By Sander Hicks
Op-Ed Guest Column
New York Daily News - Sunday, Dec 10, 2023
Intro: I am grateful to the editors at Daily News for running this Op-Ed on peace and nonviolence in Gaza and the world, this special season of the year. Here’s the updated article, from. an earlier post, with minor revisions.
The White House’s support for Israel, and the bloodbath in Gaza, are both morally bankrupt. We are trapped in a cycle of supporting pro-Israel violence, and no one in our society seems to be able to see a way out.
But here’s a way out:
Nonviolence.
It’s time to think anew about nonviolence. Don’t do it because it’s righteous. Do it because it works. A practice of nonviolence right now would be a fresh alternative to the retaliatory genocide happening now in the Middle East.
One of the reasons we don’t usually think about nonviolence is that it seems idealistic: a nice idea, but not now, not in this situation. But this situation is perfect to apply the principles.
Mahatma Gandhi defeated a massive military empire without firing a shot. He used the core principles at the core of Christianity and Hinduism. He used a mix of religious and political practices: the general strike, boycotts, prayer, fasting, civil disobedience, and meditation. He put his own life at risk with long hunger strikes. He mobilized people to march and stand up to oppression, and to suffer willingly in the eyes of the world.
Now, in the age of the smart-phone, we are all war photographers. In an age when we all can be the media, there are more eyes on the noble suffering in the world. Suffering without retaliation melts the hearts of the enemy. It gives you the moral high ground in a way that fighting never can.
In their book, Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict, Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan lay out the case studies, the real historical examples of social movements that won justice by using nonviolence. Their examples include the first Palestinian Intifada (yep, that’s right), and the People Power Revolution in the Philippines, which ousted the dictator, and US ally, Ferdinand Marcos. After analyzing the data, they concluded that nonviolence is twice as effective as violent struggle. That’s because it’s easier for masses of people to support, and physically get behind a nonviolent movement. More people tend to be attracted to a movement that holds the moral high ground.
I invite you to step into a new possibility that peace provides. Right now, we have two sides and a lot of heat. Each side makes the other side “wrong.” I invite us to instead stand in a fresh, and different paradigm—the zone of “what is workable” rather than “who is right.” It would be insane to keep doing what we have been doing. We need a break, and a cooling off period.
Both sides deserve a homeland, a state, a vote, human rights, and a life free of terror. Thus far, the USA has only supported these for Israel, even tacitly allowing its expansion and violence with new settlements in the West Bank. Violence will not solve the imbalance in human rights for the people of Palestine. Violence will not heal the surprise attack done by Hamas.
When will we address the illegal settlements in the West Bank? There is new legislation that would strip the NY State tax-exempt status of pro-Israel charities if they support illegal settlements. It’s called “Not On Our Dime.” Making this kind of thing into law would help bring justice and balance into the region. And that law would just be the first step. How can we bring a deeper healing into Palestine?
The traditions of nonviolence borrow heavily from the world's great religions. Even if you hate religion, look at it this way: the spiritual side of nonviolence is the secret path out of the crisis. It gives power and dignity to both sides. I am talking about a new way to see religion and spiritual practice. Even though we are living in a postmodern house of mirrors, spirituality is a part of the solution, not the problem. Nonviolence is already at the living core of the message of Jesus, Buddha, and the prophet Isaiah. A prohibition against aggressive war is a major tenet of Islam.
I know personally that slowing down major decisions makes a better result. Asking myself to put my ego aside makes the outcome better. Asking for the Higher Power of the cosmic creative universe to come to my aid works every time, because there’s a stronger energy out there, beyond my opinion. This is not the “God of Jealousy” and War from the more archaic books of the Old Testament. But it’s a new way to see the divine. It’s what the best minds of history keep pointing us toward. It leads to calm, a serenity that is free and includes everybody. It leads to new ideas about how to live together, and solve the world's problems. Sometimes the most bold thing a leader can do is ask for help. Sometimes you have to have the courage to ask for a mediator to help.
I challenge Benjamin Netanyahu and the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahwa Sinyar, to stop their practice of war and slaughter. (It’s not such a crazy idea when you learn that Sinyar is known as a moderate, who has tried hard to use diplomacy to ease the blockade on Gaza.)
I can envision them going together to a neutral third place, with mediators. Perhaps after a period of ceasefire, and preparation. The place to go would be the Shrine of St. Charbel in Lebanon. Charbel is a local saint loved by many religions. There, they could have a cooling off period, and a retreat. They could eat food together. They could break bread together. They could breathe together. And eventually, they would talk. There would have to be a talented, spiritually gifted mediator, someone who was well versed in history, religion, and the art of conflict mediation.
I am sure this sounds like a long shot. But maybe it’s only a long shot if your paradigm is based on anger, and hatred, or the cold methodical practice of arms trading. A high risk embrace of nonviolence will work better than the alternatives. Israel is committing genocide, and that will cause it to lose massive global support. Gaza will be ungovernable, and will be a quagmire for Israel, much like Iraq was for Bush.
Even if Netanyahu is an agnostic Zionist, and even if you think Hamas are right wing fanatics, none of those labels matter right now. They are human beings, and they have a light within. They need to eat the fruit of a different tree, in a vastly different place. The world could be called to pray for them, or hold them in the common light. The daring of this experiment would truly impress the world. It would make these leaders into heroes. The cumulative effect of the world’s prayers and hopes would be a massive energy boost.
The world cares so much about the Middle East, and not just because of its generous supply of oil reserves. There’s something deeper - we care about the area in a special way, because a Voice spoke there. This patch of scrubby desert was the portal for the emergence of three major world religions. Today, I invite us to not just honor the past of those great religions, but also the future. What is the future of religion? How can it become less exclusionary, and more universal? Spirituality and cosmic consciousness have the power to heal. The major contribution religion makes to history is the life-giving practice of conflict resolution, mediation, as a part of peace-making. We all need this, all humans, regardless of background, or politics.
We in the United States seem to be in denial about our addiction to war. We have chosen a side already in the Palestine/Israel conflict and it’s not Palestine. It’s our precedent, our tradition, it seems, for our ruling class to firmly back Israel, no matter what. Joe Biden has been repeating disinformation about rape and beheaded babies without proof. He has sent an aircraft carrier to the region.
Centrist Democrats attacked Representatives Bush and Tlaib because they called for a ceasefire. But a poll published in Newsweek now shows the vast majority of Americans want a ceasefire.
I assert that the better angels of our nature want something more for our country. We can become a moral country, a wholesome country, if we were the peace-maker in this conflict.
Even more important than “who is right” is “how do we solve this?” We solve it, together. We solve it, with nonviolence.
Author Bio:
Sander Hicks is a carpenter, a Quaker, and Zen practitioner, who runs
https://nonviolence.works
Great piece Sander! One question though... While practicing nonviolence, how does one deal with possible attempts by Israel to place agent provocateurs amongst peacefully protesting Palestinians?
Thank you for this Sander. Julie