Palestinian civil resistance: a case study of the popular struggle against the wall 2002-2013

Abstract

My dissertation explores the Israeli Apartheid Walls¿ violence through the theoretical framework of Johan Galtung¿s triangle of violence. By highlighting the violence triangle, I am able to interpret effective civil resistance strategies used in the popular struggle against the Wall. Drawing upon Galtung¿s theory of violence and peace, I argue that all violence must be equally resisted to achieve positive peace. In Palestine, to achieve peace civil resistance must be employed against the violence triangle of the Wall, and the Israeli occupation. By combating the triangle of violence with civil resistance, the cyclical existence of violence can be transformed into a pathway of peace.

Using the case study of the Apartheid Wall highlights the violence triangle in an extreme contemporary situation. I emphasize how civil resistance strategies were effectively used to combat the violence of the occupation. For my research, I applied qualitative research methods to obtain various types of data from 2002-2013. As a participant observer, I immersed myself in the popular struggle as a solidarity activist from 2003-2005. From 2006- 2013, I conducted in-depth interviews with various Palestinian communities affected by the Wall since its construction. During these ten years I photographed the violence of the Wall, and the resistance movement, as part of a visual ethnography.

What this research revealed was grassroots resistance against the Wall was not successful in ending the occupation; this was largely due to Israel¿s ability to increase structural and direct violence and repress the civil resistance movement. The resistance against the Wall was successful in combating Israel¿s cultural violence, which was achieved by using unarmed methods, ultimately exposing Israel¿s violence triangle to the numerous activists working in solidarity with the Palestinian people. The narrative was then shifted from "Palestinian as terrorist perpetrating the violence", to one of "Palestinian as victim of Israeli violence." My work highlights how Palestinian civil resistance has the ability to end the occupation, and achieve positive peace, when used against the violence triangle.