As Mubarak Awad, one of the Palestinians' foremost pioneers of civil disobedience during the first Intifada, eloquently stated: "When you are willing to sacrifice everything for your freedom -- without arms, even without stones -- even if the government attack you, the Israeli public will have to see you in a different way. We have to make them choose what kind of people they are."
This type of civil disobedience would strengthen the hands of the Israeli peace movement and encourage them to engage in similar non-violent non-cooperation in solidarity with the Palestinians, which would be a game-changer.
More importantly, engaging in civil disobedience will have a psychological effect on the Palestinians themselves as they will discover that persistent non-violent resistance is the most powerful way to positively impact the peace process and set the tone for peaceful coexistence.
Even after seven decades of bloody conflict, neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians can afford to resign themselves to the status quo. They have the solemn duty to pass on to the next generation the lessons of the futility of violence, and that peace will come only in the absence of violence.
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