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September
24, 2001
Terrorism and Nonviolence
By Arun Gandhi
"When in despair I remember
that all through history the way of truth and love has always
won; there have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they
can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall."
M.K. Gandhi Understandably, after the tragedy in New York and
Washington DC on September 11 many have written or called the
office to find out what would be an appropriate nonviolent response
to such an unbelievably inhuman act of violence.
First, we must understand that
nonviolence is not a strategy that we can use in times of peace
and discard in a moment of crisis. Nonviolence is about personal
attitudes, about becoming the change we wish to see in the world.
Because, a nation's collective attitude is based on the attitude
of the individual. Nonviolence is about building positive relationships
with all human beings - relationships that are based on love,
compassion, respect, understanding and appreciation.
Nonviolence is also about not
judging people as we perceive them to be - that is, a murderer
is not born a murderer; a terrorist is not born a terrorist.
People become murderers, robbers and terrorists because of circumstances
and experiences in life. Killing or confining murders, robbers,
terrorists, or the like is not going to rid this world of them.
For every one we kill or confine we create another hundred to
take their place. What we need to do is dispassionately analyze
both the circumstances that create such monsters and how we
can help eliminate those circumstances. Focusing our efforts
on the monsters, rather than what creates the monsters, will
not solve the problems of violence. Justice should mean reformation
and not revenge.
We saw some people in Iraq
and Palestine and I dare say many other countries rejoicing
over the tragedies at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
It horrified us, as it should. But let us not forget that we
do the same thing. When Israel bombs the Palestinians we either
rejoice or show no compassion. Our attitude is that they deserve
what they get. When the Palestinians bomb the Israelis we are
indignant and condemn them as vermin who need to be eliminated.
We reacted without compassion
when we bombed the cities of Iraq. I was among the millions
in the United States who sat glued to the television and watched
the drama as though it was a made for television film. Thousands
of innocent men, women and children were being blown to bits
and, instead of feeling sorry for them, we marveled at the efficiency
of our military. For more than ten years we have continued to
wreak havoc in Iraq - an estimated 50,000 children die every
year because of sanctions that we have imposed - and it hasn't
moved us to compassion. All this is done, we are told, because
we want to get rid of the Satan called Sadam Hussein.
Now we are getting ready to
do this all over again to get rid of another Satan called Osama
bin Laden. We will bomb the cities of Afghanistan because they
harbor the Satan and in the process we will help create a thousand
other bin Ladens.
Some might say, "We don't
care what the world thinks of us as long as they respect our
strength. After all we have the means to blow this world to
pieces since we are the only surviving super-power." I
question whether we want other countries to respect us the way
school children respect a bully. Is that our role in the world?
If a bully is what we want to be then we must be prepared to
face the same consequences that a school-yard bully faces. On
the other hand we cannot tell the world "leave us alone."
Isolationism is not what this world is built for.
All of this brings us back
to the question: How do we respond nonviolently to terrorism?
The consequences of a military
response are not very rosy. Many thousands of innocent people
will die both here and in the country or countries we attack.
Militancy will increase exponentially and, ultimately, we will
be faced with other more pertinent moral questions: What will
we gain by destroying half the world? Will we be able to live
with a clear conscience?
We must acknowledge our role
in helping to create monsters in the world, find ways to contain
these monsters without hurting more innocent people, and then
redefine our role in the world. I think we must move from seeking
to be respected for our military strength to being respected
for our moral strength.
We need to appreciate that
we are in a position to play a powerful role in helping the
"other half" of the world attain a better standard
of life not by throwing a few crumbs but by significantly involving
ourselves in constructive economic programs.
For too long our foreign policy
has been based on "what is good for the United States."
It smacks of selfishness. Our foreign policy should now be based
on what is good for the world and how can we do the right thing
to help the world become more peaceful.
To those who have lost loved
one's in this and other terrorist acts I say I share your grief.
I am sorry that you have become victims of senseless violence.
But let this sad episode not make you vengeful because no amount
of violence is going to bring you inner peace. Anger and hate
never do. The memory of those victims who have died in this
and other violent incidents around the world will be better
preserved and more meaningfully commemorated if we all learn
to forgive. Let us dedicate our lives to creating a peaceful,
respectful and understanding world.
Dr. Arun Gandhi is the grandson of Mahatma Gandhi
and founder of The
Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence.
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