It was bound to happen. Ten years after the day that became known as 9/11, the events of 11 September 2001 have been extensively revisited. I have been aware of television programmes, radio programmes. Today I heard a review of a drama on the subject.
So many things have been in my thoughts. In recent days, I have become aware of facts that were previously unknown to me. Almost 3,000 people died as a result of the events of that day, for example, of whom about 46 were twins. I have been struck by occasional glimpses of testimony and especially by the woman – mother of one of those who died – who said her life ended on that day. I wonder if she knows that, insofar as this is true, it reflects choices she has made rather than some inevitable reality. I remember the shock of the seeing the first images of the twin towers with flames and smoke billowing from them and finding it hard to comprehend that no, this was not some disaster movie but real life. I think of so many other events that escape our attention and which, still, affect so many people around the world.
As it happens, just as the tenth anniversary of 9/11 approaches, my dear friend Len Williamson sends through a link to an 11-minute talk by Julia Bacha on TED. Take a look at what Julia Bacha has to say about the world’s interest in nonviolence, he writes, and I do. Bacha highlights how one community in Palestine successfully used peaceful demonstrations to persuade Israel to move the boundary away from their lands and onto the official ‘green line’ boundary. She also highlights how little the world’s media does to cover nonviolent action. If you want your cause to be heard, it may help to use violence.
For better, for worse, those behind the attacks on America’s Twin Towers in New York and on the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. wanted to be heard. If Bacha is right in what she says, there’s just one thing we need to do if we want something different going forward: to let go of paying attention to violent protest and to train our attention on those who speak to their cause by the means of nonviolent action.
I say amen to that, even whilst recognising that I, too, have a way to go in learning to ignore the violence and to engage without fail in that which is not violent.
Hi Dorothy,
The fact that people think of violence when they think of 11/9 instead of nonviolence, is perhaps the clearest example of how much the attention of nonviolence has been overshadowed by an attention to violence. On September 11, 1906 in Johannesburg was, Gandhi publicly announced his strategy of Nonviolent resistance (Satyagraha) for the first time. Since then, September 11 has been celebrated in India as the day of nonviolence. We can claim back Nonviolence by making September 11 a world-wide celebration of Nonviolence.
Indeed, there is a whole parallel world of Nonviolent events all through our history. Some scholars have started working on correcting this mistake by rewriting history to include important Nonviolent events. Until I started paying attention by watching the online lectures on Nonviolence at http://www.mettacenter.org/, I was mistaken to think that Nonviolence equals passive resistance. But in fact, Gandhi’s philosophy of Nonviolence (or perhaps I could probably better call it the Gita’s because that is partly where Gandhi learned it from) couldn’t be further away from passivity. And it is much more than marching without throwing rocks. It is also about building houses, communities and societies, independent from claimed authorities.
Best wishes, Jeroen
Thanks for sharing, Jeroen – I find it fascinating that I had no idea that September 11th is celebrated in India as the day of nonviolence. It gives me hope to hear this. I'm also grateful to you for the link – a great resource.
Warmly
Dorothy
My pleasure Dorothy,
Accidentally, today, after seeing this documentary on John Hume on iPlayer it is the first time I, as a Dutch immigrant, have become truly jealous at the British/Northern-Irish people. They have such a glorious historic evidence to show the world, of the power of nonviolence to overcome a seemingly hopeless circle of violence. To me, this compares to the courage the British have shown in WWII. One main difference being that, in Northern Ireland, it was the courage of just one man, understood by few, though respected by many, which made the difference. Not a whole army.
Imagine what a whole army of people could do, if they would all understand why nonviolence is more powerful than violence…
I think this is a message the UK could take much more pride in then they do now, and see as an acknowledgement of who they are: as the people who gave peace a chance. Intuitively trusting that John Hume's approach was going somewhere, even though they could not immediately understand how.
…if they would just remember it at least half as well as what they remember on Remembrance Day, this encouraging evidence can remain a major contribution of the UK to the world in the future.
Yours hopefully, Jeroen
Hi Jeroen
It really touches me to read your latest comment and I realise that it is, at least in part, because you recognise something so positive – often it's easy to focus on the negatives.
And yes, doesn't it give great hope to think of the actions of people like John Hume?
Warmly
Dorothy