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The International Solidarity Movement and Tikkun

Two distinct but interrelated conflicts exist within the Middle East. One involves
the struggle of control over territory and resources claimed by Jews and Arabs within
Israel and Palestine, followed by subsequent disputes over border negotiations. The
second subsumes the regional struggle over this land, into an existential debate that
questions the foundation of a Jewish nation amidst a large bloc of Arab states.1 Despite a
cycle of bloodshed and negotiation between Israel and Arab nations, particularly between
Jews and Palestinians inhabiting Israel and Palestine, the present issue has remained
largely unabated without any realistic notions for a genuine peace within the Middle
East.2 Examining the framework and methods of two organizations seeking to affect
change in Israel and Palestine will underscore the important processes and conditions
necessary today for future peace and justice, in what otherwise appears to be a perpetual
cycle of violence and struggle.
Motivated by harsh realities of anti-Semitism and Jewish persecution, the origins
of the conflict are historically rooted within the Jewish migration to Palestine in hopes of
returning to the biblical land of ancestors.3 Conflict arose between Jews and Arabs out
of claims to the same land while denying the other; endorsed by neighboring Arab
nations, Palestinian sentiment against Jewish sovereignty furthered the rift within the
landlocked region of Israel and Palestine. Israels gradual ascension of territorial
dominion within Israel/Palestine, through military power and political aid (complemented
by its status as a democracy), was met by Palestinian resistance to Jewish sovereignty and
the aforementioned occupation of arguably Palestinian lands.4 The contemporary issue
focused herein addresses Israeli-conducted structural violence towards Palestinian

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inhabitants and Palestinian-conducted direct violence towards Israeli homeland security.

This clash is seen through Israeli confiscations of Palestinian lands (e.g. West Bank and
the Gaza Strip) and subsequent discriminations in access to housing and land occupied by
Israel, resulting in indirect infringements upon Palestinian human rights, under the name
of Israeli homeland security.5 Most important among the grievances against Palestine is
their retaliation against Israel mounted through acts of terror, wherein direct violations of
human life are incurred, as last resorts against the structural infractions imposed upon
Palestine namely Occupation and apartheid.6 Without initial reasons for choosing this
subject matter, I will investigate the framework and methods by which the International
Solidarity Movement (ISM) and Tikkun address issues and grievances between the two
states. An analysis into their strengths and weaknesses will further reflect particular
settings necessary for peace and justice within the cyclical violence of the Middle East.
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) applies through nonviolent means
direct intervention in Palestine, in order to alleviate the structural damage inflicted upon
Palestinian inhabitants by Israeli government and occupation forces. The ISM officially
describes itself as a Palestinian-led movement of Palestinian and International activists
working for Palestinian freedom and an end to Occupation. We utilize nonviolent,
direct-action methods of resistance to confront illegal Israeli occupation forces and
policies.7 The ISM strives for four goals: recruiting international volunteers to partake in
non-violent resistance; protecting Palestinians from physical violence incurred from
Israeli soldiers and settlers; pressuring news media in an effort to direct public opinion
towards the illegality and brutality of the Occupation; establishing divestment campaigns
to place economic pressure upon Israel analogous to the international pressure which

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ended the South African apartheid regimes.8 The ISM is currently restructuring internal
problems and strategies, thus withholding Palestinian campaigns to be announced at the
beginning of next year. Previous projects however included campaigns to save the
Palestinian olive harvest, whereby interventionists assisted olive pickers from settler
violence, as well as from military intimidation and encroachment. In place of individual
acts of humanitarian aid, the ISM introduced sit-ins and demonstrations at the olive
groves, amongst various other tactics of resistance.9
Though widely known for its magazine as the liberal alternative to Jewish
conservatism and spiritual deadness in the Jewish world10, Tikkun also shares its
discourse within a community of dialogue and social campaigning. Tikkun acknowledges
external justice, suffering, and ecological numbness as found not only in economic
and political arrangements, but in our lack of spiritual consciousness and fulfillment.11
The organization ties these concerns by fostering spiritual awareness and inner change, in
order to reshape American political and economic institution according to not only the
maximization of wealth and power, but the maximization of love and caring, ethical and
ecological sensitivity, and awe and wonder at the glory of the universe.12 Thus the
Tikkun community endeavors to nurture a place where we can talk about these ideas and
give each other mutual support for being committed to large scale transformation of
the world.13 Conferences, trainings, discussion groups, educational material, and
publicity serve crucial roles in propagating Tikkun discourse. The project for peace in
Israel and Palestine seeks to develop a document outlining a national strategy of
education, aimed to end the Occupation; further steps include an establishment of campus
networks, furthering the education of policy makers and the shaping of public opinion.14

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The ISM accounts for the public a partial view of the structural damage within
Palestine. The ISM admits that the Palestinian response over the years have included
attempts at armed struggle but mostly peaceful protests, demonstrations, and appeals to
Israeli courts.15 Moreover, the ISM considers the armed retaliations by Palestinians as
their right16, and insignificant amongst the vast majority of Palestinians who peacefully
desire justice and respect as treatment from Israelis. Thus literature within the ISM
clearly portrays Palestinians as victims of ongoing violence applied through occupation
and military intimidation. More specifically, the issue is narrowly defined as an illegal
denial of the most fundamental of human rights, meant to clear Palestinians from their
native lands.17 In the Berkeley chapter ISM meetings, sentiment is absolute. The room
before the meeting convenes and after it adjourns frequently includes gossip and chatter
lamenting the horrors of Occupation and the apartheid wall in Palestine. In certain areas
of Palestine, the strategic construction of the wall effectively divides Palestinian farmers
from the farmland beyond, forcing farmers to travel back and forth and thus limiting
agricultural cultivation due to intimidation and inconvenience.18 In the summer of 2000,
Terry (last name undisclosed) and her small group of volunteers intervened frequently on
behalf of farmers in Qalqilia, surveying their plight and providing requested aid. She
recounts dozens of scenarios involving harassment and misadventures at gates barring
entrance and exit within the wall.19 Other grievances during meetings included a recent
bulldozing of thousands of Palestinian homes, leaving inhabitants homeless in the midst
of Israeli settler violence and discrimination. These are one of countless daily incidents in
Palestine; Occupation obstructs human rights and needs, creating structural damage to the
lives of Palestinians. Terry further explains that the movement as a whole operates on a

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consensus principle, a decision making process whereby small groups proceed if and only
if all participants unanimously agree upon the decision. This principle is not only implicit
within chapter meetings where each order of the day must be thoroughly discussed and
agreed upon before continuing, but also within affinity groups consisting of international
activists where a quick consensus situated in the midst of Palestinian conflict must be
established in as little as sixty seconds.20 The consensus model hence reinforces the
absolute, partial stance members take in support against Palestinian injustice. An
intermittent meeting attendee, Bashir (last name undisclosed) says, Typically most
participants of social action groups are directly connected to the conflict, but the people
involved in ISM are very diverse and different in age, background and ethnicity.21
Though the social makeup of the ISM is diverse, the outlook held within are universally
agreed upon; there is little disagreement or discussion around the underlying tenets
established therein. The consensus against the issues of Occupation and structural
violence is not a matter of racial or religious solidarity, but one of convicted truth. In
terms of conflict, ISM nonviolent interventionists experience a microcosmic world of
struggle between the victims and the oppressors, i.e. between victimized Palestinian
farmers and incriminating Israeli military/paramilitary forces. Under the umbrella of
humanitarian principle, the situation inevitably becomes black and white, narrowly
framed to outsiders as an absolute violation of human rights lacking reproach.
Tikkun defines itself as an organization without a laundry lists of demands
these demands do not flow from a shared theoretical perspective; instead, it views itself
as part of a larger movement for healing and transformation of the planet within the
framework of a spiritual consciousness22. Like ISMs strict orientation towards

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Palestinian occupation and human rights abuse as the terminal motivation for action,
Tikkun affirms ISMs mission by acknowledging the human rights issues impinged
within Palestine. However, Tikkun deals balance to the equation by addressing the needs
of Israel. The organizations convictions also describe a need to recognize Jewish rights
to ownership and maintenance of their own homeland, defined by pre-1967 borders; also
included are needs of Israeli control over the Jewish section of Jerusalem.23 These
existential barriers to Jewish reconciliation pale however to the acts of terror conducted
against Israel by inhabitants of Palestine. Far from an outcry denouncing instances of
atrocities in the wake of terrorism, Tikkun instead argues for a strategy of nonviolent
civil disobedience24 against Israeli occupation and settlement violence. Tikkun further
defends this belief in light of potential arguments rebuking the structural damage inflicted
upon Palestine, stating that the breakthrough necessary to free Palestinians from
Occupation will only come when the Israeli people feel enough safety to contemplate
arrangements based on trust.25 Tikkun thus places priority upon human and civil rights
while maintaining a level hindsight: the organization views the structural damage as
significantly deliberate and unwarranted, whereas the retaliatory acts of terror are framed
as an unjustifiable yet understandable resort. Though both the ISM and Tikkun place
greater emphasis in their literature upon Palestinian rights and humanitarian principles,
Tikkun takes one step further in realizing the importance of Israeli security and
prevention of paranoia and fear naturally generated from such acts of terror.
Hitherto the issues expounded by Tikkun may be viewed as a laundry-list of
problems and demands; however, the struggle in the Middle East is self-contained within
a much greater concern over the broad spiritual dimension of the conflict. The terminal

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cause for alarm and action is not only the simultaneous conflict incurred between both
sides but also the breakdown of the Jewish character, where a state with many Jews
is not a Jewish state unless it embodies an ethos of love and justice and becomes a living
proof that healing and transformation is possible.26 Tikkun discourse is thick with
references encompassing the spiritual gamut of universal fulfillment, consciousness, love,
inner healing and change hence the names translation in Hebrew: healing, repair and
transformation.27 Israel, as the focus of Jewish tradition, fails as a Jewish state to meet
these expectations of a united, common perspective on universal spiritual values.
Noticeably the spiritual framing of issues by Tikkun subsumes the pragmatic,
partial and direct approach employed by the ISM. Though Tikkun takes into
consideration the same injustices and violations as accounted by the ISM, the focus of the
two groups are entirely different. ISM manages interventionists positioned abroad in
Palestine, with the concentrated role of damage control, assisting the Palestinians against
a distinguished opposition. Tikkun however, operates at home, with the central
community far removed from the conflict in the Middle East. By placing an emphasis
into spiritual values and shaping the education, awareness and consciousness throughout
the global community, the organizations impact on human lives is entirely different than
ISMs. As the reader will later discover, the peace and justice served within the ISM
operates at a different setting than that of Tikkuns.
Little attention is paid by the ISM towards Israeli-claimed reasons behind the
occupation, i.e. the need for security. Interviews reveal ISM participants to be overly
action-oriented and solution-driven; although many people have extensive knowledge
into the history and contextual backgrounds of the conflict, participants are careful not to

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mention Palestinian violations against Israeli life and rights. Though some eventually do
concede the atrocities conducted through acts of terror, almost every person justifies such
concessions by blaming the Israel government for utilizing security as an illegitimate
excuse for the disproportional breach into Palestinian rights, complemented by the
subsequent ignorance of Israeli inhabitants. The justification is essentially a phenomenon
of blowback, where the structural violence upon Palestinian rights leads to unintended
and oftentimes devastating consequences for its perpetrator Israel.28 The accusation
itself is highlighted by a realist paradigm, a tooth and claw vision of the world that
attempts to optimize power in the form of territory, resource and influence, all at the
expense of the other.29 ISM recognition of political realism at work promotes a
tremendous urgency on behalf of interventionists to directly prevent and correct the social
wrongs in Palestine. The ISM calls forth three major guiding solutions: supporting the
Palestinian right to resist occupation as cued by International Law; calling forth an end to
occupation and immediate compliance of UN Resolutions; calling forth international
intervention to ensure the safety of Palestinian individuals, as well as Israeli compliance
to International Law.30 The ISM cites various successes in its employment of nonviolence
as a deterrent against Israeli violence and incrimination, such as a demonstration at
Shedma an Israeli military base whereby the presence of Internationals, Palestinians,
and Israelis kept Israeli forces from using military violence.31
Although Tikkun reaffirms the notions of Israeli misdeeds against Palestine
through oppression, violence and ignorance, the organization reiterates the Palestinians
own role in creating the conflict by armed resistance during the days of Jewish
immigration and throughout the establishment of the Jewish state. Furthermore, obstacles

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such as the occupation and settlements not only hinder Palestinian rights but also stymie
the growth of spiritual values, especially within a renewed Judaism.32 Discourse into the
causes behind both camps is surprisingly in-depth and neutral, judiciously characterizing
the conflict broadly in terms of human nature and the frailties therein. Tikkun bestows
significant emphasis upon Jewish values of love, peace and justice, citing that the
ultimate cause of conflict is due to the overarching realism muffling the spiritual wisdom
within Judaism. This realism is manifested in the Settler Judaism mentality, which
sees the world as always against the Jews and equates good with whats good for
the Jews.33 Through differences of religion, history and culture, the conflict between
Israel and Palestine is marked by an elevated ethos, encouraging the maximization of
survival, well-being and power to the exclusion of the other.
Superimposed upon the realism here delineated is a clash of civilizations, where
adjacent groups along the fault lines between civilizations struggle, often violently, over
the control of territory and each other.34 According to Huntingdon, Israel was created
by the West35, a nation state subsumed by Western civilization a category at the
broadest level of cultural identity36. Palestine, aligned with the Arabic culture of
Islamic civilization, lies in direct cultural opposition to Israel, along vague and transitory
fault lines of conflict carved within the bloc of Arab nation states. Most pronounced
amongst the cultural differences is religion and history, providing fervor and renewed
perseverance to the claims over the land.37 So long as these differences are viewed as
basic and immutable, thereby precluding possibilities of reconciliation and peaceful
coexistence, both camps will further define themselves along cultural fault lines; indeed it
was Israel itself [that] helped to create a distinctive Palestinian peoplehood.38

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The realist clash of civilizations may be curbed however by efforts promoting the
traditional principles of Judaism and the universal tenets of spiritual achievement.
Whereas the ISM limits its humanitarian principle to violence in Palestine, Tikkun
maintains a larger movement for healing and transformation of the planet.39 This
framework of understanding the conflict is also absolute, but at a deeper level that allows
for dialogue and the interaction of diverse beliefs to coexist. Such coexistence is meaning
that may be transcribed upon the Middle East. The solution for the Israel-Palestine
conflict derives itself from the context of mutual reconciliation and genuine compassion
for each others plights, unified under the belief that this social healing may be reached
not by political maneuvering but by spiritual transformation. Though in support of direct
nonviolent action and international jurisdiction, Tikkun defines itself not as an
organization of political agendas but of a spiritual one; thus action applied abroad as
demonstrated by the ISM is underplayed by tasks towards education, dialogue and public
consciousness-raising at ground zero.40 The Tikkun community incorporates its
magazines, website, and projects as a primary vehicle in spreading its core vision,
injecting its beliefs into various spheres such as Law, where the organization established
a legal task force in order to re-imagine the legal system through writings and debate,
arguing for social responsibility that would lead [lawyers] to care about the well-being
of the entire community.41
Nonviolent peacekeeping by the ISM within Palestine will continue to raise
public awareness of Palestinian civil rights abuses. As the international spotlight shining
upon human rights abuses continues to intensify, so too will public sentiment open new
doors for policymakers in establishing negotiations, as well as the imposition of

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International Law and UN Resolutions as called for within its guiding solutions. In other
words, ISM accomplishes through direct appliance of fast-held humanitarian beliefs a
symbolic, efficient way of conveying a message to the rest of the world. At the same
time, lives will be saved in periods of violence and crisis. However, Tikkuns harping on
spiritual and utopian virtues will have little effect upon the composure of realist leaders
and negotiators. Additionally, the organization lacks the symbolic muscle of activist
protests and demonstrations necessary to incense the hearts of outsiders and spur the
imaginations of policymakers. This is due to the organizations encouragement of diverse
values, insofar as these values promote love and qualities conducive to peace and justice.
The shared discourse herein discourages the elevation of any religious or secular
denomination; even the Jewish tradition is honored amongst a host of other major
spiritual traditions within the membership. Thus Tikkun cannot maintain partiality to the
Palestinian plight while turning a blind eye to Israel needs and spiritual desires. Instead,
Tikkun focuses its energies upon uniting the diametric cultures of Israel and Palestine
under the umbrella of spiritual value. Although this aim is weak in its utopian vision of
the future and its naive application to real life, it is precisely here in a shift away from
the practical and modern where we must address the realist paradigms that separate Israel
and Palestine by differences in culture, religion, territorial and hegemonic interests. It is
also here where negotiations conducted without an open-heartedness and generosity in
both peoples to the legitimate needs of others42, break down no matter how hard the
efforts of the ISM manifest. Even mandates by International Law or from UN
Resolutions will collapse at a certain point, as proven by historical cycles of violence.
After detailed analysis into the methods employed by both social action groups in

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framing the issues of concern to Israel and Palestine, I refer back to their processes in
determining three major settings of conflict resolution.
Conflict resolution rests upon close monitoring of the pulse between Israel and
Palestine, wherein peacebuilding of institutions may give way and escalate into
peacemaking efforts to talk and head off possibilities of violent outbreak. Failure results
in the necessity of peacekeeping to alleviate the violence, serving as damage control until
humanitarian intervention reopens bridges to restore the divide. This second
peacemaking process may defuse even further to the rebuilding of institutional
foundations.43 The Israel-Palestine conflict is in a state of constant flux between
peacekeeping and peacemaking, alternating between the direct control of violence and in
periods of cease-firing, efforts to curb the possibility of future violence. Though the ISM
increases peace and justice in the first setting through its nonviolent interventionist
process of containing surface damage inflicted by both states, it is insufficient to ending
the conflict permanently. Though Tikkun increases peace and justice in the second setting
through an indirect, educational and conscious-raising approach to building bridges
between the cultural divide, it is insufficient in times of violence when both states are
entrenched in realist, clashing ideals. I believe that conflict between the two states require
a greater concentration in peacemaking and the aims of Tikkun. While peacekeeping
efforts by groups such as the ISM is critically important to the preservation of peace
efforts in general, the possibility of peacebuilding where one day institutions may be
rebuilt to integrate both Israeli and Palestinian cultures can only be achieved through
focusing upon the spiritual framework through an open society 44 where diverse beliefs
may be shared under a common bond.

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Promises Timeline. History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. American Documentary Inc, 2001.
Ibid.
3
Ibid.
4
Ibid.
5
Ibid.
6
What is the ISM?. The International Solidarity Movement. 24 Nov. 2003. <http://palsolidarity.org/>
7
Ibid.
8
Mission Statement. The International Solidarity Movement. 24 Nov. 2003. <http://palsolidarity.org/>
9
The Palestinian olive harvest Oct-Nov 2002, and the settler violence directed against it. The International Solidarity
Movement. 24 Nov. 2003. <http://palsolidarity.org/>
10
About Tikkun. Tikkun. 24 Nov. 2003. http://www.tikkun.org/about_us/index.cfm>
11
Core Vision and Founding Principles. Tikkun. 24 Nov. 2003.
<http://www.tikkun.org/community/index.cfm/action/community/article/1.html>
12
Ibid.
13
Ibid.
14
Ibid.
15
Mission Statement. The International Solidarity Movement. 24 Nov. 2003. <http://palsolidarity.org/>
16
Ibid.
17
Ibid.
18
Interview: Terry (last name undisclosed).
19
Ibid.
20
Ibid.
21
Interview: Bashir (last name undisclosed).
22
Core Vision and Founding Principles. Tikkun. 24 Nov. 2003.
<http://www.tikkun.org/community/index.cfm/action/community/article/1.html>
23
Ibid.
24
Ibid.
25
Ibid.
26
Ibid.
27
Ibid.
28
Johnson, Chalmers. Blowback. The Nation, 2001
29
Jerry Sanders. Lecture. [Inter]National Security: The Bush Doctrine.
30
What is the ISM?. The International Solidarity Movement. 24 Nov. 2003. <http://palsolidarity.org/>
31
Mission Statement. The International Solidarity Movement. 24 Nov. 2003. <http://palsolidarity.org/>
32
Core Vision and Founding Principles. Tikkun. 24 Nov. 2003.
<http://www.tikkun.org/community/index.cfm/action/community/article/1.html>
33
Ibid.
34
Huntingdon, Samuel P. The Clash of Civilizations? Foreign Affairs, 1993.
35
Ibid.
36
Ibid.
37
Ibid.
38
Promises Timeline. History of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. American Documentary Inc, 2001.
39
Core Vision and Founding Principles. Tikkun. 24 Nov. 2003.
<http://www.tikkun.org/community/index.cfm/action/community/article/1.html>
40
Ibid.
41
About Tikkun. Tikkun. 24 Nov. 2003. http://www.tikkun.org/about_us/index.cfm>
42
Core Vision and Founding Principles. Tikkun. 24 Nov. 2003.
<http://www.tikkun.org/community/index.cfm/action/community/article/1.html>
43
Jerry Sanders. Lecture. Peacekeeping, Peacemaking, and Peacebuilding.
44
Soros, George. The Capitalist Threat. Atlantic Monthly, 1997
2