Nonviolence, BDS, and the Dream of Beloved Community in Palestine/Israel

as a lifelong feminist practitioner of the Torah of nonviolence, I am drawn to respond to the question of what’s next in Israel/Palestine through the herme-neutics of nonviolence, which I believe is a fruitful way out of the one-state/two-state conundrum.

The practice of nonviolence is a path toward the future. We learn from people on the front lines of systemic violence that “don’t speak about us without us” is a core principle of non-violence solidarity, and so I begin with words from a poem titled “Running Orders” that Lena Khalaf Tuffaha wrote after the massacre of Gaza last summer.

They call us now. Before they drop the bombs. The phone rings and someone who knows my first name calls and says in perfect Arabic “This is David.” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . They call us now to say Run. You have 58 seconds from the end of this message. Your house is next. They think of it as some kind of war time courtesy. It doesn’t matter that there is nowhere to run to. It means nothing that the borders are closed and your papers are worthless and mark you only for a life sentence in this prison by the sea and the alleyways are narrow and there are more human lives packed one against the other more than any other place on earth Just run. . . . . . . . .

One state or two, here or there, let us mourn the dead, recite the names of the slain, theirs and ours together, until it feels the same. Mourning together points us in the direction of convivencia (living well together), which is the framework for the future. It helps us address our trauma and fear.

“Nonviolence demands that we pressure Israel to stop prosecuting Palestinian children in military courts and agitate for an end to the criminalization of children of color in the United States,” Gottlieb writes. Jerusalem, 2014 by Nabil Anani.

Nabil Anani (nabilanani.net)

One state or two, here or there, rebuilding has to happen now. Gaza lies in ruins. Entire cities were destroyed. What is true for Gaza is true throughout Israel/Palestine, each habitation with its own story, needs, and strategies of beautiful resistance. The physical restoration of the landscape of cities, villages, farms, fields, and cultural sites of Palestine is paramount. There are many ways to accomplish the task, including supporting specific projects, such as Tent of Nations and Grassroots Jerusalem.

Nonviolence is a form of truth telling. Alas, we have traded tzedek tzedek tirdof (“justice, justice shall you pursue”) for a fleet of drones, Passover for an Iron Dome. Many members of the mainstream Jewish community are emotionally and economically invested in the infrastructure of military, political, and economic occupation, which is in conflict with every social justice value the American Jewish community promotes in almost every other situation. One state or two, here or there, the Torah of nonviolence calls us to struggle for our neighbor’s freedom, resist militarism, and move speech into action. At the moment, we are living with a huge gap between our attitudes and actions toward domestic social justice issues and what is happening to Palestinians. We need to close the gap.

In seeking to close the gap, we need to improve the way we struggle. The practice of nonviolence requires intersectionality in our struggle. We cannot create workable campaigns for justice without a relationship with Palestinian partners. This is also true for white people who want to support Black Lives Matter. Nonviolence also makes specific demands. One state or two, here or there, after decades of failed negotiations, nonviolence demands that we wage direct action campaigns to dismantle the separation wall that cuts Jerusalem off from Bethlehem and Ramallah. Nonviolence also demands that we dismantle the militarized border wall that divides the Americas — the same corporations built both. Nonviolence demands that we pressure Israel to stop prosecuting Palestinian children in military courts and agitate for an end to the criminalization of children of color in the United States. Nonviolence demands that we build strong grassroots alliances that...