Civil Society

Benjamin Netanyahu just declared that Israel has defeated the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. Yet the movement continues to chalk up victories while Israel ramps up its attacks against defenders of Palestinian human rights, including BDS activists. Al-Shabaka policy analysts examine these threats against Israel’s previous attacks and explore what activists can do to protect themselves and their work.

Beyond the headlines of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) challenge to Israel, there is continuous debate as the movement matures. What other strategies do Palestinians need? Are comparisons with South Africa appropriate? What about problems with international law? What of gray areas around normalization? Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor and BDS co-founder Omar Barghouti addresses these and more.

The New Year brought further attacks against the Palestinian citizens in Israel’s rights to exercise freedom of speech and association. Left-wing Israeli Jewish organizations are also under increasing pressure. Al-Shabaka policy members Nadim Nashif and Raya Naamneh analyze the impact of these attacks by both the Israeli government and right wing organizations espousing an extremist ideology.

The success of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement launched a decade ago owes much to the constancy of its founding principles and the flexibility of its context-specific actions, as is evident in this policy brief written half-way along the road by Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Omar Barghouti and republished today.

Are people’s movements intrinsically superior to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or is there a role for different types of organizations in the Palestinian civil society spectrum? Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Fateh Azzam reviews some of the recent critiques of NGOs in favor of popular movements. He discusses the issues of representation, agendas, and funding, among others, and argues that there is room for all.

Palestinians under Israeli occupation led the civil resistance that culminated in the First Intifada of the 1980s. By the mid-1990s, much of civil society was “NGO-ized” draining the Palestinian national movement of leadership. Al-Shabaka Policy Member Tariq Dana examines the shift in organizational agendas and tactics and recommends ways to reverse course.

  July marked the sixth anniversary of the ruling by the International Court of Justice on Israel’s Wall in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. Al-Shabaka policy advisor Jamal Juma’ examines how and why the Wall was established and how can Palestinians utilize the ICJ ruling to achieve their rights.

Arrested on May 6 at his home in Haifa, Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Ameer Makhoul is due to stand trial beginning on 27 June. Writing from Gilboa Jail, Makhoul describes how his arrest, interrogation, torture and trial using "secret evidence" are Israel's tools for the criminalization of human rights defenders.

As progressive forces in the United States prepare to convene the second U.S. Social Forum this week in Detroit, Al-Shabaka Policy Advisor Noura Erakat comments on the gap between Palestinian and Arab dreams of an America committed to justice and the reality of the work it would take to achieve this dream

Al-Shabaka policy advisor Omar Barghouti examines the formation and evolution of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement. Barghouti argues that BDS's growing success is due to its rights-based approach, collective leadership, call to Israelis of conscience, and promotion of context-specific strategies.