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Violence doesn't solve a thing
We are often told through media reporting that authorities are satisfied with successful outcomes of military campaigns. Our own experience, spanning almost a century of peacemaking, tells a different story.
If you thought 'Stop the War' marches were a recent phenomenon related to the Gulf conflicts, members of FoR were organising Stop the War marches at the outbreak of World War One. Where our charity's history begins is also a useful place to look for a different story about all of the conflicts that are (just about) within living memory. A story not of beating the Germans, keeping the Empire, or preventing Saddam Hussein's imagined 45 minute solution, but one of negative spirals; of war leading to more war.
World War One was dubbed, 'the war to end all wars'. But it wasn't. In the residue of WW1 were the seeds of WW2. And in the ashes of WW2 were the beginnings of the Cold War - with its emphasis on atomic and rocket weaponry of the sort developed by Hitler's third reich.
More recently we have seen how a 'war on terror' has simply led to more terror within the borders of Europe and USA, giving religious extremists something to hang their arguments upon; the world is less safe than it was - a point recently made by Baroness Manningham-Buller, head of the domestic intelligence service between 2002 and 2007 ('20 July 2010, 12:46 Iraq inquiry: Ex-MI5 boss says war raised terror threat'). And why? Because violence can only ever lead to more violence.
Our experience with nonviolent solutions to conflict tells a different story; one that succeeds. You won't read about it in the papers very often. So that's why we emphasise educating about a different method and a different way to succeed; it's a story left untold by sensationalist media, and by those who stand to gain from creating a different picture of the outcomes.
The following examples of nonviolent conflict resolution are taken from 'Nonviolence Works'; a leaflet jointly published with ourselves, the Baptist Peace Fellowship, and Pax Christi.
Danilo Dolci
Auckland Peace Squadron
Sicily, Italy 1956 Danilo Dolci organised a ‘strike in reverse’ to draw attention to destitute people. Unemployed workers provided free labour to build roads despite local government opposition.
Northern Ireland 1968-98 Although the nonviolent civil rights campaign was sabotaged by paramilitary violence, the quiet work of the Corrymeela Community and similar groups built bridges across the sectarian divide, preparing the way for a ceasefire and settlement.
The Larzac plateau, France 1970-81 Demonstrations, including the driving of sheep into Paris, forced the government to cancel plans to extend a military camp over grazing land.
New Zealand 1976-84 A ‘Peace Squadron’ blocked nuclear vessels entering Auckland harbour.
Nicaragua 1983-90 Nearly 4,000 ‘Witness for Peace’ volunteers from peace groups in the USA came to live in villages that were under threat from attack by Contra guerrillas armed and trained by the US.
Kazakhstan 1989-91 Popular demonstrations and political lobbying against a nuclear test site halted the tests and then brought about its closure.
Mali 1991-6 Violent conflict between armed Tuareg and Arab groups and the government was resolved by prolonged negotiation in local inter- community meetings, followed by a ceremonial bonfire of weapons.
You can keep reading more stories like these in Nonviolence Works: 60 Nonviolent Victories of the Past Century (2010, Pax Christi / Baptist Peace Fellowsip / The Fellowship of Reconciliation, England).
