The Israeli Peace Movement

This book discusses the predicament of the Israeli peace movement, which, paradoxically, following the launching of the Oslo peace process between Israel and the Palestinians in 1993, experienced a prolonged, fatal decline in membership, activity, political significance, and media visibility. After presenting the regional and national background to the launching of the peace process and a short history of Israeli peace activism, the book focuses on external and internal processes and interactions experienced by the peace movement, after some basic postulates of its agenda were actually, although never explicitly, embraced by the Rabin government. The book concludes that, despite its organizational decline and the zero credit given to it by the policy makers, in retrospect it appears that the movement contributed significantly to the integration of new ideas for possible solutions to the Middle East conflict in the Israeli mainstream political discourse.

When the Israeli prime minister and the PLO chairman shook hands on the White House lawn in 1993, Israeli peace activists had good reason to celebrate this major step on the long road to peace.This book tells the story of the Israeli peace movement and the role it played in that pursuit of peace. It is an eloquent, fascinating account of a remarkably diverse and determined cast of activists: from war-weary soldiers to hard-headed politicians, careful scholars to impassioned artists.Drawing on his experience in the peace movement, Bar-On provides intimate portraits of groups like Peace Now, Yesh Gvul, and the Women in Black, he also provides a sweeping historical synthesis of the course of the Israeli-Arab conflict, especially between 1967 and 1993.

20 years after the Six Day War, Israeli society remains deeply divided over the future of the occupied territories. This book analyzes the growth of the peace movement, examining the struggle of ordinary Israelis to end the occupation and stem the tides of racism and religious nationalism.

Kaminer, a practicing lawyer in Jerusalem, chronicles the relationship between the moderate and militant sections of the different groups of the Israeli peace movement, giving special attention to the rise of the autonomous women's peace movement and its chief component, Women In Black. Includes a glossary of political groups in Israel, and brief definitions of ideological approaches to peace and the Arab question in Israeli politics. For students and general readers. Distributed by ISBS. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

"This books deals with the predicament of the Israeli peace movement, which, paradoxically, following the launching of the Oslo peace process between Israel and the Palestinians in 1993, experienced a prolonged, fatal decline in membership, activity, political significance, and media visibility. After presenting the regional and national background to the launching of the peace process and a short history of Israeli peace activism, the book focuses on external and internal processes and interactions experienced by the peace movement, after some basic postulates of its agenda were actually, although never explicitly, embraced by the Rabin government. The analysis brings together insights from social movement theory and theories on public opinion and foreign and security policymaking. The book's conclusion is that, despite its organizational decline and the zero credit given to it by the policymakers, in retrospect it appears that the movement contributed significantly to the integration of new ideas for possible solutions to the Middle East conflict in the Israeli mainstream political discourse"--Provided by publisher.

What has become of Israel's peace movement? In the early 1980s, it was a major political force, bringing hundreds of thousands onto the streets; but since then, its importance has declined amid spiraling violence. Now, and especially since the second Intifada of 2000-5, the 'doves' of the Israel/Palestine conflict struggle to be heard over its 'hawks', and the days of mass mobilization are over. Doves Among Hawks charts the successes and failures of a beleaguered peace movement, from its formation after the Six-Day War to the current security-obsessed climate, where Israel's 'doves' seem to be fighting a lost and outdated battle. Samy Cohen's history of a peace process that once took on the Israeli settler movements exposes how that cause has been derailed and demoralized by suicide attacks. But the peace movement isn't dead--it has simply transformed. From human rights monitors to lobbies of the bereaved, Cohen reveals a multitude of smaller, grassroots organizations that have emerged with unexpected energy. These lawyers, doctors, army reservists, former diplomats and senior security personnel are the unsung heroes of his story.

This study shows the promise of Israeli-Palestinian peace from the perspective of former combatants who transform themselves, each other, and those around them through moral conviction and action that reclaims the dignity of both peoples.

The Israeli peace movement has been in decline since the 2000s. In particular, the liberal Zionist groups, who call for peace for the sake of the security and continuity of Israel, have become paralysed and almost voiceless since the second Intifada. However, despite the stagnation around the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process, this book argues that other important groups have emerged that present new ways to challenge the status quo. These are radical groups that act in solidarity with the Palestinians and human rights organisations and whose aim is to reveal the realities of the occupation and hold the government to account. Leonie Fleishmann argues that these groups have been, and remain, the agenda setters, pushing the more moderate groups to mobilise more quickly and encouraging them to take up more confrontational ideas. Using social movements theory, and based on 50 interviews and participant observation, this book sheds light on contemporary Israeli peace activism.