{mosimage}Settlers and right wing foes’ nonviolent direct actions are right now the best show in town. Blocking roads, placing “suspicious†packages to halt trains, gluing closed governmental offices, demonstrating and burning tires at road intersections are, according to settlers, only the tip of the iceberg.
As the implementation of the disengagement plan closes, settlers and fellows, except of the extremist of the extreme among them, who could revert to arms, are preparing for the “Armageddonâ€Â, “the massive non-violent resistance against the evacuation of settlersâ€Â
People who believe in nonviolence and peace groups around the globe need to closely watch events of the coming few weeks in Israel.
Activists at the center of the extreme right wing in Israel have been employing almost all the techniques in the “book of nonviolenceâ€Â, mixing nonviolent direct actions, which includes offensive nonviolent techniques, with preparations for civil disobedience.
Calls for soldiers to disobey evacuation’ orders linked with massive protests and direct nonviolent actions has already forced Israelis, who fear internal fights more than wars with others, to reconsider their support to the disengagement plan. Latest polls are showing the public support for the disengagement plan was eroding.
After failing to win within party, governmental and legislative platforms, and being faced with a an unshakable Prime Minister, settlers and right wing foes are betting for increasing public anxiety concerning the domestic consequences of implementing the disengagement plan, therefore have been increasing the pressure mainly targeting the public.
Most of the techniques employed aimed at blocking normal life in Israeli cities, where people are barely concerned over what is going on in the “territoriesâ€Â. In a week time, settlers and right wing activists are planning to freeze life in the entire state by simultaneously parking hundreds of cars in the middle of all main in-city and highway roads.
In doing so, settlers are imitating the techniques of most successive Israeli governments. Playing on the fear of the public, has allowed Israel to implement policies that, without deeply implemented fears, most Israelis would have opposed.
It worked from before, and it seems to be working right now; support to disengagement has declined from 67% to 50% and opposition has risen from 23% to around 40%. One need to remember that what happened so far was just “kids’ playâ€Â, and that the major heat wave is still to come.
If one can ignores the roots of the issue, the oppressive rule settlers played, and their illegal and sometimes criminal acts against Palestinians, people committed to nonviolence as a method to stand against “oppressive†authorities could be easily misled to identify with settlers. In fact, already groups in the United States have formed a settlers’ international solidarity movement, and has rallied in Gaza to demonstrate support to settlers.
The kind of massive nonviolent resistance, taking place those days against the disengagement plan, presents a clear indicator that such nonviolent techniques can also be used to benefit oppressors, and as a way to perpetuate injustice.
Bottom line: nonviolence without justice is just another weapon to be used in all kinds of wars.
