Eyes Without Country Pb

543 Pages·1994·1.38 MB·English

by  Souad Dajani

Eyes Without Country : Searching for a
title:
Palestinian Strategy of Liberation
author: Dajani, Souad R.
publisher: Temple University Press
isbn10 | asin: 1566392411
print isbn13: 9781566392419
ebook isbn13: 9780585363769
language: English
Jewish-Arab relations, Palestinian Arabs--
Politics and government, Intifada, 1987- --
subject Influence, Nonviolence, West Bank--
International status, Gaza Strip--
International status.
publication date: 1995
lcc: DS119.7.D2554 1995eb
ddc: 956.95/3044
Jewish-Arab relations, Palestinian Arabs--
Politics and government, Intifada, 1987- --
subject: Influence, Nonviolence, West Bank--
International status, Gaza Strip--
International status.
Page iii
Eyes Without Country
Searching for a Palestinian Strategy of Liberation
Souad R. Dajani
Temple University Press, Philadelphia 19122
Copyright © 1995 by Temple University
All rights reserved
Published 1994
The title of this book is from a poem by Rashid Hussein, "Revolution in Transit," in
World of Rashid Hussein: A Palestinian Poet in Exile, edited by Kamal Boullatta and
Mirène Ghossein (Detroit: Association of Arab-American University Graduates, 1979),
172173. Reprinted with permission from The Association of Arab-American University
Graduates, Normal, Illinois.
Portions of the material in this book are reprinted with permission from Souad Dajani,
The Intifada (Amman, Jordan: University of Jordan, Center for Hebraic Studies, 1990).
The epigraph to the introduction is from a poem by Mahmoud Darwish, "Investigation,"
quoted in Fawaz Turki, The Disinherited Journal of Palestinian Exile (New York:
Monthly Review Press, 1972), 27. Copyright © 1972 by Fawaz Turki. Reprinted by
permission of Monthly Review Foundation.
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American
National Standard for Information SciencesPermanence of Paper for Printed Library
Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dajani, Souad R.
Eyes without country : searching for a Palestinian strategy of liberation / Souad R. Dajani.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-56639-240-3 (cloth) ISBN 1-56639-241-1 (paper)
1. Jewish-Arab relations. 2. Palestinian ArabsPolitics and government. 3. Intifada,
1987Influence. 4. Nonviolence. 5. West BankInternational status. 6. Gaza Strip
International status. I. Title.
DS119.7.D2554 1995
956.95'3044dc20 94-21706
CIP
Page v
Nothing remains of my oldest dream, of revolution,
But scraps and stars stitched to the shoulders
of those who justify defeat.
Nothing but battalions of essays
pregnant with bank accounts
and a green light for murder.
Nothing remains but a minstrel
She wails over Jaffa and Haifa
Banks in Jerusalem sweat.
(Revolution still searching for an alphabet).
A revolution, my friends, comes to life
in eyes without country
in peasants without land
where the police is landlord.
A revolution comes to life
when the writer and the blind
See one truth.
From "Revolution in Transit" by Rashid Hussein
Page vii
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
One. The Context and Background of the Intifada 1
Two. Twenty Years of Occupation: Palestinian Resistance 28
Before the Intifada
Three. The Intifada as Palestinian Civilian Resistance 57
Four. Nonviolent Civilian Resistance: Theoretical 95
Underpinnings
Five. Assessing Strategic Directions: Prospects for a 114
Strategy of Nonviolent Civilian Resistance
Conclusion 155
Abbreviations 159
Notes 163
Index 229
Page ix
Acknowledgments
Initial work on this book coincided with the outbreak of the intifada in
the Occupied Territories. During 19871988, I was a postdoctoral
fellow at the Program on Nonviolent Sanctions at Harvard
University's Center for International Affairs. I was pursuing my
research on Palestinian nonviolent civilian resistance to Israeli
occupation. The intifada, the civilian uprising of Palestinians in the
Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, seemed like a vindication of the
direction my work was taking. I was studying a region where the
language of force prevailed and where people reacted very skeptically
to the notion that "nonviolence" could wield any kind of effective
power. As the intifada escalated, so did my commitment to investigate
this mode of civilian struggle. Lying at the heart of the issue, it
seemed to me, was the question of the extent to which the intifada
relied upon a coherent strategy to achieve its goals. It was soon
apparent that my energies should focus on this question of strategy.
More precisely, I would focus on the formulation of a strategy of
nonviolent civilian resistance that could be undertaken by the
Palestinians themselves to end Israeli rule.
This book would not have been possible without the support of two
fellowships, one from the Program on Nonviolent Sanctions at
Harvard University and one from the Albert Einstein Institution in
Cambridge, Massachusetts. My thanks especially to Gene Sharp, who
first invited me to Harvard, and to Chris Kruegler, who facilitated my
return for a second year. Three people to whom I owe special
gratitude are Chris Kruegler, Elaine Hagopiana role model and former
professor, and Zachary Lockman. They read the first draft of this
manuscript and provided me with most incisive and critical
comments. I hope they recognize their input here. I thank Jamal
Nassar of the Association of Arab-American University Graduates for
Page x
permission to use the phrase "eyes without country" from Rashid
Hussein's poem "Revolution in Transit" as the title of my book, and
for permission to reprint part of the poem here. I am grateful to
Antioch College for awarding me a Knight Grant that enabled me to
travel to the Occupied Territories in July 1993. I also thank Mustafa
Hamarneh of the Center for Strategic Studies at the University of
Jordan for securing permission to use portions of my monograph
Intifada in this study. Special thanks go to Micah Kleit at Temple
University Press, who first responded favorably to this manuscript and
who remained unstintingly patient and helpful throughout. And thanks
to editor Michael Ames at Temple University Press, for his insightful
comments and his continued support throughout the process of
publication.
Working on this topic has sometimes been like chasing a moving
target. Throughout, it was the goal at the end, the hope for a just peace
in the Middle East, that made it all worthwhile. Many dear
friendsPalestinians, Americans, Arabs, Jews, and Israelisshare this
vision with me. I would like to say to all of youand to my parents,
sister, brothers, and lovely niece and nephewI was thinking of you all.