If Only There Were Some Non-Violent Way To Protest

By Bassem Tamimi, Palestinian Activist

President Abbas asserted to the United Nations General Assembly several weeks ago what we all know to be true: that ours is a culture of peace. It might sometimes appear otherwise, since we engage in so much violence, but believe me: if there existed some way to express our displeasure with the situation that did not involve trying to hurt people, we would pursue it.

The greatest Palestinian minds of the last three generations have devoted substantial attention to the question of effective resistance. If there were some way to defy the Occupation, to register non-compliance with its demands, and to voice our displeasure with the state of affairs, that was somehow free of attempts to injure or kill Israelis – and, let’s be honest, plenty of fellow Palestinians – you can bet they’d have thought of it. We’re not talking about mental lightweights here. If they never came up with a non-violent way to conduct a protest movement, well, it most likely does not exist. QED.

Don’t get me wrong: I do relish the attention I get from using my family as pawns in the media war against Israel, so I have some flesh in this game, so to speak. But I don’t want to see my children growing up learning that the only way to achieve things is through violence! If only there were an avenue of protest, of activism, of disobedience, that did not require violence! Well, wish in one hand and spit in the other, and see which one fills up first, as they say.

Indeed, if only there were other civil rights campaigns from which to draw principles of non-violence. It would be amazing to discover that anything at all could be accomplished by such means, and to adopt them for our use. If only an oppressed minority somewhere in the world – say, blacks in mid-twentieth-century America – had leaders who demonstrated the irresistible moral force that non-violent resistance conveys. Had such figures existed, with, perhaps, some record of inspiring speeches or writings in which they laid out their philosophy and methods, well, then there might be something to talk about.

Or if only there had been colony of a Western power – which is, after all, how we Palestinians see our own situation – with a national liberation movement, one that adhered to non-violence in it efforts to gain international sympathy and cause the world – and that Western power  – to come to terms with the immorality of its policies. Perhaps a place formerly under British rule until the late 1940’s, so that our situations could be parallel, and we could learn from them how to conduct such a non-violent campaign. Then, perhaps, we could embark on a similar path, and be able to transition into healthy self-governance. How I wish such a precedent existed!

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go collect my stipend from Amnesty International.