A demonstration in Seattle by the anti-Israel group Jewish Voice for Peace. Photo: Joe Mabel via Wikimedia Commons.

Palestinian activist and Stanford University graduate Fadi Quran told the Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) conference on Friday night that “guerilla disobedience” is needed against Israel. Quran, who was arrested by Israeli security forces in 2012, told his fellow participants that activism was not enough. Instead, they must become “freedom fighters.”

“We must realize that it’s not enough to be organizations, to be civil society anymore. We must cross the threshold to become resistance movements. And we must realize that it’s not enough to protest anymore. We must transform the equations of power,” Quran said.

“Guerilla disobedience” means copying tactics used by American anarchists to shut down traffic, Quran said. He urged attendees to target Israeli army supply chains and the Israeli economy in order to make occupation costly for Israel. Quran claimed that these tactics are needed to defend Palestinians from Israeli encroachment.

A new “Nakba,” or catastrophe, is underway for the Palestinians, Quran said, and Palestinians therefore need new tactics that go beyond those used in the past.

“We’re going to occupy the occupation; we’re gonna build barricades; we’re gonna bring thousands of people there,” Quran said. “And if we manage to liberate this land, if we manage to stop the plans from going forward there, we will stop them from going forward everywhere.”

Quran also said that Israel wanted to destroy the Arab Bedouin town of Jabal al Baba, located east of Jerusalem. Israel claims that the Bedouin tribe living there illegally settled on the land, and has offered the tribe nearby land where they can legally live. The Bedouins are reportedly reluctant to move due to pressure from the Palestinian Authority and others.