Carceral Realities and Freedom Dreams

Lisa Hajjar Basil Farraj Samia Errazzouki Leila Katibah Asim Qureshi

On October 11th, 2024, the Orfalea Center for Global & International Studies and the Security in Context Network, in collaboration with the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) hosted the event “Carceral Realities and Freedom Dreams” and launched the Fall 2024 Issue of MERIP’s Middle East Report. The event featured Lisa Hajjar, a Professor of Sociology at UCSB, who introduced the themes and served as the event moderator. Basil Farraj, an Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Cultural Studies at Birzeit University, is a co-author with Lisa of the work titled "Israel is Waging War on Palestinian Prisons." Samia Errazzouki, a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of History at Stanford University, authored "Morocco's Kingdom of Police." Leila Katibah, an Administrative Coordinator in the Social Science Dean’s Office at UCSB, has contributed to the article "Automating an Apocalypse: Malicious Technology to Surveil and Slaughter." Lastly, Asim Qureshi, the Research Director at CAGE International, participated in "Resisting Carceralism and Fighting for Freedom: A Roundtable with Activists."

This issue of the Middle East Report focuses on carceralism – that is, forms of un-freedom – and organized resistance against it. Imprisonment and detention are carceral realities. So too are militarized policing and border control, enwalled and besieged environments, surveillance, enforced disappearance, segregation and apartheid. Carceral regimes rely on the confinement or exclusion of people and categories of people that state agents deem to be dangerous, hostile or superfluous. Carceralism is a daily reality for many people around the world who are deprived of their liberty and denied their humanity: a fact that is certainly true in the Middle East where every government is a carceral regime. Yet carceral realities do not have to be destiny. Dissidents and activists continue to harbor freedom dreams which animate their resistance to repression. Together, the articles written by the speakers describe and analyze carceral realities in the Middle East. 

Lisa Hajjar presents Fall 2024 Issue of MERIP’s Middle East Report

Carceralism and “Unfreedom”

Lisa Hajjar expanded on the term “carcerality” as a framework that reaches far beyond prisons and detention centers to encompass a broader system of “unfreedom.” This unfreedom captures the many ways in which governments restrict people’s freedom and autonomy through militarized policing, border controls, and surveillance. Hajjar noted that while prisons are archetypal carceral institutions, the concept of carcerality extends to various practices that maintain a state of confinement without prison walls, making people unfree within their own societies. She used Gaza as an example, where prior to October 7, 2023, the strip was aptly described as the world's largest open-air prison due to the restrictions on movement, surveillance, and policing imposed on its population. These carceral practices can include forced disappearances, segregation, and apartheid, collectively serving as instruments for states to marginalize and control people deemed dangerous, hostile, or unnecessary. The violence inherent in these systems manifests in torture, isolation, abandonment, and forced relocation – methods aimed at dismantling social relations, diminishing human dignity, and eroding political freedoms.

Lisa emphasized that the reach of carceral systems is not limited to state actors; private corporations and non-state actors also play a substantial role in maintaining these realities. Corporations, for example, profit from developing technologies that enable mass surveillance and control, which are then employed by states to enforce carceral regimes. She referenced private contractors and corporate entities that facilitate capture and confinement, underlining how the privatization of carceral tools amplifies the reach of these oppressive systems. Beyond corporations, politically empowered racial or national supremacist groups and sectarian enforcers act as gatekeepers, deciding who deserves care and protection and who does not. We see this reality in the Middle East, where most governments – from Morocco to Israel, Iran, Turkey, and Egypt – operate within a carceral framework that normalizes unfreedom across generations. In this environment, fear, alienation, and deprivation become so pervasive that they constitute the norm, with entire communities fractured by these forces. Lisa noted that the memories and traumas experienced by those confined or repressed by these systems often become life-defining, embedding a lasting impact.

Yet despite the deep entrenchment of carceral systems, Lisa highlighted the persistence of “freedom dreams”: the enduring aspirations for liberation and justice that drive dissidents and activists to resist. She described these freedom dreams as a powerful form of resistance, preserving the possibility of a world beyond carceral oppression. For those outside these systems of unfreedom, solidarity movements play a crucial role in supporting and amplifying these freedom dreams. Lisa referenced historical and contemporary movements, such as the abolitionist campaigns against slavery, segregation, and prisons, which have rallied against racist laws, torture, and mass incarceration. She pointed to the global movement against Israel’s occupation and its treatment of Palestinians as a current manifestation of such solidarity. This movement, which draws from the 2005 Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) campaign led by Palestinian civil society, aims to mobilize international action against apartheid conditions. Similar anti-carceral solidarity movements in other MENA countries, while not as globally visible, underscore the universal power of these freedom dreams and the rejection of repressive status quos. Through this lens, Lisa’s talk urged listeners to see carcerality not as an inescapable fate but as a structure that can be dismantled through collective action and dreams of a liberated future.

The Carceral Realities and Freedom Dreams Project is hosted by the Orfalea Center's Global Carceral States Cluster

Israel is Waging War on Palestinian Prisons

Basil Faraj highlighted the intensification of violence against Palestinian detainees since October 2023. In the weeks and months following October 7th, over 11,000 Palestinians have been arrested across the West Bank, Gaza, Jerusalem, and the 1948 areas. Faraj described these arrests as part of a deliberate strategy to expand Israel’s control and oppression through carceral means. He detailed how prisoners have been stripped of fundamental rights: family visits have been banned, legal representation denied, and all access to the outside world severed. Basic necessities such as food, water, and medical care have been drastically limited, resulting in extreme weight loss among detainees, some losing up to 50 kilograms. 

Faraj highlighted the systematic use of torture and violence, which has long been part of the Israeli prison system but has intensified since October 7th. He shared a horrifying account of a Palestinian prisoner who was raped in an Israeli detention center, suffering life-threatening injuries. The incident, which was captured on surveillance cameras and gained rare visibility within Israeli society, prompted debate but also revealed a stark consensus in favor of brutality, specifically rape, against Palestinian detainees. Faraj explained that such extreme violence, coupled with the public circulation of images of blindfolded and shackled prisoners in one famous image out of Gaza, serves a dual purpose: to dehumanize the detainees and to terrorize the broader Palestinian population. “These images are meant to say, ‘This is your fate if you resist,’” Faraj explained, pointing to how torture becomes both a physical act and a psychological weapon targeting entire communities.

Despite these extreme conditions, Faraj emphasized the resilience of Palestinian prisoners, who continue to resist and dream of freedom even under the harshest circumstances. He described how their determination embodies a “fighting spirit” that the Israeli regime has failed to extinguish. Faraj expressed hope that the visibility of these atrocities, along with international advocacy, might one day lead to accountability for Israel’s systematic violence against Palestinian prisoners. 

Automating the Apocalypse: Malicious Technology to Surveil and Slaughter

Gaza has always functioned as a laboratory for Israeli weapons testing – a way for Israeli corporations to “battle test” weapons before selling them. Leila Katibah brought us into the realm of technological warfare, discussing the ways Israel has transformed Gaza into a testing ground for cutting-edge AI in warfare and surveillance. Katibah argued that Israel’s technological innovations in spyware and automated targeting systems, such as Pegasus spyware and AI-driven “kill lists,” not only serve as tools of control over Palestinians but are also a significant export in the global arms market. Pegasus, developed by the Israeli cybersecurity company NSO Group, can infect a device without any user interaction. The spyware allows remote access to a target’s communications, GPS data, and personal information, effectively turning their device into a constant tracking tool. Katibah highlighted that this spyware has not only been used extensively on Palestinians but also on human rights activists, journalists, and politicians worldwide. This global reach, she noted, points to a dangerous intersection between military occupation, technology, and international markets, as Israel profits from the sale of repressive tools tested on the occupied Palestinian population.

Katibah warned that the rapid global spread of such AI technologies in military contexts represents a growing threat to human rights worldwide. She described how Gaza’s residents are subject to automated targeting through AI-powered platforms that can identify potential targets based on predictive algorithms. These “targeted” bombings often take place at night when families are together, leading to indiscriminate civilian death. “This AI killing machine has a chilling effect,” Katibah said, “and the errors aren’t just unfortunate, they are lethal.” Katibah emphasized that these technologies are inherently biased and dangerous, feeding on racialized assumptions that lead to deadly errors. Katibah concluded that without international regulation, the unchecked use of AI in warfare could spread, compromising the rights and safety of populations worldwide.

The hybrid event featured both in-person and virtual speakers and attendees, fostering dynamic live interactions

Morocco's "Kingdom of Police" 

Samia Errazouki offered her analysis of Morocco’s evolving carceral state, which she described as a “kingdom of police.” Drawing connections between Morocco’s colonial past and its present-day carceral practices, Errazouki argued that Morocco’s security apparatus is not a new creation but rather an inheritance from its former French and German occupiers. She highlighted how practices established under colonial rule, like internment camps and detention centers used to silence political dissent, have been maintained and even expanded under Moroccan governance. Errazouki cited the 2016 death of a fish vendor crushed in a garbage truck while trying to retrieve confiscated goods, as a pivotal moment in Moroccan protests. His death sparked the Hirak movement, which quickly grew into one of the largest mobilizations since the Arab Spring, centered in the Rif region. However, the government responded with a wave of repression, arresting protest leaders, deploying military forces to police the streets, and establishing countless checkpoints across the region.

Errazouki noted that this domestic repression coincides with Morocco’s role as a border enforcer for the European Union. In exchange for financial aid and diplomatic support, the Moroccan government has assumed responsibility for preventing African migrants from crossing into Europe, particularly via Spanish territories embedded within Moroccan land. This arrangement has transformed Morocco into an extension of Europe’s carceral regime – a gatekeeper to the continent – using Israeli surveillance technologies like Pegasus to monitor migrants and activists alike. Razzouk further discussed the growing relationship between Morocco and Israel, highlighted by a $2 billion security deal, which includes the purchase of advanced drones and a spy satellite from Israel. “It’s the equivalent of the CIA and FBI working together with full support from the monarchy,” she noted, underscoring the extent of Morocco’s surveillance state. Errazouki emphasized that this consolidation of power by Morocco’s police and intelligence services represents an enduring carceral state – a “state of exception” – where the monarchy wields unchecked power over its citizens and extends its influence through international alliances. She concluded by stressing that Morocco’s carceral practices, while rooted in its colonial history, have evolved into a modern apparatus for repression, reinforcing the notion that carceral systems are deeply interconnected across borders.

Global Anti-Carceral Activism and the Power of Solidarity

Asim Qureshi reflected on the global struggle against carceral systems, drawing from his participation in the event’s roundtable discussion alongside Sahar Francis, Kauthar Ferjani, and Yara Sallam: three activists who have each experienced the violence of carceral states firsthand. Qureshi recounted how the haunting images of Muslim men in orange jumpsuits at Guantanamo Bay led him to dedicate his career to defending prisoners’ rights. “Seeing those images – their heads bowed, hands shackled, utterly dehumanized – changed everything for me,” Qureshi shared, explaining that this moment marked the beginning of his commitment to anti-carceral activism. He expanded on how these images of confinement were not isolated to Guantanamo but represented a global system that uses carceral power to marginalize and control.

Qureshi spoke about the personal impact carceral regimes have had on the activists he shared the panel with, whose lives and families have been deeply affected. He highlighted the experience of an Egyptian lawyer and former political prisoner who spent fifteen months in detention. Sallam described the difficulties of reintegration after release, finding herself unsupported and carrying the lasting trauma of incarceration. Qureshi noted that her journey reflects a broader reality for political prisoners worldwide: “For so many, the hardest part isn’t just the confinement, it’s returning to a world that doesn’t understand what they endured.” He also discussed a Tunisian activist who has tirelessly campaigned for her father’s release from prison under Tunisia’s current regime. Her refusal to meet with American policymakers, due to the US government’s support for Israel, underscored her dedication to her principles, highlighting Qureshi's emphasis that anti-carceral activism must be grounded in solidarity across borders, as these systems are inherently interconnected. “These carceral regimes may target different communities, but they’re built on the same foundations of repression and dehumanization,” he said, urging us all to recognize the shared struggle for justice and to support movements challenging these systems on a global scale.

Click HERE to access the Fall 2024 Issue of MERIP’s Middle East Report.