Palestinian exhibition in Gaza featured objects smuggled out of Israeli prisons, including a video

Overview

• An exhibition about the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails called “We Breathe Freedom” was recently held in Gaza City. It featured prisoners’ artwork, objects they made, and letters and books. Some of the exhibits were sent by the prisoners to their families, others were smuggled and brought to the exhibition by their attorneys or by prisoners who had been released. There was also a corner with screens showing a video documenting the prisoners’ daily life which had been filmed inside a jail and smuggled out. Visitors could watch the video but were forbidden to record or upload it to the social networks out of concern for the welfare of the prisoners appearing in it.
• According to reports, the initiative for the exhibition came from prisoners themselves, the Hamas-controlled ministry for prisoners’ affairs in the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-affiliated Wa’ad Association for released prisoners and other Palestinian institutions dealing with prisoner affairs. The opening ceremony was attended by Hamas and Fatah leadership figures and the exhibition had many visitors, including children and adolescents.
• Fostering the legacy of the Palestinian terrorists in Israeli jails and turning them into role models is firmly embedded in the Palestinian narrative, and Palestinian Prisoners’ Day (April 17) is deliberately marked as a national holiday in the Palestinian Authority (PA) territories and the Gaza Strip. Holding an exhibition in Gaza City was a way of raising awareness for the issue of the prisoners, glorifying them (along with the shaheeds) and encouraging the Palestinian public, especially the younger generation, to turn them into role models. The PA also participates in fostering the shaheed culture, and paying the prisoners and the families a monthly salary is enshrined in Palestinian law. Fatah, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and other organizations participate in fostering shaheed culture.
• The exhibition featured authentic items, manuscripts and a video filmed inside a prison and smuggled out in defiance of the State of Israel and the Israel Prison Service authorities.

The Exhibition

• The We Breathe Freedom exhibition was held in Gaza City between April 24 and 29, 2023, initiated by the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and organized by the Hamas-controlled ministry of prisoners’ affairs in the Gaza Strip, the Hamas-affiliated Wa’ad Association for released prisoners and other Palestinian institutions dealing with prisoners’ affairs. The opening ceremony was attended by leadership figures from Hamas, the PIJ and Fatah, and the exhibition was visited by many people, including families of prisoners and young people.

   
Sign at the entrance to the exhibition with the names of all the participating institutions and organizations (rawasi.ps Facebook page, April 24, 2023). Left: Cutting the ribbon to open the exhibition (Paltoday, April 24, 2023).

   
Members of the leaderships of the various terrorist organizations at the opening of the exhibition including Fatah (Imad al-Agha); Hamas (Zakaria Abu Muamar, a member of Hamas’ political bureau; and Ahmed Bahar), the PIJ (Jamil al-Alian, holder of the shaheeds, prisoners and wounded portfolio; and Muhammad Shalah), and Muhjat al-Quds (rawasi.ps Facebook page, April 24, 2023).

• The exhibition featured artwork, some produced by the prisoners themselves, items made by the prisoners, books and letters.^[1] The items came from Israeli jails, some sent by prisoners to their families, some smuggled by their lawyers or by prisoners who had been released. The opening ceremony was attended by Hamas and Fatah leadership figures. Meetings and discussions were held about prisoner-related issues, such as “Prisoners and Palestinian art,” “The role of the Palestinian establishment in the issue of the prisoners” and “The legal aspect of the violations of prisoners’ rights” (AsraMedia, the prisoners’ media website,^[2] April 29, 2023).
• The exhibition also had a corner for a video documenting the lives of the prisoners. It was reportedly filmed inside an Israeli jail and smuggled out. Exhibition visitors were invited to watch the video but were forbidden to photograph or upload it to the social networks out of concern for the welfare of the prisoners appearing in it (al-Mayadeen.net, April 26, 2023; Safa, April 27, 2023).
•  An article appeared about the exhibition in the Lebanese daily newspaper al-Akhbar claiming the video showed prisoners in Israel’s Hadarim, Ktsiot and Nafha jails. A prisoner is seen laughing, moving carefully “like an investigator” from one prison wing to another, and prisoners are seen watching the reaction of a fellow inmate who received a surprise present from his wife. In another scene a prisoner is seen preparing something to eat and using a [forbidden] knife made from an tin can. Another scene shows Bassem al-Sayeh, a prisoner who died of cancer in September 2019, next to his brother Amjad, with a mention that he wrote a book called A Goodbye Smile (al-Akhbar, Lebanon, April 29, 2023).

   
Right: Video corner at the exhibition (Safa, April 27, 2023). Left: Woman watches a prisoner’s video (Wa’ad Association Facebook page, April 24, 2023).

• Rawhi Mushtaha, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, visited the exhibition and wrote in the visitors’ book that Hamas would not rest or end its efforts to release the prisoners, and that even they could not be released by “known” methods, Hamas would find “surprising” ways to release them (alam24 website, April 26, 2023).

•  On April 29, the day the exhibition ended, visitors were shown a recorded speech by Zaher Jabarin, a member of Hamas’ political bureau and holder of the shaheeds, prisoners and released prisoners portfolio. He spoke about the ongoing struggle of the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and their desire for freedom. He said the exhibition showed the Palestinian prisoners had turned their cells into “torches of light,” while Israel wanted to “turn them into graves.” He praised the prisoners, the organizations and media outlets which had worked to make the exhibition a success (Facebook page of the exhibition in Gaza City, April 29, 2023).

Appendix

Sample exhibits

   
Right: Issam al-Dalis, chairman of the government monitoring committee in the Gaza Strip, visits the exhibition (Paltoday, April 24, 2023). Left: Tawfiq Abu Na’im, Hamas VIP and president of the Wa’ad Association, looks at books written about and by prisoners (Wa’ad Association Facebook page, April 24, 2023).

   
Right: Winter blanket turned into a jacket by prisoner Majed Abu al-Qumbouz (We Breathe Freedom exhibition Facebook page, April 27, 2023). Left: Prison sheets Majed Abu al-Qumbouz turned into clothing for his daughter ten years ago (We Breathe Freedom exhibition Facebook page, April 24, 2023.)

   
Children visiting the exhibition of prisoners’ letters (Right: We Breathe Freedom exhibition Facebook page, April 25, 2023). Left: rawasi.ps Facebook page, April 24, 2023).

^[1] For further information, see the bulletin about books written by prisoners, see the January 24, 2023 report, "The military-terrorist wings of Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad published books by terrorist activists imprisoned in Israel." ↑
^[2] AsraMedia operates from the Gaza Strip and represents the committee of the leadership of Hamas prisoners in Israeli jails. http://www.gmo.ps/ar/?page=news_det&id=104949#.Y4NAyHZBzrc ↑

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