Activists Without Borders
Various associations organise trips to Israel and/or to the Palestinian Territories. Someone who has no previous knowledge of the Near East and who takes part in a journey organised by a pro-Israeli group, would return to France with a very different vision of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to that of someone who had travelled with a pro-Palestinian group.
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Sometimes conflicts overflow their immediate field of operations. Such geographical spreading can lead to the exportation of violence to a neighbouring or to a more distant region. In the 1970s, for example, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict had violent repercussions in some European countries. This internationalization led to the highjacking of planes, to terrorist attacks, to the taking of hostages by various Palestinian groups and to targetted assassinations committed by the Israeli secret services.
However, the effects of war on other countries can also take much more peaceful forms. The existence of associations which support Israel or Palestine are a good example of this. These associations, which have greatly increased in number in France since the Six-Day War, use many different “repertoires”, such as demonstrations, the distribution of leaflets, the organisation of conferences, meetings with politicians or journalists, etc. Another very widespread form of action is the organisation of tours to Israel and/or to the Palestinian Territories. Such tours are not new but have increased considerably since the beginning of the second Intifada.
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Marc HECKER
Deputy Director of Ifri, Editor-in-Chief of Politique étrangère, and Research Fellow at the Security Studies Center, Ifri
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