1

The Resistance of Palestinian Women and Girls Behind Israeli Bars

Elliot Hodges
Department of Women’s Studies, Langara College
WMST 1195: Women of the Global South
Itrath Syed
February 20, 2024

2
The release of two hundred and forty Palestinian children and women detainees and
political prisoners in a hostage exchange, between the occupying state of Israel and Palestinian
militant armed resistance groups, between the 24th and 30th of November 2023 constituted an
important victory that came at an unimaginably horrific cost. The return of prisoners, detainees
and hostages to their families and communities, accompanied by a six-day truce, was a small
reprieve for many amid the ongoing genocide being committed against the Palestinian people by
Israel. Far from being a recent development, mass incarnation, administrative detention, solitary
confinement and torture, all rooted in the legal and moral logic of Israeli apartheid and
occupation, have been leveraged as tools of suppression and oppression against the Palestinian
people and their struggle for liberation since the early days of Israel’s inception as a settlercolonial occupying state. While the conditions of the Palestinians in Israeli prisons are ever
worsening, this essay is not primarily concerned with their plight but instead their resistance,
particularly that of women and girls, to their oppression. Palestinian women and girl political
prisoners and detainees’ identity and existence, their pride and steadfastness, their unique
positionality as women and their collective care, are all forms of resistance that have always and
continue to challenge the very foundations which uphold the genocidal settler-colonial apartheid
state of Israel.
The first point of resistance that deeply threatens the genocidal settler-colonial apartheid
state of Israel is the mere existence of Palestinian women and girl prisoners who celebrate their
cultural and national identity, remaining “Sumood, or steadfast” in their homelands (Arat et al.,
2004, p. 517). This was exemplified during the November hostage exchange when the Israeli
government prohibited “expressions of joy” (Rmeleh & Ibrahim, 2023) upon the reunification of
imprisoned and detained Palestinian women and children with their families and communities.

3
Of course, this order, accompanied bythe threat of violence and arrest by the IDF and police, did
not successfully stamp out the joyous celebration of loved ones reunited in most areas of the
West Bank and East Jerusalem. These expressions of exaltation and joy were in of themselves
direct resistance to the occupation and were shamefully met with extreme repression. Similarly,
steadfastness is embedded in aspects of Palestinian women and girls’ resistance to the
imprisonment of the occupation both in and outside of literal prisons. Elia (2017) characterizes
the resistance of Palestinian women as “a resistance that consists of an Indigenous woman’s
defiant persistence, a rooted resistance that stems from knowing every blade [of] grass” (p. 52).
This pride in an identity that comes from the land, shakes the very foundation of Zionist nationbuilding that seeks to completely dispossess Palestinians of their land and culture, proclaiming
that Palestinians had no claim to it in the first place.
Another form of resistance that is evident in the testimonies of Palestinian women and
girls released from Israeli imprisonment during the hostage exchange, is the resistance to the
dehumanization and demoralization of imprisonment by way of love, care and solidarity for their
fellow political prisoners and detainees. Far from being individualized and isolated subjects
under the brutality of Israeli imprisonment, Palestinian women and girls understand themselves
to be resisting collectively, which requires collective care and love. From the most vital necessity
of caring for the wounds of fellow prisoners who have been brutally injured during arrest in the
face of routine medical neglect from prison staff; to organizing and collectively bargaining for
improved conditions with the full commitment of all prisoners; to simply being a source of
companionship and comfort for their fellow inmates, Palestinian women and girls in Israeli
prisons consistently rely on each other. Whether it is a mother separated from her children
finding solace in the presence of younger prisoners her own child's age (Rmeleh, 2023) or

4
children stolen from their families seeking comfort in the presence of older prisoners. The bonds
of friendship, sisterhood, and solidarity between equals formed in Israeli prisons allow them to
resist the cruelty and demoralization they face. The strength of this resistance is again
corroborated by the actions of the Israeli regime which has, in recent months, intensified its
efforts to suppress it through the increased employment of torture, deprivation, solitary
confinement and sexual assault.
While every Palestinian political prisoner or detainee, no matter their gender or age, can
exemplify pride, steadfastness and collective care in resistance to the state of Israel, women's and
girls’ resistance is unique precisely because of their gender positionality. The gendered dynamics
of imprisoned Palestinian women’s resistance function in dual contrasting ways. Firstly as
women, they are understood socially and culturally to warrant a heightened level of protection
and respect akin to the protected status of other potentially vulnerable groups like children,
elders and disabled people. This makes the brutality of Israeli imprisonment and detention all the
more morally abhorrent when it is enacted upon women, thus making Palestinian women
prisoners a strong symbol of the horrors of Israeli occupation in the eyes of many in and outside
of Palestinian society. This gendered construction and the powerful symbolic value it holds
contextualizes the prioritization of the release of Palestinian women alongside children in the
November hostage exchange. In contrast to this, the threat that the resistance of imprisoned
women and girls pose to the Israeli apartheid state often has less to do with their symbolic value
as women victimized by Israel and more to do with their position as women who are “active
agents of resistance” (Sharoni & Abdulhadi et al., 2015, p. 659). Palestinian women and girls
who participate in forms of resistance varying from sharing social media posts, defending loved
ones from arrest and brutalization, politically advocating for respecting international law, being

5
part of the armed struggle and all other manifestations of resistance are all subject to targeted
arrests and imprisonment by the Israeli state. This reality makes clear that imprisoned Palestinian
women and girls aren’t just part of the rationalization of Palestinian resistance but are in fact key
resisters working toward liberation. It is evident that the resistance of imprisoned and detained
Palestinian women and girls is both incredibly symbolically and practically powerful as it
presents a great threat to the continued existence of Israel as a genocidal apartheid settlercolonial state.
This exploration of the resistance of Palestinian women and girls in Israeli prisons, which
has been highlighted internationally during the November hostage exchange, barely scratches the
surface of the myriad forms of struggle that imprisoned and formerly incarcerated Palestinians
participate in. Relatedly, the focus on women and girls in this essay is not an attempt to
essentialize their experiences or paint a picture of a more worthy or deserving victim of the
genocidal apartheid settler-colonial state of Israel. This essay simply strives to highlight the
agency, resilience, and resistance of Palestinian women and girls that the Israeli state desperately
seeks to suppress and silence. In paying attention to the calls to action and leadership of the most
suppressed and oppressed a path to ultimate liberation can be forged, it is undeniable that
Palestinian women and girls who have been political prisoners or detainees are some of these
vital voices that must be heard. Liberation within our lifetime. Free Palestine.

Word Count: 1197

6
References
Arat, Zehra F. Kabasakal, Naomi Chazan, Maha Abu-Dayyeh Shamas, and Rima Nasir
Taraz. 2004. "Women for Ending Israeli Occupation in Palestine and for Building Peace."
International Feminist Journal of Politics 6 (3): 515-523.
Elia, Nada. 2017. “Justice Is Indivisible: Palestine as a Feminist Issue.” Decolonization:
Indigeneity, Education & Society 6 (1): 45–63.
Rmeleh, F. A. & Ibrahim, A. (2023, November 23). Family celebrates return of freed
Palestinian prisoner Marah Bakeer. Al Jazeera.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/25/family-celebrates-return-of-free-palestinianprisoner-marah-bakeer
Rmeleh, F. A. (2023, December 13). Badly burned but free, Israa Jaabis on her release
from Israeli prison. Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2023/12/13/badlyburned-but-free-israa-jaabis-on-her-release-from-israeli-prison
Sharoni, Simona, Rabab Abdulhadi, Nadje Al-Ali, Felicia Eaves, Ronit Lentin, and Dina
Siddiqi. 2015. "Transnational Feminist Solidarity in Times of Crisis." International
Feminist Journal of Politics 17 (4): 654-670.