Summary
The worldwide civil society support for the Palestinian struggle — BDS, divestment campaigns, flotillas, tribunals and protests — whose growth Falk’s Part 4 attributes to Israel’s defiance of international law and the Palestinian shift to a legitimacy struggle, and whose proper posture, in his account, is humility about tactics and solutions (Palestine: The Legitimacy of Hope, PDF p.135-138, p.153-157).
Details
- Ali Abunimah as quoted by Falk: a victory against Israeli apartheid, colonialism and racism “will belong to everyone who believes in, and fights for, equality and justice”, and will come primarily from below, from the people, not from governments and special interests (PDF p.135).
- Its purpose as the Part 4 headnote gives it: divestment, indeed BDS generally, is to create a political climate in which intergovernmental negotiations might produce more positive outcomes, the current imbalance in capabilities being so great as to undermine Israeli incentives to reach an equality-based agreement (PDF p.138).
- Its forms in this part: the Freedom Flotilla voyages to break the Gaza blockade, divestment resolutions in universities, churches and labour unions, the Russell Tribunal on Palestine, and campus campaigns such as the narrowly defeated UCSB resolution (PDF p.137-138, p.148-152, p.158-162).
- Its limits as Falk states them after Linah Alsaafin: solidarity initiatives by non-Palestinians risk, without proper sensitivity, undermining Palestinians’ control over their own national destiny, which is the essence of self-determination; outsiders must not judge the tactics of those fighting oppression or supply their solutions, and must step to one side so that solidarity is a welcome contribution rather than “a mild depressant” (PDF p.137, p.154-157).
- Falk’s own role within it is bearing witness: being as truthful and factually accurate as possible regardless of the consensus in the corridors of power, a posture he says will itself be challenged as biased in an Orwellian media world (PDF p.154).
Related pages
Palestine: The Legitimacy of Hope, BDS movement, Legitimacy struggle, Self-determination, Ali Abunimah, Linah Alsaafin