ABSTRACT
Palestinians have engaged in unarmed resistance against an avowedly colonial Zionist project since 1880 when they began to respond to increased Jewish immigration into Palestine from Russia and Europe. That unarmed resistance continues to the present day. The Zionist movement was founded in the late nineteenth century, and its growth accelerated under the British mandate (1918-1948) which set out to deliver on the Balfour Declaration (1917) and its favourable view of ‘the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people’ (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs 2013). The Zionist project has necessitated the transformation of the land of Palestine from an area that had a predominantly non-Jewish population into a ‘Jewish state’ (Qumsiyeh 2004, 2012). The ‘Jewish state’ was founded in 1948 by force of arms, was expanded in 1967, and has continued to displace and impoverish local Palestinian populations to this day (Pappé 2004; Qumsiyeh 2004; Roy 2001). Throughout this period, Palestinian populations have been relegated to ever shrinking areas of land, and native Palestinians have responded by resisting Zionist tenure and hegemony. This chapter will survey the history of this Palestinian resistance, and will focus, in particular, on efforts to initiate boycotts, divestment, and sanctions as forms of unarmed resistance to the Zionist project.
