Lawry, Good!
And the article does what must be done, separate the Palestinian people from their so-called leaders. Harry ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Lawrence wrote: >The curfew is really a lock-down. It is lifted exceptionally, and keeps >Palestinians in their houses for most of the time. Lifts are arranged so >that Palestinian farmers do not have time to get their products to market, >and so the Palestinians have to buy their goods from Israeli vendors who >are not under the lock-down/curfew restrictions. > > > >The Druze of the Golan Heights demonstrated in the early 80s the potential >success of non-violent resistance to Israeli occupation. Their primary >issue was that of identity. The Israeli authorities sought to require the >Druze to accept Israeli identity cards. Determined to maintain their >Syrian nationality, the Druze refused, en masse, by refusing to accept the >cards, though their Syrian cards were seized and destroyed by the Israeli >occupation troops. This was quite a courageous act, as identity cards were >made essential for everything from travel to work, social services, >property transactions, etc. Eventually, and with growing support from >civilian groups within Israel itself, the Israelis abandoned their >identity card laws. There were also several instances when Israeli troops >in the Golan themselves refused to carry out some of the more repressive >restrictions that were imposed on the local population. Druze resisters >took to offering passing Israeli troops tea and cookies, and deliberately >avoided harassing or cursing the troops. > > > >It has seemed to me that non-violent resistance was a viable strategy for >the Palestinians, and indeed there have been many instances of this; but >it lost out to the anger that now fuels the Palestinian terror-based >resistance. It is interesting to speculate how things might have turned >out had non-violent resistance prevailed. Certainly, the casualties would >have been far fewer, and the level of mutual animosity that has emerged >would be lower and more tractable. > > > >The Druze are a small and tightly-knit group. The Palestinians are a much >larger population, and much less-cohesive; Christians and Muslims, West >Bankers and Gazans, exile and resident Palestinians, farmers and urban >educated, etc all these differences have meant that Palestinian views on >resistance to Israel have been varied. > > > >In the US, the anti-racist civil rights movement in the south embraced >non-violent resistance as the only strategy that could work; the leading >civil rights organizations agreed on the strategy together, and ensured >that all civil rights workers were trained in the tactics of non-violence >and understood its moral and strategic purposes. It is hard to see how a >comparably broad non-violent centralized strategy could have been adopted >among all Palestinians. But I think the hope is still there for small >groups to launch non-violent resistance. > > > >One of the keys to non-violence is working is that the media pay attention >to what is being done. Gandhi in India was able to garner this attention >through his own charisma and ability to weave compelling symbols into the >mix. The US civil rights movement had its white college kids from the >north who spread the word back home about what was going on in the south, >eventually compelling the US federal government to step in, in favor of >the civil rights of southern blacks. > > > >Might segments of the Israeli population (and army) now be able to >generate a comparable sympathy for Palestinian non-violent resisters, were >they to emerge? > > > >Best regards, > >Lawry > > > > > >-----Original Message----- >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Ed Weick >Sent: Monday, September 30, 2002 1:16 PM >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Rule change? > > > >Could a curfew to which nobody paid any attention become a war to which >nobody came? > > > >Ed > > >Ed Weick >577 Melbourne Ave. >Ottawa, ON, K2A 1W7 >Canada >Phone (613) 728 4630 >Fax (613) 728 9382 > > > >---------- >A new intifada is born >image00125.gif >Increasing numbers of Palestinians are turning to non-violent >protests, says DAOUD KUTTAB. But will they be effective? >image00125.gif > >image00125.gif >By DAOUD KUTTAB > > > > > > > > > >Monday, September 30, 2002 Page A15, Globe and Mail > > >The time was almost midnight, on Sept. 20, when a number of satellite >television stations interrupted their regular programming to announce that >Israeli soldiers had warned Palestinians living near Yasser Arafat's >headquarters in Ramallah that the building would be blown up in 15 minutes >if those inside it didn't come out. > >Within those tense minutes, the streets of Ramallah filled with ordinary >Palestinians. Marchers, often led by women, increased in number as people >trapped in their homes for days on end decided to shake off the injustice >that had befallen them. Many demonstrated more in defence of their >national honour than in support of Mr. Arafat. > >The popular uprising that began in the Ramallah neighbourhood of Umm al >Sharit quickly spread to Nablus, Tulkarem, Gaza and Bethlehem. The next >day, women and men came out with pots and pans and beat on their household >utensils as a sign of anger and protest. The following day, a candlelight >vigil was held as a way to break what people considered a repressive curfew. > >In 1987, Palestinians introduced the term intifada into the international >lexicon, when thousands of youths armed with nothing more than stones rose >up against Israeli guns and tanks. In the fall of 2000, when rioting broke >out following the visit of Ariel Sharon to the area around the al Aqsa >mosque in Jerusalem, many called those protests the al Aqsa, or second, >intifada. Now, with what happened the evening of Sept. 20 in Ramallah, I >believe we are witnessing the birth of the third intifada. > >Since that night, schools in many West Bank cities have remained open, >defiant of Israeli curfews. Some areas are organizing popular schools. >Some of the more affluent schools are sending homework to their students >via e-mail. Curfew days have become high traffic days on the Internet as >most people are doing their office or school work from their homes. A >major culture is being written up, recorded, photographed and spread on >cyberspace about life under curfew. > >What happened late that Friday night was not without warning. A week >earlier, the representatives of the Palestinian people did something >unprecedented in Arab politics: They forced a government appointed by Mr. >Arafat to resign rather than be shamed by a confidence vote. At about the >same time, a public opinion survey, commissioned by the Search for Common >Ground, found that a majority of Palestinians supported the idea of >non-violent resistance. Hence the peaceful protests that started 10 days ago. > >In the two previous intifadas, those who favoured more violent >confrontation soon came to dominate the protests. Such acts are not only >contrary to the spirit of non-violence, they also endanger those involved, >quickly limiting the possibility that large numbers of ordinary >Palestinians might participate. > >For a long time, many international critics of the Palestinians have been >asking why we don't use non-violent methods to effect change. They argue >that if Palestinians do that, a major change will take place in Israeli >and international public opinion that will eventually be translated in >political terms. Many of us have doubts about that, seeing that the Sharon >government is only interested in a Palestinian population that raises the >white flag of surrender. > >When Palestinians in Ramallah carried out their plans to hold a >candlelight vigil on Wednesday night, the Israeli army, which had said it >would lift Thursday's curfew, reversed its position and reimposed the >curfew. Some people obeyed the renewed order; most didn't. Schools in >particular have decided that they will no longer call off their teaching >duties according to Israeli army dictates. > >What is worrisome, however, is that the Israeli and international press >have ignored or belittled the non-violent nature of what happened in >Palestine last week. It seems that the long-awaited change in Israeli and >U.S. public opinion will not happen soon, as both peoples continue to be >bombarded by news that fulfills the aspirations of those wishing to end >the conflict in a violent way. > >Daoud Kuttab is director of the Institute of Modern Media at Al-Quds >University in Ramallah. ><mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > >--- >Incoming mail is certified Virus Free. >Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). >Version: 6.0.391 / Virus Database: 222 - Release Date: 9/19/2002
****************************** Harry Pollard Henry George School of LA Box 655 Tujunga CA 91042 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: (818) 352-4141 Fax: (818) 353-2242 *******************************
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