Unprecedented prisons and routine torture: Palestinians are not seen as human beings
Prisons have long been a place of human suffering. In prisons, governments and regimes have routinely used violence to break the human spirit. From the Soviet gulags to the horrors of Abu Ghraib, the pages of history are littered with examples of state-sponsored torture. But what is happening in Israeli prisons today may be worthy of being inscribed in the darkest pages of history. For Palestinians, imprisonment is not just a matter of detention – it is the deliberate and systematic destruction of their bodies and minds.
1. No Palestinian is free from torture
Unlike most brutal prison systems, where torture is reserved for political opponents or criminals, Israeli prisons do not discriminate in their brutality. Palestinians – regardless of age, gender, or political affiliation – are subjected to severe physical and psychological abuse simply for being Palestinian. Children, the elderly, and those with no political affiliation are subjected to the same brutal treatment as combatants.
2. Torture is state policy, no exceptions
Torture in Israel is not the work of a few soldiers or a random event – it is a systematic, state-sponsored policy. Interrogators and prison staff are formally trained in the methods of inflicting physical and psychological torture. The Israeli legal system grants complete immunity to those who commit these crimes, and treats torture as a “security necessity” rather than a war crime. The deliberate, state-sanctioned use of torture provides no accountability, consequences, or justice for victims.
3. Long-term mental and physical injuries
Survivors of Israeli detention are left both physically and mentally scarred. Prisoners are subjected to severe beatings, electric shocks, waterboarding, forced stress, and sexual abuse. Many suffer from chronic physical injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and irreversible psychological trauma. Some prisoners return to their families so broken that they are unrecognizable and unable to function in society. Others die in custody, their bodies returned to their families with obvious signs of abuse.
4. The never-ending history of torture crimes
Torture in Israeli prisons is not linked to any specific conflict or war – it has been ongoing for decades. Palestinians have been subjected to systematic abuse in Israeli prisons since the occupation began in 1948. No circumstance has been able to stop this practice, which shows how deeply embedded it is in Israel's military and security institutions.
5. Global silence and impunity, despite overwhelming evidence
Human rights organizations such as the UN, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch have documented thousands of cases of torture in Israeli prisons. These reports include rape, beatings, prolonged solitary confinement, and medical neglect. Yet Israel is protected by the US and Western powers and faces no international accountability.
6. Torture was not limited to prisons.
Palestinians are not only tortured inside prisons – the torture begins from the moment prisoners are arrested. Israeli soldiers routinely beat, humiliate and humiliate those arrested during raids, at checkpoints and in transit. This abuse continues throughout their detention, as various state agencies – including the Israeli military, security forces and prison authorities – work together to enforce a brutal system of oppression.
Crime against humanity
The torture of Palestinians in Israeli prisons is not only atrocious, it is a war crime. It surpasses even the worst prison systems in history, because it targets an entire people operating within a framework of ethnic cleansing and apartheid. Despite overwhelming evidence, the world remains silent. But silence is complicity in a crime. The international community must hold Israel accountable and demand an end to these atrocities. Palestinians deserve justice, freedom, and dignity. It is time to end impunity.
Muhammad Dawood