WI: Effective Non-Violent Palestinian Movement?

POD: Mid 1960s

A group of Israeli Arabs in the area of Tel Aviv, inspired by the sucesses of the SCLC and worried about the marginalization of thier people, begins a series of non-violent sit-ins and marches in suppourt of a multiconfessional/secular local school system in the hopes of insuring comparable education for thier children.

Despite opposition from some local clergy (at least one prominant Imam is pragmatic enough to back it) it works, largely due to the reluctance of Israeli soldiers to respond with force to non-threats.

The Israeli Unification Movement, as the organization comes to be called, is derailed by the Six-Day War and associated propaganda; but by the mid-'70s they are actively holding rallys in the Occupied Territories and soliciting suppourt from the Israeli Left with no little success.

The IUM is not a of a single mind (ultimate goals range from complete assimilation into Israel to autonomy leading up to Independence), however it's overall platform consists mainly of the following: Equal Rights for Israeli Arabs (enforced as opposed to theoretical), Civilian government/administration in the Occupied Territories, and Unconditional offers of Citzenship for those Palestinians in West Bank/Gaza not actively involved with Terrorist Groups. On the other side they are actively encouraging Arabs both in the Occupied Territories and Israel proper to join the Israeli military/police as a route out of poverty/into influence and accept citizenship (not to mention vote once they get it).

Although it's membership starts out better than half Christian and Druze, the IUM win over Shi'ites quickly in part due to continual reminders of the situation in the various Arab dictatorships, and the influence of a particularly influential Sufi imam make large inroads into the Sunni population of Judea/Samaria and Israel proper.

Needless to say organizations like the PLO don't like these guys at all and lets it be known in no uncertain terms. Moreover, the worst of the refugee camps in the West Bank and the Slum That Is Gaza remains lively recruiting grounds for them and more radical organizations.

So, does Israel respond to genuinely reasonable Arab demands? And if so can the Intafada and subsequent ugliness be at least partially derailed?

HTG (incurable optimist)

htgriffin said:

So, does Israel respond to genuinely reasonable Arab demands? And if so can the Intafada and subsequent ugliness be at least partially derailed?

HTG (incurable optimist)

Click to expand...

Use PLO excesses to clamp down on all Palestinian groups and use same excesses to marginalise non-violent movement.

I believe that a stronger non violent movement might have changed things. I believe that Israeli public opinion could have been reached.

The irony is that even in OTL most Palestinians and most Israelis could live with a 2 state solution but outrages on each side persuades the other that a just peace is not possible

If the 20th century has proved anything, it's proven that non-violent opposition is amazingly more effective than violent opposition. You have examples of the civil rights movement in the US, India, South Africa, and others.

I believe that if Palestinian non-violent civil rights movement took place, it would likewise be far more effective. The current Palestinian Authority, which is unfortunately the only voice of the Palestinians, only knows how to make demands and back them up through its militant Fatah, while simultaneously claiming to disavow any connection to its terrorism. That kind of "negotiation" doesn't win any friends. If you had a Palestinian non-violent organization, I suspect that, by now, you'd have a unified Israel with Palestinians recognized as citizens, and perhaps even have some semblance of self-rule, perhaps as part of a federated state. It's akin to the situation in South Africa, which took 30 years of struggle.

If there was a nonviolent movement and NO violence on behalf of the Palestinians, the Isrealis would probably respond positively to it. If you have both, no real difference from OTL...

Interesting topic. I think that if both were around, maybe the nonviolent types would be used as a buffer by Israel against the more militant Palestinians. It reminds me of the split between MLK's nonviolent movement and the more militant Black Power movements, except with a lot more violence.