One Story Of Nonviolence

Mubarak Awad     Al-Hayat     2003/08/3

It is unfortunate that we Palestinians have not properly chronicled our stories and the history of the Palestinian nonviolent struggle. My own involvement in nonviolence, for example, was an intensely personal commitment based on two basic points. First, my religious belief that as a human being, I, like all others am a child of God. So, for any person to kill the spirit of God, found in every person, is not right - no matter the circumstance. Secondly, my understanding of psychology, which led me to believe that nonviolence, can be a far more effective tool in fighting the occupation than armed resistance. In 1983, I returned to Palestine as a psychologist who was interested in counseling Palestinians and soon found myself immersed in nonviolent activism.

I opened the Palestinian Center for Nonviolence to bring alternative solutions to the Palestinians with an emphasis on nonviolence in the Islamic and Arabic worlds and lessons learned by Gandhi in India and Martin Luther King, Jr. in the United States, and Abdulzaphar Khan in Pakistan. Quickly, I grasped the differences in our own situation. Palestinians had a different enemy. Jews around the world are at the forefront of civil, human, student and women's rights. At the same time, they had just suffered the trauma of the Holocaust, and were still paranoid with the fear of its genocidal horror. Thus, in using the methods of nonviolence in opposition to this particular enemy, it was an opportunity to use of civil resistance, and reason rather than bullet. I felt that our armed struggle, and the rhetoric of violent resistance, only reinforced their fears and paranoia, while nonviolence could possibly appeal to their humanity as they heard our love for the land and our cries for justice and humanity in the face of their evil occupation.

The first several years of the Center's existence, we did educational work as well as the organization of small campaigns designed to involve more people in the nonviolent movement on a daily basis. An example of this was our campaign for self-reliance, and boycott against the eating and drinking of anything but local products. Both the Israeli Government and the PLO initially rejected this idea of nonviolence, but for different reasons. The Israelis felt threatened by its potential effectiveness. On the other hand, the PLO took this movement as a challenge to their dominant position and rhetoric which had glorified the gun and armed struggle. They had not been consulted about ways in which resistance could take place without an armed struggle. Despite the opposition, the campaigns proved successful in that they increased the use of the term "nonviolence." It made the concept seem less imported and western.

It is curious that we were more successful in relaying our message to the rural villages and universities and refugee camps while the urban cities and political elites remained skeptical. Our intent was to mobilize the Palestinian population and to confront occupation as a duty and responsibility for every Palestinian, not only for the political factions or the PLO. In doing this, we needed to remove the fear factor from both sides and show the Palestinians that the Israeli soldiers were indeed human and could also feel pain and be influenced by a conscience. We were able to visit villages and refugee camps on a regular basis and speak to whoever would listen to our cause. We did not only concentrate on high politics but also tried to address the needs of the ordinary Palestinians and to help them achieve their needs through practical methods of nonviolent resistance.

This included acts like the planting of trees in order to deter the confiscation of land and cutting off water to the Israeli settlements whose pipes ran through Arab villages. One of our campaigns went right to the heart of the conflict: We requested that those who had lost or fled from their homes in 1948 return there for a brief visit, and simply place a single rose where they used to live. Those who passed by and saw the roses, including the current residents were thus gently reminded of the plight of the refugees, their longing for return, and the injustice done to them in 1948. This was a powerful and human reminder that the issue of the right of return of the refugees cannot be simply ignored in any final settlement.

Eventually, it was the spread of nonviolent activities in both Palestine and Israel, on a small scale that became a threat to the Israelis. And, it was our deliberate strategy to involve Israeli peace groups in our campaign so that we could split the mindset of the Israeli government. It gave us a chance to have partners on both sides working for the same goal and spread the fear of a potential civil unrest within the Israeli state. Due to the success of the campaign, the Israeli government moved to put a stop to my actions by imprisoning and later, deporting me.

In the meantime, however, we were energetically sending youth to different universities to study, first hand, the fields of peace, conflict resolution, and nonviolence. The study of these subjects and their related practices led to the creation of more than 30 NGOs who committed themselves fully to nonviolence and democracy. They have since continued to carry these messages both in the face of the Israeli occupation and within the Palestinian community.

When I was allowed to visit occupied Palestine recently, for a family occasion, in recent months, I was pleased to discover that even with the poor economy, lack of freedom of movement, and deprivation of human rights by Israelis, I still found a favorable commitment to the nonviolent struggle in Palestine. I now find that there is more of an acceptance of nonviolence for those who have tried to find their own sense of self by questioning authority and for those who desire inclusion in the political process. And, most of all, I find myself both encouraged and steadfast in my patient faith in the inevitability of a positive outcome.

* Mr. Awad is director of Nonviolence International. This article is part of a series of views on "Nonviolence" published in partnership with the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).