People will often ask “where is the Palestinian Ghandi?” as a way of faulting Palestinians for using violent tactics in their resistance against Israeli domination. But the truth is that Palestinians have long used nonviolent means of resistance, though these attempts rarely receive attention in the mainstream media. But scholars have noted that media attention is critical to the success of nonviolent movements, because it is the response of a broader public to nonviolent efforts that “render the opponent’s behaviour too costly socially, economically or politically (Sharp 1990; Galtung 1989).”
In Palestine, instead of nonviolent protests being recognized as a productive move towards resolving the conflict, nonviolent protesters frequently face fines, beatings and imprisonment, if not worse. An example is the case of Abdullah Abu Rahma who received four months in prison for participation in the commemoration of the Nakba in 2016.
Some attempts at nonviolent resistance by Palestinians include the following:
When the Balfour Declaration was issued in 1917 formalizing British support for a Jewish state in historic Palestine, Palestinians knew that their homeland was at risk and mounted diplomatic efforts to get Britain to change course. In the 1930’s these diplomatic efforts expanded into protests and demonstrations that were violently suppressed. In a notable incident in 1933, an 81 year old man, Musa Kazim al-Husseini, was severely beaten by British troops, and died a few months later.
Decades later, the first Intifada of the late 1980’s was a largely nonviolent movement, characterized by mass protests, civil disobedience, strikes and boycotts, or the raising of the Palestinian flag, which had been outlawed by Israel. The extent of Palestinian “violence” during this period was largely symbolic stone throwing. The Israeli military responded with a brutal crackdown that included a policy of breaking the bones of nonviolent protesters, and resulted in over one thousand fatalities.
In 2005, a broad coalition of Palestinian Civil Society began the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement to pressure Israel into complying with International Law and the Universal Declaration of Human rights. Inspired by the South African anti-apartheid movement, BDS calls for global, grassroots action to support Palestinian rights.
More recently, the Great March of Return was a months-long effort by the people of Gaza to draw attention to the Palestinian Right of Return (UN Resolution 194). Beginning in March, 2018, the Great March of Return involved weekly, nonviolent marches to the border wall in Gaza, and was met with sniper attacks on unarmed civilians that could constitute war crimes. The full UN report on these protests can be found here.
Related Links:
Foreign Policy Magazine : Palestine’s Hidden History of Nonviolence
World Peace Foundation: The Silenced Voices of Nonviolent Resistance in Palestine
Assessing Nonviolence in the Palestinian Rights Struggle by Victoria Mason and Richard Falk
Amnesty Report : Six Months on: Gaza’s Great March of Return
Ted Talk: Pay Attention to Nonviolence by Julia Bacha