Gandhi's Grandson in Ram-Alah:
To Kick Off Unarmed Palestinian Campaign
Amira Hass
The grandson of former Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi, Arun Gandhi, is to
kick off a Palestinian campaign for an unarmed, popular struggle against the
Israeli occupation.
The campaign is being organized by a group of Palestinian social and
political activists in Ramallah that was formed after a ruling of the
International Court of Justice in The Hague against the separation fence and
Israel's occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The group's members are
anti-fence activists, members of non-government organizations for water and
agriculture development, and central Fatah activists, headed by minister
without portfolio and Fatah activist Kadura Fares.
Gandhi, head of the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Non-violence in the United
States, will be the star speaker in three mass rallies planned in Ramallah,
Abu Dis and Bethlehem on August 26. Gandhi said he intends "to promote the
philosophy of non-violence, the approach that non-violence is the only venue
that can solve our problems."
The Ramallah group resumed it ties with Palestinians for Peace and Democracy
in the U.S., and reportedly consists of 400 volunteers. The group's leader,
Mohammed Al Atar, said they felt "an urgency to find another way to resist
occupation."
The link between Al Atar and the Ramallah group was Terry Boulata of East
Jerusalem, the principal of a private school in Abu Dis and a major
anti-fence activist. The fence separates her home from her place of work and
from her husband's family. Boulata said the Hague decision and Israel's High
Court ruling to change the fence route strengthens the position of the
proponents of an unarmed struggle. Like Al Atar, she said: "The struggle is
our right, but we must be creative."
The two then invited Gandhi in order to learn creative ways of fighting
against the occupation.
In a telephone call from the United States, Gandhi said he is coming both to
learn and to teach his philosophy. "I understand that many bad things
happened fifty-five years ago, but the attempt to get justice by revenge
accomplishes nothing," he said. He said he learned that from his grandfather
when he was just a boy, and thought of revenge in retaliation to the
apartheid and humiliation he felt in South Africa, where he was born in
1934. Gandhi said his father spent fifteen years in jail because he refused
to obey the apartheid laws.
It is difficult to tell how the Palestinians will relate to Gandhi's
tendency to explain violent conflicts by reducing them to private,
inter-personal relations. "I've dedicated my life to explain to people how
damaging prejudices can be, and how to form better relations. That is the
basis of non-violence. Relations must be based on love, understanding and
honour, not on negative foundations," he said.
"I will tell the Palestinians that it is their responsibility to change. If
the Israelis do not want to listen, it does not mean we cannot act."
Gandhi intends to tell the Palestinians that the essence of violence is that
each side justifies it by saying the other side started. "The question is
who is more intelligent (to stop using violence) and who has more power to
change. I think the Palestinians have a chance to be more intelligent and
not act like the Israelis."
The organizers intend to bring thousands to the rallies and record the talks
with Gandhi. The events will cost about $200,000, and contributions have
arrived from Switzerland and Norway. It is uncertain how much Gandhi can
contribute to the Palestinian struggle, but the invitation indicates a
considerable part of the Palestinian public is seeking popular, non-violent
ways to struggle. "We want to organize a Palestinian peace camp to explain
to Israel and the world that our freedom is the key to peace," Boulata said.
Source: Ha’aretz, August 13, 2004,
http://www.haaretzdaily.com.
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