Orchestrated Life: Subjectification in 1948 Israeli POW Camps

Abstract: Between 1948 and 1950, the State of Israel held approximately 8,000 Palestinians in prisoner-of-war (POW) camps. In contrast to literatures that view POW camps as mere “warehouses,” analysis of archival evidence reveals that officials sought to constitute the Palestinian POWs as workers loyal to the newly founded state who had internalized their defeat and accepted the State of Israel as an established fact. Propaganda and tightly controlled POW-run initiatives were wielded in an attempt to bind the Palestinians to the desired Israeli truth. These attempts exemplify how everyday subjectification can be understood as a process of affecting action and interaction.