Why Israel suppresses Palestinian prisoners' public display of emotions

In his powerful article “Permission to Narrate”, published in the London Review of Books in February 1984, Edward Said wrote: “The Palestinian narrative has never been officially admitted to Israeli history, except as that of ‘non-Jews,’ whose inert presence in Palestine was a nuisance to be ignored or expelled.”

Just as the infamous phrase “a land without a people” cannot be seen only as a falsehood propagated for political purposes but also as an ongoing settler-colonial aspiration, Said chose the word “inert” not descriptively but to conjure up the Zionist fantasy about the ideal Palestinian body. 

Perhaps for the coloniser, this ideal body should be lifeless or “disappeared”. But given the stubborn persistence of Palestinians to remain living on their land, they should preferably cause as little disturbance to the colonisers as possible. 

Along with no displays of cultural identity, there must be no passion, no pride, no joy, no sorrow, no anger - indeed, no demonstrable emotions that might trouble their oppressors.

The late Palestinian psychologist Adib Jarrar said in 2016: “We must be the only oppressed people whose job it is to make our oppressors feel good about themselves.”

Read more: Why Israel suppresses Palestinian prisoners' public display of emotions