World News
Professor says Palestinian nonviolence not yet at grass-roots level
Published: January 3, 2006
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (CNS) -- Although Palestinian nonviolence movements are growing, there is still work to be done to bring the concept to a grass-roots level, said a U.S.-based university professor. Mohammed Abu-Nimer, a professor at American University in Washington, spoke at a three-day conference on nonviolence sponsored by the Holy Land Trust, a Palestinian group dedicated to strengthening the Palestinian community, and Nonviolence International, which promotes nonviolent actions around the world. Some 350 Americans, Europeans, Palestinians and Israelis took part in the conference, which was hosted at the Terra Sancta College near Manger Square in Bethlehem Dec. 27-30. On three separate occasions during the conference, when meeting with nonparticipants, Abu-Nimer quoted an old Arabic adage, "That which is taken by force can be taken back by force." He said many Palestinians see nonviolence as a form of co-opting, when it is exactly the opposite. Abu-Nimer, originally from Israel, is an associate professor of international peace and conflict resolution at the American University School of International Service.
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