Creative Responses to Separation: Israeli and Palestinian Joint Activism in Bil'in
| Date | 01 July 2009 |
| Author | Maia Carter Hallward |
| Published date | 01 July 2009 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0022343309334612 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
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vol. 46, no. 4, 2009, pp. 541–558
Sage Publications (Los Angeles, London, New Delhi,
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DOI 10.1177/0022343309334612
Creative Responses to Separation: Israeli and
Palestinian Joint Activism in Bil’in*
MAIA CARTER HALLWARD
Department of Political Science and International Affairs,
Kennesaw State University
This article examines creative ways in which Israeli and Palestinian activists engage with each other and
the powers seeking to separate them in their nonviolent struggles for a just and lasting peace. Using the
geopolitical theory of territoriality, the article briefly examines a number of administrative, physical, and
psychological barriers facing joint activism and the strategies activists use to counteract them. Drawing
on nonviolent theory and practice, the article analyzes how activists exert power through the creative use
of symbols and practices that undermine the legitimacy of occupation policies. Based on fieldwork con-
ducted in 2004–05 and July 2006, the article explores the implications of this activism on conceptions
of identity, and strategies for restarting a moribund peace process. The relative ‘success’ of sustained
joint action in Bil’in can provide scholars and policymakers with innovative approaches for addressing
some of the outstanding issues needing to be addressed by official negotiators. Although government
bodies are more constrained than activists, the imaginative means of engaging with the system – and the
reframing of issues through the redeployment of ‘commonplaces’ – can perhaps provide inspiration, if
not leverage, for thinking outside of the box.
Introduction: Landscape of Conflict
The Israeli–Palestinian conflict has histori-
cally garnered a great deal of international
attention compared with other international
conflicts. A variety of conflict resolution
approaches have been used over time,
including problem-solving efforts bringing
together Palestinian and Israeli ‘influentials’
(Kelman, 1982; Fisher, 1997), ‘dialogue’ or
‘encounter’ projects bringing together school
children or professionals (Abu-Nimer, 1999;
Feuerverger, 2001), formal diplomatic nego-
tiations (Mikhail-Ashrawi, 1995), and inter-
national conferences or meetings, such as
Madrid (1991) and Annapolis (2007). Israelis
and Palestinians from a variety of politi-
cal perspectives have also engaged in peace
activism, using nonviolent tactics – including
letter writing, demonstrations, direct action,
tax resistance, strikes, and military refusal –
to question the status quo and call for more
radical socio-economic and political changes
(Hall-Cathala, 1990; Abu-Nimer, 2006).
Such efforts have had varying degrees of suc-
cess over the years. For example, while the
Israeli group Peace Now was successful in
mobilizing public support for the signing of
the Camp David Accords (Bar-On, 1996),
its efforts to halt settlement expansion in the
West Bank have met with less success (Tilley,
2005; Ofran & Etkes, 2007).
The Challenge of ‘Joint Struggle’
The Bil’in case is interesting because of
the length of sustained nonviolent struggle
against the separation barrier, even after its
construction, and as an example of ‘joint’
* Correspondence should be directed to the author at:
mhallwar@kennesaw.edu.
journal of PEACE RESEARCH volume 46 / number 4 / july 2009
542
( Palestinian and Israeli) struggle. In the
Israeli– Palestinian conflict, anyone parti-
cipating in ‘joint’ efforts sometimes runs
the risk of being seen as a ‘traitor’ to one’s
national cause or as a ‘ collaborator’ with the
enemy. Conflict resolution efforts often try to
mitigate this perception through programs to
humanize the ‘Other’ and by bringing people
from different communities together around
shared concerns. This approach was tried
with limited success after the signing of the
Oslo Accords and was criticized by Israelis
and Palestinians alike for reasons includ-
ing: different objectives for participation
in such groups, power differences between
participants, and failure to address the root
causes of the conflict (see Hurwitz, 1992;
Lustick, 1997; Maoz, 2000; Hassassian,
2002; Kaufman, Salem & Verhoeven, 2006).
Since the collapse of the Oslo Process (often
equated with the failure of Camp David
2000 and the subsequent outbreak of the al-
Aqsa Intifada) the problem of ‘joint’ struggle
has been further compounded by the ‘no
partner’ narrative among Israelis and ‘anti-
normalization’ rhetoric among Palestinians,
as well as by legal measures and physical infra-
structure aimed at separating the populations
(IPCRI, 2002; Celso, 2003; Gordon, 2004).
Even among those Israelis and Palestinians
working for a durable peace, the high degree
of diversity of opinion and disparity of goals
makes joint work challenging ( Hassassian,
2002; Hermann, 2002).
Post-Oslo Activism and the Case of Bil’in
Although diplomatic efforts such as the Arab
Peace Initiative (2002) and the Annapo-
lis Meeting (2007) have found little trac-
tion, the West Bank village of Bil’in – in
cooperation with Israeli and ‘international’1
activists – continues (as of time of writing
in December 2007) to hold nonviolent dem-
onstrations against the route of the separa-
tion barrier, which divides the village from
its agricultural lands, and win an Israeli High
Court ruling that the route of the barrier
through Bil’in should be changed ( Associated
Press, 2007).
Bil’in is a small agricultural town in the
Ramallah district of the Central West Bank.
Located approximately 2.5 miles from the
Green Line (1949 Armistice Line), Bil’in has
been the site of on-going nonviolent resistance
since February of 2005, when wall construc-
tion began in the village. The livelihood of
Bil’in is severely threatened by the separation
barrier, as it cuts villagers off from 50–60%
of their village lands, depriving the 1,600
village residents of access to their olive trees,
a mainstay of the Palestinian rural economy.
The barrier prevents Palestinian farmers from
having regular, unimpeded access and there-
fore makes it difficult for farmers to maintain
their crops and feed their families (Khatib,
2005; Lein & Cohen-Lifshitz, 2005).
Why has Bil’in been successful in sus-
taining an Israeli–Palestinian joint struggle
when so many other efforts have collapsed?
This article uses the theoretical concepts
of ‘territoriality’ and ‘legitimation’ to over-
view some of the obstacles facing Israeli and
Palestinian peace activists. It then analyzes
the case of Bil’in to explore the ways in
which Palestinians and Israelis strategically –
and creatively – use the resources at their dis-
posal to confront Israeli administrative and
military power through nonviolent activism.
The article draws on extensive fieldwork
(interviews, participant observation) among
Israeli and Palestinian activists conducted
1 The term ‘international’, while problematic, is gener-
ally used within the activist community to refer to anyone
whose primary passport is non-Israeli (most West Bank
residents do not have a passport; for those who do, their
Palestinian ID, which has precedence for Israeli authorities,
is linked to it). Some ‘internationals’ are Jews or of
Palestinian heritage living in Europe or the USA, some
are employed by NGOs or volunteer associations based
in Israel or the West Bank, and others are independent
activists.
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