Pro-Palestinian activism faces suppression on Catholic campuses
National Catholic Reporter March 7, 2017
Category: Nonviolent Action
Nonviolent Action
Fordham ban of Palestine group contradicts free speech, Jesuit values
National Catholic Reporter February 9, 2017
Anti-war movement must listen to voices within Syria’s civil war
National Catholic Reporter October 10, 2016.
Discerning Real from False Claims of Anti-Semitism in the Pro-Palestinian Movement
National Catholic Reporter & Huffington Post July 18, 2016
The contrasting fates of Tunisia and Libya
The people of Libya and Tunisia both overthrew long-standing dictatorships in popular uprisings in 2011. Four years later, however, the current political situation in these two neighboring North African states could not be more different. The reason has much to do with how their authoritarian regimes were overthrown…
Powerful nonviolent resistance to armed conflict in Yemen
While media coverage of the tragic situation unfolding in Yemen in recent months has focused on armed clashes and other violence, there has also been widespread and ongoing nonviolent civil resistance employed by a number of different actors.
Why Nonviolent Resistance Wins
Because nuns, folk singers and dockworkers have the better track record for helping countries achieve democracy. Nearly 70 countries have shown us how.
Barker’s Bizarre Attacks against Progressive Scholars and Proponents of Nonviolent Resistance
Michael Barker, in an article posted on this site a few days ago, takes offense at my labeling him as someone “notorious” for “conspiracy-mongering.” However, a careful reading of his article and its links actually reinforces that argument.
The Truth About Nonviolent Movements
“Mandela was a great leader because he recognized that the movement had become a civil insurrection, a largely nonviolent struggle. A great leader is one who recognizes where the movement is and leads them accordingly, not one who says, ‘Do it my way!’”
Analysis of STRATFOR Leaks Misrepresents Nonviolent Movements
Carl Gibson and Steve Horn have done an important service in writing their article outlining Srdja Popovic’s inexcusable collaboration with the global intelligence company STRATFOR and his disclosure of the activities of movements and activists with whom he has worked. Unfortunately, as will be spelled out below, the article falls into a rather simplistic and reductionist analysis of Popovic’s motivations and, more critically, misrepresents the nature of the popular uprisings in Serbia and other countries. The article also contains a number of factual errors and misleading statements.
Ruthless regimes not impervious to civil resistance: A reply to Maged Mandour
A response to Maged Mandour: There is little systematic evidence to suggest that “ruthlessness” is, in and of itself, a critical variable.
On Syria, most thoughtful people are torn
openDemocracy
Foreign military intervention would prolong the war and increase the carnage still further. But this does not mean that the US in conjunction with others, including Syrian civil society, cannot do anything to help the situation. Reply to Nader Hashemi.
Opposition to intervention in Syria utilitarian, not ideological
In this reply to a critique by Nader Hashemi, Dr. Zunes explains that:
“Whether or not a movement is primarily violent or nonviolent, what is important is whether it employs strategies and tactics that can maximize its chances of success. “
Attacks against anti-occupation activism increase
A growing movement has emerged on college campus calling for divestment from companies that support the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories that is part of broader international campaign initiated by Palestinian civil society for boycott, divestment and sanctions to pressure Israel to end its occupation of territories seized in the 1967 war.
Managing Repression (video)
NonviolentConflict.org
Dr. Stephen Zunes emphasizes the international impact of repression, specifically how nonviolent responses in the face of brutal repression makes it easier to isolate the oppressive regime, whereas violent resistance, even where seemingly justifiable, could be seen as rationalizing further repression in the name of ?national security? or ?counter-terrorism.? He also addresses the importance of nonviolent discipline in encouraging defections by security forces and divisions within the regime.
The Arab Spring, Two Years Later (video)
DU Center for Middle East Studies
Professor Zunes discusses the current state of the Arab world in the wake of the 2011 uprisings, the strength and successes of non-violent sociopolitical movements in the region, and the corresponding shifts now required of U.S. foreign policy.
Supporting Nonviolence in Syria
The worsening violence and repression in Syria has left many analysts and policymakers in the United States and other western countries scrambling to think of ways our governments could help end the bloodshed and support those seeking to dislodge the Assad regime. The desperate desire to “do something” has led a growing number of people to advocate for increased military aid to armed insurgents or even direct military intervention, as the French government has said it will consider doing unilaterally.
Occupy fizzled, but made 99% a force
t’s been a year since the Occupy Wall Street movement sprang up. Since then, it has fizzled, but this does not mean that the underlying issues that gave rise to the protests have gone away.
Until last year, mainstream political discourse did not include nearly as much emphasis on such populist concerns as rising income inequality, tax policies that favor the rich, growing influence by large corporate interests in elections and the reckless deregulation of financial institutions that resulted in the 2008 crisis. It is hard to miss them now.
Democracy Imperiled in the Maldives
Well before the launch of the Arab Spring, the people of the Maldives, a Muslim nation located on a tropical archipelago in the Indian Ocean, were engaged in widespread nonviolent resistance against the 30-year reign of the corrupt and autocratic president Maumoon Abdul Gayoom. The growing civil insurrection forced the dictator to finally allow for free elections in October 2008, which he lost.