Affected by conflict

As Palestinians continue to call for an autonomous state, they have used both violent and non-violent means to promote their goals. Many people have been killed, injured and traumatized, both on the Israeli and the Palestinian side. But, while the media continues to concentrate on the conflict, there's also a growing non-violent movement in the region. British-born Lucy Nusseibeh has been living and working in East Jerusalem for several decades.

DW: What role does non-violence play in Palestine today?

Lucy Nusseibeh: There has always been a lot of non-violence within Palestinian society. This was one of the first methods of resistance used from the very outset of the struggle from the 1920s and it continues to be used. But recently it has grown as a means of resistance, to the extent that people now like to exclude the use of violence. For a long time both were used, but now more and more people realise that non-violence is the only way. In terms of the images, there is a very negative stereotype of Palestinians. One of the most important aspects of the Palestinian non-violence movement is to change this stereotype to really show what the bulk of Palestinian society is like and how most people think. Now, even the Palestinian prime minister, the Palestinian government, even Khaled Mashal of Hamas actually spoke in favour of non-violence. It is something that is at least endorsed officially and to a large extent is also used.

You make a distinction between peace building and non-violent approaches. What is the difference?

I believe non-violence is a prior step to peace building. I have a lot of admiration for peace building, but it is not something that can be done during a conflict and sometimes you actually have to draw attention to injustice through non-violent means before you can even start to build peace.

Can you give an example?

Even the example of the state: the fact that Palestinians do not have a state. It is an extremely uneven conflict where Israel has all the power and control over every aspect of Palestinian lives. So, it is important to raise awareness about this inequality in order then to have a possible space where people can hear each other and speak on a more equal footing.

Children of course, are very much at the core of your work. There is a lot frustration, anger, fear and trauma in these children, so how do you try and instil a sense of tolerance and non-violence in them?

It is really a question of people starting to talk and think about alternatives: How can we build our lives a little bit better? What is it that we can do? You put forward an idea, maybe through a soap opera or an article or at a conference, and when ideas start to get into the discourse it gives people the opportunity to change. One of the best ways for instance was through psycho drama, where people could address the fear and trauma you mention. So, based on that we were approached by military activists from within the Fatah movement in 2002, from all over the West Bank they asked, 'We want to build a state and a future that is not based on violence - teach us.' So, all of us at MEND worked extremely hard, we had some excellent trainers from Germany who came and trained these military leaders to become trainers in active non-violence. Some of them are still working with us, and they still promote this within the security services.

You've been teaching at universities, but also in other contexts a lot about Gandhi. Do you think his example can really be helpful in a context that is so very different?

I think Gandhi is a wonderful exemplar for all of us, I think there are other people also, like Martin Luther King, like Jean Sharp who also gives very practical advice, and it's always where it is difficult where one has to use these means. If it were easy it wouldn't be worth all the effort because then it would just happen. But, when you have a cycle of violence you have to think, how do I break though this, what can I do to just stop this repeating itself? It's not just a difference in action, it's also creating a difference in perception, because a lot of this conflict is based around perceptions - like the problem of the very negative stereotyping of Palestinians. There was some research done in I think '96 or '97, during the height of the peace process. Research was done into three-year-olds. They found that there were already very strong negative stereotypes, that the Israelis saw the Palestinians as dirty, and the Palestinians saw the Israelis as violent. Most Palestinians nowadays, all they ever see of Israelis is people at check points, or settlers, all of whom are armed, and some of whom are aggressive. So, to push with non-violent means, to break the cycle of violence, to break the vicious stereotyping, can actually shift, perhaps ultimately shift Israeli public opinion, if it were strong enough.

Do you think that working with the perception that everybody would be able to be violent, or non-violent helps?

I think it's very tempting to always see ones self as a nice person, and in a conflict situation this is even more tempting, because you have an enemy that you can just dump all that evil onto, therefore they can be all bad, while you and your side are the ones who are all good. There is something very liberating when people can acknowledge both sides because it allows you to see the other as a human being. But it starts with acknowledging ones own fallibility and ones own weaknesses. There are also many, many groups that work with active non-violence. What we are doing now is continuing a pilot project: the idea is to build a national non-violence youth service, instead of having military service, the idea is there would be a non-violence service for youth, for all 18-year-olds.

You really are part of a very difficult environment, where there are lots of draw backs happen all the time, what on earth makes you want to continue?

It's a way of coping, which is trying to make things better. I think it's incredibly important to put whatever I can to improve the situation. I think when things are really bad, one tries to act, this is the best way to cope.

Interview: Anke Rasper / jlw
Editor: Joanna Impey