Palestinian detainees at The Media Accountability Project

Pages tagged "Palestinian detainees"

Palestinian "detainees" are not "prisoners" !

"The term “prisoner” suggests a conviction following a fair trial—yet thousands of Palestinians, including children, activists, and journalists, are held without charge or legal recourse. Furthermore, calling Palestinian detainees “prisoners” erases the illegality of their detention and implies guilt where none has been proven."

Hostage, detainee, prisoner, or prisoner of war? Wire content at odds with CBC

"Since Mr. Brown’s article, CBC has—as far as I can tell—carefully avoided this unfair language by avoiding referring to Palestinians in administrative detention as “prisoners,” and from not referring to Israelis, especially soldiers, as “hostages.” Whether this is an official policy of CBC or a common practice by editors is impossible for me to know. Nonetheless, this AP article in question perpetuates the exact problem that Mr. Brown so succinctly identified."

Enough with the double-standard

Given this context, these detainees are not conventional prisoners and it’s better to describe them as hostages. This distinction is critical, as it challenges the implicit narrative that Palestinians in Israeli prisons have all been convicted of criminal offenses, when in reality, many are held without charge or trial. Reframing their status as hostages better reflects the power dynamics at play and highlights the broader context of occupation and human rights violations by Israel.

Lack of context regarding Israel's administrative detention of Palestinians

"Your framing of the hostage-prisoner/detainee exchange fails to highlight the asymmetry of releasing 33 Israeli hostages versus 2,000 Palestinian detainees, while also neglecting critical context on Israel’s use of administrative detention which allows Israel to imprison Palestinians indefinitely without charge or trial."