Hebron

Nayef Hahalamoun, prior to being assaulted for taking photos of demonstrations in Hebron. He is recovering from being struck in the hip by the soldier with the butt of his gun. - http://www.palestinetoday.org

Last weekend, I went to Hebron (Al Khalil, as it is called in Arabic). It is the largest city in Palestine, and one of the oldest. Hebron/Al Khalil is where Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Leah, and Jacob are buried, aka the "Tomb of the Patriarchs" and as such, is sacred to people of all three Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam).

There is a small Israeli settler population in the Old City of Hebron (of about 700 people, compared to some 166,000 Palestinians) that have illegally occupied buildings there. They are aggressive towards the Palestinians, are ususally armed, and frequently behave in a hostile manner. The Israeli Army maintains forces within the city in order to protect the settlers, usually exacerbating the problems more than helping the situation. You can see hundreds of examples of the situation on YouTube by clicking here

Problems with the settlers in the city and the regular curfews and restrictions that occur as a result have made life in Hebron/Al Khalil very difficult for the Palestinians living there, and there are also additional problems that result from the Israeli settlement, Kiryat Arba that is adjacent to the city, near the Tomb of the Patriarchs.

As a result of all of these problems, there has been a long history of non-violent reistance to Israeli military occupation, collective punishment, settler harassment, home demolitions and land confiscation organized by local Palestinians and Palestinian civil society groups. They are supported by Israeli and international peace groups. Christian Peacemakers Teams, for example, has had a full-time presence there since 1995.

FI went to Hebron/Al Khalil to participate in an Alternatives to Violence Program Basic workshop with 16 Palestinians. I've taken the AVP Basic workshop before, so I got to assist the facilitators, Margaret & Ann. Eventually I will gain enough experience to co-facilitate AVP workshops here in Palestine with Palestinian co-facilitators (In Arabic, with translation in English for my benefit), doing all three levels and building the core team of facilitators.

AVP workshops are 15-20 hour experiential workshops devoted to the non-violent resolution of conflict by the transformation of oppressive power relationships. AVP is a deeply personal and experiential program that encourages participants to explore and express how they engage in violence and non-violence, personally and socially. AVP workshops create a learning environment where participants understand and begin to change their relationship to physical and psychological violence.

It seems like it would be a good fit for Palestinians, both in dealing with - and hopefully transforming and ending - the violence that they experience as a result of living under occupation, and also in dealing with the everyday violence that ALL societies deal with - domestic abuse, bullying, interpersonal conflicts, etc. I am working with the AVP team to help establish a strong core of Palestinian AVP trainers, so that they can bring it back to their communities - NGO’s, community groups, women’s organizations, social services agencies, youth rrganisations, prisons, spiritual communities, schools, government entities and all who would like to work non-violently against oppression. The possibilities are endless.

I thought that the workshop we did in Hebron was amazing, and I think that the other participants could see how it could be used in dealing with community problems that are exacerbated by the occupation. The one thing that I am finding challenging is dealing with the intensity of the occupation itself, and how that dynamic affects the workshop. It is such a difficult way to live, that finding a way to end the occupation is the number one thing that anyone who takes the workshop wants to address. They feel that they could manage social issues within their community if only they could end the occupation. Yet it is the most complicated and challenging experience of oppression to overcome. I think that an argument could be made for using these tools to do whatever it takes to make Palestinian society as strong and united as possible, and them using that collective unity to wage a non-violence campaign a la Gandhi and the Satyagraha against the British. That takes time though, and people are understandably impatient.

Is it possible to overcome a military occupation non-violently? I hope so...and I hope that I can help play some small part in it.