Ahmad Jaradat and Maria Chiara Rioli, Alternative Information Center (AIC)
The relevancy of this Forum is not only in regards to current political affairs, but also holds deeper meaning represented by the traditionally strong role played by social movements in the country; throughout history, since the Ottoman domination, Palestinian civil society has actively expressed its demands and demonstrated its opposition, as well as witnessing the inner contradictions animating the society.
From the beginning of mass Jewish immigration to the region, the Palestinian people started organizing themselves in order to face the problem of land occupation and confiscation. In a country traditionally agricultural in nature, land issues were the main priority in the growing social movements; and in consequent decades the women’s movement also took form. The 1920’s saw the time of the trade unions mobilising workers, firstly gathered in Haifa. In the same years, the effects of the 1917 October revolution in Russia spread the wind of socialism into Palestine. This event, together with European socialism, also affected the constitution of trade unions and the awareness of workers of their own rights.
The events of 1947-1948 held deep consequences also in the history of the social movements. The destruction of families and communities and the violations of the private and public life of an entire country destroyed the possibility of a concrete reaction and a social coalition and opposition. From 1948 to 1967, social movements faced the exile of the Palestinian people and went through a long phase of “elaboration of the trauma”. After the effects and shock of the Nakba, the Palestinian social movement needed time to reorganize its structure and demands. At the same time, the concrete demands of the Palestinian refugees forced the social movement to organize groups and structures to answer the daily needs of the people, especially in the refugee camps. Moreover, the grassroots movements faced a profound need expressed by people made strangers in their own land: the primary purpose was therefore identified in the conservation, redefinition and transmission of Palestinian identity and memory.
1967 was a turning point in the history of the social movements in Palestine, with the constitution of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO); there was also a serious reformulation of the trade unions and grassroots groups, which passed under the umbrella of the PLO. In the villages, more and more groups organized charities and services (providing electricity, water and other facilities) for the Palestinian people, the so-called “voluntary committees” (which particularly mobilized women and young people) which played a very important role against the “village leagues” created by the Israeli government in order to weaken and replace the PLO national leadership. These voluntary committees were authentic experiences of grassroots movements.
Progressively and particularly in the 1970s, the Palestinian cause was seen as the primary example of repression and injustice and the social movement opposing the Israeli regime became the most important one in the region. This vitality of the social movement in the 1970s and in the first part of the 1980s prepared the foundations for the first Palestinian uprising in 1987.
During the Intifada the role of students, women and the various social movements was crucial: the years between 1987 and 1990 were golden years and represented a qualitative and quantitative jump in the history of the Palestinian popular resistance. The first uprising was the result of all the efforts and experiences which matured during the previous decades.
The first Intifada was the peak of action for the Palestinian social movement. The Oslo decade marking the 1990s and the creation of the Palestinian Authority (PA) transformed the reality of the social movement. The movement assimilated into the structure of the PA and increased its political role- at the price of partially forgetting the demands for the rights of Palestinian people.
IDENTITY REDEFINITION
The social movements in Palestine now face different challenges. As in the political context, one of the most critical issues in the social sphere is the division tearing apart different groups, parts and waves. The plurality of the representations of categories and sections reflects the positive multiplicity of reality, but risks weakening the whole movement, thus compromising unity. The contextual frame is further divided by the physical and political separation between Gaza and West Bank and the reality of Palestinians within Israel.
The social movement cannot have the same priorities and demands in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT-Gaza, West Bank, Jerusalem), within Israel and in the diaspora. The importance of a connection between the OPT and 1948 Palestine should be increasingly highlighted to reaffirm that, despite different issues, all these places face the Israeli occupation and aspire to national liberation and the end of colonialism and discrimination, as the task of their struggle and their historical attitude.
Moreover, collective participation in political life has weakened in the last decade. Two events testify to this: the first one is the separation between Gaza and West Bank and between Fatah and Hamas. The social movement did not play a major role in order to prevent this split. The social movement remained silent and did not put concrete pressure on Fatah and Hamas. The grassroots movements didn’t implement people’s demands and priorities and they simply followed private interests linked to a single party. If there had been a social movement with a clear political agenda defending Palestinian social rights, the social movement would have started a non violent struggle to stop the division. Recently, the absence of mass demonstrations after the postponement of the West Bank elections testifies to this self-retreat by the social movement. The Palestinian cause has been gaining international support but inside the OPT unity, cooperation and coordination are still lacking.
Facing the current situation –the failure of the peace process, the stalemate of the negociations and the crisis of democracy in Palestine– the OPT particularly needs a strong social movement with a refreshed agenda and without confusing the right objectives.
THE WORLD EDUCATION FORUM
Preparations for the World Education Forum (WEF) in Palestine, which will be held in October, began 8 months ago through the establishment of responsible committees and a complete programme schedule. The main focus of the Forum will be education, discussed using a broad and holistic approach: starting with the reality of occupation causing severe limitations to the right of education leading to discussions and propositions of alternative options. The aim is to find new ways to counteract the effects of occupation in the Palestinian education sector, and to denounce the education system the Israeli government created to encourage the separation between different parts of the Israeli and Palestinian population. Aiming to link different locations, the WEF will be held in Haifa, in the OPT and in Lebanon (for the Palestinian diaspora).
The WEF constitutes an important opportunity to debate and promote initiatives, with the possibility to open a real democratic space of confrontation and analysis between Palestinian and internationals. So the WEF represents an effective common ground from which different social actors can create lasting alliances.
The importance of the WEF also lies in the contemporary involvement of different regions and areas: West Bank, Gaza Strip, Palestine 48 and Lebanon, including the encouragement of international participation. This diversity will help to advance critical knowledge and awareness of the realities of occupation and consolidate deep and solid relations not only within Palestine, but also abroad.
Finally, the WEF is a precious occasion for the Palestinian social movement to gain new centrality and momentum in defining its role in the defence of the peoples’ rights. The social movement can now choose again to be a concrete tool in achieving goals for the Palestinian people instead of being misused by political interests.