Marwan Bishara on meaning of the prison in Palestinian life, literally and metaphorically

Marwan Bishara on meaning of the prison in Palestinian life, literally and metaphorically

Friday, January 31, 2025
Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara highlights how Israeli prisons have served as both places of education and sites of immense suffering for Palestinians.

He emphasizes that while many detainees pursued higher education and even learned Hebrew through distance learning, they also endured torture, which profoundly affected their lives and their families.

Bishara suggests that these prisons are not just physical confinement spaces but part of a broader metaphorical prison that has encompassed Palestine for the past 75 years. Whether locked inside Gaza and the West Bank or locked out as refugees forbidden from returning home, Palestinians live in a state of perpetual confinement.

He underscores that, for all Palestinians—whether imprisoned or under occupation—their ultimate aspiration remains freedom.