Kenya’s Water March, Chile’s Fashion Landfill & Gaza Encampments Are 97% Peaceful

Editor's Note From Rivera Sun

In a week when we could all use a little encouragement, Nonviolence News is full of stories that remind us that our actions make a difference. There are 15 success stories in this issue, ranging from the US pausing weapons shipments to Israel to activists in India stalling a coal mine. Other victories include Sweden’s two-year campaign to put wetlands restoration on the political agenda, Ecuadorians voting to prevent foreign corporations from being able to sue their government, Venezuela passing a major milestone in providing housing, the Potawatomi regaining ancestral lands, and more.

In other Nonviolence News, Argentine unions marched for social assistance, Kenyans rallied to demand that Lake Victoria be cleaned up of pollution and suffocating weeds, and 132 Belgians were arrested in Brussels calling for an end to fossil fuel subsidies. In Minneapolis – where George Floyd was murdered by police in 2020 – community members are petitioning to regain community control of the police. Elsewhere in the United States, formerly-incarcerated women are campaigning for decarceration and a grassroots campaign in Massachusetts is pushing for safer subways with fewer police. One creative action that caught my interest was a fashion show that took place in a Chilean clothing landfill that is so large it can be seen from outer space.

Find these stories and more in Nonviolence News>>

As Israel attacks Rafah and the humanitarian crisis reaches a critical point, college encampments demanding divestment and ceasefires have spread across the United States and around the world. They are now expanding from students to include faculty, staff, and workers. And they may be working: for the first time, President Biden paused a weapons shipment to Israel. A few of the encampments have achieved their divestment goals: Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland, joined Sacramento State and others in divesting from Israeli firms.

Also, a new analysis shows that out of 553 college encampments for Gaza, only 20 have resulted in violence and/or property damage, meaning that 97% of the protests have been nonviolent and peaceful. Of the remaining 3%, over half of those fell into violence after police or counter-protesters attacked the pro-Gaza demonstrators. This is an important piece of research that helps us all push back on the media narrative around the ‘violent’ ceasefire encampments.

Extinction Rebellion Global Support had at spot-on summary in their recent newsletter: “For weeks, American students have braved police violence, a hostile media, fascist mobs, and political condemnation. More than 2000 have been arrested. But they remain defiant, and in their defiance they’ve made world leaders look weak, the Western media look deranged, and galvanized the Palestinian cause everywhere. They have emphatically proven that peaceful protest can change the world.”

In solidarity,
Rivera Sun