Stanford prison experiment not ended; only transferred to Palestine

Pars Today- The Stanford prison experiment is only an example to understand the systematic violence unleashed by Zionists against Palestinians.

In 1971, an experiment was carried out at Stanford University in which students were divided into inmates and jailers. In a few days, this simulation went out of control and the jailers started humiliating the inmates. The inmates either surrendered or were killed. The results of uncontrolled authority were horrible. According to Pars Today, quoting from "New Arab", this was just a psychological study, but it turned into a perspective to realize systematic violence. When watching this experiment's cinematic adoption, it cannot be ignored how its simulated findings are similar to the real life in Palestine.

The students of Stanford University played the role of hegemony and this hegemony is exercised in Gaza and West Bank on a daily basis at the price of real souls.

In both cases, what looks as order at the first look conceals a more destructive reality. The structures shape the behaviors. The jailers of the experiment were not sadists in the beginning. They turned into sadists because of the environment. Occupation does the same thing. It creates conditions in which violence is normalized and obedience is propagated and demonstrated as peace.

The regime of power in Palestine controls access to water, electricity, replacement and even the time of death. The people of Gaza live under siege. Their prison is physical, bureaucratic and psychological. Palestinians have lost not only their land but also their magnanimity. This structure has been designed to smash them.

Simultaneously, censoring of information has made this crisis more complicated. Israel's prohibition of any journalist to enter Gaza, has forced the world to rely on the narrations of those who have suffered the crisis. These measures raise the question: What realities are hidden behind these obstacles?

One of the voices which may answer this question is "Mohamed Abu Lebda", 28-year writer and translator from Gaza who says that he has survived 5 wars. He writes, "We are an ordinary family. We used to live in peace with hearts full of love in our small and warm house. We lost everything: house and job; and nothing is left."

After months of worrying silence, he sent a message on WhatsApp to the writer of this article and apologetically wrote, "I'd like to give you a message a few days ago. But, the conditions here were not stable at all. This is the hardest time. When we are hungry, security is meaningless. Is there a chance or a platform needing a writer?"

This is the narration of a person who writes his witnessed accounts from the very heart of the catastrophe. When the most talented people among us are forced to beseech before speaking, the silence imposed by siege and censor is more unpardonable."

Stanford experiment in 6 days; Palestine in 77 years

What the Stanford experiment revealed in 6 days has been going on in Palestine for nearly 8 decades. This comparison is not done for dramatic impression. It is rather the direct reflection of what happens when a group enjoys unlimited authority and control over another one. The Stanford experiment was stopped because of what it demonstrated about man's nature, but the ruthless occupation of Palestine continues.

US: partner-in-crime

However, the United States is not just an innocent and neutral onlooker. The financial assistance and political support of the country has been the main cause of continuation of the Israeli crimes against the entire mankind.

Consecutive American administrations have incessantly sent weapons and equipment to the Zionist regime even after the 7 October 2023 which has gradually jolted the world conscience in all parts of the world, especially in the universities of different countries where students protest against unprecedented brutality unleashed by the terrorist gang called Israel.

While political leaders make themselves keep ruminating hackneyed words, children in Gaza are dragged out of the debris. This is the direct outcome of the system which is fully supported by the US dollars.

Conclusion: Palestine is not a metaphor but an experiment

The Stanford prison experiment is recalled not for its findings but for its moral breakup. Participants tolerated real pain. Researchers left their neutrality and were mixed in the roles they were supposed to watch.

But, Palestinians have not chosen to play the "role" of the inmates. Their restriction is not an option but caused by the conditions which have been imposed on them since their birth. Their houses are not metaphors. Their sorrow is not a theory and their resistance is not a show-off.

Nevertheless, they have stayed. In a system which has been designed to erase them, Palestinians persist in being seen and heard. They continue marrying, raising children, composing poems and struggle for retaking their robbed land and life.  

RM/ME