How Are You,
Non-Violence?
By Uri Avnery
08 September, 2004
Gush-Shalom
At
the mass meeting with Arun Gandhi, the grandson of the Mahatma, in Abu-Dis,
I observed the faces of the participants. While Gandhi was preaching
non-violence, I imagined a debate between two young Palestinians in
the audience.
Yussuf: He
is right. The armed intifada has failed.
Hassan: On
the contrary. Without the actions of the martyrs, the world would have
forgotten us long ago.
Yussuf: For
half a year there were no suicide attacks in Israel, and look what we
have achieved!
Hassan: We
have achieved nothing. On the contrary, the Israeli generals boast that
they have defeated us with their targeted assassinations, incursions
into our territories and all the other acts of oppression. And all this
time they have been enlarging the settlements, putting up new outposts
and continuing to build the racist wall.
Yussuf: You
forget that the International Court has declared the wall illegal and
the UN General Assembly has confirmed this with a huge majority. All
of Europe voted in our favor. We are winning in the arena of world public
opinion.
Hassan: What
is that worth, if in the meantime Sharon does what he wants, goes on
keeping Arafat in a cage and spits in the face of Abu-Ala, while Abu-Ala
is advocating non-violence?
Yussuf: Even
the senior jurists in Israel itself warn Sharon that if he goes on like
this, the United Nations will end up imposing sanctions on Israel.
Hassan: But
in the meantime, the opposite is happening. Because of the lull in suicide
attacks, the Israeli economy is reviving. Tourism to Israel, that had
stopped altogether because of our actions, is starting up again. If
the Israelis feel comfortable and are no longer afraid of suicide bombers,
why should they talk with us? Why should they give back any territories?
Why should they stop enlarging the settlements? They dont give
a damn.
Yussuf: We
have to win international public opinion. We can do this only by non-violence.
I admire the martyrs who are ready to die for our people. I am proud
that we have such heroes. But they dont get us anywhere. They
only provide Sharon with pretexts to oppress us even more.
Hassan: As
if Sharon needs pretexts! He wants to break us, and world public opinion
will not lift a finger for us. The treacherous Arab leaders will not
do anything for us, either. Only our heroes will save us.
Yussuf: But
Gandhi argues that non-violent methods will be more successful. His
grandfather proved this in India.
Hassan: He
doesnt know the Israelis. The Israeli army will open fire on any
non-violent Palestinian demonstration that reaches serious proportions.
Yussuf: Look
at the brothers who scaled the wall. That is an example of successful
non-violent action, breaking the law of the occupier openly and without
fear!
Hassan: Dont
kid yourself. If Arun Gandhi and the Israelis hadnt been there,
the soldiers would have shot and killed them. Later they would have
announced that they were wanted terrorists. You remember the beginning
of the al-Aksa intifada, when there were unarmed mass demonstrations?
The Israeli army brought in snipers and killed the leaders. Please,
this is not India, and the Israelis are not Englishmen. They understand
only the language of force.
Yussuf: But
that is exactly what they say about us!
This kind of debate
is now going on everywhere in Palestinian society, perhaps in every
Palestinian family. The Yussufs have no success in convincing the Hassans,
and I am afraid that Gandhi will not succeed either, because they lack
the decisive argument. Abu-Mazen, who advocates non-violence, got nothing
from Sharon. Half a year without suicide attacks inside Israel have
not brought the Palestinians any achievements on the ground.
Therefore, the
suicide attack in Beer Sheva, just a week after the Gandhi rally, was
to be expected.
As long as the
Sharon government, with the active encouragement of President Bush,
goes on enlarging the settlements, building the Wall and all the other
actions of annexation, there is no way to convince Palestinian public
opinion to turn its back on violence. And only a decisive change in
Palestinian public opinion can put an end to suicide attacks. No wall
will stop people who are ready to die in order to carry out attacks,
and the Palestinians have already proved that they have any number of
such people.
Ehud Barak, a very
violent person, once said that if he had been a young Palestinian, he
would have joined a terrorist organization. Obviously, he doesnt
believe that non-violence will succeed against the Israeli army. And
he should know.
I was impressed
by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. He was the greatest liberator of
the 20th century, achieving freedom for the whole Indian subcontinent,
including present-day Pakistan and Bangladesh. (But Gandhi also said
that Hitler should be opposed only by non-violent means, and even his
most ardent admirers found it hard to accept that.)
In my youth I joined
two very violent organizations (the Irgun and the Israeli army), but
after I was wounded near the end of the 1948 war there were several
months when the very thought of combat caused me physical nausea. I
detest violence in all its forms, but how can it be stopped?
There are people
amongst us who are ready for a compromise peace but have been led to
believe that there is no one we can talk with, because they
dont want peace but seek to annihilate us. But we must understand
that Palestinian violence, which causes so much bloodshed, is the predictable
result of our cutting off every other road in front of them.
I am convinced
that it is possible to put an end to violence in our country
if we offer the Palestinian people an alternative, non-violent way of
achieving freedom and justice.
Anyone who believes
that a wall will succeed in stopping suicide attacks might as well rely
on the amulets of Kabbalist rabbis.