Degrees of Incarceration can be viewed in relation to four somewhat overlapping topics: (1) Palestinian life under military occupation, (2) gender and masculinity, (3) human rights and imprisonment, and (4) NGOs and youth.  Following are discussion questions on each topic. 

*** Often, readings or on-line materials are suggested to complement the documentary, but you may certainly choose to discuss these questions without outside readings or materials. A bibliography and a list of additional internet resources follows the discussion questions.

For a PDF of this study guide, please email degreesofincarceration (at) gmail (dot) com.

Palestinian life under military occupation

-       How does this film give you a different perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict than you hear in the news?  What are the everyday implications of life under occupation?

-       View the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affair’s (OCHA) material on closure. What are the different kinds of incarceration (or closure) discussed in this film? How do these various technologies or policies of closure reinforce each other? What does this film suggest as ways out?  You might also listen to the podcast “Dreams of Jerusalem,” by Rania Roomi, or the videos “Freedom,” by Amani Asad, or “No Reason At All,” by Khaled Qaraqe, for other perspectives on these questions from youth of Lajee Center.

-       How did this film change your perception of the importance of political prison as part of the Palestinian issue? Read Begoña Aretxaga’s “Dirty Protest:  Symbolic Overdetermination and Gender in Northern Ireland Ethic Violence.”  Compare the public perception of political prison in the two locations.

-       Refugee camps are marked off from the rest of society geographically and politically. In what ways does Aida Camp seem to be a community? What forms of social cohesion exist in the refugee camp? You might read Amahl Bishara’s “Covering the Barrier in Bethlehem” for other ethnographic material regarding community in Aida Camp.

-       Read about Refugee and IDP Rights on Badil’s website.  Listen to “The Day I Got Shot,” by Muhammad Al-Azraq, one of the youth from the documentary, and explore Lajee’s photography exhibits.  Refugee camps are often characterized as being spaces where humanitarian infrastructure is focused – where people receive services.  Yet, it may be that Palestinian refugee camps in the Occupied Territories are distinguished most by their highly militarized character. How can you see traces of both humanitarianism and militarization in Aida Camp?

Gender & Masculinity 

-       Read Lila Abu-Lughod’s Veiled Sentiments, especially Chapters 3 and 4, or Julie Peteet’s “Male Gender and the Rituals of Resistance in the Palestinian Intifada.”  What are the different values of Palestinian masculinity you see represented in this film?  You might also view Alessandra Sanguinetti’s photography of Palestine for examples of Palestinian masculinities and femininities.  For comparison with stereotypical representations of Arab masculinity, you might view Planet of the Arabs, a documentary montage of scenes on the Middle East from U.S. mainstream entertainment media. 

-       Read Lori Allen’s “Mothers of Martyrs and Suicide Bombers” or Penny Johnson and Eileen Kuttab’s “Where Have all the Women (and Men) Gone?” What are some of the gendered roles in this film (e.g., political prisoner, former prisoner, mother of a prisoner)?  Do you think they allow for parity in political involvement or not?  If the category of political prisoner is gendered male today, what does this mean for women political prisoners?

-       Many gender theorists have written of gender as “relational,” meaning that it is shaped by institutions, rather than being an attribute of individuals. How and to what extent does the masculinity of the youth in the film come across as relational?

-       View Najwa Najjar’s fiction feature film Pomegranates and Myrrh, and read Julie Peteet’s “Male Gender and the Rituals of Resistance in the Palestinian Intifada.”  What are the different ways in which prison affects gendered relationships in Palestinian societies?

Human rights and imprisonment

-       Read the UN Convention on the Rights of a Child. In what ways have the rights of the youth in this film been violated?

-       Read the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and its page on who is a defender.  In what ways might Lajee Center and its volunteers be considered human rights defenders?  

-       Listen to the Radio Lajee podcast “Wake up! Wake up! There are soldiers outside…They want you.” Discuss the effects prison has on youth, both those who are imprisoned and those who are not imprisoned.

-       Read “Principles, Publicity, and Politics:  Notes on Human Rights Media,” by Meg McLagan. How is this documentary an example of human rights media? What kinds of truth claims does it make? 

-       Some human rights material – like reports – depend on discrete and verifiable facts.  What parts of the film, if any, present such facts?  Who presents them? What is the value of parts of the film that do not present such facts, but instead make emotional, personal, community, or testimonial claims? How do these parts work together?  What is the value of these different kinds of claims?

NGOs and youth

-       Read “NGOs: The Professionalization of Politics” by Rema Hammami. Scholars have identified a flourishing of NGOs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, especially since the establishment of the Palestinian Authority in 1994.  These NGOs are often funded by international organizations, and many Palestinians complain that these international organizations do not always fund projects that meet Palestinian priorities.  They complain that funders support projects that promote conflict resolution and dialogue with Israelis, human rights documentation, and cultural projects, but they do not take on the occupation directly, and they may stigmatize forms of Palestinian resistance.  Explore Lajee Center’s website.  What are the core values of Lajee as you see them in this film? What are the core values of Lajee as you can discern them from Lajee’s website? Do you imagine these fit into states’ & international NGOs’ funding priorities?

-       Small community-based organizations like Lajee have come to play important roles in Palestinian society, especially refugee camps.  Do you have organizations like Lajee Center in your community?  What kinds of institutions play roles similar to that of Lajee in your community?  What does this tell you about Aida Refugee Camp (or your own community)?

-       Read Liisa Malkki’s “Speechless Emissaries” and Dawn Chatty’s “Palestinian Refugee Youth.”  Refugees are often portrayed as passive recipients of humanitarian aid.  Palestinian youth are often portrayed as potential terrorists.  Both of these portrayals effect Palestinian youths’ subject formation.  From what you know of Lajee Center from the documentary or Lajee Center’s website, does Lajee Center challenge both or either of these processes of subject formation?  How?