Introduction

In the occupied Palestinian territories, political log-jam and the escalation of measures by occupation authorities and settlers has resulted in an upsurge in acts of protest and resistance from Palestinians, leading some observers to question the potential outbreak of a third intifada. The increase of individual acts of popular national resistance, devoid of linkage to political factions or parties, appears to signal the onset of a new modality of confrontation with the occupation. In this paper we explore the characteristics of these new expressions of Palestinian resistance, the motivations underlying them, and the likely future scenarios.

Underlying Causes  

The Collapse of the Negotiations

Following continued, intensified Israeli settlement-building in the West Bank and Israeli refusal to release a fourth installment of Palestinian prisoners, Palestinian-Israeli negotiations taking place under US Secretary of State John Kerry’s so-called "framework agreement” have come up against a brick wall. The situation has had an impact on Palestinian officialdom as well as on grassroots. In the face of the political impasse, the Palestinian Authority took steps to activate the State of Palestine’s membership in international institutions, including accession to fifteen international conventions and treaties^[1]; this in addition to reconciling with Hamas^[2].  At the same time, a number of Palestinian youths undertook the kidnapping of three teenage settlers near Hebron on June 12 of this year. Following the discovery of their corpses, Israel launched a new military campaign against the Gaza Strip, charging Hamas with responsibility for the kidnappings. In retaliation, a group of settlers associated with gangs known as “debt collectors” carried out the execution of 16 year old Palestinian Mohammed Abu Khudair, in Shu’fat, northern Jerusalem, burning him alive. Abu Khudair’s murder led to the eruption of protests throughout the neighborhoods of the old city of Jerusalem, protests that continue to date, turning Jerusalem into the epicenter of escalating events.

Israel’s Summer 2014 War on Gaza

On July 7, 2014, Israel launched a 51-day war on the Gaza Strip leading to the deaths of more than 2,000 Palestinians, with another 10,000 injured, not to mention the destruction of thousands of homes and vital facilities. Palestinians in the West Bank followed the day to day events of this asymmetrical war intently, and responded with organizing mass marches in Palestinian cities and along demarcation lines confronting Israeli occupation forces (at the entrances of settlements and camps, along the bypass roads that are allocated to the use of settlers, at military checkpoints). Youth groups working on their own initiative organized these protests without instruction from central political parties or reference to their political pronouncements. These demonstrations saw considerable stone-throwing and use of Molotov cocktails, as occurred in a series of repeated demonstrations held near “Ofer” camp close to the city of Ramallah, and at the “March of the 48 Thousand”^[3] near the Qalandiya checkpoint at the entrance to Jerusalem City, the largest of the many demonstrations held during the war. The momentum of this march was reinforced by the absence of the Palestinian security services; these had hitherto always prevented such protests since the area in question falls within the jurisdiction of direct Israeli control, interdicting the deployment of Palestinian security forces therein. Along with other institutions of Palestinian civil society, these youth groups also organized campaigns boycotting Israeli products, and collected in-kind and material donations for people in the Gaza Strip^[4].

Recurrent Settler Violence and the Policies for the Judaization of Jerusalem

The Netanyahu government has intensified its settlement-building activities in Palestinian territories in Jerusalem and the West Bank, no doubt a factor contributing to the stalling of negotiations with the Palestinian side. According to the Negotiations Affairs Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization, this year alone witnessed plans to build more than 14,000 housing units in the West Bank, about half of them located in East Jerusalem^[5]. Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration has also worked to organize incursions by extremist settlers, soldiers, and Jewish rabbis into the al-Aqsa Mosque.  Occurring on nearly a weekly basis, these were funded and encouraged by the Ministry of the Interior’s Knesset committee, with the assistance of the occupation police and soldiers. These incursions – tantamount to armed raids – featured the involvement of prominent Israeli extremists including Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich, Minister of Housing Uri Ariel, and Israeli Knesset Vice President Moshe Viglen. Adding fuel to the fire, the Israeli government proceeded with a draft resolution by the Ministry of Interior’s Knesset committee to partition the Al-Aqsa Mosque between Jews and Arabs, with the frequent repeated incursions clearly seeking to make this a fait accompli^[6].