Palestinian activism evolves in Prawer protests
Nonpartisan Palestinian youths have taken the lead in nationwide protests against Israel's Prawer Plan, breaking away from traditional Palestinian political forces.
RAMALLAH, West Bank — A feeling of satisfaction has spread among Palestinian activists and their supporters after the Nov. 30 protests against the Israeli Prawer Plan in the Negev. Salah al-Khawaja, a leading member of the Al Mubadara (The Initiative) Movement and an expert on popular and civic resistance activities, told Al-Monitor that similar events occurred in 24 countries around the world that day, as well as in Palestinian lands occupied in 1967 and Galilee.
These protests raised a number of questions about the organizational framework and courses of action currently available to Palestinians. These include the identity of the factions that could actually take the lead on the Palestinian arena, whether the situation is expected to escalate to a third intifada and how coordination was achieved over such a multi-faceted issue.
The protests came in response to the scheme that the Knesset sought to approve at the end of May, known as the Prawer Plan. This law received its name from the cabinet committee headed by former Deputy Chairman of the Israeli National Security Council Ehud Prawer. His committee drew up a plan to “organize the settlement of Bedouin in the Negev” in southern Palestine.
Lawyer Shehada Ben Berri, a member of the High Steering Committee of the Arabs of the Negev (a national coordination committee), explained that this was a displacement plan and that the so-called Prawer Law was “racist par excellence.”
