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Smuggled Palestinian prison literature gains outside audience

Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons go to great lengths to pass on their artistic work to the outside, with some prisoners' work gaining widespread attention.
Palestinian men take part in a demonstration is support of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails, on Decembre 11, 2014 in Gaza City. Israel's parliament has passed a law that could block the release in any future peace negotiations of Palestinian prisoners convicted of murder, a spokesman said. AFP PHOTO / MOHAMMED ABED        (Photo credit should read MOHAMMED ABED/AFP/Getty Images)
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GAZA STRIP — During the 22 years he spent in Beersheba prison, writer Shaaban Hassouna managed to draft five novels, which he sneaked out in capsules for his family to print. One of his novels, “Shade of a Black Cloud,” received critical and local acclaim.

Capsules are often used to conceal and transport a prisoner's writings to the outside. The prisoner will write on transparent, thin paper and then fold it and conceal it within a drug-like capsule, which he will then secretly pass to a family member during a visit. The family member then swallows the capsule, and the writings are later recovered from excreted feces.

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