Is peace possible between the Palestinians and Israel? Yes, but there needs to be a radical change in methodology. Here’s how — begin systematically applying loving, non-cooperative, non-violence modeled after Mahatma Gandhi and the Indian Independence Movement and Martin Luther King, Jr. and the American Civil Rights Movement.
India faced the most powerful empire in world history and there was no way that they would ever gain their independence by violence. However, through love, non-cooperation, and non-violence, India gained not only independence, but also friendship with Britain.
African-Americans, after 250 years of cruel, violent, and bitter oppression by the Americans, had no chance of ever gaining their freedom and their rights through violence. But they, also, used the power of love, non-cooperation, and non-violence to radically transform American and achieve freedom and equal legal status.
Perhaps the Palestinians should face the facts that violence is never going to secure their freedom from Israel. Maybe they could take all the money, time, energy, and suffering that they are spending on violence against Israel and use that same effort in non-cooperative, non-violence against Israel.
What if tens of thousands of Palestinians watched the movie Gandhi, renounced violence, and began to apply Gandhi’s methods against Israel? What if they overflowed Israel’s jails with non-violent resisters? Israel’s military couldn’t fight that kind of resistance. Before long Israel’s jails would be filled with peaceful men, women, and children. Their infrastructure would collapse and they would be forced to make peace and compromise with the Palestinians.
So, is Israel ever going to be pals with the Palestinians? They will if the Palestinians begin to use Jesus-style, radical non-violence (as modeled by Gandhi and King). Radical obedience to the methods of the living, resurrected Jesus Christ can bring a just peace! Violence cannot!
(Another example of the power of non-violent direct action is the American Anti-Slavery Movement in the 19th Century, led by William Lloyd Garrison.)
