Learning Nonviolent Direct Action with the International Solidarity Movement

Life in Palestine is a daily reminder of the Israeli occupation. As a scholar studying the process of indigenous conflict resolution practices through fieldwork during an extended year in the Middle East, I found myself interested in learning some of the methods employed by the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) – a volunteer organization that engages in coordinated nonviolent direct action at the communal level in the Palestinian territories.

Standing in-Solidarity

On November 24, 2017, I participated in a training session hosted by ISM in Nablus. Training terminology varies by instructor, although the core mission of ISM (established in 2001) remains guided by the following four principles:

1. Palestinian-led: Respect for Palestinian culture and participating only where the community has extended an invitation.
2. Nonviolence: Supporting groups and rights by abstaining from all forms of violence, verbal and physical.
3. Consensus: All actions are made through a participatory consensus decision-making system.
4. Anti-oppression: Promotes equality for all by adopting zero-tolerance for all forms of bigotry and discrimination against any group.

Volunteers of the International Solidarity Movement stand side-by-side with Palestinians through activities such as walking Palestinian students across Israeli military checkpoints, planting and harvesting olives on Palestinian lands and digitally recording settler attacks on vulnerable Palestinian communities.

The lasting impact of ISM is reflected through a global partnership of volunteer members from Canada, the United States, France, Spain, and the Czech Republic, providing the Palestinian community with an international presence.

Typically, volunteers engage in a 2-week commitment living in a communal household near one of the West Bank cities of Ramallah, Nablus, or Hebron (with operations in East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip as well). However, some ISM volunteers also join teams that focus on Media, Training, Finance, Legal, Policy, and Support, embodying a truly collective operation built on a foundation of participation.

Training gets personal

The in-depth ISM training program begins in the volunteer’s home country. Outreach and support groups help with the transition to fieldwork in Palestine. They often begin by assessing volunteers’ motivations, as ISM seeks allies, not politically motivated crusaders. The assessment screening process also ensures volunteers make informed decisions about participation while volunteering in the Palestinian territories.

My training began with a simple question, what are your hopes or fears involved with being a part of ISM? Most volunteers are confronted with this question’s reality through living and volunteering in a conflict zone—an existence predicated by the fact that most volunteers return home after service ends. At the same time, Palestinians live and work day-to-day under Israeli military occupation.

Volunteers may easily feel paralyzed by fear when confronted by Israeli settler groups or the Israeli military. ISM training addresses the reality of the occupation through education addressing documented practices of the Israeli military.

Such systems include combating intimidation by teaching volunteers to offer terse responses using (1) first names only, (2) answering questions with questions, (3) carrying a photocopy of a passport (leaving the real one in a secure location), and (4) expressing to those who seek to limit photographic evidence that “ISM legally uses the power of the media.”

Addressing the realities of conflict relies on making informed choices. For instance, role-playing challenging situations allows volunteers to confront inexperienced scenarios in safe environments.

Volunteers are often asked to consider what they would do in ____ (a particular situation), followed by a discussion that allows volunteers to engage sensitive topics outside a conflict setting through open dialogue.

No training would be complete without also focusing on an awareness of the local Palestinian identity. Important elements include an understanding that (1) Atheism does exist in the Palestinian community, although it is typically less common, (2) gender norms remain an important part of socio-cultural communication, and (3) respect follows adherence to custom and tradition.

Of course, we must also recognize aspects of our own identity, especially when we work in the field by recognizing the reality that “we bring our own culture with us everywhere we go,” and ISM volunteers who identify as Muslim, Christian, and atheist, in solidarity,“never tell others how to resist!”