Political Activism and Legitimacy in Israel

Abstract

While the history of what is commonly called the “Israeli peace camp” has been lengthy, an unprecedented transition in both the actions carried out by peace activists and in their claims recently took place during the Second Intifada, which started in late September 2000. Before, activists’ claims were already intended to express opposition in principle to the occupation (e.g., Peace Now, founded in 1978, during the Israeli-Egyptian peace talks, or Gush Shalom in 1993, during the Oslo agreements), and to war (Yesh Gvul, the Four Mothers, and so on during the Lebanon war in the early 1980s), as well as the will to intervene against specific injustices linked to the political situation (Rabbis for Human Rights, the Israeli Committee against House Demolition, and Physicians for Human Rights, during the first Intifada, started in 1987). However, during the Second Intifada, the identification of some Israeli activists with Palestinian struggle, as well as their opposition to their own army, has risen to a level never reached before. This new characteristic allows us to introduce a comparison between some of the strategies and approaches chosen by the actors, even thought this characteristic is not necessarily found in every movement formed at this specific period of time.