“Nonviolent resistance” to end “Israeli occupation” of “Palestinian land”? Different people mean different things when they use these terms. Here is the explanation for the purpose of this website:
Palestinian land
“Palestinian land” are the territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 war and which were inhabited by Palestinians at the time. This leaves out the Golan Heights and also any territory belonging to Israel as a result of the the war of 1948. NVR would not be an appropriate method if one wanted to end Israeli presence there.
Palestinian land therefore comprises: The West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. This is also consistent with international law according to an overwhelming majority of legal experts outside of Israel.
Israeli occupation
Palestinians cannot move freely on Palestinian land. They are subject to restrictions imposed by Israel. There are some places where they are not allowed to go at all, especially where there are Israeli settlements. On this website, ending Israeli occupation means that all these restrictions are lifted and that Palestinians acquire full sovereignty over Palestinian land. This also means that the presence of Israeli citizen on this land is solely subject to Palestinian law. Palestinians would therefore have the right to ask any Israeli citizen to leave or not enter Palestinian land, just as the state of Israel has the right to do so with foreigners on their territory.
Israeli occupation also comprises the sea blockade of Gaza by Israel and the Israeli control of the airspace. It is does not include restrictions on the border between Israel and Gaza. As every other state, Israel has the right to impose restrictions on their own borders or to shut them down completely.
Nonviolent Resistance
On this website, “nonviolent resistance” means that Palestinians will use all forms of resistance except those that can endanger or harm another human being directly. NVR includes force against objects, like damaging, destroying or removing any objects which contribute to the occupation, such as barriers, fences, checkpoints etc. However, it does not include any violent resistance to Israeli action aiming to end force against objects, e.g. arresting Palestinians, insofar as this violent resistance would threaten the life or health of the Israelis involved. Other dangerous activities like throwing stones or Molotov cocktails, provoking accidents etc are also not included.
The non-consideration of any activity putting other human beings at risk is not rooted in any moral judgment. It solely stems from the conviction that NVR will only succeed if it stays purely nonviolent.
NVR is sometimes also called “popular resistance” or “civil disobedience”. Palestinians mostly use the term “popular resistance”.[1] This site nevertheless chooses “nonviolent resistance”. This site is aimed at an audience in and outside of Palestine and to many non-Palestinians the term “popular resistance” would be too unspecific. It does not sufficiently make clear that NVR does not include any activities putting other human beings at risk.
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[1] AlMuqawama AlShabiya المفاومة الشعبيية.