New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof writes this week about the growing trend toward self-conscious nonviolent resistance among Palestinians against Israeli occupation. But he is also quick to point out its shortcomings, as in his account of one action in Bilin:
Most of the marchers were Palestinians, but some were also Israeli Jews and foreigners who support the Palestinian cause. They chanted slogans and waved placards as photographers snapped photos. At first the mood was festive and peaceful, and you could glimpse the potential of this approach.
But then a group of Palestinian youths began to throw rocks at Israeli troops. That’s the biggest challenge: many Palestinians define “nonviolence” to include stone-throwing.
Kristof, often sensitive to matters of gender, points out that women may be leading the charge toward a truly nonviolent resistance in Palestine:
But imagine if Palestinians stopped the rock-throwing and put female pacifists in the lead. What if 1,000 women sat down peacefully on a road to block access to an illegal Jewish settlement built on Palestinian farmland? What if the women allowed themselves to be tear-gassed, beaten and arrested without a single rock being thrown? Those images would be on televisions around the world — particularly if hundreds more women marched in to replace those hauled away.
He tells of one case in which a women’s movement was successful:
Most Palestinian demonstrations are overwhelmingly male, but in Budrus women played a central role. They were led by Mr. Morrar’s quite amazing daughter, Iltezam Morrar. Then 15, she once blocked an Israeli bulldozer by diving in front of it (the bulldozer retreated, and she was unhurt).
Israeli security forces knew how to deal with bombers but were flummoxed by peaceful Palestinian women. Even when beaten and fired on with rubber bullets, the women persevered. Finally, Israel gave up. It rerouted the security fence to bypass nearly all of Budrus.
While it may be that women will play a pivotal role in future nonviolent action in Palestine, men can do it too. If Palestinians, truly want to make progress—and galvanize international opinion—against Israeli power, they should follow the lead of these women and men calling for unyielding, courageous, nonviolent resistance. If they want to continue making matters worse, they can keep throwing rocks and launching rockets.
Is it not interesting that nonviolence places a higher standard than those who revert to violence at the slightest pretext, often with utmost ruthlessness. The Israeli authorities might reflect that the license they give themselves, although they are human beings, leaves themselves scared and degraded. They deserve our pity.
Given the superficiality of most media attention to nonviolent resistance almost anywhere in the world (unless hundreds of thousands of people are involved or the action is hijacked by those using violence), any focus on nonviolent struggle offered by a journalist of Kristof’s prominence is to be welcomed. But Kristof inaccurately and rather condescendingly refers to the Palestinians as “dabbling” in nonviolence, and he seems to believe that “female pacifists” moving to the forefront is some kind of historic innovation. Excuse me, but the Palestinian people, most definitely including Palestinian women, have been using civil resistance effectively if intermittently for over 20 years against the Israeli occupation. Dr. Mary King is eloquent on the subject: http://vimeo.com/13155529. Dr. Maria Stephan has written cogently about it: http://www.opendemocracy.net/terrorism/article/palestine_muqawama. The strategic use of nonviolent resistance is now becoming more frequent on the West Bank, and that is all to the good. But the Palestinians are not without either history or experience with this.
Mr. Duvall,
Thanks so much for your excellent comment—I definitely should have done more to highlight the fact that, yes, what Kristof is seeing is far from an isolated incident.
Jack is right, of course, and so is Kristof. The stonethrowers have successfully hijacked nonviolent initiatives in Palestine Israel. The baby catharsis that provides them does daily damage to sheroic nonviolence practiced from Budrus to Tawani and in many more places. Only when the Palestinians decide that nonviolence is the Palestinian way will they make serious progress. Many totally get it and yet it’s so culturally saturated in honoring the warrior that the movement there can only hope for more like Mr. Morrar and his daughter, who achieve demonstrable victories and generate wider appreciation for their tactics. Even Hamas had to notice.
Part of the problem Palestinian nonviolence faces is Israel’s pre-narration of the Palestinian modus operandi. These “backwards Arabs use their children as decoys to bomb us,” I have heard pro-Israeli friends say. “They use their women on rooftops to keep us from bombing terrorist clusters,” is another automatic claim – all buttressed by the selective coverage of the mainstream media, which is always more keen on reporting violent acts than nonviolent ones.
These generalizations and exaggerations keep Palestinian acts of nonviolence largely pre-narrated and thus invisible to the outside world – and I’m afraid that the strategic use of women would play right into those Israeli narratives. Without responsible journalism, Palestinian nonviolence remains a very noble but equally, if not more, life-threatening endeavor. I can see why the (always unreported and unseen) violent quelling of nonviolent action would inspire Palestinian youth to consider stones within the sphere of “nonviolence.” When IDF tanks and bulldozers are your daily reality, stones become flies. I’m not condoning the trowing of stones but I also dare not judge it.
The growth of support for nonviolence depends on its being seen. And that support is what keeps nonviolence – while always at risk – from being suicidal. TV and written coverage of the beating and killing of harmless Indians and dignified unarmed black students both showed this. In Palestine, nonviolence has resulted in being beaten to death or crushed by machines and yet much of the world and the great majority of America have no idea about any of it.
While much of our media is run by directly or indirectly pro-Israeli elements, there can be no such thing as “Palestinian nonviolence” because those elements won’t allow it. Israel and its apologists know full well the power of nonviolence. They understand that it must remain invisible and that Palestinians must only be illustrated as sadistic and violent terrorists. The element of surprise, which won the day for many nonviolent struggles, has been effectively countered and neutralized by the element of deception, which the state of Israel and its supporters regularly employ.
The role of media in nonviolence has been covered. Soon, we’ll have to add a chapter on the role of mass-media and the obtaining of control over that mass-media.
I’d be interested in learning what others think about the role of media.
Peace.
ESM, I think you’re absolutely right, in the case of Palestine and in so many others around the world. Palestine, after all, is a site of relative media obsession, compared to many other trouble spots (the Congo, for instance) where the world media is paying even less attention.
Media and storytelling are an absolutely critical part of nearly any campaign of nonviolent action. This goes right to the intended purpose of Waging Nonviolence: to help draw attention where we can to nonviolent actions and discussions about nonviolence. Mainly, for the moment, this means collecting and pointing to stories we find that have been told elsewhere, but we hope someday to be able to support more original reporting. The hope is to help journalists—like Kristof here—recognize that nonviolent actions are not isolated incidents; they are part of a powerful and pervasive phenomenon around the world. And, as such, they deserve our attention as much as—if not more than—acts of violence.
Fantastic comments overall. I think the media is hugely important in creating a greater understanding of world affairs; as the current major media outlets are owned by a corporate economic elite, the result is inevitably a skewed depiction of reality. Since the moral overtones of journalism often dictate a sense of impartiality, mass culture often takes for granted the notion that what they see in the news is an accurate representation of what’s going on outside the comfort of their own homes. The time spent watching television alone can have a drastic and ignoble influence on the values, beliefs, and cultural practices of any given society.
Media is a hugely important in educating the public, but as long as major media outlets are owned by corporate entities who are primarily concerned with perpetuating normative ideologies, whose interests lie in bettering their self-interest, we will continue to see a misrepresentation of information on a planetary scale.
Thankfully, the internet is an opportunity for us to expand this system, and seek out information for ourselves. With the advent of independent news sources, including WNV, global citizens are now using internet technology to paint an alternative picture. We are in the midst of a new information age that enables us to connect in an unprecedented way. It is therefore crucial that we continue to push this trend of independent media sources who are concerned with the real values of journalism, rather than corporate profit agendas. It is also crucial to protect the liberties of expression on a national level. Is it any coincidence that these areas also face some of the most severe internet censorship? We must protect these outlets, and extend these freedoms on a global level. As more people learn about the biased and hegemonic control of major media outlets and turn to smaller, more benevolent sources, we will see a shift in global awareness. Feel free to talk more about this topic with me: rroopcha@uwaterloo.ca.