The Israeli Peace Movement by Leonie Fleischmann;

Author:Leonie Fleischmann;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781838600983
Publisher: Bloomsbury UK

6

Beyond the policy realm

Even in the years preceding the creation of the State of Israel, there were Jewish dissenters, who saw the situation differently from mainstream Zionist ideology. They warned not to ignore the indigenous population of Palestine and some argued for a binational state. The events of 1967 led to the emergence of a liberal Zionist peace movement, which was determined to counter the annexationist voices and convince consecutive Israeli governments to exchange the land taken in the 1967 war for peace with their Arab neighbours. Following pressure from the more radical activists, these liberal Zionists began to promote a Palestinian State alongside the Jewish State and saw their vision turn to government policy with the Oslo Agreements. Following the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, the breakdown of the peace talks at Camp David and the outbreak of the violent Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000, Israeli society experienced a shift away from a belief in the peace process and a sustained view that there is no Palestinian partner to negotiate with. The perceived failure of the concept of ‘land for peace’ permeates Israeli society, along with the view that the military occupation of the Palestinians is necessary to maintain the security of Israel. Given this context, it seems sensible to conclude that any attempt at promoting peace or acting for the end of the occupation would be futile. Indeed, those promoting the liberal Zionist perspective have become irrelevant in the Israeli political sphere.

However, unearthing and analysing the internal characteristics and dynamics of Israeli anti-occupation activism outside the context of the Oslo peace process has shown a different story. Other groups have shifted their narrative and messaging more in line with the Palestinian narrative, acknowledging that there are not two sides in a symmetrical conflict, but a history of colonialism, displacement and disenfranchisement. It is this shift that has enabled them to mobilize consistently and achieve influence in areas beyond the policy realm. Despite highly challenging conditions, a movement’s strategic choices are important and can overcome an unfavourable context. While movements may emerge from political opportunity structures, ‘their fate is heavily shaped by their own actions’.1 Understanding how other groups were able ‘to generate and sustain [themselves] despite recalcitrant political structures’,2 provides a much richer picture of this sector of Israeli society.

By virtue of distancing themselves from the Israeli State narrative, Israeli public opinion and even the liberal Zionist component, the radical groups have been able to act despite the obstacles in their way. This has enabled them to develop more confrontational methods of challenging occupation, acting alongside and often at the invitation of Palestinian nonviolent activists. Having been engaged in nonviolent resistance for about a decade, the question of the role of the Israeli activists has emerged, with a consideration of how to use their privileged position to help rather than hinder the Palestinian struggle. As one activist remarked,

we were born to the position of the colonizer, many times we don’t even notice, we talk above their heads. I say we because I know I’m part of it, we all are.

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