A powerful new analysis is forcing a deeper look at a grim reality Palestinians have been speaking about for generations: torture, abuse and degrading treatment are not new chapters in their history, but part of a system they say has existed in different forms for decades. The argument is that what Palestinians face today cannot be separated from the colonial structures that came before it — especially the policing, detention and interrogation methods developed during the British Mandate period and later carried into Israeli rule.
A System Of Control
For many Palestinians, the issue is not simply about isolated prison scandals or a handful of rogue officers. It is about a broader structure of domination built on surveillance, forced control, mass detention, intimidation and the routine stripping away of dignity. Reports from former detainees, human rights groups and legal advocates have long described beatings, humiliation, psychological abuse, medical neglect and coercive interrogation practices. What makes the story even more disturbing is the claim that these methods are not accidental excesses, but part of a system shaped by colonial logic — where an occupied population is managed, contained and broken.
Continuity Over Exceptionalism
That is why this conversation matters. It is not only about what is happening now, but about the historical roots behind it. Palestinians have long argued that their suffering is often discussed as if it begins only when the world briefly pays attention. But their testimony says otherwise. The violence may change its language, uniforms and legal justifications, yet the core experience remains painfully familiar. The phrase “torture isn’t new to Palestinians” hits hard because it challenges the idea that current abuses are exceptional. Instead, it points to continuity — from colonial rule to modern occupation, from prison cells to interrogation rooms, from old systems of control to new ones.
A Living Reality
For Palestinians, this is not just history. It is a living reality still shaping everyday life, memory and resistance.