One
of the criticisms often leveled is that post 2000 or the second
intifada, Palestinian society and NGOs have failed to ignite widespread
non-violent direct action. People are patronizingly told by Western
peace activists or critics that they must initiate peace marches or
checkpoint demonstrations and spend their time working to prevent any
form of violent or armed resistance against Israel.
There
are several points to reply to such criticism. First, Palestinians do
have a long history of peaceful demonstrations, strikes, and other
grassroots community actions to try to counteract the occupation and to
appeal to the human nature of both Israeli soldiers and population to
end a brutal occupation. The first intifada was primarily non-violent or
non-armed civil resistance, from mass demonstrations confronting
soldiers on the streets of towns and villages to widespread strikes
affecting the functioning of Israeli industry, which at that time relied
largely on cheap Palestinian labor.
A
Bloodier Response to Non-Violent Action
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Land
Day protests against the wall, confronting soldiers in Bethlehem,
30 March 2005
© Stop
the Wall
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From
the second intifada, however, Palestinians faced increasing problems in
continuing to organize civil society action to struggle for Palestinian
rights. First, the occupation is of a more sophisticated kind, although
Israeli soldiers raid camps and homes on specific occasions, control is
kept by encircling population areas. Palestinian civilians do not have
to deal with Israeli soldiers within their own towns every time they go
shopping, yet when they do have face-to-face interaction, it is,
therefore, of a more dangerous kind (if that makes sense).
Statistics
of fatalities show that actions which in the first intifada soldiers
would “break your bones” for, today they would receive a bullet in
the eye. Palestinian activists learnt early on in this intifada that
massive demonstrations on the edge of towns or at checkpoints would
receive a bloody response—live ammunition. People have grown tired of
such fatalities, and a widespread feeling amongst the community is that
such action is entirely useless. The killing of two foreign activists
and the wounding of others, including Israeli supporters, has shown not
even “valuable” foreigners can act as protection at such events. In
Gaza, it is not even possible for foreigners and Israelis to get in.
“Stop
the Wall”
Click
here
to view a photo gallery on the struggle against the wall. |
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However,
one of the specific activities which continue is grassroots action and
demonstrations against the building of the series of walls and barriers
in the West Bank. The coalition called Stop
the Wall continues to organize regular demonstrations to protest
land confiscation and the destruction of olive groves and other crops.
Although protestors are routinely injured, the struggle goes on.
