The Twenty-Five Lessons of Non-violence

1. There is no proactive word for violence.
2. Nations that build military forces as deterrents will eventually use them.
3. Practitioners of nonviolence are seen as enemies of the state.
4. Once a state takes over a religion, the religion loses its nonviolent teachings.
5. A rebel can be defanged and co-opted by making him a saint after he is dead.
6. Somewhere behind every war there are always a few founding lies.
7. A propaganda machine promoting hatred always has a war waiting in the wings.
8. People who go to war start to resemble their enemy.
9. A conflict between a violent and a nonviolent force is a moral argument.  If the violent side can provoke the nonviolent side into violence, the violent side has won.
10. The problem lies not in the nature of man but in the nature of power.
11. The longer a war lasts, the less popular it becomes.
12. The state imagines it is impotent without a military because it cannot conceive of power without force.
13. It is often not the largest but the best organized and most articulate group that prevails.
14. All debate momentarily ends with an “enforced silence” once the first shots are fired.
15. A shooting war is not necessary to overthrow an established power but is used to consolidate the revolution itself.
16. Violence does not resolve.  It always leads to more violence.
17. Warfare produces peace activists.  A group of veterans is a likely place to find peace activists.
18. People motivated by fear do not act well.
19. While it is perfectly feasible to convince a people faced with brutal repression to rise up in a suicidal attack on their oppressor, it is almost impossible to convince them to meet deadly violence with nonviolent resistance.
20. Wars do not have to be sold to the general public if they can be carried out by an all-volunteer professional military.
21. Once you start the business of killing, you just get “deeper and deeper,” without limits.
22. Violence always comes with a supposed rational explanation—which is only dismissed as irrational if the violence fails.
23. Violence is a virus that infects and takes over.
24. The miracle is that despite all of society’s promotion of warfare, most soldiers find warfare to be a wrenching departure from their own moral values.
25. The hard work of beginning a movement to end war has already been done.

-Non-Violence: The History of A Dangerous Idea,  by Mark Kurlansky

Jenin’s Freedom Theatre: Leader in the Cultural Intifada

by Nicole Rohrkemper, International Team Deployment Coordinator

A short article to complement MPT’s Fall Theme of Arts and Culture, highlighted in our Fall print edition MPT Newsletter.

www.thefreedomtheatre.org

Many believe the power of culture, the arts, and progressive media can shift attitudes, resist oppression, and combat human rights abuses. Participants in the Freedom Theatre at Jenin Refugee Camp (West Bank) believe that a third intifada is coming—a nonviolent uprising which will create social change through art and culture.

MPT Teams visited the Freedom Theatre in the Jenin Refugee Camp twice this year as the group debuted groundbreaking productions. Located in the city of Jenin, the Camp is a densely populated area (more than 18,000 people in about a half square mile). By rough estimate, this is three times the population density of Chicago, and ten times the population density of greater Lansing.

In 1988 Arna Mer-Khamis (an Israeli married to a Palestinian) came to Jenin to give acting lessons to Palestinian youth at the Refugee Camp. According to the Freedom Theatre’s website, Arna wanted to give the children a space to work through the trauma they experienced because of the ongoing conflict. She was awarded the Alternative Peace Prize in 1993, and used the money to build a community theatre at the Camp. The original theatre was destroyed during the Second Intifada in 2002, along with half of Jenin Camp’s housing and other buildings. Some of the 65 Camp residents killed during the conflict were former acting students. In 2005 Arna’s son, then-famous Israeli actor Juliano Mer Khamis, returned to Jenin to begin building a second theatre which stands today.

The Freedom complex includes the auditorium, video editing studios, a film darkroom, a library, two classrooms and a computer lab. According to the Theatre, the computer lab was donated by an Israeli man whose daughter received a heart transplant from a Palestinian boy killed by Israeli soldiers in the Camp in 2005.

Last Spring the premiere of Orwell’s Animal Farm at the Theatre was covered by Reuters and Socialist Worker Online, as well as others. According to an article from Reuters (“In Self-Satire, Palestinians See Cultural Intifada,” Reuters.com, April 2, 2009), it was noted that the play held a mirror to Palestinian leaders of previous uprisings, drawing on Orwell’s original message warning against the corruption of a social movement.

“The armed revolution is over,” said actor Rabia Turokman, once a fugitive fighter in Jenin. “I had to look for another revolution,” he said after coming off-stage to rowdy applause. “Having a theatre in Jenin refugee camp is the biggest revolution for Palestine.” For many of the young audience members, the play [Animal Farm, which is] based on Stalin’s corruption of Russian revolutionary ideals, reflects the Palestinian reality… “Ghetto mentality” and “dictatorship of tradition” has created a rift amongst Palestinian leaders under the Israeli occupation.”

According to the young people working there, many involved in the Theatre seek to unite Palestinians behind a coming nonviolent Cultural Intifada. They do not pass judgment on the violent struggles of previous movements, but believe that real change can only come through this new, nonviolent movement.

The Freedom Theatre is featured on B-Listed, a blog created by the international human rights organization Breakthrough to recognize under-appreciated so-called “b-list” arts projects with a message. According to their website, Breakthrough encourages harnessing the power of innovative cultural and media projects to educate, and advance equality, justice and dignity.

ElectronicIntifada.com, an alternative media outlet, is part of the tapestry of arts, culture and media organizations working to effect social change. In a June 23, 2009 article on EI, Dr. Ian Pappe writes about what he calls a critical factor in creating real change in the region: the cultural boycott. In this case, Pappe is referring to the cultural boycott of Israel, led by Palestinians but taken up around the world.

The Theatre offers programs for participants of all ages, from children’s plays to post-secondary education. There are currently 9 post-secondary students (2 women), all in their second year. The Theatre is the only acting school in the northern West Bank. One of its productions, Fragments of Palestine, is scheduled to tour in Europe in the coming months.

www.thefreedomtheatre.org

For first-hand accounts of MPT Team visits to the theatre click here: http://mptinpalestine.blogspot.com/2009/04/visits-to-refugee-camps.html, and http://mptinpalestine.blogspot.com/2009/08/jenin-from-armed-uprising-to-cultural.html

A New Model for Peace: Take a Trip with Strangers

A Note on Team in the Peace Community, and an experience at the End Occupation Conference (Chicago, September 2009)

by Isabella J. Rowan (MPT Intern)

Take six people who don’t know each other,

Pile them and their belongings into a late model van with its assortment of quirks,

Send them hurtling west from Lansing to Chicago

And headlong into rush hour traffic.

What do you get?

Cursing and yelling?  Naw. Sworn enemies for life?  Nope.  Murder and mayhem?  Not even close.

We were a mixed bag of background, education, and experience – six people ranging in age from our early twenties to our early seventies. A couple people knew each other, but most of us had never met until that sunny September day.  We were on our way to the 8^th U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation (of Palestine) conference in Chicago.

We began the trip with a round robin of introductions and negotiations on the best route. Navigating miles of highway and semi-trucks, we set out getting to know each other, talking or yelling about anything and everything from travel to relationships to religion. We had to yell sometimes because the air conditioning in the van would only work with the fan on high, in which case the people in the back couldn’t hear a word you said unless you raised your voice.  When the driver got cold, we’d turn off the air and could then speak normally again. The whole trip we alternated: hot, normal tone, cold, yelling.

None of us knew the owner of the house that would be our accommodation for the weekend.  The house was empty save for a few leftover pieces of furniture.  The owner now lived several states away and the house was for sale.  The unknown owner donated her house to us the unknown guests.

Lucky to find a parking space on the crowded street, we schlepped up the front steps hauling sleeping bags, luggage, coolers, and more.  We entered a lovely home to ooh and ah over the bathtub with feet and the dining room floor made of cork to the utter delight of the dancer among us.  It was late; we were tired; we’d had a great snack, so we nestled into our sleeping bags in our various rooms and fell asleep.

For the next two days we lived, laughed, and learned with each other.  The tapestry of humankind was distilled down into our small nucleus of travelers.  Some thin; some not.  Some tall; some less so.  Some talkative; some not so much. Most could walk more easily than others.  One had food allergies.  One suffered from motion sickness.  One became ill with a sinus infection.  A few needed coffee first thing in the morning.  One really wanted pancakes for breakfast.  Another preferred to sleep outdoors.

For 2 ½ days six strangers negotiated meals, showers, schedules, and transportation.  We accommodated cravings, fatigue, budgets, and dead cell phones.  We didn’t argue, turn a cold shoulder, or talk against one another.

What shone through was respect, compassion, generosity, patience, and flexibility.  We honored our differences and our similarities.  We accepted each other with all of our idiosyncrasies.  We were helpful and kind and sought to understand.  We all pitched in and worked together. We operated in the realm of peace. We left Lansing as strangers and returned as friends.

One could argue that we only got along because we didn’t know each other and had to be on our best behavior.  Perhaps that is true.  But what is wrong with that?  What if we were always on our best behavior? Even with the people we know and love. Why should we reserve our best behavior for strangers and treat our loved ones to our worst?

Want to know a simple model for peace?  Be on your best behavior.  Don’t know how?  Take a trip with strangers.

♦♦♦

For MPT’s notes from the conference participants, click here or follow this link: http://docs.google.com/present/edit?id=0AToFHP9bYd20ZG5ubmtodl8yMWNybXgzM2N4&hl=en.

For the official Conference Report from End the Occupation, click here or follow this link: http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=2349.

Finally, thank you to Tom Rico, Martha Larsen, Mary Hanna and of course the late and much-missed Bill Petry for making this group trip and scholarships for several participants a reality.

Michigan Peace Team honors & mourns the loss of William Petry

Bill Petry

Please visit our page dedicated to our great friend and peacemaker, Bill Petry

The Singing Revolution: Estonia’s Non-Violent Resistance to Soviet Rule

The Singing Revolution DVD

Folk songs have always been a central element to Estonian culture; therefore, it is no suprise that singing became the unifying force during protests against Soviet rule in the 1980’s.  With one of the largest collections of folk songs in the world, Estonians have used the form of song as an expression for freedom, self-determination, and national identity since the 19th century.  Before the Soviet Union control the Estonians were ruled under Czarist Russia.

The hope and perseverance of the Estonians to gain freedom from outside rule culminated in a non-violent protest that included singing songs that spoke of such ideas.  This tradition has been alive since the Post WWII period when the Soviets used singing festivals to encourage unity of Marxist ideals.  However, the Estonians began to sing the song, “Land of my Fathers, Land that I Love,” in their native language.  The 30,000 people in attendance at the festival were able to keep the Estonian spirit alive.

The non-violent movement of self-determination in Estonia began to make ground from 1987-1991, and was ended by Estonian independence.  Once leaders in Moscow began to speak of free speech the movement used songs as a way of testing the Soviet’s new policies.  The Estonians chose non-violence to unify against the brutality of the Soviet rule, and knowing that the Soviet Union was in a fragile state the non-violent protestors would not be harmed for fear of bad self-image.  Ultimately, the non-violent protests unified through singing won over Soviet rule, starting a new kind of revolution using a smile and a song, proving that culture can save a nation.

To learn more visit www.singingrevoution.com.

By Kassy Fineout, MPT Intern

mpt.interns@gmail.com

Gaza

Words cannot express the human & economic devastation

Visit Michigan Peace Team’s website (www.michiganpeaceteam.org) to learn more about how you can help with BDS:  Boycotting, Divestment, and Sanctions.

Reflections on Fasting For Gaza

The siege and the blockade of Gaza, and the suffering of the people there is something that is deeply concerning to me and I have been feeling the need to do something, say something… show some solidarity with the people of Gaza. And in some small way hold their suffering in my own life to keep myself more aware.

And so On Wed. December 10 in honor of human rights day I fasted for 24 hours (through Thur. Dec. 11) in Solidarity with the people of Gaza whose human rights are being violated by the Israeli government’s blockade. A fast seemed an appropriate symbolic gesture because the blockade created a situation where the people in Gaza have no choice but do without enough food.

 

It was just a day long fast, something that I was able to do fairly easily. I drank a crazy lot of water. I mean really – a lot of water. Partly just ‘cut it made me feel not hungry. Partly ‘cuz I figured as long as I was fasting anyway I might as well get some health benefits from it.  Somewhere along the line I realized how much water I was drinking. And more to the point I realized that if I were actually in Gaza I couldn’t do that.  Water supply is so limited. People don’t get enough to drink. There is no fuel for the pumps for the wells. When there is water it is often contaminated as the sewage and waste treatment centers have no fuel for their pumps, infrastructure has been damaged by Israeli attacks, and there is not water purification chemicals getting in past the blockade. Wow.  How can people do this to each other? It makes my heart ache. Sounds so dramatic. But really it just does.

 

I also found myself explaining to a number of people why I was fasting. Perhaps it is because of the holidays so many in my life celebrate around this time of the year, but it seemed several people offered me cookies, or some other treat.  Which meant I got to explain what I was doing and why.  Of course, this was one of the main reasons for the fast – to provide the opportunity to talk about the situation in Gaza.

 

It was particularly meaningful when I found myself trying to explain to the children in my life. As children do they often cut to the heart of the matter “but why are they punishing everyone, if only a few people did things they don’t like?” I was asked when I explained the blockade.  And my 8 year old friend who pointed out “yeah, ‘cuz if you were eating today we wouldn’t be talking about this.” –  Yep!

 

A week from human rights day (a week from the first part of the fast) I will start the second phase of the fast. On Wed. 17 December I will begin a 4 day fast through Saturday 20 December. The 20th is Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year, representing the long night that those in Gaza continue to suffer.

 

December 21st is the day when those of us honoring earth based spiritual traditions celebrate the returning of the light. I will use this day to break the fast and celebrate my re-commitment to peace and justice in Palestine and Israel, and to being in Solidarity with all those who have their human rights violated – particularly being aware of my connections with those in Gaza and the suffering of the people there in the current situation.

 

Won’t you join me?!

My fast will be a water fast, but should you desire to join you should create an experience that is meaningful – and realistic – for you. Perhaps a juice fast? Perhaps “liquids only” – including fruit/yogurt smoothies and such? Perhaps not a fast at all but time spent in silent solidarity. The goal is not so much to duplicate exactly the fast as I have planned, but to do something that gives us a physical reminder and pushes an awareness of the suffering to the front of our consciousness.

 

As I said, one of the goals of the fast is simply to raise awareness to start people thinking and talking about what is happening to the people in Gaza. To bear witness by making the suffering visible. Are there ways you can do this? Post a blog on your own site? If you are on myspace, facebook or other social networking sites can you change your status to read “fasting with Gaza” or “thinking of Gaza” from the 17^th – 20^th? Is there a public space you can vigil in your community? Letters to the editor?  Each of us can do something.

 

The fast is being sponsored by the Michigan Peace Team. (http://www.michiganpeaceteam.org)

 

In Peace for Justice, Sheri W./MPT

 

 PS: For more information on the situation in Gaza check out:

 

* http://www.amnesty.org/

* http://electronicintifada.net/

 

And to read  eye-witness accounts from Gaza:

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article9995.shtml

 

http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article10008.shtml  and   

 

http://playfulspirit.wordpress.com/2008/11/30/collective-punishment-gaza-crimes-against-humanity/

Targeting Ideologies

Michigan Peace Team

            What significance does this small non-profit really hold in a world filled with such enormous and complex political and social systems?  How can a staff of 5 full time employees with an entourage of dedicated volunteers spread peace in a world where over 4 million are without homes in Palestine, Janjaweed militants are systematically murdering hundreds of thousands, and Zimbabweans are stripped of their right to a free vote by a campaign of violence and intimidation?

            The truth lies in the heart of us all.  The violence that has plagued humanity for centuries will not fall by the hand of UN troops or forceful peace-keeping marshals that physically prevent violence by brute force.  On the contrary we must begin to challenge the ideologies of violence on an individual basis, through interpersonal interactions.

            Violence is a cycle that constantly perpetuates itself and devours everything in sight.  For example, the cycle of violence in the Israel/Palestine conflict is most obvious.  At first the cycle began with the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their home in 1947 with the establishment of the Jewish state of Israel.  The massacre at Deir Yassin by British soldiers in the establishment of Israel was the first overt display of outright terrorism and violence in the Israel Palestine conflict.  Over 100 Palestinian men, women, and children were systematically murdered in the village of Deir Yassin.  This scare tactic crushed any possible Palestinian opposition to the establishment of Israel, but planted the seeds of hate and violence to be harvested for decades to come.

            Over 50 years later this cycle of hate, violence, and hostility remains as strong as ever.  As Israelis and Palestinians are stuck in a fierce cycle of violence, with Israeli government forces and militants constantly imposing life threatening abuse against Palestinians, which is countered by small, independent factions of Palestinian extremists who counter with violence on their own.  The cycle continues, violence perpetuates and grows.

            Yet, there is hope.  On both sides of this battle there are people, individuals, who are advocating for peace and an end to the violent interactions.  Palestinian peace groups like Salam Al ann Palestinians for Peace Now!, the Culture of Peace Initiative, as well as  individuals who everyday express peaceful but determined demonstrations against violence; coupled with a number of Israeli peace groups like Rabbis for Peace and the Refusniks who advocate for human rights and non-violence, are paving the way for progress and challenging the cycle of violence each and everyday.  One should not forget to acknowledge international groups such as Christian Peacemaker Teams, the Nonviolent Taskforce, and the Michigan Peace Team, whose influence has added heavy weight to interventions of peace in the violent conflict.

            The above groups are working together in unison to counter the negative ideologies of violence, ethnic enmity, and revenge that flourish within the cycle of violence.  The fight for peace must be won by recognizing that it is not a group of people we must overcome or defeat, but on the contrary, we must embrace, love, and genuinely care for even those who displace us from our homes or bomb our schools.  Instead of targeting populations we must target ideologies behind violent actions and movements.  Specifically we must target violence itself, and end our constant association of the term with people.  People do violent things, but they do not embody violence, they ARE not violent.

            This is evident in the historical cases that prove to us, as hard as it is to accept, that we are all essentially the same, and would fundamentally act in the same way given the exact circumstances.  How else can we explain how when the Hutu tribe, a Rwandan population that had been marginalized and oppressed by the British for decades, turn and oppress to an even greater and more violent degree the Tutsi tribe?  How else can we explain how when on of the most oppressed populations in world history, the Jewish population, can displace, murder, and imprison millions of Palestinians?  How else can we explain how Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe took office as a man of the people, fighting against poverty, and quickly turned into one of the world’s worst and most gruesome dictator?  It is chilling, but given the right circumstances anyone of us could have turned into an Adolf Hitler.

            This is why it is only an ignorant individual who targets a person.  Ultimately the true cause of violence is the circumstances that breed regular individuals to do bad things.  The soldier who bulldozes your home is in essence no different that you or me, and we must embrace him, we must provide him with a change of circumstances that breed love and solidarity instead of hate and violence.

            It’s not a question of Israeli or Palestinian, Liberal or Conservative, Democrat or Republican, but in reality there is no question at all, only the truth that we are all in this together, challenging violence together, and working towards a greater world.  Peace groups like the Michigan Peace Team encourage positive interactions between individuals and groups of people, as well as intervenes in violent interactions, to ultimately create the circumstances that will contribute to greater solidarity and peace through humanity.

Take a break and read a great nonviolent story!

A Victim Treats His Mugger Right

Julio Diaz recorded his story in New York City just days after he was mugged in the subway. StoryCorps

“If you’re willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money.”

Julio Diaz, speaking with the teenager who robbed him

Morning Edition, March 28, 2008 · 

Julio Diaz has a daily routine. Every night, the 31-year-old social worker ends his hour-long subway commute to the Bronx one stop early, just so he can eat at his favorite diner. 

But one night last month, as Diaz stepped off the No. 6 train and onto a nearly empty platform, his evening took an unexpected turn. 

He was walking toward the stairs when a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife.

“He wants my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him, ‘Here you go,’” Diaz says.

As the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, “Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you’re going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm.”

The would-be robber looked at his would-be victim, “like what’s going on here?” Diaz says. “He asked me, ‘Why are you doing this?’”

Diaz replied: “If you’re willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me … hey, you’re more than welcome.

“You know, I just felt maybe he really needs help,” Diaz says.

Diaz says he and the teen went into the diner and sat in a booth.

“The manager comes by, the dishwashers come by, the waiters come by to say hi,” Diaz says. “The kid was like, ‘You know everybody here. Do you own this place?’”

“No, I just eat here a lot,” Diaz says he told the teen. “He says, ‘But you’re even nice to the dishwasher.’”

Diaz replied, “Well, haven’t you been taught you should be nice to everybody?”

“Yea, but I didn’t think people actually behaved that way,” the teen said.

Diaz asked him what he wanted out of life. “He just had almost a sad face,” Diaz says.

The teen couldn’t answer Diaz — or he didn’t want to.

When the bill arrived, Diaz told the teen, “Look, I guess you’re going to have to pay for this bill ’cause you have my money and I can’t pay for this. So if you give me my wallet back, I’ll gladly treat you.”

The teen “didn’t even think about it” and returned the wallet, Diaz says. “I gave him $20 … I figure maybe it’ll help him. I don’t know.”

Diaz says he asked for something in return — the teen’s knife — “and he gave it to me.”

Afterward, when Diaz told his mother what happened, she said, “You’re the type of kid that if someone asked you for the time, you gave them your watch.”

“I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right. It’s as simple as it gets in this complicated world.”

Produced for Morning Edition by Michael Garofalo.

 

Thanks to Nonviolent Peaceforce for sending this to us!

Blogging for Human Rights

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
–Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Throughout history there have been many courageous individuals who have stood up for the rights of others around the world. Continuing the work of those before them, the 15 of May 2008 has been designated as a day for bloggers to come together and unite against the abuse of human rights throughout the world. By posting on a single day, bloggers around the world will draw attention to issues of mistreatment and abuse as well as show their solidarity and unity in the fight to protect all peoples’ basic human rights.
In addition to bloggers uniting for human rights, May 15th is also International Conscientious Objectors’ Day with this year’s specific focus being on the men and women in the armed forces. On this day people are encouraged to call in and lobby their Congressmen and Congresswomen to protect the rights of conscientious objectors.
As bloggers unite against human rights abuses and individuals nationwide call into Congress to protect the rights of conscientious objectors, The Michigan Peace Team joins these brave people, from the famous Dr. King to the anonymous blogger or caller, in supporting the rights of all people, both at home and abroad.