In the aftermath of October 7th, with Israeli hostages still in captivity and ongoing war, destruction and violence in Gaza, prospects for future peaceful coexistence in the region seem more distant than ever. In conjunction, Hamas’ hardliner positions vis-a-vis ceasefire negotiations in combination with Netanyahu’s refusal to end the war, it seems that leaders in the region are void of any constructive political vision for the future. Recent assassinations of Hamas’ and Hezbollah leaders, the evolving war in Lebanon and encroaching escalation between Israel and Iran has further deepened antagonistic positions.
In the current extremely polarized political climate, Israeli as well as Palestinian actors advocating jointly for future peaceful relations are ostracised in their respective societies and are often accused of collaborating with the enemy. This casting of suspicion serves to create further engulfment between the two societies and restricts possibilities of formulating forward-looking visions for the future. Hence, formerly vivid peace, protest and solidarity movements have been partly paralyzed by the increased societal divisions driven by exacerbated violence.
Due to mounting societal pressure, many activists have chosen to leave peace and and co-existence organizations, and some organizations have become defunct. Despite these worrying trends, new initiatives have emerged, and older ones have had to reassess their methods to fit the current situation. Three distinct patterns emerge from this recent shift.
First, due to increased suspicion against groups and individuals working for goals like long-time peace and/or against occupation have been targeted by the authorities as well civilian organizations. It has been nearly impossible to receive permits for ant-war protests in Israel and in November last year, four high-profile Palestinian leaders in Israel were arrested for having participated in a silent anti-war-protest. Hence, several organizations increasingly work anonymously or with pseudonyms to be able to communicate their messages without personal losses. One such initiative is the newly created Generation Zayin. It is quite a young movement, mainly propagating against the War in Gaza and for a two-state solution for Palestine and Israel. The strategy of the group has been to post non-war posters in the middle of the night and to hand out anti-war brochures and Government-critical manifestos anonymously is schools.
Second, some organizations which previously have worked mainly with peace activism and cross-community dialogue have now redirected their work to stand in solidarity with individuals or groups who are victims of either increased settler violence in the West Bank as well as activists - Israelis and Palestinians - who are targeted by authorities, either the PA in the West Bank or in Israel for their peace activism. One example of this activity is the hotline created by the organization Standing Together, where over 300 volunteers are ready 24/7 to give support in Arabic and Hebrew to people who have been subjected to racism, discrimination, or lost their jobs or have been cut off from university positions due to anti-war activism. We have also seen several volunteer campaigns to offer support to Palestinians in endangered locations in the West Bank and organisations in Israel which have tried to transport and deliver aid to Gazans through the Rafah crossing in Southern Israel. In these types of initiatives, we often see efforts to rehumanize the discourse and the mourning of all lives lost, regardless of nationality.
Third, increased policing of anti-war discourse and deep trauma in Israeli as well as Palestinian societies have also hindered the building of broad coalitions against the war. One example of this is the long-standing collaboration between the Israeli women’s network Women Wage Peace and Women of the Sun, a Palestinian women’s organization. They have always gathered religious as well as secular members from right to left engaged in the joint goal of future peace and co-existence. On the 4th of October 2023 more than 1500 people from both organizations gathered for a joint march to end the cycle of bloodshed consuming their communities and calling for leaders to negotiate. After the 7th of October, where women from both movements lost their lives, they had to reconsider their cooperation. After initial talks and consideration, they decided to continue, focused on their respective communities, and with dedication to continuing working together. One of their primary achievements was a joint declaration by Palestinian and Israeli women united for a peaceful resolution and a future of peace, freedom, equality, rights, and security for their children and future generations seminars, despite trauma and violence. However, when looking at the wordings they have been careful not to arouse too strong feelings. Their manifesto ”A mothers call”, took several months to draft and focuses on a wish for peace, freedom and security for ‘our children and the next generation’. Emerging contentious issues like condemnation of Hamas’ attacks on the 7th of October or Israel’s right to self-defence in their aftermath are not mentioned and it does not suggest a specific solution to end the conflict, nor does it mention the word occupation. This suggests that it is harder than ever to create broad coalitions for peace in the increasingly violent and polarized relations among Israelis and Palestinians. The risk is therefore that any broader coalition formed only can deliver symbolic yet watered down messages that can be accepted by many but have little concrete visions, let alone impact, for the future.
Israeli and Palestinian relations are at an unprecedented impasse with extreme trauma and suffering inflicted on civilians. The text above indicates that Palestinians as well as Israelis working for peace and co-existence have adapted to the situation and are working hard to mitigate distress for individuals as well as collectives. However, as long as violence and destruction continue and political elites are determined to hold on to their hardliner positions, these organizations will have to keep on working against the tide, offering a glimpse of humanity in otherwise extremely dark times.
