Non-violent Movement in Palestine

When I was back in the USA for my Holiday break, I was asked whether there was any hope for the situation in Israel/Palestine to get better. This is a very tough question as the facts on the ground seem to get worse everyday. I answered, however, that the growing and persistance of the non-violent movement in Palestine is one of the more hopeful aspects of this conflict, although there are downsides when looking at this movement as well.

Non-violence has been a part of Palestinian resistance for many years. This outline is from an article written by Sami Awad. Sami Awad is the son of Bishara Awad, President of Bethlehem Bible College. He is now the director of Holy Land Trust, which is a leader in non-violent resistance in Bethlehem.

(Picture-Palestinians and Internationals in gather near the wall for the World March for Peace organized by Holy Land Trust.)

Non-Violence in Palestine - Past and Present
Despite the common mischaracterization of Palestinian resistance as wholly violent or radical, there is a long and rich history non-violent actions and campaigns, as well as a large number of contemporary ones. For instance:

In 1902, the inhabitants of three Palestinian villages - al-Shajara, Misha and Melhamiyya - held a collective peaceful protest against the takeover of 70,000 dunums (7,000 hectares) of agricultural land by the first European Zionist settlers.

In 1936 Palestinians held a six-month non-violent industrial strike against the British Mandate’s refusal to grant self determination to Palestine. The ultimate aim of the strike was to make Palestine ungovernable by anyone but the Palestinians themselves.

Fifty years later, in 1986, Hannah Siniora, then editor of the East Jerusalem Arabic Daily, called for Pales-tinian civic disobedience by boycotting Israel-made cigarettes. This led to a full-scale Palestinian boycott of Israeli soap, food, water, clothes and other consumer goods.

The 1987-1993 First Intifada was largely conducted non-violently. Palestinians held mass public demonstra-tions, refused to pay taxes, and sought out local alternatives to Israeli facilities. Community leader Mubarak Awad initiated olive tree planting on Palestinian land about to be confiscated by Israeli settlers. Israeli law prohibited any construction on land dedicated to growing fruit. Awad used non-violent resistance, and Israel’s own laws, to challenge the encroaching settlements.

Currently, and especially since construction of the separation Wall began on June 16th 2002, Palestinian villages across the West Bank have cooperated in non-violent resistance. The communities of Jayyous, Budrus, Bil’in, Ni’lin and Umm Salamonah have all non-violently resisted the Wall being built around them. Weekly non-vio-lent demonstrations against the Wall are held in the cities of Bil’in and Nihlin (north of Ramallah) which bring together Palestinians and Israelis, as well international activists.


Non-violent protests and movements are often met by overwhelming force from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Israel often disburses members of the non-violent protests against the wall using "tear gas, concussion grenades and rubber bullets to do so, but on many documented oc-casions they have employed live ammunition, and most re-cently have begun showering protesters with a mixture of sewage water and chemicals from nearby settlements."

In addition, many leaders in the Non-Violent movement are banned from entering the country again or are arrested and now spending time in Israeli jail. Mubarak Awad, brother to Bishara Awad and the founder of the Palestine Center for the Study of Non-violence, can no longer reside in the country as his Jerusalem residency ID was revoked and restrictions by the Israeli government were put on the amount of time he could spend in the country, due to his work in non-violence. In the past four months, 3 leaders in the non-violent movement, Mohammad Othman, Abdallah Abu Rahmah, and Jamal Juma', were arrested by the Israeli government and are now spending time in jail for their involvement in the non-violent movement (Source: U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation).

Although it is encouraging to see that Non-violence is growing in Palestine, it is discouraging to see the reaction by the Israeli military and government. With the strong reaction by the Israeli authorities, many members of non-violent movements are losing hope in non-violence and beginning to think that Israel will only respond to violent resistance.

For more information:
Click here for Palestine Monitor, which provides an extensive array of information about Non-violent movements within Palestinian Society. Following are two particularly relevant articles.
Article about Non-violence on Palestine Monitor
Article about an arrest of a non-violent activist
Friends of Freedom and Justice-Bilin provides an overview of the weekly non-violent protests against the building of the seperation wall in this town.