April – August 2010

Research conducted during five months, with field research during two months in Israel and Palestine, for my Master Thesis in International Relations.

The study was dedicated to exploring the different types of, and motives for constructive nonviolent action that in direct connection to the ongoing conflict in Israel and Palestine are being implemented by young Israelis. The initiative was based on the belief that hope, recognition and support is highly important for the effectiveness of constructive nonviolent action, by an interest to explore the existing and functioning methods of constructive nonviolent action in an ongoing conflict area and by the will to show the specific conflict in Israel and Palestine from a perspective of positive initiatives taken by active youth. Through in-depth qualitative semi-structured interviews, the perceptions, thoughts and motives that these individuals hold concerning their actions, the reasons to why they are active and the influence that they believe their work might have on the wider society has been explored. Discoursive analysis was implemented in order to gain a deeper understanding of these narratives and the results found provided an interesting insight into the scene of constructive nonviolent action in Israel as well as a multifaceted diversity within the sample of participants.

The essay can be requested in full text here.