Released terrorist: Before Oct. 7 “we controlled the prisons. The prison management and the police were our servants”
Official PA TV program War Documents interviews released terrorist prisoner Shadi Barghouti who attempted to kidnap Israeli soldiers
Released terrorist prisoner Shadi Barghouti: "Our condition [in Israeli prison] before Oct. 7, [2023] (i.e., Hamas' terror war on Israel) was a normal, regular life. True, it was imprisonment, but we had a living space, we communicated [with the family]." …
Official PA TV host: "There are televisions."
Shadi Barghouti: "There are televisions. There's everything. Everything is available."
Host: "Radio."
Shadi Barghouti: "In the prisons, the prisoners had the control. We had the upper hand. We controlled the Israeli Prison Service or the prison management and the police. They were our servants. They looked for us to be satisfied, [saying:] 'The most important is we just want quiet.'"
Host: "A stable situation."
Shadi Barghouti: "Yes, quiet for quiet. We in the prisoners' movement knew [that] if you [the IPS] want quiet, give us our rights and [what we want]. The achievement that we especially succeeded with was the cell phones… Every day there was contact with the family in spite of them, why? Because they knew what the response of the prisoners' movement would be [if not]. But after Oct. 7, everything changed."
[Official PA TV, War Documents, Feb. 15, 2025]