I would agree with Nathan and Chuck on this...and definitely agree with Chuck that the alter-globalization movement (especially 1999-2001) sparked a whole new generation of political activism on an international scale.
When I look specifically at the Israeli/Palestinian context (including the internationalist activist movement that joins with us in our work) it was without a doubt one of the biggest influences on the resurgence here of a committed and truly radical activist community. It also sparked a new comprehension of what was possible as an activist community. Before 1999, outside of the AIC (which has been around since 1984 and has always been a joint Palestinian/Israeli org), all of the activist organizations were either Palestinian or Israeli, they would perhaps do protests together, but almost always as separately conceived movements which were working together on specific causes. Plus, protests were almost always old-school demos, direct action was very rare (well, that isn't exactly true on the Palestinian side, but were talking stone throwing and more militant actions). But the inclusive, internationalist format of the alter-globalization movement, and its emphasis on a mixture of traditional protest together with direct action, property destruction, etc., plus the use of internet activism, allowed for a new conceptualization of the possibilities of social and political struggle.
Then you had the growth of the local Indymedias, Ta'ayush, and probably the most effective purely activist group (despite their small numbers) is Anarchists Against the Wall, in fact much of the struggle against the Wall...all very influenced by the alter-globalization movement that was so prominent at the time...even the way that Gush Shalom and ICAHD and other activist groups behave is definitely influenced. Also the AIC has been transformed in many ways by incorporating these changes into its structure (and that many of the people working there now come from this trend). That this all occurred when much of the soft traditional left fell apart during the beginning of the second intifada also was an influence...
The three main generative periods in the formation of new activist movements was in around 68 with Matzpen (which was influenced by the Vietnam War and 68 Paris, and the 6 day War), the early 80's with Shalom Achshov (yuck) and Yesh Gvul (conscientious objector) and the AIC, all of which formed in the context of the Lebanon War, and then the present group I mentioned above, influenced by the second intifada and the alter-globalization movement.
Bryan
Chuck0 wrote:
> Let me add, since Doug asked:
>
> * Inspired a new generation of political activists and re-energizing
> those of us in the more burned-out generations.
>
> * Radicalized many more people, including people who adhere to more
> traditional politics, but who sympathize and support more radical
> activists.
> * Gave many more activists serious experience with organizing
> large-scale actions and campaigns. The movement got so big and heated
> that participants got experience working inside something bigger than
> much smaller groups.
>
> * Showed Americans that all was not OK in America, that there are
> millions of people who are fed up with things like NAFTA, the WTO, the
> WB and IMF, capitalism, and so on.
>
>
> * Got many people interested in left, radical, progressive and anarchist
> ideas. More and more people consume radical media, which put independent
> media in a good situation when Bush came into office and started
> enacting his policies.
>
> * The Independent Media Center network, with more than 150 IMCs currently.
>
> * Inspired many people around the world. Finally, average Americans were
> taking it to the neoliberals in their own backyards.
>
> * Led to hundreds of threads on LBO-talk...
>
> Chuck0