Abstract
In Popular Protest in Palestine: The Uncertain Future of Unarmed Resistance, Marwan Darweish and Andrew Rigby examine the dynamics of the Palestinian struggle against the Israeli occupation. The authors enrich their analysis with interviews conducted with Palestinian resistance activists between 2011 and 2014. The book is organized into ten chapters. Chapter 1 provides a review of civil resistance studies and articulates the conditions which lead to collective resistance against occupying forces in general and unarmed resistance in particular.
Chapter 2 sheds light on how Palestinians (Arabs) reacted to the Jewish migration to Palestine that started in the 1880s. During the Ottoman period, Palestinians reacted against Jewish land purchases by sending petitions to the Ottoman authorities and boycotting Jewish goods and businesses. In 1920, when the Britain announced that it would implement the Balfour Declaration (which envisioned a Jewish homeland), Palestinians protests turned violent. During this period, even though the organizational capacity of the protest movement grew, the efficacy of the protests was weakened due to leadership ineptitude caused by rivalries between the Husaynis and Nashashibis families and the lack a national unity among Palestinians. Despite the 1936–1939 Palestinian revolts (which included defensive and offensive forms of resistance), the state of Israel was established in 1948 with Britain’s support. Consequently, Palestinians soon became refugees in Lebanon, Syria, the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank, thus leaving remaining Palestinians a minority within Israel.
Chapter 3 looks at the conditions of the now minority population of Palestinians within the new state called Israel, specifically between its creation in 1948 until 1966. Rather than resorting to acts of defiance which could possibly incite repressive actions by the Israeli military, Palestinians within Israel continued their resistance through everyday practices (such as cultivating land and building homes despite Israeli government-implemented bans). During the 1970s, the economic situation of Palestinian minorities gradually ameliorated, with this period simultaneously witnessing the burgeoning of Arab organizations and parties; these new organizations became instrumental in taking a stand against bans imposed upon Palestinian minorities and demanding the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Chapter 4 analyzes different forms of Palestinian resistance against Israel. It is argued that, with the establishment of the Palestinian Liberation Organization in 1964, Palestinian resistance against the state of Israel took the form of an armed struggle. However, in the first intifada (uprising) which started in 1987, Palestinians mostly relied on unarmed resistance. By sharp contrast, by 2000, with the rise of a second intifada, Palestinian resistance resorted to a violent form. Furthermore, in contrast to the first intifada in which mass civilian participation took place, civilians played a minor role in the second intifada.
Chapter 5 looks into the resurgence of popular resistance between 2002 and 2013. With Israel’s construction of a wall between the West Bank and the rest of the Israel, unarmed resistance gained popularity among the Palestinian population and led to civil resistance in other areas of the West Bank. Nevertheless, this resistance was not coordinated efficiently due to the rivalries between Fatah and Hamas (Palestine’s main political parties). Popular resistance during this period took many forms of protest, including (but not limited to) demonstrations and confrontations; Israeli and Palestinian activists, along with foreign volunteers, escorting Palestinians in order to protect them from attacks by Israeli settlers and/or the Israeli army; appeals to the Israeli courts; and intentional land cultivation in banned areas.
Chapter 6 maps out the challenges that Palestinian popular resistance currently faces. Darweish and Rigby argue that while the first intifada was characterized by strong solidarity among Palestinians and strong leadership, it failed to receive external political support. The authors also note that, in the second intifada, the sense of solidarity among Palestinians was significantly weakened after the Oslo process which ignored the Palestinian diaspora and Palestinian minorities within Israel. Furthermore, the second intifada was characterized by a lack of efficient leadership, a deficit of organizational resilience, and thus an overall absence of an effective resistance strategy.
Chapter 7 sheds light into the role of Israeli peace activists. The authors note that in the first intifada, while Israeli peace activists were initially actively engaged in the protest against the Israeli government, their activities declined after the 1993 Oslo Accords, mostly due to their perception of the treaty being the terminus of the conflict. The activities of peace activists were listed as conducting solidarity visits, carrying out protests, escorting Palestinians to safety, and influencing Israeli public opinion and legal actions.
Chapter 8 delves into the role of international humanitarian aid agencies in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process. After the Oslo Accords, international aid, which was allocated to the Palestinians, was mismanaged and did not contribute to the growth of local economy. After Hamas came to power in 2006, international donors refused to give financial aid to Hamas due to suspicions of its ties to terrorist groups and instead provided their financial support to Fatah. This detour in funding, in turn, contributed to the fractured leadership in Palestine.
Chapter 9 compares the Palestinian popular struggle with the antiapartheid movement in South Africa. Similar to Palestinians, South African blacks resisted the South African government’s segregation and discriminatory policies. Strikingly, differing from Palestinians, South African blacks were successful in their resistance campaign. Strong leadership of the antiapartheid movement under the African National Congress, the clear vision of the movement, its policy of targeting only buildings, the need for the black workforce in the national economy and (international) economic, and financial pressure are all identified as the primary factors which brought the end of the apartheid regime in South Africa. By sharp contract, the lack of vision of the Palestinian resistance movement, attacks conducted against Israeli civilians, the association of Palestinian resistance with jihadist movements by Israel and some other international actors, Israel’s lack of need for Palestinian workforce, and international community’s unwillingness to punish Israel for its illegal actions against Palestinians weaken the hands of Palestinians against Israel. Chapter 10 summarizes the book’s findings and presents a road map for the unified resistance strategy.
Taken all together, the book carries out a comprehensive analysis by exploring the ways in which Palestinians have engaged in struggle against Israel. It offers a sobering insight into the sufferings of Palestinians. It maps out the periods in which the struggle took violent and/or nonviolent forms. More interestingly, it discusses the implications of the different resistance methods on the Israeli–Palestinian peace process. The book not only makes an empirical analysis but makes a normative argument by stressing the importance of a unified resistance strategy for Palestinians and presenting a road map for its success by taking the following into consideration: the Palestinian leadership, the Palestinians, international community, Israeli activists, and Israeli public.
That said, most interviews with local activists deal with the question of why the Palestinian popular resistance movement failed. A chapter dedicated to how interviewees perceive the role of violence/nonviolence in their struggle and an analysis of local and international factors would have enhanced the authors’ argument and the readers’ understanding of the Palestinian resistance. Overall, Popular Protest in Palestine: The Uncertain Future of Unarmed Resistance is a must read for any scholar interested in the Israeli–Palestinian peace process. Last but not least, the book’s engagement with the Palestinian resistance strategies makes peace activists, civil society actors, and policy practitioners, this book’s target audience.