An-Najah Staff

Publication Type

Original research

Authors

This paper explores the integration process of Palestinian women political

prisoners across the three stages of imprisonment—before, during, and

after—and examines how sumud (steadfastness) underpins their

practices of survival and resistance. The analysis demonstrates that

imprisonment is not an isolated event but part of a continuum shaped by

the broader settler-colonial condition, in which Israeli prisons operate as

extensions of the “open-air prison” imposed on Palestinians. Prior to

incarceration, women draw on community bonds and political

consciousness that prepare them to confront the carceral system. Inside

prison, sumud is enacted through collective organization, knowledge-

sharing, and strategies of psychological endurance that resist erasure and

maintain dignity under systematic violence. After release, the integration

process extends into a social and political sphere marked by surveillance,

stigma, and structural constraints, where women continue to practice

sumud by reasserting agency, sustaining collective memory, and

challenging attempts at fragmentation. The findings reveal that

imprisonment persists beyond prison walls, yet women’s resilience

transforms this continuity into a site of struggle that both disrupts

colonial logics and reinforces Palestinian solidarity. By foregrounding

women’s integration processes, this study highlights how sumud operates

as a dynamic, ongoing practice that not only enables survival under

colonial incarceration but also contributes to the broader project of

decolonial resistance and liberation.

Journal