Palestinian resistance has been structured since the British Mandate (1920-1948) through adaptive forms of resistance to colonial repression. The Great Arab Revolt (1936-1939) was the first episode of large-scale popular mobilization, organized through a long general strike, local committees, and community networks. Women’s participation was fundamental during this period, both in social organization and in logistics, information transmission, and sustaining communities in resistance.
After the Nakba of 1948 and, later, with the military occupation that began in 1967, new strategies based on collective survival and economic autonomy emerged. Agriculture, cooperatives, and the maintenance of life in the territory became central tools of resistance against land confiscation, establishing the principle of sumud (to remain).
Organization in Israeli prisons was another key axis: Palestinian political prisoners developed collective systems of education, political training, and mutual support, turning detention centers into spaces for learning and intellectual production, despite the harsh conditions of imprisonment.
The First Intifada (1987-1993) marked a methodological turning point by consolidating mass civil disobedience. Grassroots popular committees organized economic boycotts, self-management networks, community health care, and alternative forms of education after the military authorities closed schools. This popular uprising had a strong international impact and helped to raise awareness of the reality of the occupation beyond the armed struggle.
In the 21st century, Palestinian resistance expanded to include global pressure strategies, notably the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, promoted by Palestinian civil society since 2005. At the same time, cultural resistance took on a central role: projects to preserve traditional seeds, oral memory, historical archives, and artistic production serve as tools to protect heritage, affirm collective identity, and challenge the narrative of disappearance.
Digital technologies have also transformed reporting and documentation practices. Archiving platforms, citizen journalism, and collaborative mapping enable the recording of human rights violations, the preservation of historical memory, and the maintenance of communication networks in the face of censorship and mobility restrictions.
Taken together, this historical trajectory shows that Palestinian resistance is not limited to direct confrontation, but is based on the ability to build sustainable social, economic, and cultural alternatives, even under extreme conditions of occupation and control.