Violence & nonviolence

Between May and December of 1961 nearly 60 Freedom Rides took place across the southern states of America. The Riders came from a variety of backgrounds and crossed age, gender, race, geographical, professional, religious and political boundaries.

Their aim was to challenge in a nonviolent way the state laws which segregated blacks and whites in the transport systems of the southern states. Riders travelled side by side on interstate buses, defied segregation laws in the public…

During the Indian struggle for independence, Mohandas Gandhi gained many followers, including a Muslim Pashtun (or Pathan) from what is now Pakistan, named Abdul Ghaffar Khan, who organised a powerful nonviolent movement. – Eds

Gandhi had been talking about the nonviolence of the strong, that it was for the brave, the courageous. The idea developed into the notion of an army of Pathans, renowned for their ferocity but without weapons. They would be disciplined, wear uniform…

Hundreds of thousands of people in the world engage in nonviolent struggle. Be it a labour strike, a boycott of a business, or an attempt to overthrow an oppressive state, people are practicing nonviolent methods to resolve their disputes. Considering the extent to which the technique is used, it is surprising how little literature exists to help activists to go about their campaigns.

Few have done more to help demystify nonviolent action and make it a practicable activity than Gene…

Rarely is involvement with the military associated with nonviolence training and the ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King. However, as Peace News recently reported, this is the case in Dimona, Israel, where the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem are not only sending their youth to fight in the Israeli Defense Force but also running the Dr. Martin Luther King/SCLC-Ben Ammi Institute for a New Humanity.

Brother Gamariyahu, the interim director at the Institute, confirmed to Peace News…

Flying Close to the Sun tells how Cathy Wilkerson transformed herself from a nice middle class girl to a violent revolutionary. Describing how she became involved in left-wing politics as a student, the book charts her developing understanding of the political issues of the 1960s and ’70s and how she begins to see violence as a possible tool to respond to injustice.

Wilkerson is at her best when she describes the debates around the formation of the Weather Underground and the…

As Peace News went to press, the official death toll in Lhasa rose to 22 - generally assumed to be a massive under-estimate - and solidarity demonstrations were taking place around the world.

On 22 March, a Free Tibet Campaign march in London pressured China into allowing the Red Cross back into Tibet to treat people hurt in the violence. The day before, more than 30 protesters broke into the Chinese embassy in Delhi after foreign journalists were expelled from Tibet to…

With the highest rate of inflation anywhere in the world - currently 100,000% - the Zimbabwean economy has been in free-fall for several years, creating massive social unrest and chronic food shortages.

With elections due this month, and both the opposition MDC (Move- ment for Democratic Change) Party and the ruling ZANU-PF now split into two camps, the danger of escalating political violence is imminent.

At the heart of this conflict, the Fellowship of Reconciliation Zimbab-…

The theme of this issue - and of Peace News in general - is “the power of nonviolence”.

As this issue goes to press, Peter Gelderloos, the author of How Nonviolence Protects The State (partially reviewed in PN2487-8), begins a UK speaking tour devoted to denigrating the power of nonviolence (tour details on p16).

Peace News welcomes debate, and therefore we welcome Peter Gelderloos to the UK, despite our profound disagreements with him on strategy and principle.…

If there is power in nonviolence, what are its effects? How are we to assess the impact of nonviolent direct action (NVDA)? After many hard-fought CIRCA campaigns, am I, my comrades and allies in any sense empowered?

Personally, I don't feel any significant political power has come my way: I don't feel any more in control; I don't feel any relaxation in the throttling grip of authority.

There have been moments of feeling psychologically empowered, of course.

I very much enjoyed reading this book, although its title is something of a misnomer, as it is mostly a history of war resistance and anti-war thought. Another slight irritant is the amount of pages devoted to events within the US, compared to the rest of the world. But that is more than enough criticism, for this is an excellent little book.

Starting with a review of anti-war thought within the main religions - and arguing strongly that each was fundamentally anti-violence and anti-…

Starting in 2000, a wave of “people power” revolutions - spearheaded by vibrant youth movements - toppled governments in Serbia, Georgia and Ukraine.

Each involved an unpopular government with authoritarian tendencies, a rigged election, an explicit commitment on the part of the “revolutionaries” (crucial to their success) to use only nonviolent tactics and, most controversially, financial support from Western governments and “democracy” foundations.

According to the Financial…

Gandhi and Beyond is divided into three parts: the first two chapters look at the work of Gandhi and Martin Luther King; the next three at how their ideas have been used by other activists such as Cesar Chavez and Dorothy Day; and the final two at issues of gender and principles for action. The author says in his introduction that he hopes it will add to academic knowledge about nonviolence, whilst also inspiring people to act. I think he is more successful in the former objective, than the…

The Chagos Islanders

The right of Chagos islanders to return to their homeland has been once again thwarted by the British government. On November 6th the government declared that it was going ahead with its decision to appeal to the House of Lords to seek clarification about the status of its overseas territories. The appeal will be heard in 2008.

Darfur

The conflict in Darfur has escalated in recent months with civilians bearing the brunt of the violence.

The…

The Welsh International Sector Network, which works for peace, justice and global citizenship, funded 8 people to attend the anti-G8 demonstrations in Germany. WISeN Coordinator James Maiden ponders his experience:

“Some of the people we funded helped Oxfam International pull off a successful media stunt. This involved the now famous `Big Heads' - fantastic caricatures of the G8. At a specially constructed card table the Big Heads played with a campaigner from Ghana. “The message was…

My general feeling is that this kind of question can't be faced in a meaningful way when it's abstracted from the context of particular historical concrete circumstances.

Any rational person would agree that violence is not legitimate unless the consequences of such action are to eliminate a still greater evil.

Now there are people of course who go much further and say that one must oppose violence in general, quite apart from any possible consequences. I think that…