Palestinian Popular Struggle Palestinian Popular Struggle challenges conventional thinking about political action and organization. It offers an alternative to the seemingly failed tracks of armed struggle and diplomatic negotiations. A discourse of rights and global justice helps bridge national and religious divides, drawing Jewish Israelis and diverse supporters from around the world to participate in direct- action cam- paigns on the ground in the West Bank. The movement has some important achievements and continues to offer innovative approaches to the Israeli– Palestinian conflict. This book summarizes Palestinian traditions of popular struggle and presents original field research from the West Bank, drawing on several months of parti- cipant observation, over twenty- five hours of recorded interviews with Palestin- ian activists, and more than 200 questionnaires gaging public perceptions about the strategies of the popular committees. One of the book’s major case studies is the village of Nabi Saleh, which recently became well known when one of its activists, a sixteen- year-old girl named Ahed Tamimi, was imprisoned for slap- ping Israeli soldiers outside her family home. The book offers insight into new waves of Palestinian popular protest, from the 2017 prayer protests in Jerusalem to the 2018 march of return in Gaza. Pal- estinian Popular Struggle is a valuable resource for researchers and students interested in War and Conflict Studies, Politics and the Middle East. Michael J. Carpenter is a post-doctoral fellow with Borders in Globalization at the Centre for Global Studies, University of Victoria, Canada. His research inter- ests include participatory governance, civil resistance, Middle East politics, international relations, and political theory. Routledge Studies on the Arab–Israeli Conflict Series Editor: Mick Dumper University of Exeter The Arab–Israeli conflict continues to be the center of academic and popular attention. This series brings together the best of the cutting edge work now being undertaken by predominantly new and young scholars. Although largely falling within the field of political science the series also includes interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary contributions. 21 Palestinians in Jerusalem and Jaffa, 1948 A Tale of Two Cities Itamar Radai 22 Palestinian Political Discourse Between Exile and Occupation Emile Badarin 23 Islamic Development in Palestine A Comparative Study Stephen Royle 24 The History and Politics of the Bedouin Reimagining Nomadism in Modern Palestine Seraj Assi 25 Palestinian Popular Struggle Unarmed and Participatory Michael J. Carpenter 26 Israel in the Post Oslo Era Prospects for Conflict and Reconciliation with the Palestinians As’ad Ghanem, Mohanad Mostafa, and Salim Brake For more information about this series, please visit: www.routledge.com/ middle eaststudies/series/SEAIC Palestinian Popular Struggle Unarmed and Participatory Michael J. Carpenter First published 2019 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2019 Michael J. Carpenter The right of Michael J. Carpenter to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging- in-Publication Data Names: Carpenter, Michael J. (Writer on the Middle East), author. Title: Palestinian popular struggle : unarmed and participatory / Michael J. Carpenter. Description: Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2019. | Series: Routledge studies on the Arab-Israeli conflict ; 25 | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2018035388 (print) | LCCN 2018039449 (ebook) | ISBN 9781351008846 (master) | ISBN 9781351008839 (Adobe Reader) | ISBN 9781351008822 (Epub) | ISBN 9781351008815 (Mobipocket) | ISBN 9781138542396 | ISBN 9781138542396(hardback) | ISBN 9781351008846(ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Palestinian Arabs–Politics and government–20th century. | Palestinian Arabs–Politics and government–21st century. | Protest movements–West Bank–History. | Protest movements–Gaza Strip–History. | Intifada, 1987-1993. | Al-Aqsa Intifada, 2000- | Civil disobedience–West Bank–History. | Civil disobedience–Gaza Strip–History. | Government, Resistance to–West Bank–History. | Government, Resistance to–Gaza Strip–History. Classification: LCC DS119.7 (ebook) | LCC DS119.7 .C352 2019 (print) | DDC 956.94/2055–dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018035388 ISBN: 978-1-138-54239-6 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-351-00884-6 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear For people struggling everywhere Contents List of figures ix List of tables x Preface xi Acknowledgments xiii Transcription and transliteration xiv Arabic terms and alternative transliterations xv List of acronyms xvii Introduction 1 Contending views of power 1 Ethics, methodology, outline 5 1 Palestinian popular struggle 9 Prelude 9 Roots and branches 15 People and stones 30 2 Intifada of the Stones 39 Eve of the uprising 40 A golden age of resistance 43 Oslo and the end of popular struggle 56 3 Popular struggle against the wall 61 Return of the popular committees 62 Friday protests and media savvy 67 viii Contents 4 Global vision and new partners 89 Local and global 90 Enter NGOs and old leaders 96 Nabi Saleh and the lost spring 103 5 Direct action beyond the villages 113 New sites, new tactics 113 2011: another lost spring? 115 Action beyond the wall 119 6 Popular committees and participatory deficits 134 Then and now 137 Decision- making, leadership, exclusions 140 Constructive work: land, media, and more 147 The curse of money (and other obstacles) 158 Conclusion 162 Summary 162 Implications 164 Appendix 168 1 Field research overview 168 2 Interview data 170 3 Questionnaire data 177 Index 189 Figures 6.1 Organizational depth for coordinated actions 143 A.1 “For Palestinian goals today, which is more effective?” 178 A.2 “Most popular committees (for example, in Nabi Saleh, Bil’in, Budrus) are organized and led by …” 179 A.3 “Popular committees invite everyone to participate” 179 A.4 “Popular committees are dominated by a few individuals” 180 A.5 “Popular committees are democratic” 180 A.6 “Popular committees exclude part of the community” 181 A.7 “Popular committees exclude women” 182 A.8 “Popular committees should lead the national struggle” 183 A.9 “Popular committees should follow orders from politicians” 183 A.10 “Decision- making processes should be ‘bottom up’ ” 184 A.11 “Decision- making processes should be ‘top down’ ” 184 Tables 6.1 Participatory comparison table 139 A.1 “Participant background” 185 A.2 “For Palestinian goals today, which is more effective?” 185 A.3 “Most popular committees (for example, in Nabi Saleh, Bil’in, Budrus) are organized and led by” 185 A.4 On popular committees 185 Preface A growing movement of Palestinian popular struggle is changing the dynamic of conflict in the Middle East. Popular struggle is people power. It is fighting without military weapons, and it is organizing from the grassroots up. Unarmed and participatory, it offers alternatives to the old ways of top-down leadership and militarized struggle. It empowers ordinary people and de- escalates cycles of violence. Palestinians have a long history of this kind of struggle, but it is often overshadowed by elite politics and armed resistance. In more recent years, popular struggle has become increasingly salient, as well as increasingly global, and it has begun to overtake the old ways. This is a book about Palestinian traditions of popular struggle, with an empha- sis on recent movements in the West Bank. The book is not about Israel or Israe- lis, except indirectly, as the occupation and Israeli solidarity activists variously impacted the Palestinian movement. Western audiences sometimes expect any- thing Palestinian to be paired with something Israeli. This book resists that expectation. The book also resists the temptation to focus on violence and war, despite their proximity and frequent interventions in the coming pages. Nor is the book concerned with charismatic leaders or the halls of diplomatic power. Ordinary people, groups, and communities are the protagonists of this story. Lastly, the book also avoids the discourses of nonviolence and nonviolent resist- ance. Popular struggle is unarmed, meaning non- militarized, and it sometimes includes violence, in particular the relatively minor violence of youth throwing stones at occupation forces. Philosophically, the book is between worlds. Defenders of armed struggle may suspect that my focus on unarmed Palestinian struggle betrays the naivety and comfort of white colonial privilege. Champions of nonviolence, on the other hand, may refuse to accept that stone throwing or any other acts of violence