Hot House

The militant Hamas movement won elections to the Palestinian Parliament at the beginning of 2006, forcing the Fatah party out of office. Many candidates were imprisoned in Israeli jails at the time of the elections, most for crimes against Israel, predominantly collusion in suicide attacks. The prisons were home to leading representatives of Palestinian groupings, men who exchanged opinions on their country's future, forming a network of groups and cells. The jails of Israel have in this way become incubators of Palestinian nationalism, hot houses where ideologies are formed and political power grows to the point where it has an influence far beyond prison walls. This unique documentary by Shimon Dotan gets to grips with the basis of the problem of the fragmentation of political representation in Palestine, where instead of public political discussion leaders turn to activism in Israeli jails. Dotan manages to avoid a simplistic view of terrorism, while intimate testimonies shed light on the motives and background of suicide bombers and those who organise them.