Mohammed Khatib and Jonathan Pollak write in the Huffington Post about Israel's ongoing crackdown on the Palestinian nonviolent movement:
When Jonathan and his friends first came to Bil'in, we Palestinians were surprised to meet Israelis who believed in our rights. But after we saw these Israelis injured and arrested, the people of Bil'in opened homes and hearts to them. We became partners in a joint struggle against Israel's occupation.
Though Palestinians are primarily targeted, Israel's crackdown reaches even Jewish Israelis who enjoy significantly more rights. I, Jonathan, started three months in prison on January 11th of this year for riding my bicycle along with many others in a 2008 protest in Tel Aviv against Israel's siege of Gaza.
I, Mohammed, barely avoided a prison sentence. I was acquitted this month following my arrest a year ago, my release on bail and subsequent hearings. The case was flimsy. Upon arrest I was charged with throwing stones, but I proved that I was overseas the day I was accused of doing so.
However, many other Palestinians, including our friend Abdallah Abu Rahmah, a teacher from Bil'in, have been imprisoned. Abdallah was sentenced to one year in prison for "incitement" and organizing "illegal protests," charges denounced by Jimmy Carter, European governments, and human rights organizations. On January 11th, after Abdallah served 13 months, an Israeli military judge extended his sentence by three more months.
Hundreds of West Bank protesters have been jailed in recent years. Also this month, Israel expelled prominent activist Adnan Gheith from his Silwan home in East Jerusalem to the West Bank. An Israeli military judge ordered this without charges, and based solely on secret evidence that Adnan and his lawyer were not allowed to see. This fundamentally undemocratic persecution is the sort most commonly associated with police states.
Still, our movement is growing and in many ways embodies the principles of equal rights and freedom that have historically galvanized action worldwide. Palestinians from all parties and from throughout the West Bank now come to participate in our protests. And Israelis and people from around the world are joining us.
Yet if Israel is allowed to continue arrests and violence against unarmed protesters without strong criticisms and sanctions from the international community, some Palestinians may conclude that nonviolence is an ineffective path to freedom.
Read the entire article here.
Headline says it all.
What Israel is trying to get the Palestinians to conclude is that there is no path to freedom, and to officially surrender to perpetual imprisonment. Or, better yet, leave.
The Hasbara attack brigade is out in full force over at HP below this commentary. It must have really hit a nerve.
The headline will be perceived as threatening, and paint the non-violent movement as employing only a strategically chosen tactic, but without the underlying ideological respect for one’s adversary that is inherent in genuine non-violent commitment.
It will scare people only.
It is a fantasy of the BDS movement, that scaring people by the threat of “mass civil disobedience” will accomplish any goal (what are they?)
Why are you talking about BDS, when the point is that Israel continues to smash non-violent protest? Essentially all forms of dissent?
Violent dissent is acceptable when all other avenues have been taken. Even Gandhi accepted that.
Why do you always use BDS as an excuse to steer the conversation clear of Israel’s countless well-documented crimes against non-violent protest?
Stop being so partisan.
Goal? Easy enough to look up:
link to bdsmovement.net
‘Obeying international rulings’ means (for example) stopping settlement construction; stopping construction of the wall; stopping the demolitions of Palestinian homes and denial of building permits … just for starters.
Do you find this difficult to understand?
Your comment does not make any sense. The article was not even about BDS.
“means (for example) stopping settlement construction; stopping construction of the wall; stopping the demolitions of Palestinian homes and denial of building permits … just for starters.”
I support all of those human rights efforts, to stop settlement construction, stopping home demolitions, etc.
They changed the headline. Good process for the accurate documentation of dialog?
When are you going to call for Israel to adopt a non-violent platform Richard?
Until you stop promoting jewish supremacism/exceptionalism you really don’t have a moral leg to stand on. In the meantime I’ll continue prioritise bringing to heel those who actually practice violence, daily, in the name of continuing the occupation. The fears of those using machine guns, tanks, f-16, apaches and drones on a defenceless civilian population are way down the list.
I couldn’t count the number of time you’ve been directed to pages on the BDS Movement website explicitly stating their goals, yet you keep asking that same dumb question. Back to your old trolling ways eh? You just can’t help yourself can you?
States have the responsibility to defend their civilians, Sumud.
The goals of BDS used to refer to “ending the occupation”, with the implication of 67 borders. You and others refer to “ending the occupation” and “equal rights” and “right of return”, MUCH more vaguely.
Your right they do. and Israel has failed in that by violating part 3 section 3 article 49 of the fourth geneva conventions. thank you for helping prove Israel doesn’t give a damn about it citizens it cares about expanding.
Israel has never protected its civilians in fact it has gone out of its way to engender attacks against them
There is nothing vague about “equal rights” or the “right of return” when applied universally, as proposed by many here.
There is a lot of sophistry involved in continuing to deny them to the Palestinians however, when applied exclusively as an Jewish/Zionist “birthright.”
You’re right Witty, which includes aboiding situation that place their civialisn at risk. The Israel government as been derelict in this duty, prefrrign to start wars and steal land.
It always has.
They are necesary for the greater good in the world Witty. At least ethnic cleansing won’t be at all necessary to implement these.
One deception after another today Richard.
Israel isn’t defending Israeli civilians, it’s using violence to maintain the longest military occupation in modern history; a massive land/resources theft with 500,000 settlers installed to make sure a Palestinian state can never come into existence.
The goals of the BDS Movement are the same today as they were in July 2005. To suggest you don’t know what they are is blatantly dishonest.
I’ll ask again: When are you going to call for Israel to adopt a non-violent platform Richard?
No State has an inherent and arbitrary right to exist. Most certainly if it is discriminatory. States reform, change, etc. It’s never a walk in the park.
You simply want to keep Jewish privilege above non-Jews in Israel-Palestine.
This reminds me of something I heard about fascist movements in general – how they come to define themselves as apart from the Other. Example: European against the non-European.
Israel wants to get rid of it’s Arab citizens and define itself as Jewish vs. non-Jewish. That’s right, Arab citizens. Did you forget them, Witty?
It’s not as though there was a previous Jewish State. The Palestinians are not recent immigrants.
“States have the responsibility to defend their civilians, Sumud.”
Except the future Palestinian state, it appears.
To my mind only the departure of the Palestinians – p2′s ‘better yet’ – would really do the trick for Israel, that is for Israel as currently constituted. Even the hardline Zionists are aware in their hearts that they cannot practise minority rule over a mass of helots for ever. Which is why outbreaks of terrorism and anti-Semitism would be useful as a pretext for expulsions. And why, to my mind, non-violent resistance is succeeding more than it might seem to be on the surface of events.
Israel evidently prefers war.
Of course it does, that’s where it has an advantage.
“Palestinians will ‘conclude that nonviolence is an ineffective path to freedom’”
Which is exactly what the Israeli government and many other governments want. Because as long as opposition is violent, they can easily paint the picture of the bloodthirsty Muslim/Arab and ignore the larger situation, which is Israeli colonization.
If it is so, they’re stupid.
Why do Western governments want to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan as soon as possible, without any of their once-proudly proclaimed ideals about building democracies put into reality? Because they can’t take the violence anymore. And this only affects soldiers. On the West Bank, where tens of thousands of civilian settlers commute on easily mined roads, the situation would be much worse. And thanks to the spider-web settlement infrastructure, separating the Palestinians from Israel with a nice little wall is not possible anymore.
It is quite possible that after the inevitable collapse of the PA – accelerated by these latest leaks – the West Bank will turn into an Iraq-like quagmire. Then Israel will wish it had taken up the previous Palestinian offers. But it will be too late.
Newsflash – many, if not most of them have probably come to that conclusion long ago.
If nonviolence isn’t working why is the settler-entity Israel increasingl7 resorting to violence in its attempts to punish nonviolent demonstrators? Desperation begets desperate measures, that’s why. Remember, four weeks, that’s all it took for Tunisians to overthrow a tyrant who had ruled over them for 23 years. And this was accomplished with almost no outside help, whereas, there’s long been a worldwide movement that champions the cause of justice for Palestine. Against a rising tide of world opinion, how much longer can the settler-entity last? Maybe til the end of this year, that’s how long. Meanwhile, not to be discouraged by what on the surface may look like a lack of progress. It’s often that way until, suddently, people are saying “Well wadayaknow, here I was thinking that we got nothing to show for all the time and energy we’ve put into this effort.”
Non-violence is not “working” in the sense that it cannot assure a change for a better in short term.
Violence on the side of Palestinians is simply a worse option.
Israel is a small state with a small state mentality. For all the bluster, I think that a threat of isolation can influence the government. Basically, Israel behaves like a child. If a tantrum works, it will be repeated — if it In’t broke, don’t fix it. Long term thinking is for the adults — surely, if something would be bad for us, they would not allow.
Back to non-violence. Right now the choice is between Israel smashing violent movements or non-violent. Non-violence yields slow gains, violence yields regression, apart from some exceptions. And big turning points are possible.
A small turning point for the near future: UN resolution against settlements.
BDS is the right framework. Basically, it consists of small steps that keep the discussion in the desired direction. The only people scared by BDS are the paranoid types who are ALWAYS scared. And complacent — these paranoiacs never decided if they believe in their wolves or not.
BDS convinces Israel that it can never give up, that the intention of the “movement” is for Israel to disappear.
“the right direction”.
“Violence on the side of Palestinians is simply a worse option.”
I’m quite frankly not so sure of that. At this point, it is quite logical for Palestinians to conclude that what they need is not non-violence, but more effective violence.
Violence plus a call from the Palestinian people (in somethiang like a Third Intifada) to the Arab/Islamic masses to rise up and overthrow their puppet governments (Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, among others) that kow-tow to Israel and the US. Timing is important, which means that the Intifada should commence right now, while images of the Tunisian uprising are fresh. A nonviolent Intifada, assuming it got the disciplined support of the Palestinian people, could be just as effective as a violent uprising, as pictures carried on Al Jazeera of Israeli tanks firing on thousands of Palestinian and international protesters would drive the Arab masses to where Tunisa is today and in almost no time at all.