Captive Revolution: Palestinian Women's Anti-Colonial Struggle within the Israeli Prison System

by Nahla Abdo

Women throughout the world have always played their part in struggles against colonialism, imperialism and other forms of oppression. However, there are few books on Arab political prisoners, fewer still on the Palestinians who have been detained in their thousands for their political activism and resistance.

Nahla Abdo's Captive Revolution seeks to break the silence on Palestinian women political detainees, providing a vital contribution to research on women, revolutions, national liberation and anti-colonial resistance. Based on stories of the women themselves, as well as her own experiences as a former political prisoner, Abdo draws on a wealth of oral history and primary research in order to analyse their anti-colonial struggle, their agency and their appalling treatment as political detainees.

Making crucial comparisons with the experiences of female political detainees in other conflicts, and emphasising the vital role Palestinian political culture and memorialisation of the 'Nakba' have had on their resilience and resistance, Captive Revolution is a rich and revealing addition to our knowledge of this little-studied phenomenon.

Genres: Nonfiction, Feminism, Politics, History, Gender, Middle East

264 pages, Paperback

First published August 20, 2014

About the author

Nahla Abdo (Ph.D.) is an Arab feminist activist, Professor of Sociology at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. She has extensive publications on women, racism, nationalism, and the State in the Middle East, with special focus on Palestinian women.

Reviews

[Jada Frances Duraee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot recommend this book enough, both for its incredibly important and impactful examination of how the colonial state weaponizes gendered violence against its oppressed and because of how Abdo confronts myths about the Palestinian struggle. Abdo uses really distinct ethnographic methods that challenge the conventional notion that ethnography involves “becoming native” or “studying difference.” Instead, Abdo is, too, positioned as a Palestinian ex-political detainee, alongside the women she studies, and she draws on this perspective to collaborate with and contextualize her interviewees’ experiences.

I love how this project is at once historical, theoretical, and practical. It opens up the possibilities of ethnography under a structure of colonial-genocidal violence that relies on silencing its colonized subjects. This book has made me reflect on my position in contemporary imperialist society and where my responsibilities lie as an artist, as a social scientist, and as an activist. It brings out a challenging analysis of the criminalization of anti-colonial struggle alongside pertinent critiques of orientalist feminisms as a part of new imperialist projects. All of this is done without losing sight of the personhood and the stories of the colonized women who are held captive and who carry out political resistance in captivity. Abdo’s beautiful prose and striking analysis are particularly urgent today.

[poetic interludes · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most important book I’ve read this year. Nahla Abdo, an ex-political detainee herself, offers a crucial and detailed critique of how Israeli prisons weaponize gendered violence against their Palestinian subjects. She does this through painful and emotional testimonies from ex-political detainees, as well as through extensive research. These testimonies were the toughest part of the book; the brutal sexual and gender-based violence these women had to endure made this book an emotional one to read. These testimonies mentioned rape, torture, refusal of hygiene products/menstrual care, collective punishment of family members, and more.

The ex-political detainees often mentioned how these abusive tactics were commonplace during their incarcerations, and how they were intended to abuse/torture them into submission. Nahla Abdo, alongside the ex-political detainees, details how the prison acted as a site of resistance. This included organized hunger strikes, labour strikes, studying revolutionary literature, etc. One of the ex-political detainees said she viewed the prison as an academy, a place where one dedicated themselves to studying and organizing.

This is an incredibly written book, with many excellent primary and secondary sources. Although published 10 years ago, Nahla Abdo’s analysis remains as pertinent as ever, and this book is critical to inform your understanding of gendered/sexual violence against Palestinian political detainees.

[Nicolas Lontel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Définitivement un ouvrage extrêmement pertinent sur de nombreux sujets: des conditions de détention pénales, des motivations et choix politiques des militantes palestiniennes, de la colonisation de la Palestine, des moyens de torture employés spécifiquement pour les femmes, des questions sociales et d'emploi qui se posent pour les femmes après la détention et le retour à la vie "normale" (que l'essayiste décrit comme sortir d'une prison pour se retrouver dans une autre plus grande), des questions propres aux femmes et à la carcéralité, sur l'impérialisme et il y a même un peu d'analyses littéraires de littérature palestinienne et carcérale (bien que ce soit surtout des hommes dans cette partie), mais aussi des mémoires et documentaires sur et d'anciennes prisonnières.

Bref, le programme est très chargé, mais tout n'est pas déballé en même temps, tout est très bien séparé en chapitre et on prend aussi du temps pour nous donner du contexte historique et politique, de nous expliquer les acronymes et les mouvements politiques (merci beaucoup!!!) et on a vraiment l'impression d'en lire beaucoup, mais dans un vocabulaire très accessible et honnêtement, par moment, je me laissais entraîner comme dans un roman par les récits.

L'essai tire ses observations non seulement de la littérature scientifique, romanesque et des mémoires, mais aussi de très nombreuses entrevues avec des groupes de prisonnières sur plusieurs jours qui donnent à voir non pas seulement le quotidien des prisonnières, mais permet de rebondir sur les expériences communes ou encore la singularité de certaines expériences de prisonnières qui pouvait autant dépendre des gardes, du lieu de détention, de la religion de la personne incarcérée, des affiliations politiques, etc. Bref, ces rencontres permettent de ressortir des témoignages très pertinent sur le contexte, les abus, la colonisation, la socialisation, etc.

C'est, je crois, un des rares essais qui portent spécifiquement sur les femmes palestiniennes en leur donnant voix et agentivité et ça permet de vraiment livrer des récits honnêtes tout en proposant des analyses et de critiques de la colonisation pointues et recherchées. Définitivement dans mes meilleurs recommandation de livres sur la Palestine en ce moment (j'ai d'ailleurs vendu une copie du livre aujourd'hui alors que je venais de le finir deux ou trois heures plus tôt pendant ma pause ce qui est quand même plus rare qu'on pourrait le croire).

[Hasheemah Afaneh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very heavy read.

[rabble.ca]

http://rabble.ca/books/reviews/2015/0...

Review by Azeezah Kanji

"Among Palestinians, jail is a very normalized part of life -- as normal and as common as school, as babies, as olive oil and thyme," proclaimed Palestinian lawyer Noura Erakat at a recent discussion (with Angela Davis) on mass incarceration in the United States and Palestine.

Indeed, since 1967, Israel has incarcerated around 800,000 Palestinians -- approximately 20 per cent of the Palestinian population of the occupied West Bank and Gaza. A significant number of those criminalized and imprisoned for their political activism have been women.

According to Palestinian prisoner support association Addameer, there are currently 19 women political detainees in Israeli prisons. And yet, these women activists have been largely marginalized in both national histories and academic studies, invisibilizing them into ghosts or distorting them into monsters.

Nahla Abdo's Captive Revolution: Palestinian Women's Anti-Colonial Struggle Within the Israeli Prison System enters into this void, filling it with the vivid voices, stories and experiences of Palestinian women political fighters and ex-detainees from the 1960s to the 1980s: a period marked by high levels of women's participation in anti-colonial, anti-imperialist and national liberation movements globally.

"The phenomenon of women's political resistance and detention," Abdo reminds us, "is as old as colonialism, imperialism and the capitalist state (and indeed is older)."

The opening chapter of Captive Revolution situates Palestinian women's political activism and detention in this broader, international story of women's militant resistance.

From Northern Ireland to the United States to Algeria -- important differences in context notwithstanding -- female political detainees have experienced similar forms of control, humiliation, and torture (both physical and psychological): "the use of women's bodies and sexuality by the colonial state, and especially by its prison institutions, represents a prime tactic, or rather strategy, of control used against women's political activism."

Read more here: http://rabble.ca/books/reviews/2015/0...

[Ennu Leiwo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Palestinian munadelat—women freedom fighters—have often been depicted by Western feminists as irrational terrorists or ill-educated victims. In this book, Nahla Abdo shows that this is not the case. Through discussions with ex political detainees, she, an ex political detainee herself, makes it clear that the women participating in armed struggle are political agents within a larger anti-colonial movement for freedom and justice. Their political consciousness did not arise by accident or force — these women "need not be forced to do what they already want to do." Like their male comrades, they are in the struggle because of their commitment to the national cause and their love for Palestine. As Abdo writes:

"Women joined the resistance and struggle not because they wanted to live in heaven, but because they wanted to live on their land in freedom and without occupation and oppression. For them, the homeland was a worthwhile struggle."

I recommend this book to every feminist I know. It’s time we stop pretending that armed struggle is irrational, and recognize how much we have to learn from the women in the resistance.

[Muhammed Nijim · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are interested in learning more about Palestinian women or political detainees in colonial Israel's prisons, this is the book to read. Abdo situates the Palestinian anti-colonial struggle within a larger global movement and draws commonalities and similarities among different movements with a central focus on Palestine. The book is primarily predicated on interviews that the author conducted with ex-political detainees who served different prison terms in Israeli prisons. The book reveals torture methods, physical, sexual and psychological to which women are subject. It also sheds light on how prison turns into a resistance site for many detainees who were not involved in any sort of resistance before prison, but in prison, they became more educated, enlightened, gender-aware and more critical of their society and national movements. These women, the author shows, suffer from discrimination when released from prison, as society does not give them the treatment they deserve.

[Atiqah Ghazali AlKashif · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captive Revolution: Palestinian Women's Anti-Colonial Struggle Within the Israeli Prison System
By Nahla Abdo
Published by Pluto Press
Goodread's Rating: 4.61/5
My Rating: 5/5

"I wrote this book during a very difficult phase in the history of the Arab world. Many, if not most Arab peoples are glued to their television screens watching the destruction and chaos throughout the Arab world: the devastation of Libya, the attacks in Iraq, the struggle between the Egyptian army and the Muslim Brotherhood, and most importantly, the atrocities inflicted upon the Syrian people and the destruction of religious sites and symbols of thousands of years of civilization. After completing this book, I was wondering with all of this turmoil engulfing most Arab countries how important this book, celebrating women’s struggle and resistance, is especially as it deals with a historic period rather than the current one."

This war, gender, historical & political science non-fiction book by Nahla Abdo offers a rigorous and thought-provoking analysis of Palestinian women's resistance in Israeli prisons. With its academic tone and data-driven narrative, the book is both intellectually enriching and, at times, challenging to digest. Abdo’s gender-aware anti-colonial framework presents a critical exploration of how the intersections of gender, colonialism, and incarceration shape the experiences of these women, but its complexity might deter the casual reader.

The introduction and first chapter lay a dense theoretical foundation, mapping the history of Palestine’s colonial struggle and the specific role women have played within it. Abdo weaves together gender studies, Marxist, and anti-colonial theories, creating a framework that is essential to the book but heavy in its delivery. These early chapters can feel overwhelming as they combine historical context with in-depth theoretical concepts, making it difficult for those unfamiliar with academic discourse.

Chapter two, arguably the most impactful, delves into the violent realities of prison life for Palestinian women. Abdo vividly describes the psychological and physical torture they endure, emphasizing how the prison system is an extension of colonial repression. The use of gender-specific violence, targeting women’s roles within their families and communities, is particularly haunting. The chapter is dense with data and historical accounts, making it a vital but weighty read, particularly for readers seeking to understand the gendered nature of colonial violence.

In the following chapters, Abdo shifts focus to the resistance strategies employed by these women within prison. From hunger strikes to intellectual contributions, she shows that their struggle is not solely about survival but about preserving their identity and dignity. Their resilience, despite the harsh conditions, is highlighted through personal accounts and collective acts of defiance. Abdo offers a nuanced portrayal of how their imprisonment became a site for continued resistance rather than submission.

The concluding chapter examines the post-release lives of these women, exploring how their experiences in prison influenced their political consciousness and roles in the Palestinian resistance. Abdo delves into how imprisonment reshaped their identities, not just as political actors but as individuals coping with the trauma and legacy of colonial repression. While these stories are moving, the academic tone persists, maintaining the book’s scholarly depth but possibly alienating general readers.

While the depth of analysis is commendable, Captive Revolution demands patience and intellectual engagement. It is an essential read for those seeking a scholarly exploration of Palestinian women's anti-colonial struggle, though its academic style may prove a barrier for some. Despite its challenges, the book serves as a powerful testament to the resilience and agency of Palestinian women in the face of colonial violence, making it an important contribution to both academic discourse and historical documentation.

"These women (and men) are considered to be true and courageous freedom fighters. For example, in his Under Siege, renowned Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish writes:

If you are not rain, my love, be tree, sated with fertility, be tree
If you are not a tree, my love, be stone saturated with humidity, be stone
If you are not stone, my love, be moon, in the dream of the beloved woman, be moon.
So spoke a woman to her son at his funeral.
Darwish (1995: 35)

Writing about a female child shaheeda, Tawfiq Zayyad, another renowned Palestinian poet, says:

This child has five bullets in her forehead
and a sun
and shahadah [the act of self-sacrifice]
She fell like a golden tulip
She fell chanting for victory …
Zayyad (1994: 10-11)"

#MalaysiaMembaca

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a thoughtful study of women imprisoned for leading the armed struggle against Israel, most imprisoned in the 1970s and 1980s, based on case study interviews. Abdo draws spare portraits of these women, allowing them to speak about what is important to them. While there are differences among the women, they are united in their exceptional determination, demolishing stereotypes of passivity. The book is organised thematically around what motivates the women, with the later chapters looking more at gender issues, including the difficulties the women face after release.
The book does feel a little like it is of another era, with the primarily secular armed focus of the struggle, and I was relieved in some ways by the afterword in which Abdo struggles with the relevance of a book as the occupation worsens and the divide between Gaza and the West Bank grows. But the book is important in preserving a record of the motivations of Palestinian resistance and a reminder of the centrality of women to a fight in which few often want to acknowledge their agency.

[Thelma I · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the homage Abdo pays to revolutionary women like her, Palestinian munadelat & shaheeda, formerly incarcerated freedom fighters. The international ties and the context she sets is rich and thick in culture and critique. Abdo worries repeatedly that times that birthed her book made the text irrelevant, but this telling of women's stories, struggles, & obstinance in the face of political and gendered oppression is always necessary to remind us they lived/live and fought/fight for a transformed us.

[Ema Gonçalves]

notes for a future (re)read: read the interviews more carefully

[MalakaMohammed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eye-opening