A Path to Peace or Oppression? (2016)

Undergraduate: Thomas Gooding

Faculty Advisor: Sarah Shields
Department: Global Studies

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I am researching the Palestinian 'anti-normalization' movement and its impact on joint Israeli-Palestinian nongovernmental organizations focused on peace and reconciliation. The anti-normalization movement, which gained prominence within the past ten years, demands that Palestinians refrain from engaging with Israel, unless the engagement is specifically devoted to resisting the occupation and advocating for Palestinian civil liberties. Although the movement addresses political, economic, and academic examples of normalization, activists have also targeted certain grassroots peace organizations because they facilitate dialogue and reconciliation initiatives among Israelis and Palestinians. According to the anti-normalization movement, these joint programs sustain the asymmetrical power relations between Israelis and Palestinians. Supporters of joint programs, however, argue that Palestinians and Israelis must participate in dialogue in order to achieve a just peace. Through a series of interviews with activists and NGO leaders, I analyze the development and structure of the anti-normalization movement, and I outline how joint Israeli-Palestinian organizations have responded. I conducted approximately 30 in-person interviews with joint Israeli-Palestinian programs during the summer of 2014. Recognizing the significance of anti-normalization, I decided to explore the movement in greater depth. I have since conducted further interviews via Skype to analyze the movement.