Context
Israel’s war on Gaza continues at a relentless pace since the temporary ceasefire in early 2025, while violence and repression have also sharply intensified across the West Bank. The violence against civilians in Gaza, especially the most recent reports of the Israeli military’s intentional attacks on civilians at humanitarian aid sites, is an abomination, adding more to the vast pile of evidence demonstrating crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide in Gaza. There was evidence in the earliest months of the war of disproportionate violence against civilians and civilian infrastructure in Gaza. Research reviewing the damage to civilian infrastructure during the first phase of Israel’s military campaign (from October 7 to November 22, 2023) found that what is taking place in Gaza “has few, if any, precedents in recent conflicts. Within just 46 days, much of the critical civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip was damaged or destroyed”.
It has been 20 months since the beginning of the war in October 2023, and the situation for civilians has deteriorated further. In contexts of such extreme violence and destruction, opportunities for nonviolent action and peacebuilding become severely constrained. This is one of militarism’s most insidious consequences—it narrows the space for alternatives to violence and warfare, making them far more difficult to pursue, though not beyond reach. This month’s round-up of articles explores different approaches to nonviolent action and peacebuilding within the context of Israel and Palestine.
What we’re reading
For each of the articles mentioned below, we include the central research question examined and the author’s main findings.
1) Kroll-Zeldin, O. (2025). Co-resistance activism in Palestine/Israel after October 7. Peace Review, 37(1), 13-19.
What does Palestinian-Israeli co-resistance look like in the aftermath of the attacks of October 7th and how does it contribute to the broader struggle for Palestinian liberation?
- While co-resistance to Israeli occupation is always Palestinian-led, the participation of Jewish activists is symbolically and materially powerful, as they can “leverag[e] their privilege” to resist and help mitigate Israeli state violence against Palestinians.
- Co-resistance has faced additional challenges since October 7, 2023, stemming from “new layers of trauma and deepened mistrust” on both sides, whereby activists’ own community members pressure them not to engage with those on the other side.
- On the Palestinian side, any engagement with Israelis—even activist Israelis—is seen by some as “normalization” of the unjust and violent status quo; on the Israeli side, where there has been increased nationalism and militarism since October 7, co-resistance is seen by some as a “betrayal of national unity.”
- In addition, due to the Israeli state’s crackdown on dissent, activism has become both more difficult (for instance, to cross checkpoints for meetings or protests) and more dangerous—certainly for Palestinian activists but also even for Israeli/Jewish activists, which may deter some from participating.
- One co-resistance organization, the Center for Jewish Nonviolence (CJNV), mobilizes Jewish people from around the world and particularly the U.S. to engage in “nonviolent direct actions alongside Palestinian partners”—for instance, “rebuilding demolished Palestinian homes,” “reclaiming [Palestinian] land,” and helping protect Palestinians from Israeli settler violence in places where it often occurs—while also using its “platform to amplify Palestinian voices and struggles within global Jewish communities.”
- While Jewish co-resistance activists have faced backlash from broader Jewish communities worldwide, CJNV offers a critical counter-narrative about “Israeli policies of apartheid in the West Bank and genocide in Gaza,” framing them as violations of “core Jewish values” like “justice (tzedek), peace (shalom), and repairing the world (tikkun olam)” and thereby providing “an alternative vision of what Jewish ethics demands in the face of violence.”
2) Broeckerhoff, A., Sulin, L., Soliman, M., & Darweish, M. (2024). ‘The Harvest is a Poem’: Everyday practices as culture and resistance in the occupied Palestinian territory. Journal of Resistance Studies.
How do “everyday practices that are not politically articulated constitute a form of everyday resistance?”
- In the context of violence and occupation, cultural practices (shaped by relationships, changing over time, and influenced by power) and everyday actions can constitute acts of resistance, even when done without any political intent (“resistance as a consequence”).
- The transmission and embodiment of Sumud (“steadfastness”) within Palestinian culture as a form of collective, albeit diversified, resistance against Israeli occupation allows for a unifying and homogenous experience (“fostering solidarity”) between an occupied people, in resistance against their occupiers.
- The “songs of harvest” are part of Palestinian oral tradition—songs sung during harvest time that involve short and repetitive prose and allow for the preservation and transmission of knowledge and cultural practices. The songs include seasonal and rhythmic patterns indicating which crops to plant and when, while also passing down harvesting methods from one generation to the next, fostering intergenerational cohesion and transforming arduous tasks of tending to the land into a meaningful space of community and connection.
- The “songs of harvest,” and the embodiment of harvesting as a poem (in which beauty, presence, connection, and sacredness is cultivated and part of everyday living), underscore the relationship the Palestinian people (particularly the natives of Masafer Yatta) have to their land and to their farming and pastoral lifestyles. This connection to land inherently challenges the Israeli occupation’s narrative of the land being barren and unoccupied and hence suitable for military activities—a narrative that justifies declaring an area with 12 Palestinian villages as Firing Zone 918, the displacement of native Masafer Yatta residents, and further expansion of illegal Israeli settlements.
3) Penić, S., Vollhardt, J. R., Donnay, K., Albzour, M., & Bhavnani, R. (2024). The geography of military occupation and its effect on Palestinian community cohesion, norms, and resistance motivation. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 30(1), 94–106. https://doi.org/10.1037/pac0000684
In the Occupied Palestinian Territories, how do ties to the local community affect people’s willingness to take part in nonviolent resistance—and how does the presence of surveillance systems influence this?
- Proximity to surveillance infrastructure (Israeli settlements, checkpoints, the separation barrier, and military installations) affects community cohesion and nonviolent civil resistance motivation.
- Community cohesion and community norms of solidarity are associated with an increased willingness to engage in nonviolent civil resistance. This matters because when social cohesion breaks down and collective action becomes more difficult, people may be more likely to resort to violent forms of resistance.
- Community cohesion is linked to higher expectations of solidarity with other community members engaging in nonviolent resistance. In the context of occupation, shared norms make it easier for individuals to stand with others in their group and take collective action.
- Communities closer to Israeli surveillance infrastructure have less community cohesion, lower expectations of solidarity with nonviolent resistance, and less willingness to engage in nonviolent resistance.
- “The vast majority of the Palestinian communities have at least one Israeli settlement, checkpoint, military installation or segment of the separation barrier, within a 5-kilometer radius.” The findings show that the simple fact of living in the proximity of such structures undermines community cohesion and the potential for nonviolent civil resistance.
- The surveillance infrastructure (Israeli settlements, checkpoints, the separation barrier, and military installations) obstructs collective community resistance by undermining internal processes of creating community ties and solidarity, due to physical separation, limitations in communication, and fear of repression by the Israeli occupation.
Informing Practice
Nonviolent civil resistance is often successful because it shines a spotlight on the injustices and excessive violence committed by the aggressor, forces the aggressor to question their own justifications for engaging in violent repression, and potentially shifts the allegiances of various segments of society and/or outsiders to support a movement’s demands (whether those demands are for democracy, justice, equality, peace, etc.). Yet, more recent evidence shows that oppressive, authoritarian governments have “developed a repertoire of politically savvy approaches” to undermine nonviolence. Militarism, along with rising authoritarianism, creates conditions that make successful nonviolent resistance less effective.
In the context of Israel and Palestine, extreme violence severely constrains attempts at peacebuilding, solidarity among Israelis and Palestinians, and freedom from occupation for Palestinians, as Kroll-Zeldin’s research on co-resistance shows. It also makes it more difficult and dangerous for Palestinians to organize nonviolently. For years, the Israeli government has created a security infrastructure that makes it harder for Palestinians to organize and stay connected as communities (Penić et al.). Although presented as a security measure, this system functions as a tool of control and may actually fuel violence by undermining the ability of Palestinians to engage in nonviolent action.
At the same time, the findings highlight significant opportunities for change. First, acts of Palestinian-Jewish co-resistance, though often met with backlash, offer a powerful counter-narrative that challenges dominant discourses and opens space for a different sort of Jewish ethical engagement with Israel/Palestine rooted in solidarity and accountability. Second, everyday cultural practices can become unintended but meaningful acts of resistance. Even without formal political intent, these daily actions push back against control and sustain community life under occupation. The everyday acts of living and existing as Palestinians connected to their land pose a threat to the Israeli occupation narrative, as Broeckerhoff et al. suggest. Together, these insights suggest that supporting solidarity across communities and recognizing resistance in everyday life are key to challenging militarized systems of domination.
Even when the opportunities for nonviolent resistance are limited, especially with regard to achieving the ultimate goal of ending occupation, the reviewed research points to the existence and importance of co-resistance, community ties, and persistent cultural practices to sustaining nonviolent resistance. These efforts are interwoven and require constant nurturing and support to create a tapestry of resistance, especially in the context of extreme violence and genocide.
In the current context, one of the few leverage points for peace and justice is international influence—specifically, the United States as a powerful actor who can sway the Israeli government. As a result, everyday Americans supposedly have the power to tip the scales.
However, as our last newsletter explored, authoritarianism is a major concern in the United States today, and the corrosive influence of both U.S. and Israeli militarism is resulting in attempts to restrict freedom of speech and assembly. These assaults on fundamental liberties target not only those who advocate for Palestinian rights or criticize the actions of the Israeli government but also a broad spectrum of individuals and groups.
Why this matters for U.S. audiences:
- Free speech is under attack in the United States. In the U.S., the government’s broad and politically driven definition of antisemitism has been used to silence criticism of Israeli government policies and to suppress pro-Palestinian activism. This not only undermines constitutional rights but also confuses legitimate criticism with hate, weakening efforts to fight real antisemitism.
- Militarism makes everyone less safe. By uncritically supporting Israel’s militarized policies and justifying them as “security,” the U.S. government is complicit in genocide and brings the logic of repression and control back home. The growth of white Christian nationalism in the U.S., often paired with antisemitic conspiracy theories, is a serious and ongoing threat to Jewish safety. Ironically, efforts to protect Israel from criticism in the name of protecting the Jewish community may actually fuel conditions that make Jewish people in the U.S. and around the world less safe.
- The U.S. population is not isolated from the conflict. U.S. military aid and diplomatic support directly influence the conditions in which Palestinians live and resist. However, the effects go both ways: the entrenchment of militarized thinking abroad reinforces similar trends at home, from the suppression of campus protests to the normalization of surveillance and police militarization.
Ultimately, the research confirms that co-resistance, community cohesion, and cultural resilience are important—not only in Palestine but also in the U.S. Challenging militarism and authoritarianism involves defending space for dissent, protecting threatened communities, and working across differences to build a more just and peaceful future.
As the great American writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin pointed out in his work “Notes of a Native Son,” written in 1955 and focused on the corroding nature of dominance and dehumanization: “It must be remembered that the oppressed and the oppressor are bound together within the same society.” With this understanding, we can see that there will be no true freedom for anyone within the present-day boundaries of Palestine-Israel unless the Occupation, including the logics and mechanizations that sustain it, is undone.
Resources
- Bashir, B., & Goldberg, A. (Eds.). (2018). The Holocaust and the Nakba: A new grammar of trauma and history. Columbia University Press. (https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-holocaust-and-the-nakba/9780231182973/)
- Chenoweth, E. (2020, July). The future of nonviolent resistance. Journal of Democracy, 31(3), 69–84. (https://www.journalofdemocracy.org/articles/the-future-of-nonviolent-resistance-2/)
- El-Kurd, M. (2025). Perfect victims: And the politics of appeal. Haymarket Books. (https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2499-perfect-victims)
- Institute for Palestine Studies: https://www.palestine-studies.org/
Photo credits
- Wikimedia Commons
- delayed gratification via Flickr
