What is to be done?: Hebron students debate resistance to occupation

The Freedom Bus Playback Theater tour stopped at Hebron University for a seminar on popular resistance yesterday. It drew about 50 students passionately discussing their frustrations with the occupation and their hopes for resistance. The discussion took me right back to pre-Tahrir Square Egypt, where a few brave souls struggled to resist Mubarak’s police state and most frustrated young people could not see how anything would change. Of course, just one spark there ignited the hearts of millions and is changing everything.

At the seminar, there were two speakers: Human rights activist Mazin Qumsiyeh and Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel. Mazin Qumsiyeh recounted the history of popular resistance going back to 1881 – its successes and failures, while Omar Barghouti talked about the campaign of boycott, divestment, and sanctions – its international support and successes. He explained the reasons for academic and cultural boycott, and explained the trap of normalization.

The students’ responses and the discussion are illuminating for anyone working to support Palestinian rights.

Here’s a sample of the questions and statements from the students:

• We want answers to our questions, not just more questions.
• I don’t support the popular resistance. What was taken from us by force can only be taken back by force.
• Why are we not boycotting Israeli products and refusing to work in Israel?
• Only a minority of people here know about BDS. Palestine is the #2 market for Israeli products.
• The PA and foreign NGOs are an obstacle to BDS. There is so much conditional funding.
• Why when we think of peace do we have to think of membership in the UN? We have to demand freedom from the colonizing power which is the US.
• Despite the victories of the popular resistance, we see constant growth in settlements. What are we accomplishing?
• Before we liberate our lands, we should liberate our minds. We see how the Israelis plan for the long term. We should do the same.
• How can we restore our rights through popular resistance when we didn’t succeed in doing so through the first and second intifadas?
• As a farmer, I stopped using Israeli agricultural products, but how can I stop using [Israeli controlled] water?
• How can we unify resistance when we are separated and divided?

And some of the answers:

• Popular resistance does not mean just carrying flags in marches and singing songs. It means inflicting losses on the enemy, making Israel pay the price of the occupation… the reaction of the Israelis to BDS show how much it can hurt them. Sometimes the oppressors prefer armed resistance. It is less costly to suppress and, by definition, cannot be a mass activity. But all forms of resistance have their place in the struggle.
• During the first intifada, everyone boycotted Israeli products. Now we cannot convince people because of conditional funding and lack of support from the Palestinian Authority. We have agencies that sell Israeli products and get commissions for doing so.
• Total boycott of Israeli products is impossible because of the occupation, and Israel’s forced penetration of the Palestinian economy. For example, our agriculture has been destroyed so we cannot feed ourselves now without Israeli products. But we need to do as much as we can here. In the West, boycotting Israeli products is a moral issue — do you want to be complicit with the occupation.
• The academic and cultural boycott, however, is almost totally successful inside Palestine and has a real impact on Israel.
• In Palestine, the achievements of resistance are often not reported. Rather, in the mainstream news, we always read about devastation. Social networks are important here to spread the news. If everyone took just a few minutes a day on their Facebook accounts to talk about the resistance, the stories would be everywhere. For example, what is the impact of the demonstrations in the villages? When Israel began constructing the wall, they said it would take 2 ½ years to complete and cost $2.5 billion. Instead, after 10 years, it is still only 70% built and the cost so far has been $8 billion.
• Like any other resistance, there is no immediate payback. We have to weaken the pillars of the occupation until it collapses.

This intense discussion continued long after the speakers stepped down from the podium. As the noose of the occupation continues to tighten, and the Palestinian Authority appears increasingly helpless to deliver any gains to the population, it is the same discussion that is being heard all over the West Bank.