Description
Classified as a ‘terrorist’ organization by Western governments, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is an Islamist armed group primarily known for its use of martyrdom operations against Israeli targets. However, alongside its violent tactics, PIJ has also engaged in nonviolent forms of resistance, such as economic boycott, mass rallies and public demonstrations. This dual approach raises key questions: What factors lead armed groups to temporarily lay down arms in favor of nonviolent tactics? What symbolic meanings does PIJ ascribe to its nonviolent actions? And how does PIJ reconcile its militant identity and ideology with nonviolent tactics without losing internal credibility?
Drawing on a framing analysis of thousands of unedited PIJ sources—including public speeches, interviews, political reports, military communiqués, flyers, slogans, and songs—this paper explores PIJ’s tactical use of nonviolence. By employing the concept of "framing," originally developed in social movement studies, this analysis complements recent work linking culture and strategy (e.g., Jasper 2018, 2017; Jasper and Young 2019; Aminzade et al. 2001) and integrates aspects not typically explored in studies of Western armed groups—namely, the emotional and communicative dimensions of their tactics.
The approach challenges the simplistic label of PIJ as solely violent or terrorist, illustrating its flexible militant identity that leverages religious symbolism to reinforce group cohesion and bolster legitimacy. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that PIJ views popular mobilization as a complementary strategy to armed resistance, not a contradictory one.
