Democratic Palestine : 29 (ص 13)
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- Democratic Palestine : 29 (ص 13)
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the region. Arab material and political
support could greatly boost the masses’
potential for escalating the uprising toa
state of total civil disobedience. This
support must be based on a position
which unequivocally recognizes the PLO
as the sole, legitimate representative of
the Palestinian people, and their right
to statehood. Obviously, such support
requires definitive rejection of the
Schultz plan and other anti-Palestinian
initiatives. A key to creating the needed
supportive Arab environment is the
newly begun PLO—Syrian reconcilia-
tion, and the convening of an Arab
summit devoted exclusively to suppor-
ting the uprising.
STEPS TOWARDS CIVIL
DISOBEDIENCE
From the initial period, the uprising
has contained the seeds of civil disobe-
dience. This is seen in the workers’
strikes and commercial strikes which
intermittently merge into days of
general strike. The commercial strike
has been a constant feature and is now
organized to a degree that constitutes a
major element in civil disobedience.
Total, continuous boycott of work in
‘Israel’ is a more difficult task due to
the large number of families that are
dependent on the income this brings.
Thus, constant general strike is a pro-
cess that must be gradually worked up
to, in line with the success of the self-
sufficiency efforts, the expansion of
local production and work oppor-
tunities and a Palestinian-administered
social security network.
Still, despite the difficulties involved,
the days of general strike are on the
increase. In March, the United Na-
tional Leadership called five days of
general strike. In April, there were six
general strike days. In the first half of
May, there were four general strikes.
This is in addition to the special Days of
Rage when large numbers of Palesti-
nians stay away from work in ‘Israel’,
and a number of workers (estimated at
about 40%) who have stayed away
since the beginning of the uprising.
By March, major new elements of
civil disobedience had been introduced
with the United National Leadership’s
call to the people not to pay taxes, and
the mass resignations of tax collectors,
the Palestinian. police force and the
Israeli-appointed village and town
councils. All these moves, like the days
of general strike, are rehearsals for
total civil disobedience.
Concurrently, more and varied mass
organizations have been formed, an-
chored in the popular committees that
now exist in all towns, most camps and
many villages. The original task-
specific committees, related to the
popular committees. concentrate on
fields related to the immediate needs of
sustaining the uprising: medical relief
committees, food supply committees,
the strike forces and guarding commit-
tees. As the uprising has continued,
these have become more imnstitu-
tionalized, forming the basis for
organizing daily life in all its aspects.
They have also been supplemented by
committees with new functions.
For example, in Call No.15 issued in
late April, the United National
Leadership emphasized that workers
should form united committees to in-
crease their role in the uprising, and to
work for unification of the trade union
movement. Palestinians were called on
to boycott all work in Zionist set-
tlements in the 1967 occupied ter-
ritories. Instead, they should concen-
trate on cultivating the land to enhance
self-sufficiency. A total boycott of
work in ‘Israel’ was not called for.
Rather the call specified «that the
uprising not lose any opportunity for
action beyond the green line.»
Call No. 15 also urged the formation
of more popular committees, including
educational committees, information
committees and solidarity committees
(for aiding the families of martyrs).
The education committees should pro-
vide for better organization of the
uprising’s efforts to break the Zionist
policy of enforcing ignorance, follow-
ing up on previous actions. In Call No.
11, the United National Leadership had
designated March 24th as Palestinian
Challenge Day, against the Israeli
policy of transforming schools into
detention centers. Teachers, students
and parents staged sit-ins and
demonstrations at academic institutions
to challenge this attempt to enforce ig-
norance. In mid-April, in accordance
with Call No. 13, there was a day in
solidarity with the academic institutions
against the occupiers’ decision to close
them. In early May, Call No. 15
designated a day for breaking the oc-
cupiers’ decree closing academic in-
stitutions, by everyone studying from 9
to 12 noon.
Call No. 15 also directed the popular
committees to rename streets and main
buildings in their area after the martyrs
of the uprising. In Jabalia, the largest
camp in occupied Palestine, this was
done on May 12th.
IMPACT OF CIVIL
DISOBEDIENCE
Civil disobedience has been chosen as
the major form of the uprising at the
current stage, because it most directly
challenges the Israeli occupiers’ ability
to rule, while simultaneously creating
new popular structures that insure the
continuation of the uprising, and lay
the basis for realizing its goal: Palesti-
nian statehood. While depriving the
occupiers of substantial revenues and
making the occupation less profitable,
civil disobedience exposes before the
world that the Zionist occupation is not
only illegal, but also unworkable in the
long and short run. The more total the
civil disobedience, the more obvious
these effects will become. For all these
reasons, the Zionist authorities fear the
civil disobedience campaign, and have
instituted new measures in an attempt
to abort it.
In addition to shooting and beating,
the Zionist authorities have mounted a
broad campaign of economic and ad-
ministrative measures to undercut the
Palestinians’ survival means. In the
face of the boycott of Israeli products,
Zionist soldiers have simply destroyed
locally grown vegetable in the markets
of the occupied territories, as occurred
in Nablus on May 12th. The occupation
troops also destroy attempts to provide
social services to the masses, as when
they attacked the UNRWA social ser-
vices center in Jabalia camp on May
15th; they tried to tear down the fence
around the center and install a watch-
tower, to be able to control the
center.
In a general attack, the occupation
troops are trying to collect taxes by
force, using various measures such as
revoking drivers and other licenses
which are only returned on payment of
back taxes. This has so far been most
systematic in the occupied Gaza Strip
where the identification cards of
thousands of residents have been
revoked. In mid-May, the Israeli
authorities declared that all Gazans will
have to obtain new ID cards. Besides
trying to involve people in waiting in
offices all day to get a new card, this is
a method for forcing tax payment, ex-
ercising social and political control,
making arrests, etc. Each new measure,
however, elicits a new Palestinian
response. A campaign is being mounted
to refuse the new cards.
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