The global movement in solidarity with Palestine and its repression

The global movement in solidarity with Palestine and its repression

Cosmos Workshop

Photo by Luca Bonaventura

The global movement in solidarity with Palestine and its repression

Participants

  • Federico Alagna - COSMOS - SNS
  • Marco Antonelli - COSMOS - SNS
  • Gianpaolo Baiocchi - New York
  • Mounia Bennani-Chraïbi - Lausanne
  • Giulia Daniele - Lisbon
  • Donatella della Porta - COSMOS - SNS
  • Dina El Khawaga - Cairo
  • Eric Fassin - Paris
  • Leandro Fisher - Aalborg
  • Camilla Flore Fernandes - Aalborg
  • Jannis Grimm - Berlin
  • Rima Majed - Beirut
  • Lilian Mauthofer - Berlin
  • Pierre Monforte - Leicester
  • Laura Mendoza Sandoval - COSMOS - SNS
  • Martin Portos - COSMOS - SNS
  • Sebastian Scheerer - Hamburg
  • Harshiy Sing - Aalborg
  • Federica Stagni - COSMOS - SNS
  • Anna Younes - Amman
  • Aaron Winter - Lancaster

The goal of this workshop is to develop a comparative perspective on the current mobilization in solidarity with Palestine by presenting and discussing ongoing research in Europe and beyond. Since October 7th, 2023, protests have spread worldwide for ceasefire and against Israeli violation of human rights, the killing of more than 40,000, and the destruction of the Gaza Strip. The movement against the war and in solidarity with Palestine has been transnational in nature, with repertoires of action and collective frames diffusing cross-nationally.

Just like in the case of Black Lives Matter, activists are not only adopting contentious performances and language cross-nationally but are also re-contextualizing them, connecting the question of Palestine to homegrown issues of racism, particularly anti-Muslim racism, colonialism, and exclusion. In many Western countries, state repression has been coupled with “moral panics” against the Palestine solidarity movement for alleged antisemitism.

In looking at these waves of protests, we aim to:

  • Identify civil society actors, their organizational model, repertoires of action, and discursive framings.
  • Compare varying political and cultural opportunities at the national and transnational levels that enable or hinder these movements.
  • Investigate the influence of these protests on democracy between repression and resistance.