A Short Summary of the Palestinian Nonviolent Movement

Palestinians have been demonstrating non-violently against the what they see as occupation of their land since the beginning of the twentieth century. None of these protests has brought long-term relief, however, due to a variety of factors. Some resistance, such as the Palestinian “Great General Strike” against the British Mandate in 1936, failed when faced with military repression.i Similarly, a proposed march for the purpose of reclaiming Palestinian homes in 1949 was canceled when an Israeli general threatened to open fire on the participants.ii

The First Intifada, or “Uprising,” from 1987-1993, achieved more success than had previous resistance, but it still failed to accomplish its goals. This Intifada represented a concerted nation-wide nonviolent movement and included civil disobedience, economic boycotts, demonstrations, burning Israeli ID cards, and flying the Palestinian flag. Israel responded by banning popular committees, imposing curfews and travel restrictions, and arresting organizers. In Beit Sahour, which was a center of resistance during the Intifada, a self-reliance movement, refusal to pay taxes, and organizing underground schools prompted the Israeli army to conduct a forty-two-day siege of the town. The Intifada succeeded in gaining negative publicity for Israel, bringing international recognition to the Palestinians cause, and catalyzing the Oslo Peace Accords (though these Accords were not particularly successful, they were still symbolically significant).iii Yet the nonviolent movement lost its momentum after the First Intifada, and some blame this fact for the failure of the Oslo Accords.iv The members of the First Intifada fought with everything they had and neglected to cultivate a culture of non-violent resistance.v Many small-scale nonviolent protests have been carried out since the First Intifada, but they have tended to be overshadowed by the violent resistance of other segments of the Palestinian population. Thus the main factors inhibiting the success of Palestinian non-violent resistance appear to be a lack of continuity of the movement and Israeli threats and suppression.

Some believe that the Palestinians could create a successful non-violent movement if it had a strong, unified, and trusted leadership; conducted a massive boycott of Israeli products; and had the support of the international community.vi Others suggest that highly publicized protests that did not threaten Israeli lives or property and drew attention to the injustices that occur in the Territories are the answer.vii Some of these ideas are supported by Peter Ackerman and Christopher Kruegler’s twelve principles of strategic nonviolent resistance, detailed in their 1994 book Strategic Nonviolent Conflict. The first five principles, focused on laying the groundwork for an effective nonviolent movement, are as follows: establish clear and realistic goals, strengthen the organization, secure material resources, garner external support, and develop a wide variety of nonviolent methods. The next four principles concern interacting with the opponent: attack the opponent’s method of controlling its forces, minimize the effects of the other side’s violence, alienate the opponent’s supporters by publicizing their repressive tactics, and maintain discipline in a nonviolent way. The last three principles involve a broader understanding of the conflict: pay attention to policy, operation, strategy, tactics, and logistics; shift between offensive and defensive tactics depending on the situation; and choose methods that will not only achieve the desired goal but will achieve that goal by the preferred mechanism.viii Although following each of these steps would be a long and difficult process, doing so may be the best way for the Palestinians to succeed in their cause.