Will Nonviolent Protest Spark a ‘Palestinian Spring’?
It is too early to tell whether Khader Adnan’s defiance is a sign of a budding “Palestinian Spring,” but signs of mobilization been percolating throughout the past year. It comes in the context of the growing Palestinian nonviolent protest movement known for its demonstrations in Bil’in and Nabi Saleh.
It is a now famous story: A young Arab man, fed up with the injustices of life under a military regime, decides he’s had enough. By demonstrating his readiness to die to protest these injustices, the man powerfully asserts his own humanity and that of millions of his compatriots. His dramatic display of self-sacrifice inspires millions and his name becomes known across the Middle East and beyond.
The man in this story is Khader Adnan, a 33 year-old Palestinian baker and father of two from the West Bank town of Jenin, who narrowly escaped death last week after an unprecedented 66-day hunger strike to protest his detention without charge by the Israeli military.
