EVERY TOM, DICK, AND HARRY::

Six Palestinian prisoners escaped from the high-security Gilboa prison in northern Israel on Monday, using a tunnel and apparently coordinating their escape via a smuggled mobile phone. The ensuing manhunt, along with headlines in Israeli newspapers and responses on social media, created an action-film halo around the event, which came on the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah.

The escape was planned despite the closure imposed across the occupied West Bank during the holiday. The response from the Israeli government and the Israel Prison Service (IPS) was one of surprise and humiliation. The prison break quickly became a symbolic event, giving hope that all Palestinians living under Israeli occupation can find a way to break free.

The refusal of Israeli authorities to permit fair trials for Palestinians leaves no choice but to consider all Palestinians in Israeli prisons as political prisoners

Palestinian prisoners receive minimal services in Israeli prisons, and must pay for food and hygiene products from their own pockets. Although the Palestinian Authority (PA) transfers payments to the canteen accounts of prisoners to help keep them alive, right-wing Israeli politicians have attacked this practice, and in 2018 the Knesset passed a law to deduct such payments from the tax money Israel collects on behalf of the PA and is legally obligated to transfer.

Despite the unwillingness of Israeli authorities to maintain basic dignity for Palestinian prisoners, no aspect of the occupation is more expensive than the prison system. According to the Israeli government, since the 1967 occupation and until 2008, the budget of the Israeli police and prison ministry has increased by 18.8 percent every year, more than any other ministry.

The money is not directed to ensuring prisoners' standard of living, but rather is invested in security and keeping prisons under strict control. The escape on Monday made a mockery of this.

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