News,
articles and documents from the Holy Land
Issue No. 169 - Saturday, 7 September 2002
Dear Friends, Brothers
and Sisters,
Since two weeks I don’t send
you the Olive Branch due to my absence for a week in Italy with the Patriarch
and Switzerland by my brother, and soon after my return I moved to the new
parish, Taybeh, where I am here since one week. It is totally a new world for
me, new people, new work and new type of life. We began the school last Monday
and everything is going smoothly now and I am getting accustomed. I teach
catechism at school for the three high classes, I teach in history of
philosophy at our Seminary in Beit Jala, and I have a lot of weekly meetings
with several groups in the parish including all the ordinary work of a priest:
daily and Sunday mass with the homily, celebration of the sacraments, visit to
the families especially the sick people. We have a lot of unfinished
construction work which needs some time and more money, but I am very glad to
do it because it enables us to give work to many of our unemployed people
especially the young.
I am glad also to inform you
that my Arabic book which is a collection of all the previous Sunday articles
was already published last week, and at the same time I am continuing to write
the weekly Sunday article in Alquds newspaper which enables me to have a
Christian voice in the local media.
I will be more than glad to
host any of you in Taybeh where we have a guest house for 52 people, it will be
a very good occasion to meet our local Christian community which is witnessing
to Jesus Christ in his homeland, especially that Taybeh is the only totally
Christian village in the Holy Land and this is unique because all the other
villages and town are mixed.
You will see in today’s Olive
Branch the following documents:
1)
My
colleague Fr. Iyad Twal, parish priest of Birzeit, wrote 25 ways you can help the Palestinians work for Justice and
Peace!
2) LETTER FROM BETHLEHEM (33) by Toine van Teeffelen in which he gives us the last update from Bethlehem area especially after the partially withdrawal of the Israelis troops and the lifting of the curfew which is still imposed in all the other big towns in the west bank.
3) After the beginning of the scholastic year the Arab Educational Institute is launching the campaign “LET OUR CHILDREN GO TO SCHOOL!”
4) "More Effective Force" a commentary by Sari and Lucy Nusaybah which is a call for a nonviolent action.
I hope that we will keep ion touch through our weekly Olive Branch newsletter, and I will be very glad to assist any of you and answer your questions if you need any further information.
Best wishes from
Taybeh-Efraim Fr.
Raed Abusahlia
25 ways
you can help the Palestinians
work for
Justice and Peace!
Fr. Iyad Twal*
Since June 1967, the Palestinian people have suffered from an illegal military occupation of their land. Shortly after the1967 Arab-Israeli war, the UN Security Council passed a resolution “emphasizing the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war” and affirmed the “withdrawal of Israeli armed forced from territories occupied in the recent conflict” (http://www.un.org/documents/sc/res/1967/s67r242e.pdf). Recently, President George W. Bush confirmed U.S. policy in an April 4, 2002 Rose Garden speech saying “the occupation must end through withdrawal to secure and recognize boundaries consistent with United Nations Resolutions 242 and 338” (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/04/20020404-1.html).
However, the occupation persists, and in the past 35 years more than 3 million people were directly or indirectly forced to leave their homeland to take refuge in many countries around the world. Until now, the Palestinian people are the only people in the world still living under military occupation. This occupation affects our daily lives as all of our movement and activity is at the mercy of Israeli military. Simple tasks such as commuting to work and traveling to the local schools are fraught with frustration, humiliation and delays. Bishop Desmond Tutu, in a speech in Boston’s Old South Church on April 13, 2002 remarked, “I've been very deeply distressed in my visit to the Holy Land; it reminded me so much of what happened to us blacks in South Africa. I have seen the humiliation of the Palestinians at checkpoints and roadblocks. They suffer like us when young white police officers prevented us from moving about. They seemed to derive so much joy from our humiliation." (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/africa/1957644.stm)
We need your help to change the situation so that all in this region can live in peace and enjoy the benefits of a just society. Below are 25 ways in which you can personally participate with us working for peace. Together we will grow in our understanding of the value of every life and in basic human rights of freedom. We can’t do it by ourselves. We need each other.
All people of good will are invited to take the initiative and share with us in our dream that one day a Palestinian and Israeli child can play peacefully with dignity in the foothills of Jerusalem. Even if our actions do not appear to influence the overall outcome of events, at the very least we succeed in changing ourselves. And that, in and of itself, is an important victory.
1. Pray: Pray to God and to our Lord Jesus Christ to bring a just peace to the Holy Land. Every prayer is heard. Pray for the leaders from both sides of the conflict to discover true peace, love and the beauty of reconciliation. Pray for the injured, for the prisoners, and for those who are mourning the loss of a loved one (at least 1,503 Palestinians and 588 Israelis have lost their lives in this bloody conflict in the past two years – many of them women and children. For a profile of Palestinians killed in the conflict, see the website of The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights & the Environment – http://www.lawsociety.org/Intifada2000/list.htm. CNN has compiled a profile of Israeli victims – http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2002/terror.victims/index.html). Pray for those who are under military siege and curfew. More than one million Palestinians are now under curfew. Pray for the people who can’t leave their homes to look for work or to get medical treatment. Pray for the unemployed who are unsure of the source of their next meal. World Bank figures show that about half of all Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza are living in poverty on $2/day, and the US Ambassador to Israel, Daniel Kurtzer recently warned that the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory was "a humanitarian disaster". Pray for children who are suffering physical and psychological trauma as a result of the conflict. A recent study by USAID found that more than one-fifth of young Palestinian children are malnourished at the same horrible level of children in Nigeria and Chad (http://www.usaid.gov/wbg/reports/Nutritional_Assessment.pdf). Other studies show an alarming increase in the incidence of post-traumatic stress syndrome and bedwetting among children.
2. Accept that God is Love: God is not blind to the suffering of widows and orphans or to the pain of those in prison. In fact, He loved us so much that He became flesh and dwelt among us to set us free from sin and pain and death.
3. Live your faith: In practicing your faith, you will draw nearer to God and to your brothers and sisters in Christ and in humanity. Loving God and following Christ will compel you to refuse and reject evil, suffering and injustice.
4. Thank God for his many miracles: Despite the daily suffering, fear, pain, injuries, closures, destruction and deep poverty, the Palestinian people still desire and believe in peace where they can live a “normal life”.
5. Get the facts: The Internet is a great resource for getting an accurate picture of what is really happening. There are many websites, which present a more complete picture of the conflict. Below are some useful addresses listed alphabetically. While I may not agree with everything written in these websites, they are a good source of information on the complexities of the conflict.
www.Al-bushra.org (Al Bushra)
www.lpj.org (Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem homepage
http://go.to/nonviolence (Fr. Raed’s Nonviolence Homepage)
www.ariga.com (Oz v’Shalom-Netivot Shalom, religious
Zionist anti-Occupation)
www.arij.org (Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem)
Good Maps
www.batshalom.org (Bat Shalom, Israeli
Women for Peace)
www.bitterlemons.org (Israeli / Palestinian dialogue on political issues)
www.btselem.org (Israeli Human Rights Group)
www.cmep.org (Churches for Middle East Peace)
www.fmep.org (Foundation for Middle East Peace)
www.gush-shalom.org (Gush Shalom)
www.haaretzdaily.com (Prominent Jews writing articles in
Haaretz)
www.hcef.org
(Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation)
www.hdip.org (Health Development Information and
Policy Institute)
www.jerusalem-times.net (Jerusalem Times)
www.jewishpeacefellowship.org (Jewish Peace Fellowship)
www.jewsagainsttheoccupation.org
(Jews Against Occupation)
www.jewsnotzionists.org (Jews NOT Zionists)
www.jppi.org (Jews for Peace in Israel and
Palestine)
www.keck.ucsf.edu/~yoram/amesp.html (Alliance of Middle East Scientists
& Physicians)
www.loga.org/mideastforum/home.htm
(Lutheran Church World Service)
www.mecchurches.org (Middle East Council of Churches)
www.miftah.org (Miftah)
www.nimn.org (Not in Our Name Coalition)
www.opentent.org/jews.html (Jewish Alliance Against the Occupation)
www.palestinecs.org (Palestine Red Crescent Society)
www.pmwatch.org (Palestine Media Watch)
www.refusersolidarity.net (Israeli
soldiers refusing to serve in the West Bank and Gaza)
www.rhr.israel.net (Rabbis for Human Rights)
www.sabeel.org (Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology
Center)
www.searchforjustice.org (Search for justice and equality)
www.seruv.org.il/defaulteng.asp
(Israeli reservists refusing to serve in West Bank and Gaza)
www.tikkun.org (A Jewish Critique of
Politics, Culture and Society)
www.vopj.org (Visions for peace with justice in
Israel/Palestine)
www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/international/palestine/index.html
(World Council of Churches)
www.yesh-gvul.org/english.html
(Yesh Gvul - “There is a Limit”)
6. Know the truth about the Palestinian people: Contrary to what some may tell you, the Palestinian people are not all terrorists. The majority of Palestinians want peace and are working for it. There are many non-violent activities in the Palestinian territories that do not get much press (e.g. The Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Among People – www.rapprochement.org). Also, among the Palestinian people there is a very active Christian community that traces its roots back to the first century. Remember that resistance to occupation is not terrorism. Our situation is not too different from that of India in the 1940s or South Africa in the 1980s. Know that we don’t hate Jewish people. On the contrary, we have much in common with them as fellow-Semites. We are simply against what the Israeli government and army are doing to civilians. We are eager and ready to live together in peace after getting our rights.
7. Be reasonable: In war times, extremists arise on both sides. Know the truth and try to understand the facts with an objective point of view. Very rarely in a conflict is one side always right and one side always wrong. Look at the conflict through a desire to seek justice, and consider more than one parties’ view on the issue. You will find it valuable to review international resolutions and perspectives on this conflict. Also interesting are some of former US President Jimmy Carter’s writings such as the April 24, New York Times Op-ed entitled, “America Can Persuade Israel to Make a Just Peace” (http://www.cartercenter.org).
8. Speak out: The media and the press have a very critical influence and are often influenced by lobbyists and interest groups. Get the facts regarding a people who have suffered for over half a century and have few resources to make their voices loud and clear. Write an opinion piece for your local newspaper, set up information tables at your high school or college, or simply talk to people. Be a roving ambassador for the Palestinians by explaining the true facts to everyone you meet. Even the cashier in the supermarket needs good information. You never know how your contribution may affect someone else's views. The possibilities are endless. The worst thing that one can do is to remain quiet in times like this. Do something! By remaining silent, you contribute to the injustice.
9. Protest Israeli bias in the media: The media has a powerful influence on public opinion and government policy. When you discover bias, immediately contact the news agency and complain. Keep your remarks respectful and stick to the facts. Build a list of e-mail addresses of friends and colleagues, so when you discover bias, you can alert others to also file a complaint. There is power in the number of responses, even if your specific letter is not printed.
10. Visit Palestine: The Palestinians are very kind, hospitable and welcoming people and would love the opportunity to share their story with you. If you can’t come, at least stay in touch with us. If you make plans to come, but end up canceling your trip due to the political situation, consider sending the funds covering the cost of your trip to feed the hungry, to help pay for the educational costs of the young generation, help a sick person in his treatment, or to create job opportunities.
11. Fight child abuse! Extremists on both sides insist on demonizing each other and clamor for war. Sadly, they often target the impressionable younger generation. The Palestinians and the Israelis are like connected twins: we have to be separated carefully and fairly, and not by force.
12. Fight Israeli Military Excesses: What the Israeli army is doing to the Palestinian civilians is brutal and must be stopped. There is a growing movement among Israeli Reservists that has grown to almost 500 soldiers who to refuse to serve in the West Bank and Gaza because, they “were issued commands and directives that had nothing to do with the security of our country, and that had the sole purpose of perpetuating our control over the Palestinian people. We, whose eyes have seen the bloody toll this Occupation exacts from both sides...shall not continue to fight beyond the 1967 borders in order to dominate, expel, starve and humiliate an entire people.” (http://www.seruv.org.il/defaulteng.asp or http://www.refusersolidarity.net/).
13. Get a clear vision of terrorism: Killing civilians and innocent people is terrorism – for both sides. Dictionary.com’s definition of terrorism is: “The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.”
14. Boycott
the Israeli products and services made in the settlements: Israeli
settlements were built on land confiscated by force from Palestinians
landowners making them illegal according to international law. Buying products
made in these settlements supports injustice. Boycott brands like Elite, Telma, Osem, Ahava products, and
some fruits and vegetables. For
more information see http://www.bigcampaign.org.uk/index.asp
or http://www.boycottisraeligoods.org/index.php.
15. Sponsor a Child: The Palestinian economy has broken down and resulting in an average annual income $1100 per family, however the cost to send one child to school is $700 a year. The Christians of the Holy Land need your help! They ask for support in giving their children a Christian education. Through you sponsorship you provide important benefits for the Christians of the Holy Land. The children and their families come to know that they are not alone as they face difficult and often hostile conditions.
16. Support the Red Cross of the Middle East: Palestinian health and medical services are in shambles. Doctors are in need of virtually every kind of medical supply and health-related resource. Pharmacists are in need of almost every available medicine.
17. Donate to charity: More than 50% of the Palestinian people are living beneath the poverty line. Help them to find a job opportunity or to pay for a good education by supplementing school and university fees. Work with the churches and private organizations to obtain detailed reports of how your money is being used.
18. Fix a house: The Israeli army has destroyed many civilian homes and caused massive destruction by using bombs and bullets. They also often destroy houses they use as camps and observance points during military incursions into the cities, towns and villages. There are thousands of damaged houses that have been reduced to rubble. Most of these homeowners cannot fix their homes as they are already struggling to feed their families due to massive unemployment and the crippling of the Palestinian economy.
19. Call Palestine: Pick up the phone and call your Palestinian friends and relatives. If you don't know someone personally, ask someone who does. Call that person from time to time, and assure them that you share their pain and are trying to understand what they are going through. Commend that person for having the courage and the strength to live in Palestine now. Let them know that they are not alone! Encourage them not to leave their homeland, but to work for a just peace.
20. Fly the Palestinian flag: Put a Palestinian flag in front of your home or display a flag on your car or clothing. Use the flag as a conversation starter to let everyone know that you are in support of the enforcement of international laws and are working for a just solution to the crisis in the Middle East. Let people know that you support the creation of a Palestinian state to stand side-by-side with Israel so that all in the region can live in peace and security.
21. Rally for Palestine: Organize a rally in your city. When thousands of people turn out for a public display of support, it affects all segments of your community – the politicians, the media, and general public opinion. And most importantly, it engenders unity and pride among peace loving Palestinians.
22. Register and vote: Vote for candidates who you believe will work for justice and peace, not for financial or personal interests.
23. Visit your congressperson or parliament member: Form a concerned citizen’s group, contact your congressperson or member of Parliament, and then make an appointment to see him or her. Show your government representatives your serious concern about the crisis and the impact of global political posturing on everyday people. These are YOUR government representatives. Be sure they are aware of your convictions.
24. Contact the president or prime minister: Call or email them daily or weekly. Commend their true involvement to solve the conflict in a fair and just way. Ask them to take a strong mediating role. Write a short, personal email with a subject line like: “Thank you for standing for Justice and Peace”. Every call, letter, and fax is counted.
25. Brainstorm: Sit with a group of friends, and spend some time thinking of additional ideas that will be a force for positive change in this conflict. In so doing, you will help us fight for justice and bring peace to both Palestinians and Israelis who have a right to live in peace and security in the region.
* Fr. Iyad
Twal: Is a catholic priest from the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, living
in The Holy Land since 1989. Actually he is the parish priest of Birzeit. E-Mail: Latinbz@palnet.com
LETTER FROM BETHLEHEM
(33)
Toine van Teeffelen
August 23, 2002
Our cousin had
delayed her wedding a couple of times because of the curfews but it was finally
announced for last Saturday. That week, curfews were reimposed by and large
after four or six o’clock in the afternoon, so the risk was reasonable.
(Sometimes wedding announcements in papers give different options; for
instance, “If the curfew ends at 18:00 the wedding party will be at 15:00, if
the curfew ends at 14:00, the party will be at 12:00”). Due to an unexpected
full curfew on Friday, I didn’t have time to cut my hair and received a
friendly scolding of a neighbour. Outward appearances at social occasions are
important here. Jara was bridesmaid and walked in front of the couple, with her
long hair set up as if she was older, in a wide bridal dress and with a flower
wreath on her hair. She looked serious, glancing aside to see whether Mary
approved of her slow strides. I sat in the church with Tamer in my arms, just
back from a brief visit to Holland together with Jara to see my mother who was
ill. Since the groom was Armenian and the bride Roman-Catholic, the service was
held in the Catholic St Catherine Church but led by Armenian priests, one of
them wearing the characteristic triangular hat, a walking church as it were.
Fuad told me that it was in fact the first time that this happened. Not long
ago, believers were practically excommunicated by the different denominations
when marrying a partner from another Christian denomination. Was it the
intensive cooperation and the good relations between the religious
denominations during the siege of the Nativity Church that had paved the way
for this?
After the mass,
we went to a restaurant and watched the party where the bride and groom were
joyfully lifted up under the sound of ulelele trills and where
everything was as it should be. While looking for Jara, who for a moment seemed
to be lost, I saw the visitors, many of them smiling but also many barely able
to mask their weariness after the months of unpredictable curfew. I myself feel
that it is easy to forget about being tired when you continue working but when
you relax, your true feelings come up. The wedding was also somehow an act of
defiance against the regime of abnormality. Our neighbour said that it now was
an accomplishment to have a normal wedding done.
The next day
Mary called me in Jerusalem and asked me to buy the Arabic newspaper. A
surprise would await me at the last page. There turned out to be a beautiful
photo of Jara standing in front of the couple, taken by a photographer of
Reuters. Mary had seen him following Jara and picturing her from all corners.
The chosen picture showed her while she was moving her arm to throw white
flowers out of a basket. She was looking upwards, almost heavenly, a direction
emphasized by the photographer’s angle from below upwards - he must have made
himself small. In the background, under the church entrance with the star of
Bethlehem above it, the couple and family members were standing in half a
circle while silently watching Jara. The photo appeared both in Al-Quds and
Al-Ayyaam. In Palestine and the Arab world you often see charming photos of
babies and children in newspapers, even in teenager’s magazines. In Al-Ayyaam,
the photo stood in contrast to several other photos which showed killings and
destruction that happened the day before, such as a photo of a large hole in a
bombed house with a lone child’s doll in the middle of the rubble. As proud
parents we immediately sent our photo to friends and family. Somehow, we were
uplifted. Looking at it, Mary said that perhaps we could still make it to stay
in Bethlehem.
The photo’s
message was somehow optimistic. That weddings are still possible, or, less
truefully, that Bethlehem is returning to normal. This past week, there was a
welcome change. In what is called a ‘Bethlehem-Gaza first’ deal, the Israeli
army moved out of Bethlehem town. You can now see strolling – not hurrying -
people on the street during the sunset hours when the weather cools down. It is
a view that we completely lost during the past months. I was struck seeing Bethlehem
University students relaxingly talking with each other, taking their time. For
a change, they did not need to rush finishing their things before curfew was
reimposed. As if a community is coming out of its cage, or coffins (the main
metaphors used by people here to describe their own situation are those of
animals, prisoners, or simply dead or sleeping bodies). But at the same time
there is deep scepticism about the withdrawal. At the university cafetaria and
teacher rooms, nobody believes that the agreement will hold. The tanks still
surround Bethlehem, and can come in any moment. After all the dashed hopes,
everybody is guarded against renewed frustration. And traveling is still
enormously complex, both locally and internationally. We ourselves, like many
others, had to cancel a holiday abroad because getting a permit to the airport
depends very much on finding the right Palestinian and Israeli contact persons.
We did not succeed in this, while traveling through the Allenby bridge to
Jordan is nowadays so tiring, even with the special and expensive “VIP
service,” that we did not want our mother in law to go through all that.
Others, like Suzy, had to cancel holidays because the university delayed its
academic year. She had to give make-up lessons during July. And of course, the
majority in Bethlehem and Palestine can financially not afford to take a
holiday abroad.
*
* *
I wake up in the
early morning. The muezzin caller in ‘Azza camp is barely able to keep the
melody. His voice breaks, as if his spirit breaks. He, too, seems tired.
Sometimes he helps Mary bringing her back home by car when she buys vegetables
and fruits at Jibrin’s shop at the other side of the camp. During the curfews
he abbreviated the prayers, I imagine because he was concerned that the army
would catch him going in and out of the house. He must have acquired the habit
of quickly climbing up and down the stairs of the slender mosque minaret. The
tanks used to pass by the camp regularly.
*
* *
While going up
the university street, I watch Jara running on the pavement next to a galloping
horse on the street. Mary and I may be tried and tired yet she doesn’t give in.
LET OUR CHILDREN GO TO SCHOOL!
With the
beginning of the new school year, hundreds of thousands Palestinian students
are taking up their bags and go to school… or at least they wish to do so.
Pupils, parents, teachers and administrators are greatly concerned whether
roads will be accessible and schools open normally. This summer the population
has been subject to the frightening violence of Israeli incursions and the full
occupation of Palestinian cities. Nobody knows what is going to happen during
the present school year.
The Palestinian
school communities wish to let their voice be heard by anybody who wants to
listen: It is now the time to permit the Palestinian people, and especially its
school and other students, freedom of movement and freedom of studying. While
the population already suffer much from the general economic deterioration and
political stagnation, we cannot allow that our young generation is deprived
from the main investment in their future – school education.
We therefore
make an appeal to the schools and school communities to attend a public meeting
at the Nativity or Municipality Square in Bethlehem (Bab al-Dar). Christian and
Moslem religious leaders will conduct prayers for a peaceful school year, and a
song of hope and freedom will be voiced. The meeting will be in the spirit of
the Palestinian national demands: End Occupation and Open Jerusalem.
Time: 19/26
September
Place: Nativity
Square
Speeches
Song
Prayers
Lifting of
balloons
"More Effective Force"Commentary by Sari and Lucy NusaybahDocument Date: 20 March 2002Source: Jerusalem Al-Quds in Arabic 20 March“Sari Nusaybah Urges Palestinians To Pursue Nonviolent Conflict Resolutionä
"More Effective Force" is a new six-part TV series. It shows that nonviolent political struggle has constituted one of the most effective and inventive forms of change in the 20th century. Local Palestinian TV stations will begin showing this series on 21 March. Each episode highlights a different experience from a different part of the world, from a distinctive perspective: toppling the white minority rule in South Africa; achievements of the movement against racial discrimination in the US south in the 1960s; nonviolent resistance of the Nazi occupation of Denmark in the 1940s; Solidarity strikes that ended Soviet hegemony over Poland; the restoration of democracy in Chile; and of course, the events in India led and inspired by Mahatma Gandhi culminating in the liberation of India from British colonial occupation at a time when the British Empire was the main superpower. All these experiences represent success stories of nonviolent methods in confronting conflicts that seemed intractable. Every episode includes live scenes of real events and interviews with persons who took part in them. But what mostly distinguishes this series is the clarity and force of the message, whether from the aspect of the nonviolent methods or the hoped-for goals. On the basis of Gandhi's philosophy, the man who pioneered the methodical organization of nonviolence and its most energetic use, the message is as clear as the sun. The thrust of nonviolent struggle for the achievement of just political objectives, especially when used against a bestial, barbaric force and opposite great imbalances in power, is not only extremely effective in the achievement of these objectives, but often this is done more quickly. And maybe this method is sufficient to achieve them. This message, which gains special importance today in relation to the Palestinian people more than at any other time, must give hope in addition to providing a new strategy for a peaceable people. This people is primarily unarmed, occupied by a state that is predominately military in nature with full nuclear capability and an arsenal of advanced conventional weapons. The recent events have clearly shown two things in particular: on one hand, the Palestinians have proved a high degree of readiness, determination, and extraordinary courage, yet Israel's military superiority has prevented them from achieving their political objectives. On the other hand, the Israelis will never be able to score decisive political victory over the Palestinians despite their overwhelming military superiority. Moreover, resorting to the strategy of nonviolence and its weapons by a primarily unarmed people can directly deprive the Israelis of the advantage of being the stronger military power. It will redefine the rules of the game in the battlefield and enable the unarmed Palestinians laboring under the burden of occupation to take the initiative and launch an attack that cannot be repulsed. Its thrust gains momentum like a rolling snowball through every individual in this people for it leans on their just rights. And the columns of the Israeli army and its informational clout would stand hapless in front of it. The TV series recalls examples of conflicts in which nonviolent strategies proved to be more able than many military powers and political authorities that were mighty at the time. And consequently, they are more able and effective than violence as a means of affecting political change. The series shows how one nonviolent activity with a defined, prominent objective, such as Gandhi's march to the sea to bring salt in defiance of the tax on salt, can inspire the creativity of a whole nation living under the yoke of tyranny and injustice, mobilize and move it. Also it shows a matter that is not less important, albeit less widespread and less understood: nonviolence requires a great degree of courage, discipline, determination, and clear vision and strategy, not acquiescence, surrender, and cowardly avoidance of confrontation. On the contrary, it requires confrontation because it is a popular battle using nonviolent means. In addition, this battle cannot bet on the other side's abstention from using violence against the first one. Nonviolence is based on the assumption that the opponent will use violence and all forms of bestial practices, and on violence rebounding on the interest of the opponent. This is why nonviolence requires a great deal of organization and courage, a high degree of commitment that even entails sacrificing the self, and highly advanced tactics. Borrowing an example from the language field, it is possible to compare violence to screaming and yelling with the intention of making one heard in a certain crisis, while nonviolence could be compared to a clear, logical message. And while screaming and yelling can be heard, most of the time it is not understood. The listener stops listening or paying attention after a while. Against this, if the message is clear it is easily understood. It is also effective in stimulating activity, action, winning sympathy or achieving the desired objective. The methods of nonviolent struggle are not strange to the Palestinian people. Palestinians, men and women alike, used these methods during many periods of their history, including against the Ottoman rule. And the 1987 Intifada in particular constituted a very advanced form of nonviolent struggle. It was a popular revolution in the full sense of the word. It had a clear political objective and unified strategy: replacing the octopus of Israeli occupation with popular mechanisms of Palestinian authority in all facets of life, from commerce to education. It is no exaggeration to say that the Palestinians have become instructors in the arts of resistance. For Palestinian struggle is one of the few brilliant examples in the history of struggles for national independence. It is a struggle that by all criteria will certainly bear the fruit of victory, and grant the Palestinian people real freedom and independence. But in the context of the existence of an occupying force with a high degree of military organization that does not hesitate to use force against unarmed civilians, the real power of the sons of the Palestinian people rests in themselves and the justness of their cause. The concept of justice is the energy that drives all nonviolent movements. It drives whole peoples, and the justness of the Palestinian cause is not disputed. The biggest proof of the commitment to this cause, which even reached the level of sacrifice, has been confirmed in a painful way through the numbers of martyrs of all ages all over the country. There is now a need for finding the key within the possible strategies of nonviolence. Through this key the Palestinian people could be mobilized despite the policies of closure and dismembering pursued by Israel, and at the same time reach the conscience and humanity of the external world, including the Israeli people and policymakers in the United States. For nonviolence itself is an information battle like any other matter, so that the Israeli Government finds itself in a vortex. This vortex must give the Israeli Government the choice of losing the support and sympathy of most of the external world, especially the West--support and sympathy that it cannot ignore--or reaching a just, possibly permanent, agreement with the Palestinians. Since it is not sufficient that the justness of this cause is glaringly evident and that the Palestinians are visibly the victims, it is essential to make sure that the justness of this cause is not distorted by deceitful information. And as this TV series shows, the key to starting any effective nonviolent activity is finding the confrontation point that must be a shameful, objectionable matter in no uncertain terms. This series may help us find this key and go back to our moral power in order to win this inequitable military struggle. The first episode of this series begins with the examples of Poland and South Africa. [Description of Source: Jerusalem Al-Quds in Arabic -- Independent, largest circulation Palestinian newspaper; supports Palestinian Authority and peace process;]
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