In this episode, founders of DecolonizePalestine.com Rawan Masri and Fathi Nimer discuss abolition as a keyword in Critical Zionism Studies. In June 2023, Rawan and Fathi published an article titled “Imprisoning Palestine: Zionist Colonialism through an Abolitionist Lens” in the Scalawag magazine. This piece connects abolition and decolonization by highlighting the centrality of carceral and punitive systems and structures to how Zionist settler colonialism operates.

We recorded this conversation in September 2024, but it may be even more pressing now, since two weeks ago, on October 15th, 2024, the United States and Canada sanctioned and blacklisted the Palestinian prisoner support network Samidoun. The abolitionist lens that Rawan and Fathi offer us in their piece demonstrates that these attacks on and repression of organizations dedicated to Palestinian prisoner support are not isolated incidents, but a very obvious extension of those carceral and punitive systems that Zionism requires to function.

Resources:

DecolonizePalestine.com

Rawan Masri and Fathi Nimer, “Imprisoning Palestine: Zionist Colonialism through an Abolitionist Lens” in Scalawag

Myth: Palestinians Fake their Own Atrocities (Pallywood)