. Through engaging with interviews conducted with former prisoners and their relatives, activists, lawyers, human rights organizations’ staff, and texts written by prisoners, this work argues that the Israeli carceral regime has not been successful in reshaping the prisoners’ movement. Rather, prisoners’ confrontation practices – including sperm smuggling, hunger strikes, and political and cultural productions – assert the political nature of imprisonment and allude to a rejection of defeat.

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