Endeavoring to Change History: Palestinian-Led Transnational Coalitions in the Occupied West Bank

• In Event: 3451 - Section on Collective Behavior and Social Movements Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 2. Coalitions and Collaboration

Abstract

Social movement scholarship convincingly highlights the importance of threats, political opportunities, prior social ties, ideological compatibility, and resources for coalition formation. This article based on interviews with Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists involved in two different transnational coalitions in Israel/Palestine, however, illustrates that the emergence of transnational coalitions, particularly those that cross polarized ethno-national divides, depend not only on such facilitators, but also, and critically, on the belief that such diverse cooperation is good political strategy (see also Roth 2010). More specifically, I argue these unusual coalitions intentionally formed with individuals and organizations situated in different national communities out of a strategic decision by the Palestinian initiators, given the closed political opportunity structure they faced domestically, to enlarge the scope of conflict by drawing in new people and communities who may have some leverage on the Israeli government. Consequently, this paper also makes clear that partners in the global South make strategic choices about who to partner with, and that the agency is not solely with their more privileged partners in the global North (cf, Bob 2001; Widener 2007). Finally, it illustrates that coalition partners are recruited not only because of social ties, prior histories of interaction, ideological similarity, and shared organizational framing, but also due to strategic considerations including perceptions of what the ethno-national diversity, varying networks, and differing privileges make available.

Author

• Michelle I. Gawerc, Loyola University Maryland