Revolutionary Possibilities: Dissonance, Generation, and Horizons in Israel and Palestine

Abstract

At time of writing, the war in Gaza has been ongoing for nearly two years with at least 65,000 Palestinians murdered. The occupation of Palestine has been ongoing for decades longer than that. On October 7, 2024, over 1500 men, women, and children were murdered, and over 250 kidnapped and brought into the Gaza Strip. As one Israeli activist with a member of their synagogue held hostage in Gaza put it, Israel is no longer a project, but is a real place with real people. This thesis is an analysis of fieldwork conducted in Israel and Palestine over the summer of 2024. Through collaboration with an Israeli nonprofit as well as networks I had independently forged, I conducted a series of conversations, interviews, and participant observations, and was able to meet a broad swath of the Israeli left and participate in protective presence on behalf of Palestinians. This ethnography presents an argument about the character of the social space in Israeli society at present, and the consequences of that character on the ability of Israeli and Palestinian activists to conduct their work.