HotHouse

Around eight thousand Palestinians are imprisoned in Israeli jails today. They are called ‘Security Prisoners.’ To most Israelis they are assassins and criminals. To most Palestinians they are heroes and freedom fighters.
With unique access to the most guarded Palestinian prisoners in Israel, HotHouse tells, among others, the stories of Hasan Yusuf, a Hamas leader in the West Bank, who was recently elected to parliament from his prison cell; Abu Naji, Fatah leader in prison for more than 24 years; Ahlam Tamimni, Hamas leader of the female prisoners, sentenced to 16 life terms for planning and executing the attack on the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem. The prison experience in an Israeli jail has become a Palestinian national symbol and the prisons for Security Prisoners are in fact academies for Palestinian nationalism, not only shaping the prisoners' ideas, but also providing a necessary phase on the path to Palestinian leadership. HotHouse could thus explore the evolution of the society of Palestinian prisoners into a democratic community and the impact of such an evolution on Palestinian politics outside prison. This impact culminates with the historic elections to the Palestinian Parliament on January 20, 2006, which brought the militant Islamic organization Hamas to power. As was the case on Robben Island, South Africa, the leadership of the future Palestinian state is being incubated in Israeli jails today.