Between Aqsa protests and BDS, a new Palestinian resistance dawns?

The two weeks of Al Aqsa resistance prayers shattered both of these weaknesses, and as such could trigger new forms of political activism among Palestinians in the months and years ahead - especially given that Palestinian citizens of Israel actively supported the protest, and the widely discredited official Palestinian leadership in Ramallah had little impact. 

 
Probably the most important factor in grasping why this protest occurred, and succeeded, is the day-to-day vulnerability of every Palestinian man, woman, and child living under Israeli occupation in Arab East Jerusalem.

In every aspect of their lives, these Palestinians live in fear and uncertainty that at any moment they could be arrested, shot, harassed or evicted from their homes by Israeli settlers. They are under constant threat of having their Jerusalem residence cards revoked, being prevented from travelling or denied construction or business permits, and they suffer many other acts of aggression that hinder daily life.

Twitter Post

For them, Israel's occupation seeks to deliberately make their life difficult, as a way of encouraging them to emigrate, so that Jerusalem's Arab population decreases proportionally to its Jewish population (Jerusalem's population of 850,000 is around 64 percent Jewish and 36 percent Arab). 

In this context, Arab Jerusalemites feared that Israel's unilateral introduction of "security" gates and cameras at Al Aqsa on July 14 would lead to other changes at the site. Previously, Israel partitioned the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron into Jewish and Muslim prayer sections.

	Read more: Thousands rally in Istanbul over Israeli measures at Jerusalem's Aqsa mosque

Particularly acute fears about Al Aqsa's fate also reflect the growth in recent years of fanatic Zionist groups, supported by some Israeli government ministers, who want to demolish the mosque and re-build the ancient Jewish temple that once stood there. These groups are planning a major march in the Aqsa area this Tuesday 1 March. 

Finding themselves politically leaderless in the face of such threats, the city's Palestinians reacted spontaneously to prevent even the smallest change in the status quo at the site; they insisted on preserving the 2014 agreement that Jordan, Israel and the Palestinians had reached to maintain the Aqsa compound as a place where Muslims congregate and pray, and all others can visit.

Full Palestinian Arab Muslim control of the built area of the entire Al Aqsa and Dome of the Rock compound has been the agreed status quo for years; Israel, for its part controls the Western Wall of the Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) or Temple Mount compound they revere as a remnant of an earlier ancient Jewish temple.

In the BDS movement and the Aqsa prayer resistance episode, Palestinian society now has at least two models of nonviolent resistance that have proved more effective than the traditional political leadership

When the Palestinians acted spontaneously and independently to protect themselves and their sovereign control of the Aqsa compound, four key actors, among others, converged to drive the mass protest under the broad leadership of the religious authorities who share responsibility for the Aqsa compound:

The hirak youth movement which comprises some 100,000 young men and women in Arab East Jerusalem who neither fear Israel nor respect the Palestinian official leadership they feel has abandoned them; the leadership of Al-Aqsa's Islamic waqf (religious endowment) that manages the site with three other local Islamic religious officials; the activism and round the clock street support of the entire community that transcended pious Muslims to include Christians, secular, groups, civil society, and others; and the direct participation of Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel who travelled to join the Jerusalem protest.

	Read more: People power in Jerusalem: Al Aqsa's winners and losers

Jordan and the Palestinian National Authority in Ramallah were consulted regularly, but the four key groups above drove the protests.

Confronted with Israel's new unilateral measures that constrained their daily lives, and virtually abandoned by the Palestinian leadership and other Arab states, the Palestinians protested and resisted as a means of asserting their presence and their rights in Jerusalem.

They say their actions reflect their determination to "resist to exist in dignity, for freedom and independence". 

Israeli leaders and public opinion were clearly worried by the spectacle of a 100,000 or more Palestinians peacefully demonstrating in Jerusalem, with the direct support of Palestinians who are Israeli citizens, under their own dynamic and legitimate local leadership.

The most frightening aspect of these developments for Israelis would see such effective nonviolent resistance link up with the Palestinian civil society movement for boycott, divestment and sanctions on Israel (BDS movement) in order to campaign against Israel's treatment of all Palestinians - those in Israel, the occupied territories, and in exile abroad.

In the BDS movement and the Aqsa prayer resistance episode, Palestinian society now has at least two models of nonviolent resistance that have proved more effective than the traditional political leadership. And ordinary Palestinians living under Israeli occupation or siege also have an example of effective local leadership and political action.