Palestinian prison break: Film shows resilience in the face of Israeli injustice


New documentary chronicles six escape attempts by Palestinian inmates from Israeli maximum-security prisons

A reenactment from the film Palestinian Prison Break shows a prisoner trying to dig a tunnel out of a facility

Ghada Abed writes in Middles East Eye:

Stories revolving around prison breaks, such as The Shawshank Redemption, The Great Escape and Escape From Alcatraz, have long intrigued audiences with their adrenaline-fuelled narratives and raw human emotions.

But few films have been able to capture Palestinian prisoners’ sheer audacity, spotlighting their ongoing yearning for freedoms that have been taken away.

Palestinian Prison Break, a new documentary by the visionary filmmaker Mohammad Sawwaf, follows six attempts to escape from maximum-security Israeli prisons between 1987 and 2004, taking us on a journey that delves deep into the meaning of freedom for Palestinian prisoners. It explores the psyches of the imprisoned and imprisoner alike.

The prisoner’s mind is like a whirlpool, turning and turning, trying to deal with one key dilemma: how to reclaim one’s stolen freedom. As freed Palestinian prisoner Imad al-Din al-Saftawi, who was held in Israeli occupation jails for 18 years, said in the film: “To be imprisoned is the worst thing that could happen in your life.”

The Israeli prison system has been using ever-more punitive measures to make its jails – which are located at remote, isolated sites – even more secure.  These include dogs trained to detect suspicious activity, surveillance equipment and watchtowers. Given such tough measures, one might think escape sounds far-fetched. But do such strict conditions deter or break prisoners’ wills? Unlikely.

Human spirit
At its heart, Palestinian Prison Break is a testament to the resilience of humans in their fight for freedom. The human spirit does not accept imprisonment. Likewise, Palestinian prisoners do not accept all the structural injustices that they endure.

The director weaves together personal stories, interviews, testimonials and reenactments to create an authentic portrayal of their escape attempts.

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