A notice came in from The Metta Center for Nonviolence:

Just a quick update to let you all know that Metta president Dr. Michael Nagler will be doing an interview addressing the flotilla situation, tomorrow (Wednesday) morning at 8:30am [Pacific Standard Time] on KPFA radio here in Berkeley. If you are local to the Bay Area, you can tune in to 94.1 FM at 8:30am; or you can also listen live online on KPFA’s site. After broadcast the show will be archived on this page on KPFA’s site. I believe there’ll a call-in component to the interview, so be ready with your questions!

Michael Nagler, a literature professor at Berkeley, is one of the most articulate voices advocating for nonviolence in the United States today. We highly recommend his courses about nonviolence, which are available for free online, as an introductory resource on the subject.

• Eight Roman Catholic women staged a one-minute demonstration for women’s ordination yesterday in St Peter’s Square before police intervened.

• Workers gathered outside the annual general meeting of Taiwanese IT giant Foxconn in Taipei yesterday to protest a rash of employee suicides.

• Hundreds of civil servants rallied outside the finance ministry building in Madrid yesterday to protest government austerity measures. Tens of thousands more stayed home from work.

• Concerned citizens of Lexington, Kentucky rallied at a local branch on Sunday to protest PNC Bank’s financing of mountaintop removal coal mining. They released a banner inside attached to some helium balloons, which said “PNC + Your Money = Toxic Tap Water.”

• Greenpeace activists cut fishing nets to release endangered bluefin tuna caught off the coast of Malta on Monday.

• Approximately 650 workers from the Arco Steel company in Sadat City, Egypt continued their strike for the eighth consecutive day yesterday to protest the breach of a contract.

• Several Yemenis staged a sit-in in front of the Prime Minister office in Sanaa yesterday to protest the “indiscriminate” shelling of the southern town of Daleh.

The recent attack on the Mavi Marmara has inspired discussions of the techniques of nonviolence in the mainstream media. Here at Waging Nonviolence, we have already lamented what appears to have been a lack of discipline on the part of the protesters. However, an interesting commentary by Lane Wallace in The Atlantic shows how misunderstandings about the basic principles of nonviolence play a role in skewing coverage of and opinion about the events.

Information is still murky, but what Wallace gets right in her piece is that Gandhi was insistent that one should always defend oneself with nonviolence, not physical force, if one is able. When the Israeli military raided the ship, they hoped to send the message that the blockade of Gaza would remain firm. In the aftermath, Israel has claimed the activists had terrorist connections.

By breaking from strict nonviolent discipline, the activists played into this narrative, giving it a measure of plausibility and shifting the field of interpretation. Wallace says, expressing the sentiments of many:

[T]here is at best a naivete, and at worst a disingenuousness, in provoking a fight and then complaining noisily that a fight broke out. The activists decided to take on the Israeli military. It doesn’t matter whether the military should have resisted their passage to Gaza, in a moral sense; the fact remains that Israelis had been very clear that they were going to take whatever measures were necessary to stop the boats. So the activists knew they were going to meet resistance. […] There are no lack of individuals, groups, or nations who use violence as a means to an end. But if you decide to step in that world, you can’t complain when your opponent uses violence in return.

Wallace is sympathetic to nonviolent activism and her piece is an indication of the extent to which the Free Gaza movement has lost control over the interpretation of the events. Even while inspiring worldwide condemnation of the unjust Gaza blockade, what has most disturbed me is the character of much of the outrage it has inspired. The Turkish president’s assertion that Turkey will “never forgive” the killing of the ten protesters, protests in Ankara featuring hardliners burning Israeli flags and offering chants of “death to Israel.” This in turn has predictably inspired protests by Israeli hardliners equating Turkey and Hamas and claiming, “We came with paint guns and got lynched.” Israel’s bellicose actions and statements are of course responsible for this, but the activists on the Mavi Marmara bear some responsibility as well.

However, Wallace makes a critical, faulty assumption in her analysis of nonviolence and one that is frequent among those who are casual observers of it. She writes that the problem with the flotilla was that it “went into the confrontation looking for conflict, to draw attention to their cause.” Citing Gandhi and King she says that “[q]uiet, uncomplaining courage is harder and less satisfying than provoking an opponent.” Unlike the Gaza protesters, when “Martin Luther King, John Lewis, the Freedom Riders and the rest of the non-violent protesters for civil rights set out, they knew what they were walking into. And if we admire their courage, it’s because they walked into a hailstorm without so much as a word of complaint.”

Both Dr. King and Gandhi were very keen to use nonviolence to inspire confrontation and they did so in conjunction with some of the most profound words of complaint the world has ever known. Even in particular instances of direct action, “complaining” was important (think of C.T. Vivian confronting Sheriff Jim Clark in Selma). They were also persistently held responsible for being agitators who caused violence. The purpose of nonviolence is to put the violence that is the lifeblood of segregation and colonialism on display and excavate the hatred and fear that drives it. The problem with the flotilla was not in provoking and revealing the character of Israel’s death grip on Gaza. The provocation worked perfectly in demonstrating that only deadly force can support Israel’s current policies. The problem is that by failing to stick to the principles of nonviolence the Free Gaza movement failed to take the opportunity that was given to them.

Nonviolent means usually have a more direct relationship to political outcomes than violent means. When militants fire rockets into Israel for the purpose of protesting the Gaza blockade, the substance of what they are doing is completely divorced from the political outcome. When a flotilla of aid tries to break the embargo, there is consistency between the means and the ends. But attacking commandos—even those trying to stop a flotilla—is not. Maintaining consistency in means and ends can be extremely difficult, but it is why Gandhi thought the methods were more truthful.

Wallace both underestimates how difficult it is to maintain nonviolent discipline in the face of highly trained uses of violence and misunderstands the purpose of nonviolent protests. But her impressions of nonviolence are not uncommon and something those of us who use nonviolent means should keep in mind going forward.

The overlooked area of San Juan Copala in Oaxaca, a poor region in southern Mexico with a mostly indigenous population, has been subjected to continuous government-sponsored violence, leaving the indigenous people suffering for the past few decades. It’s a situation not unlike the one facing the people of Gaza and as such, resistance is brutally repressed.

A case in point occurred on April 27, when an international aid caravan trying to bring humanitarian relief past a roadblock to the besieged Autonomous Triqui Community of San Juan Copala was fired upon by unprovoked gunmen. Many were wounded and two human rights observers, Bety Cariño and Jyri Jaakkola, were killed.

Subsequently, others were detained and disappeared by men claiming to be the pro-government Ubisort-militia (ironically called the Unit for the Social Wellbeing of the Triqui Region) and are affiliated with the corrupt, neoliberal Institutional Revolution Party (PRI). The gunmen enjoyed their impunity backed by the ruthless and repressive governor Ulises Ruiz Ortiz.

The murderous ambush on the caravan backfired, though, and has jump started a non-violent movement of anti-authoritarians and human rights activists throughout the Autonomous Municipality of San Juan Copala. Unhindered by ongoing state violence, they are attempting to pacify the area. As the communiqué has stated:

“We make clear that this resistance struggle has as its final goal to recuperate our history and culture, with a great respect for our mother earth; to achieve development towards the dignified life that we all desire, where peace and justice reign.”

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• Protests against the Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla continued around the world over the weekend. Several thousand people gathered outside Downing Street in London on Saturday. Thousands of Moroccans marched in the kingdom’s capital of Rabat on Sunday. Hundreds marched to Capitol Hill in Ottawa. And hundreds more marched to the Israeli embassy in Dublin (see above). In other news, the U.S. rock band Pixies has canceled a concert in Tel Aviv and dockworkers in Sweden are enacting a week long boycott of Israeli goods.

• Hundreds gathered outside BP’s DC headquarters on Friday to call for a “Citizens Arrest” of CEO Tony Hayward on the charges of criminal negligence. Meanwhile, several dozen people converged on a BP service station in Pensacola on Sunday to mobilize support for a boycott and a minor league baseball team in Viera, FL is changing the name of “batting practice” or “BP” for short to “hitting rehearsal.”

• A group of New York City immigrant advocates calling on lawmakers to pass the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act or “DREAM” joined high school and college students for a hunger strike in Washington Square Park on Friday. Some of the demonstrators had been fasting since Tuesday.

• About 100 people rallied on the California-Mexico border Thursday to protest the death of a migrant after a U.S. immigration officer shot him with a stun gun.

• Eight people were arrested after chaining themselves together outside the federal building in Santa Ana, CA on Thursday as part of a protest against Arizona’s recent immigration legislation. They were also calling on Santa Ana to declare itself a sanctuary city.

• Alabama fisherman, who’ve been idled by the massive ban on fishing in the oiled waters of the Gulf of Mexico, formed a blockade of the Mississippi Sound to protest BP’s hiring of more recreational boaters than commercial fishermen to aid in the cleanup.

• Around 400 workers from Chicago’s Hyatt Regency hotel staged a brief but pointed walkout last Wednesday to protest poor working conditions.

Just days after the violent takeover of the Freedom Flotilla, another Free Gaza boat, the MV Rachel Corrie, has been captured by the Israeli military in international waters. This time, there appears to have been no fighting. Says a Free Gaza Cyprus press release:

Just before 9am GMT this morning, the Israeli military forcibly siezed the Irish-owned humanitarian relief ship, the MV Rachel Corrie, from delivering over 1000 tons of medical and construction supplies to besieged Gaza. For the second time in less then a week, Israeli naval commandos stormed an unarmed aid ship, brutally taking its passengers hostage and towing the ship toward Ashdod port in Southern Israel.  It is not yet known whether any of the Rachel Corrie’s passengers were killed or injured during the attack, but they are believed to be unharmed.

The Corrie carried 11 passengers and 9 crew from 5 different countires, mostly Ireland and Malaysia. The passengers included Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire, Parit Member of the Malaysian Parliament Mohd Nizar Zakaria, and former UN Assistant Secretary General, Denis Halliday.  Nine international human rights workers were killed on Monday when Israeli commandos violently stormed the Turkish aid ship, Mavi Marmara and five other unarmed boats taking supplies to Gaza. Prior to being taken hostage by Israeli forces, Derek Graham, an Irish coordinator with the Free Gaza Movement, stated that: “Despite what happened on the Mavi Marmara earlier this week, we are not afraid.

One thing that strikes me about both this incident and that of the Freedom Flotilla is the evidence of direct involvement by certain governments. The press release continues to explain that, in addition to the individual officials who happened to be aboard, the Malaysian government itself was involved in helping the activists obtain the boat:

The 1200-ton cargo ship was purchased through a special fund set up by former Malaysian Prime Minister and Perdana Global Peace Organisation (PGPO) chairman Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad. The ship was named after an American human rights worker, killed in 2003 when she was crushed by an Israeli military bulldozer in the Gaza Strip. Its cargo included hundreds of tons of medical equipment and cement, as well as paper from the people of Norway, donated to UN-run schools in Gaza.

Something similar was the case with the Freedom Flotilla. The now-infamous Mavi Marmara, on which the fighting took place earlier this week, appears to have been obtained with the help of Turkish politicians. Reports The New York Times:

The group bought three boats, including the Mavi Marmara, the one that was raided, from a company owned by the Istanbul city government for $1.8 million. The boats carried aid that included building materials — cement, tiles and steel, which Israel bans because it says they could be put to military means — worth about $10 million, members said.

The Turkish government’s sympathy with the operation was immediately clear when Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan cut short a trip abroad and returned home immediately upon hearing about the disaster.

What should arouse some concern here, in the willingness of governments to aid these activists, is the extent to which their work might be co-opted by the interests of those governments, and to which they might, willingly or unwillingly, be acting as agents in diplomatic games. To the extent that this is the case, the Free Gaza activists become more than fighters for justice; they become political pawns.

Nonviolence means honesty as much as it means laying down arms; it’s no mistake that Gandhi called his strategy “truth-force.” If governments intend to become involved in the struggle against the Gaza blockade, they should do so openly and transparently, not by hiding behind the efforts of activists (the notorious Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba comes to mind). They should make their intentions and involvement clear. And if activists find that they have any reason to be wary of such governments’ involvement, they should take greater pains to distance themselves from it.

The recent killing of at least nine activists aboard the Free Gaza boats by Israeli commandos and the international outcry that has followed have drawn unprecedented attention to the draconian blockade of Gaza.  But will it lead to any tangible change in Israeli policy?

Government leaders around the world have strongly condemned the Israeli assault and are now openly calling for an end to blockade. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is also criticizing the current Israeli policy in no uncertain terms:

“The long-running closure imposed on the Gaza Strip is counter-productive, unsustainable and wrong.  It punishes innocent civilians.  It must be lifted by the Israeli authorities immediately.”

While these statements are no doubt important, the United States is the only country that can really impact the behavior of the Israeli government, and as Stephen Zunes notes, the Obama administration at first seemed to be siding with Israel:

…the White House issued a statement that simply “expressed deep regret at the loss of life in today’s incident, and concern for the wounded.” The White House did not criticize Israel’s actions. Meanwhile, the State Department appeared to condemn the multinational effort to deliver medical supplies and other humanitarian aid, saying that “”expanding the flow of goods to the people of Gaza…must be done in a spirit of cooperation, not confrontation.”

[...]

At the United Nations, the United States successfully blocked the Security Council from passing a resolution on the issue, accepting only an endorsement of a statement by the Security Council president, and then only after watering the statement down significantly.

An article in yesterday’s New York Times, however, said that the Obama administration does consider the current policy “untenable” and is planning on pushing Israel to change course:

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Cruising down the busy streets of Buenos Aires, Argentinean artist and peace activist Raul Lemesoff has converted a 1979 green Ford Falcon into a moving library with the title “Arma de Instruccion Masiva” (Weapon of Mass Instruction) painted across it. Clambering out of the vehicle, he greets bystanders with a smile and offers them a book.

The Ford that buses him around used to belong to the Argentinean armed forces during its dictatorship. But now covered with over 900 hardcover books, he makes his cross-country trip handing out free literature for people in the cities of Argentina and in remote areas where schools and books are scant. He also accepts donations in order to supply schools in need.

In a recent interview, Raul explains the purpose of his project :

“The Weapon of Mass Instruction is meant to get people to recognize various aspects of life: sharing, education, and also to have a good time. It’s a contribution to peace through literature.”

By taking what was once a symbol of suppression and violence, Raul has transformed it into a peace campaign of communication through recycled books.

I’m not sure if Raul and his artistic rendered Ford Falcon are still traveling (the sustainability of the project depends on donations that can match-up or surpass the handouts). Despite any of these shortcomings, he plans on building more booktanks that will travel to other parts of the world.

Whatever ultimately happened during the Israeli assault of the Freedom Flotilla boats, according to the Free Gaza Movement, one of the flotilla’s organizers, extensive preparations were made to ensure that the participants would be nonviolent. Says a press release published today on Free Gaza’s website:

All ships were thoroughly searched by local port authorities in Greece and Turkey prior to their departure. Additionally, the coalition hired an independent security firm to search the ships and certify that no weapons were on board. All passengers went through nonviolence training and were likewise searched for weapons prior to boarding. The Turkish government, a member-state of the NATO alliance, vetted all the Turkish passengers to insure there was no one with ties to extremist groups. These precautionary steps were deliberately taken to prevent Israeli propaganda officials from ever being able to claim that the Freedom Flotilla posed any ‘security risk’ to Israel.

There was a live satellite feed broadcasting the voyage from the Mavi Marmara, as well as GPS transponders showing the exact location of the flotilla at all times to anyone viewing the coalition website. The intention of the Freedom Flotilla was never to ‘provoke a confrontation,’ but simply to deliver much-needed humanitarian aid to besieged Gaza, and in so doing to draw attention to the brutal Israeli policies that are forcing the Palestinian people into a state of impoverished dependency.

Another boat, the Rachel Corrie, is now headed for Gaza, expected to approach this weekend. For more up-to-the-minute information, video, and passenger manifests, see FreeGaza.org and WitnessGaza.com.

If you’re looking for an explanation of why Israel acts the way it does, look no further than this quote by Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak:

“We live in the Middle East, in a place where there is no mercy for the weak and there aren’t second chances for those who don’t defend themselves,” he was quoted by Haaretz newspaper as saying.

For most people this is either an ideology you embrace (though, hopefully not) or one that simply causes you to look away in disgust. But such a polarizing stance deserves to be understood. What could possibly make someone think this? And more importantly, what can we do to change it?

A good answer to both questions can be found in a recent talk by Palestinian nonviolence leader Sami Awad produced by the Compassionate Listening Project. Awad, who is also the founding director of the Holy Land Trust—a Bethlehem based nonviolence organization—described a visit to Auschwitz, where he witnessed many Israeli youth on a government-funded trip become politicized by an ideology of fear that says, “if given the opportunity, the Muslims, the Palestinians, and the Arabs would do the same thing” to them as what happened to their grandparents. The only way to prevent this, they are told, is to join the Army and support the State.

While Awad does not discount the very real fear posed by what happened during the Holocaust, he is wary of leaders who exploit that fear and worse yet, the world at large, which has ignored it by giving Israel billions of dollars in military aid every year, plus a free-reign political mandate. He says, it’s up to the Palestinians to break Isreal from its culture of fear because “Palestinians are the closest thing to the Israeli Jewish community that can engage in actions and activities that provide an opportunity for healing.” This, he believes, is happening already, as more and more Palestinians embrace nonviolence.

Coincidentally, Awad published a piece in Foreign Policy magazine yesterday that explains the shift in attitude towards nonviolence among the Palestinian leadership.

We are now witnessing a rise in the choice of nonviolence. When the gap was created with the Israeli government refusing to engage in real negotiations, Palestinian leaders began to search for what options were available to them and their community. This is what the Palestinian community engages in on a daily bases, this is what keeps resiliency and steadfastness alive in a community that is literally facing destruction (most acutely suffered in the ongoing siege on Gaza). When leaders looked, they found this value being practiced in villages across the West Bank; they saw people from different political backgrounds unite together in order to save their villages; they saw men and women walk as equals; they saw communities that were empowered to stand and face the harshest of violent responses from the Israeli military; they saw Israelis and internationals join Palestinians in their struggle. As a result, these leaders began to see the value of nonviolence, not only for their limited political survival, but also for the nation of Palestine.

Beyond the mere strategic power of nonviolence, however, is its systemic culture-shifting potential, which going back to Awad’s talk, is ultimately what he’s after. As he put it, ever so bluntly, “Any political solution that doesn’t address the fear within Israeli society will not last.”