The Civil Coalition for Promoting Civil Peace and the Rule of Law held a citizen gathering, entitled: “Social Movements and their Role in Strengthening Civil Peace” at the General Federation of Palestine Trade Unions Hall in the Nablus Governorate, in the presence of representatives of social movements and civil society organisations, academics and researchers specializing in the political and social spheres, along with a number of social activists in the Governorate.
This session aimed to introduce social movements, their foundations and patterns, along with the roles assigned to social movements in promoting civil peace. This session also sought to highlight the reality of Palestinian social movements, in light of internal divisions and the absence of common visions. This session further aimed to strengthen the Palestinian civil peace system by presenting recommendations related to reforms to the structure of Palestinian social movements, activating their roles in promoting social cohesion and combating the culture of violence in a way that reflects the response to the social, cultural and political needs in the Palestinian context.
Since the Palestinian arena is filled with many disputes that have negatively affected the lives of citizens, the political parties' agendas, which are captives of the political division, lack the representation of citizens' concerns. There is also a decline in the role of the national movement that acquires narrow interests at the expense of national interests and a reluctance for citizens to participate in the political sphere in general, thus creating a state of frustration, especially in light of the inability of the Palestinian parties to develop a practical solution to these problems. Hence, there is a need for social and political movements, most of which take a protest and demand nature. "The inability of the parties to perform their role and their weak influence as a result of the citizen's loss of confidence in them, in addition to their failure to end the division and stand up to address the concerns of the citizen has created a state of social differences amongst citizens."
Thus, the participants expressed the Palestinian social and political context, as they stressed that the decline in the role of the Palestinian national movement has created a void that the Palestinian political parties have not filled, which leads to the citizen’s lack of confidence in them and their ability to represent their problems and address their concerns. Thus, they claimed that social movements emerged to play a role in reflecting the needs of Palestinian citizens. On the other hand, "the capital's control over the rights of workers and its attempt to reduce the margin of social services led to the reduction of the gains of the trade union movements in order to liquidate them."
During the discussion, the participants shed light on the historical and political context of social movements, their roles in expressing the needs of citizens, addressing societal concerns that arise in the Palestinian situation in light of the divisions amongst social components in the Palestinian society, and the absence of common visions in light of prioritizing personal and factional interests over the national public interest for all Palestinians.
Regarding the legal system, the participants stressed the importance of having reforms in the Palestinian laws in force, including the Penal Code, and ratifying the Family Protection Law because of its roles in strengthening the civil peace system. They also highlighted the need to reconsider the concepts of civil peace through schools and the family, starting from the personal level of the individual and his/her surroundings to reach a collective culture that promotes civil peace.
The participants also believe that “there is a need for the parties to review their policies, objectives and methods of movement, and to reformulate their discourse to convince citizens and gain their attention and support. This is represented in the situation that the Palestinian parties reached during their weak movement in the social security movement.”
The participants reached a number of recommendations and results, the most important of which are: speeding up the activation of the oversight tools on the executive authority and promoting the concepts of civil peace through their inclusion in educational curricula in schools and universities, working to encourage individual and collective initiatives in the Palestinian society that works to promote civil peace. This can be achieved through individual action to influence his/her surroundings in combating the culture of violence and intolerance, working to introduce reforms in the Palestinian legal and judicial system to suit the needs of civil peace, and strengthening the discipline of the law by spreading the culture of the rule of law. In addition to holding legislative and presidential elections to restore the citizen’s confidence in the political system and to involve him/her in decision-making processes on the one hand, and exercise his/her oversight role on the other.
This session comes within the “Strengthening the democratic participation and egalitarian social cohesion of the Palestinian citizens, in Area C” project, implemented by The Palestinian Association for Empowerment and Local Development—REFORM, in partnership with the Civil Coalition for Promoting Civil Peace and the Rule of Law and funded by ACPP.
