Who Is a European? The History of Special Treatment in Mandate Palestine's Prisons.

This article explores the history of 'special treatment', a regime granting improved carceral conditions, in Mandate Palestine's prisons. The focus on colonial punishment underscores the unstable, negotiable nature of the European/non-European divide within the colonial order, highlighting tensions...

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Published in:British Journal of Criminology Vol. 66; no. 5; pp. 977 - 995
Main Author: Darr, Orna Alyagon
Format: Article
Published: Oxford University Press / USA Sep2026
Subjects:
Online Access:View this record in EBSCOhost
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      dt: Sep2026
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        atl: Who Is a European? The History of Special Treatment in Mandate Palestine's Prisons.
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        Prisons
        Ethnic differences
        Prison reform
        Colonial administration
        Palestinian history, 1917-1948
        Europeanization
        Exemption (Law)
      sug:
        subj:
          Prisons
          Ethnic differences
          Prison reform
          Federal correctional services
          Provincial correctional services
          Correctional Institutions
          Commercial and Institutional Building Construction
          Colonial administration
          Palestinian history, 1917-1948
          Europeanization
          Exemption (Law)
      keyword:
        colonial prisons
        confinement
        copyrightHolder:Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (formerly ISTD)
        copyrightYear:2026
        Europeanness
        inLanguage:en
        legal history
        Mandate Palestine
        penal reform
        prisoners' classification
        publisher:Oxford University Press
        punishment
        sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azaf053
        colonial prisons
        confinement
        copyrightHolder:Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (formerly ISTD)
        copyrightYear:2026
        Europeanness
        inLanguage:en
        legal history
        Mandate Palestine
        penal reform
        prisoners' classification
        publisher:Oxford University Press
        punishment
        sameAs:https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azaf053
      ab: This article explores the history of 'special treatment', a regime granting improved carceral conditions, in Mandate Palestine's prisons. The focus on colonial punishment underscores the unstable, negotiable nature of the European/non-European divide within the colonial order, highlighting tensions inherent in penal reform practices within colonial prisons. Based on archival sources, the article demonstrates how the grounds for deservedness were shaped by evolving colonial policies, ethnonational distinctions and challenges from below. The analysis captures a transitional colonial phase—shifting from an explicit favouring of 'Europeans' to subtler forms of maintaining hierarchy. The findings show that Europeanness lingered as an implicit yet effective basis for privilege. Its definition remained fluid and contested, influenced by policy considerations, divide-and-rule strategies and inmate pressures.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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