It is a concept that alludes so many people worldwide: nonviolence. Many people believe it to be a passive endeavor that is neither challenging nor successful. This misses the point. Across the globe, nonviolent, in-your-face resistance has been one of the few means of resistance that has worked. The problem many have is that it takes time and patience to succeed. It took Martin Luther King Jr. and Gandhi over a decade respectively to bring change to their nations. But, it worked. In Palestine, the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), has been working toward nonviolence as the number one means of resisting Israel's occupation in the West Bank and Gaza. The group means well and often does great work. I remember Adam Shapiro – co-founder of the movement – telling of a group of activists who took long mirrors and walked with them in front of Israeli bulldozers so the soldiers could see what they were doing. On Friday, Huwaida Arraf – another co-founder of ISM – wrote a piece in The Nation detailing what happened to her and her boat when Israel decided to use force against unarmed peace activists attempting to dock in Gaza. Her words highlight the void that exists in Western thought. Nobody wants to hear about peace activists or nonviolence. These people are “flower childs” or “crazy hippies.” Too bad, because there was a time when activism was respected. What caught the eye in the article was when she wrote that American President Barrack Obama had said nothing about Israel's actions. “And though in his widely hailed Cairo speech President Obama made an implicit call for nonviolence as the means to challenge the Israeli occupation, the Obama administration made no public statement on our behalf — nor did it do so three months ago, when my dear friend Bassem Abu Rahme was killed while nonviolently protesting Israeli expansionism in the West Bank that threatens to destroy his village of Bil’in.” This is the reality of the world we live in. People don't care, or if they do, they think nonviolence is not the answer. It is time for the media to play the vital role that it has in all nonviolent movements: create a mode for these actors to have their voices heard. That is what journalism is for and if reporters or editors are unwilling to write about the situation on the ground, then they will have failed because it is through organizations like ISM that peace can be achieved. Report don't judge. Show the world the reality on the ground and the important work that ISM and many, many other activists globally are doing in the name of peace and nonviolence. Let us glorify nonviolence instead of violence. Please. BM
