Palestinian Attempts at Nonviolence
My American friend, Jane, who lives in the West Bank, emailed me this copy of a letter she wrote to the International Herald Tribune.
Steve Chernoski (Letters, Aug. 11) to International Herald Tribune reasonably points out that Ghandian non violent resistance has been a powerful weapon for many people resisting oppression, and asks why the Palestinians have not tried this option. Of course there have been and are now countless efforts on the part of Palestinian civil society, university and high school faculties, village committees, farmers’ groups, churches, students, doctors etc. to use these techniques in their struggle. The problem is that, unlike with the US civil rights or anti war marches in the 60’s, the whole world is not watching, especially the press in the US which rarely if ever covers these events. The other problem is the unremitting violent and immediate Israeli reaction to these demonstrations, which are met with arrests, tear gas, rubber bullets, stun grenades, and clubs.
As an example, there have been weekly demonstrations for almost two years in the small village of Beilin to protest the Wall that has confiscated large parts of the village’s orchards and fields. These marches, with plays, props, songs, chants, are led by village residents trained in, and remarkably committed to, nonviolence as the only solution. The leaders are routinely beaten or arrested during these marches, or on occasion, snatched from their beds by Israel Police the night before. In tribute to their courage, both Israeli and foreign activists have joined in these weekly demonstrations, which has made the marches somewhat safer for the Palestinians, but not safe.
In yesterday’s demonstrations, for example, Israeli soldiers began firing stun grenades and rubber bullets at the marchers before they had even reached the soldiers’ lines, and then attacked them with clubs and rifle butts, wounding 13, one Israeli youth severely enough that he was admitted for surgery to hospital and a Czech woman with a head injury from a rifle butt. Others were struck with clubs. One Japanese journalist, standing clearly to the side and filming, was shot with a rubber bullet. In another nonviolent activity this week, in which volunteers attempted to protect Palestinian school children from attacks by hostile Israeli settlers, two volunteers were seriously beaten and BITTEN by the settlers while Israeli police stood idly by.
We have all seen in the settler rampages against the removal of the Gaza aettlements that the government of IsraelI is much more understanding when the demonstrators are Jewish. The Israeli policy clearly is to stamp out Palestinian nonviolence but it is hard to see how this is of advantage to them. If nonviolence is not an option, where do they turn?