Protests by Political Activists Around Friction Points May Backfire: Evidence From Checkpoints in the West Bank

How do political activists' protest strategies affect intergroup violence around friction points? Activists presume that their presence around checkpoints will protect the controlled population from humiliation and prevent the dominant force from engaging in violent or abusive behavior. However, depending on the protest strategy chosen, their presence may backfire and engender violence. We conducted a comprehensive content analysis of YouTube video clips featuring political activists at checkpoints between Israel and the West Bank over a 15-year period (2003-2018, n = 50, overall duration of 210 min) and examined how attributes of the protest (violent or nonviolent) and attributes of the activists (religious identity) influence the (apparent) emotions and behavior of the soldiers and Palestinians present. Results revealed that violent demonstrations by activists are associated with aggression and signs of anger among Israeli soldiers and with aggression (though at lower levels) and signs of humiliation among Palestinian civilians. The findings suggest that, despite the hope of political activists that their presence at checkpoints will have a positive effect on the treatment of Palestinian civilians, in practice, their presence may backfire if they employ a violent protest strategy. Public Significance Statement We examine how the behavior of political activists at checkpoints between Israel and the West Bank affects the emotions and behavior of Israeli soldiers and Palestinian civilians. Findings suggest that, despite activists' hope that protests at checkpoints will have a positive effect on the treatment of disadvantaged groups, violent protests may backfire by increasing negative emotions and aggressive behavior among actors on both sides.