Introduction: Nonviolent Resistance in the Second Intifada

Abstract

In the summer of 2008, Hafez, a nonviolent activist and resident of the southern West Bank village of At-Tuwani, was meeting with other members of the Nonviolent Committee of the South Hebron Hills to discuss plans for an upcoming demonstration. This was to be in response to increasing land confiscation by the nearby Israeli Ma’on settlement and its outposts. Hafez had been beaten and arrested two years earlier for coordinating a nonviolent action in the village, but the experience only reaffirmed his commitment to popular struggle. Indeed, the residents of the South Hebron Hills area continue to engage in regular acts of nonviolent resistance, supported by other Palestinians, international solidarity groups like the Christian Peacemaker Team (CPT), and Israeli organizations like Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR).