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Matt Robson, a former volunteer for areligious-based accompaniment programme, reflects on his experience.
The value of nonviolent inaction
Matt Robson
I spent last summer as a volunteeron the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine andIsrael. Participants in this World Council of Churches initiative spendthree months living in the region to try to learn more how the conflictaffects ordinary people.
On a day-to-day basis we were monitor-ing violations of human rights and international law, providing protection by ourpresence, and supporting both Israelis and Palestinians in their non-violent acts ofresistance to the military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
It was my first trip to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and thefirst time I had ever been involved in this kind of accompaniment work; there was alot to learn about the complexities of the conflict and the role that such an interna-tional force could or should take in that conflict.
Unpredictability
I found the situation in Israel/Palestine so volatile that it was difficult to know whatto do at times. Even in the same place with the same people, every day brought newand different challenges. It made it almost impossible to have any kind of strategy.
One of my jobs was to accompany Palestinian farmers in their daily struggleto cross through one of the gates in the separation wall to their land on the otherside. On some days, the atmosphere when the Israeli defence forces came to unlockthe gate was cordial even relaxed, everyone knew the drill and went about theirroles, collecting and checking IDs, with black humour and banter. On other daysit was far more tense, with the soldiers
regarding this, the unlocking of a gate, asa highly dangerous military operation and the farmers in a subdued, nervous huddle.
A reassuring presence
What of my role in all of this? At the beginning I felt the need to justify mypresence there by intervening, trying to talk to soldiers about the injustice of thesituation, or persuading them to keep the gate open for a few more minutes becauseI knew that more farmers still hadn't crossed. But my Hebrew and Arabic con-sisted of about ten words between them, and the farmers had far more understand-ing of the situation and the skills to negotiate if that was what was needed.
So, slowly but surely over the days and weeks I was less and less active, sitting orstanding in the background, I hope as a reassurance to both parties. That reassur-ance, I think, helping to keep the situation calm, helping to allow people to treateach other as human beings despite the abnormal circumstances, preventing thetension from boiling over into violence.
This was a strange sensation for some-one brought up in Britain where the working atmosphere is based on achievementand productivity. There were no goals or deadlines, just watching the farmers go toand return safely from work was a success.
Expressing outrage
My change of attitude applied to the larger demonstrations against the occupationas well. I saw many successful and nonviolent actions, but also saw those thatdescended into stone throwing, tear gas and rubber bullets.
People have the right, and probably the need, to express their outrage at the manyinjustices of the situation in the Occupied Territories and Israel, but it maintains the
adversarial nature of the situation andkeeps any resolution at a distance. No-one will regard the Israeli military with greataffection after being tear gassed, and similarly the army will not overcome theirfear of Palestinians after having stones thrown at them. Nonviolent inaction?!Nonviolent inaction will never be a great catch phrase, but it struck me as a gooddescription of what I was doing and an effective strategy. For me the turningpoint was one afternoon: after a couple of hours of fruitless negotiation at a check-point I sat down in the shade and watched with increasing amazement as the tensiondisappeared between the soldiers and the Palestinian young men waiting there.Then as sunset approached and the soldier's evening meal arrived, they came andshared their food and drink with those same men they had kept waiting forhours, before checking their IDs and allowing them through to their village.
I don't believe that anyone likes the situation they find themselves in, inIsrael/Palestine, but for me the difficulty is how to get past the misconceptions andstereotypes, to allow people to understand each other and relate to the tragedies ofeach other's lives. If international peacemakers can help to bring about this atmos-phere of trust and reconciliation then it might just alleviate some of the suffering,at least on a very local level, while the politicians attempt the far more difficulttask of reconciling the two administrations.
Matt Robson wishes to remind readers that the opinions expressed in this article are his and do not necessarily reflect those of EAPPI. See p33 or details of groups who carry out intervention/monitoring/accompaniment work.
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