Meeting violence with non-violence: responding to injustice through peaceful interventions in Palestine.

Description

Drawing on his ongoing research in the occupied West Bank, Dr Marwan Darweish spoke about enhancing unarmed civilian protection amongst Palestinian communities in the South Hebron Hills-Masafer Yatta. He discussed:
• The increase in settler violence following the November 2022 Israeli general election that resulted in the most right-wing government being formed in Israel’s history.
• Following October 2023, state and settler violence has ramped-up even more, this time under the cover of the war. The war and restrictions on movement and travel have led to a drastic reduction in space for unarmed civilian protection.
• The significance and challenges of accompaniment and accompaniers (Palestinian human rights activists, Israeli solidarity groups and internationals) and reported that the Palestinian response to this has been Sumud (steadfastness) and explored some of the dimensions of community-based resistance.
A range of topics were explored during the discussion time. This included:
• The role of armed struggle versus non-violent resistance and that since October 2023, there has been a failure on the part of some peacemakers and activists because they have remained silent and only a select brave voices had remained.
• The important role of BDS and some of the practicalities around this when it comes to academic boycott particularly. The speakers highlighted that the academic boycott is the boycott of Israeli institutions not individuals but that it is important to recognise that when academics within these institutions challenge Israel’s discrimination against Palestinians they are often ostracised and suspended. This undermines the assumption that Israeli universities are ‘progressive’ or are spaces that allow for critical debate. The importance of working with progressive civil society was underscored and how this is a pragmatic approach that allows for the involvement of Israeli actors within the struggle for Palestinian rights.

Period	7 Mar 2024
Held at	Queen's University Belfast, United Kingdom
Degree of Recognition	International