Nonviolence: Ordinary Palestinians Fight For Their Freedom

Lucy Nusseibeh     Al-Hayat     2003/09/7

The essence of Palestinian resistance is nonviolence: the steadfastness, the resilience, the dignity, and the humanity in the face of the unrelenting humiliations and brutality of the Israeli occupation. Such nonviolent resistance is much more the norm than the violent acts that grab headlines.  As daily life for Palestinians becomes increasingly less livable from every point of view, there is growing interest in finding ways to get life back on track and, therefore, in using nonviolence as perhaps the best way to do this.  

With or without the glimmer of hope afforded by the Roadmap, Palestinian nonviolence needs to be appreciated and strengthened. Violence is only in the interest of those who would dominate and exercise control through fear. If the Middle East situation is allowed to deteriorate, there will be no guarantee that it will not suck the rest of the world into a vortex of violence and fear. Civil society, both at the local and the international levels, can and must help at this crucial juncture if the cycle of violence is to be stopped in our fragile and interconnected world. Now is the time for the world to understand the centrality of nonviolent action for Palestinians, and to act and speak out in support and solidarity of all those working with it.

Nonviolence is the assertion of one's rights without using violence. Often it involves withholding or withdrawing support from illegitimate sources of power. It is based on the courage and humanity of ordinary people and their determination to live in dignity and decency. It is not surrender, and it is not necessarily even compromise; rather, it is a means to achieve justice and change without using violence.

Nonviolence is also empowerment. It grows from the development of potential, and, therefore, it helps develop long-term democratic solutions to problems and injustices. Violence, on the other hand, even if it brings victory through sheer force in the short term, ultimately only dis-empowers, not only those who it oppresses and "beats," but those who use it, because it inevitably reduces their humanity.

Nonviolence tends to be associated with certain situations and names, such as Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and others, and is seen as something specific: a march, a strike, preferably an event that will touch the hearts of the oppressors and transform the conflict. This is a major part of active nonviolence, which the Palestinians have used throughout their struggle, from the early protests against Jewish/Zionist immigration in the 1920s, and especially during the Intifada of the 1980s.

That Intifada was organized around non-cooperation with the occupying power, such as refusing to pay taxes. There were battles over which hours shops would be open or shut (with the Israelis sealing the locks of those who would not comply and arresting the shop owners), and over the right to organize committees to teach children during periods when schools were closed.

There was tremendous power in the unity of Palestinian civil society at that time, across factions, age groups, social divisions, and (the less formidable, but still traditional) geographical divisions, as everyone joined in to get the Israeli occupation off their backs and out of their daily lives.

The deliberate use of nonviolence helped to unite and build trust throughout the Palestinian community, as Palestinians sensed the power of their refusal to cooperate with the occupier's system, and felt liberated as a result. They also felt empowered by the directives that came only from the "underground leadership" rather than from the top. This unity culminated in the unilateral declaration of independence for the state of Palestine in November 1988, a nonviolent beginning.

There is also a determination by Palestinians to refuse to allow the Israelis to crush them, their identity or their determination to be free. This is an equally valid form of nonviolence, and it is perhaps more long-term and far-reaching than orchestrated actions, which have continued throughout all the years of occupation. Care and respect for essential human needs, with or without a government structure, are forms of active nonviolence as well.

We saw this, for example, when the streets of Nablus were filled with children being taught classes in defiance of the interminable curfew, or when the population of Ramallah simply defied the curfew, whether to visit friends and relatives or to announce their presence by beating on pots and pans. Yet the simple daily acts of survival also represent Palestinian active nonviolence, even if not recognized as such by those doing them.

Examples of this daily form of non-violent action include the groups of women who visit the most remote villages to meet with women unable to leave their communities in order to hear their pain and find ways to help them and their children; the drivers of the shared "Ford" taxis, (the only way left for most people to get around at all) who persist in finding ways of getting from one place to another despite roads that have been dug up or blocked off; the teachers who make their way to work and patiently help and care for children even when they themselves have spent the night in fear; and the many people who not only keep going but who develop initiatives like summer camps and other activities for children, such as the Palestinian children's opera or the riding stable in Jericho.

These actions belie the cruel and unfair stereotype of the Palestinians as all, without exception, potential terrorists. Moreover, they are the hope for the future of the democratic Palestinian state, which will succeed based on the active participation and long-standing nonviolence of its citizens.

* Ms. Nusseibeh is the founder and Director of Middle East Nonviolence and Democracy (MEND) organization, located in Jerusalem.

* This article is part of a series of views on nonviolence published in partnership with the Common Ground News Service (CGNews).