Higher Education Changing Reality of Palestinian Security Prisoners in Israel

Abstract

Israeli law defines the role of the imprisonment system as: "To detain prisoners within a secure and appropriate facility while preserving their dignity, fulfilling their basic needs, and their ability to become part of the society when they finish their time”. According to this perception, Israeli prisons offer rehabilitation programs, including educational ones, which are tailored to the different population needs. This article presents some of the debates relating to the implementation of this law among Palestinian security prisoners, and the latter’s right to higher education during their imprisonment. Can higher education change prisoners’ reality? Will the educational programs within prison cells change prisoners, especially Palestinian security prisoners’ perceptions, thinking and life style? This article shows that efforts need to be made to provide education paths to those security prisoners if we wish to help them abandon the route of terror and become and bridge for future discussions between nations.