Palestine News Network
By Chris Cowperthwaite
February 18, 2006

BETHLEHEM: The 30 people gathered on the fourth floor of the Bethlehem Hotel did not look like ‘revolutionaries’ in training. These men and women were armed only with pens and paper. However, in a century that has seen ‘People Power’ revolutions spring up around the globe- from the Ukraine to Chile to the Philippines - the caliber of this type of gathering is not to be underestimated.

On Monday, participants from around the West Bank gathered in Bethlehem for nonviolent resistance training coordinated by Holy Land Trust’s Empowering Citizen Peacebuilding program. The program is supported by the European Union and the American Friends Service Committee. Palestinian applicants were interviewed and chosen to participate in two five-day “train the trainer” sessions, designed to equip Palestinian civilians with the skills necessary to conduct nonviolent resistance training workshops.

Husam Jubran, the Program Manager, explained that the goal of Empowering Citizen Peacebuilding is to support the emergence of broad-based Palestinian nonviolent resistance to the Israeli occupation. He said the program “works on parallel levels, both struggling against Israeli occupation and building the social infrastructure that will lead to the creation of a healthy society.”

During the first week of training, modules included: conflict, violence, nonviolence, communication, and nonviolent direct action. A PNN reporter arrived on Thursday afternoon, just in time for an afternoon session on effective communication. The participants were full of energy and became engaged in a lively discussion about the elements of effective verbal and non-verbal communication; about the distinction between hearing and active listening; and about ways of constructive disagreement.

A wide range of goals have motivated participants from cities across the West Bank to take part in this training. Wesal Salem explained that she took time off from work at a women’s center in Tulkarm to improve her understanding of nonviolence and popular resistance. Salem hopes to translate the ideas and lessons she learns to her coworkers. Fadi Salim, who currently lives in Ramallah, explained that he heard about the training through a local newspaper advertisement. When asked how he planned to apply the training in his daily life, he replied, “I believe it is important to use this training in daily social life. I want to make sure I have a good understanding of the concepts. Maybe in the future I will apply it more politically.”

Nonviolent theorist Dr. Gene Sharp has dedicated his career to the study of nonviolent direct action. He maintains that nonviolent resistance requires not only a rejection of violence, but steadfast discipline and deliberate strategies. Dr. Sharp was a featured speaker at the International Nonviolence Conference, co-hosted by Holy Land Trust and Nonviolence International in December. In an interview on applications of nonviolent direct action within a Palestinian context, Sharp explained:

“People need to study [the methods of nonviolent struggle], to evaluate it, to try to develop viable strategies to meet their situations… Attention needs to be given to how nonviolent struggle might serve Palestinians as an alternative to violent means to improve the lot of their people living under very difficult circumstances.”

Iman Jado, a nurse at a neonatal intensive care unit in Bethlehem, explained that her understanding of nonviolence and nonviolent action had developed throughout the Holy Land Trust training. Before attending the training, she believed that nonviolence was a purely political form of resistance. However, she explained that through the workshops she began to see the social applications of nonviolent resistance. Jado plans to teach women in her home community about conflict resolution in their daily lives.

Several other participants agreed that the lessons and approaches conveyed through the training were equally applicable to interactions with coworkers, to relationships with family members and friends, and to efforts to resist Israeli occupation. When nonviolent resistance is used to work against social and political structures predicated on violence and dominance, it can be a truly revolutionary force.

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