Palestinians Test Out Gandhi-Style Protest

Source http://news.bbc.co.uk
Tuesday,April 20,2010

UNITED KINGDOM: About 40 mainly Palestinian protesters face off with a line of armed Israeli soldiers over coils of razor wire. They calmly explain they want access to land Israel has confiscated to build its West Bank barrier. Chanting begins, followed by impassioned speeches in Hebrew, English and Arabic. “You soldiers standing here, blocking Palestinians from walking on their own land, you need to think about what you’re doing,” lectures one young woman. “What will you tell your children?” asks an older man.

Beit Jala is one of a growing number of Palestinian villages holding regular protests against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank. But organizers in Beit Jala, such as Ahmad Lazza of the Holy Land Trust who trains protesters in non-violent tactics, are determined to keep things peaceful. This is partly out of personal belief, and partly about avoiding escalation with Israeli soldiers.

In the past, Mr Lazza says, Palestinians had a “bad impression” of non-violent resistance, which had become associated with pacifism and concessions to Israel. But recently, he has seen “a big change”.

Palestinian Authority (PA) officials have started attending protests, holding up regular demonstrations in the villages of Bilin and Naalin as models of “popular resistance”, and calling on Palestinians to boycott goods produced in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

Martin Luther King III, the eldest son of the American civil rights activist, is visiting Ramallah on Wednesday, a week after one of the grandsons of Indian independence leader Mahatma Gandhi. Rajmohan Gandhi spoke passionately about his grandfather’s belief in non-violent struggle to a packed hall, urging Palestinians to appeal to the principles of justice in Judaism. “Never, never, never, never lose your patience,” he entreated. “Never lose your faith in ultimate victory.”