Finding Nonviolence in Jerusalem: The Palestinian Boycott of Jerusalem Municipal Elections Since 1967

Palestinians in jerusalem, who have the legal status of permanent residents and are permitted to vote in municipal (but not national) elections, have largely chosen not to participate in the city's electoral process since the start of the occupation in 1967. Boycotting the municipal elections is the longest lasting—and arguably most important—method of nonviolent resistance to the policies of discrimination and exclusion that Palestinians contend with in this contested city. While Jewish Israelis portend to be searching for a nonviolent Palestinian leader as a partner for peace, they fail to recognize the strength of the election boycott as one of many legitimate tools seeking justice and peace.

Palestinians boycott municipal elections as an unequivocal refusal to legitimate the Occupation of East Jerusalem and Israel's claims that Jerusalem is the "complete and united" capital of Israel. It is a technique used to refute the oft-cited assertion made by Jews, in Israel and the United States, that Israel's democratic system allows Palestinians to participate equally in the political process. For Palestinians, simply going to the polls to vote would not change systematic inequalities they experience daily. To be clear, this is not a general statement on the future of "one person, one vote" in Palestine/Israel but is rather a commentary on a specific slice of Palestinian society in Jerusalem where the one-state issue is largely irrelevant.

While many Jewish Israelis argue that if Palestinians voted they would be able to elect their own leaders to improve conditions of everyday life in East Jerusalem, Palestinians see the situation quite differently. First, they see voting as futile, reflecting the widespread belief that the municipality is merely an instrument of oppression rather than an entity to provide much needed social services. Second, they see the boycott as an important historical aspect of their resistance. Many Palestinians believe that after refusing to participate in the elections for this long, it would be a mistake to abandon the strategy. Third, the boycott expresses a unified Palestinian voice against discrimination and inequality. This is one of the few areas in Palestinian society where there is almost unanimous consensus, which is represented by the consistently low turnout of Palestinian voters in Jerusalem.

In short, refusing to participate in municipal elections is a profound nonviolent expression of defiance, a rejection of acquiescence to the impacts of occupation, separation, and exclusion. While Israeli policies of occupation seek to weaken and delegitimize all forms of Palestinian resistance, even those that are nonviolent, it is essential to acknowledge the legitimacy of the Palestinian boycott of Jerusalem's municipal elections. By doing so, not only will those committed to justice and peace recognize the ubiquity of Palestinian nonviolent resistance, but they can also strengthen these voices that challenge Israel's policies of exclusion in the contested city.