By David Hart
With thanks to our friends at Waging Nonviolence and the Fellowship of Reconciliation, I am pleased to share a piece I wrote that they just published. If you are not already getting their inspirational newsletters, please sign up now here.
As ‘annexation’ looms, let’s expand our compassion to include Palestinians
For decades, Israel has used talk of peace as a cover for expansion of an unjust system. We are now poised on a dangerous cliff that should offend everyone who believes themselves to be committed to human rights, international law or creative conflict resolution.
I am Jewish and was raised being told of land taken during a war when the whole world was against us and still somehow we prevailed. Yes, international law made clear that no nation can occupy land they took in war. But, we were defending ourselves and we certainly would not hold the land long.
The story I was told was one of an oppressed people eeking out a fragile living in a harsh land. Not surprisingly those people were “my people.” I wasn’t told of the suffering of the Palestinian people. When I learned of this deep affront to the basic values Jews are taught are at the heart of our faith, I was somehow more able to accept this contradiction because it came with a story that land would be traded for peace and the occupation would soon end.
That was decades ago. Sadly, cruel and illegal actions taken again and again have reshaped “facts on the ground” and made the call for a two-state solution more of a cover for oppressive policies than a realistic path towards justice and peace.
Now Trump, Netanyahu, and Jared Kushner are forming an unholy alliance of callous disregard for the suffering of others. When we are appropriately focused on COVID-19 and Black Lives Matter protests sweeping our nation and the globe, a great evil will likely be advanced. They put out a swiss cheese map that is not — nor can it ever be — a real nation. It appears likely that some form of annexation may move forward over the next several weeks or months.
To make the so-called “international community” respond less harshly, they will likely not take all the land in one fell swoop. Maybe they will take smaller steps or call it something other than annexation, but have no doubt they are continuing a long and destructive pattern — one that flies in the face of international law and makes a joke of mediation and conflict resolution.
For years I made my living as a conflict resolution practitioner and believe deeply in the power of those tools. Even people with minimal exposure to mediation understand both parties must be at the table for the process to have any credibility. What Jared dreamt up or built from pieces fed to him by those without the vision to imagine a world of peace with justice is not a peace plan at all. Don’t let them fool you. They have put forth a series of unworkable proposals that have neither been considered nor approved by both sides to the conflict. Instead, they talk out of both sides of their mouths, declaring a love for peace while harshly ignoring the basic human rights of the Palestinian people. The “deal of the century” is no deal at all. Turns out it is a dangerous and deceitful farce that negates the power and potential of actual negotiation.
Many progressive, moderate and conservative American Jews are now expressing deep, and hopefully, heartfelt sympathy for the Black Lives Matter movement. This is a major step and one I celebrate with all my heart. Similarly, the vast majority of my community — other than a handful of religious fanatics who are on the wrong side of history — celebrated the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling on LGBTQ rights. The court said simply you can’t be married legally on a Sunday and then be fired on Monday if the boss finds out who you love. Most Jews understand this as a step forward on the path to the much needed and long delayed Tikkun Olam — our moral obligation to heal and repair the world.
Wanting to meet people wherever they are and seeking to embrace radically honest conversation even when it scares us, I must ask, what will it take to extend our compassion to the Palestinian people? Maybe we could start with the simple recognition that they are fully human. Radical I know, but true nonetheless. We seem to be able to accept the suffering of others when we are able to dehumanize them. When we can not see them to be as loving and fully alive as ourselves or our families, we can turn away when we see them suffer needlessly.
If the repulsive and important video of George Floyd being murdered by a uniformed police officer bothers you, you are alive. You are human, you are decent, and able to feel for the suffering of others. And now I ask, can you extend your compassion to those young people in Palestine with the knee of occupation on their necks? I know this is not easy and that there is much to do at home to help create a just society, but neither of those facts can be used as a reason to avoid our ongoing moral obligation to speak up about the suffering of the Palestinian people.
My hope is that those willing to begin to grapple with this complex and difficult series of interrelated issues will read the recent article by Daoud Kuttab, the celebrated journalist and creator of Sesame Street Palestine. He challenges us to come to terms with some harsh realities of occupation and lovingly urges us to look at the pattern of lies — and to question our own beliefs. I found reading his words to be both challenging and worthwhile. Even while asking us to examine the painful truth of our own complicity in the occupation, he warmly welcomes us into the conversation, noting kindly and correctly that “Palestinians have made mistakes too.” I urge you to bravely ponder what he says at this critical moment.
I feel moved to share a short story that shook me to the core. Recently, I was on yet another Zoom call, this time with a group of old friends knowledgeable of the reality in Palestine. It is a mixed group with substantial involvement from different relevant communities. Before beginning an open discussion, two Palestinian experts were asked to speak. One, an attorney, noted several different scenarios of how annexation or something like might play out. His remarks have informed this piece. Another longtime nonviolent Palestinian leader said, “I’m not too worried about annexation.”
Many of us on the call seemed shocked, but then as he explained, we became more sad than surprised. He spoke movingly of the brutal reality of day-to-day life for so many Palestinians. He noted with particular concern the trauma inflicted on young people who have known no reality other than occupation. He wasn’t telling us annexation isn’t a big deal. He was reminding us it has been underway in one form or another for decades.
There are however two major differences annexation will, in fact, bring. First, it will be very hard to change course after this illegal and immoral executive action is taken. Reversal would require a supermajority vote of Israeli Knesset members, which is not likely.
Possibly even more significant to the day-to-day reality for Palestinians is how the change could impact settlement construction. As noted above, with every new settlement we were told that Israel remained ready to trade land for peace. But, facts on the ground made that less and less likely. At least under current law, new settlements — in land that all understand to be occupied by force and thus not legally held by Israel — have to receive special permission from both Israel’s defense and prime ministers. If annexation moves forward, settlement expansion will become a local issue and thus it will be much easier to proceed without a time consuming approval process.
I struggle to remain hopeful in the face of so many terrible things happening in the world these days. The interrelated crises coming at us will not be easy to solve, but if we can expand our compassion to all those experiencing unnecessary suffering, we will find a path forward that embraces our deepest values. Our Palestinian brothers and sisters are calling out to be heard and need our support. Let us push past the boundaries of our comfort zones and look directly at the harsh reality of occupation and annexation. May that difficult process bring us closer to real and lasting peace.
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Sami Awad giving a NLD training in Palestine, 2010
Are you in a leadership position but find yourself struggling to move forward efficiently and effectively?
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Join Nonviolence International in the launch of their first online training program to develop strong and effective leadership in order to face the challenges we are facing in the world today.
Nonlinear Leadership Development promotes leadership paradigms that inspire leaders to think beyond traditional frameworks, by empowering individuals and communities to navigate complexities, embrace innovation, and drive positive change.
What is the Nonlinear Leadership Development Program?
It is a deep personal development program to enhance inner skills of leadership. The purpose of the program is to provide leaders with the tools that help them make the impossible possible at the level of their personal life, their work, community, and for their country.
The unique contribution of the nonlinear methodology is that it begins at the individual level, providing a methodology that can successfully put people in touch with their innate leadership potential by unleashing their self-responsibility, creativity, intelligence and commitment, and by giving them a voice and direct access to action through nonlinear thinking and the power of language.
Participants start by creating the visions and strategies for leadership within themselves - understanding what it means to be a leader - and then from there they move on to serving the larger community. Furthermore, this methodology is designed to ensure sustainability through the building of a dynamic, growing network of self-organising communities.
This approach emphasizes distinguishing between interpretations and facts, enabling individuals to move beyond past traumas and make decisions aligned with future possibilities. By adopting NLT, participants are encouraged to engage in deep self-reflection, challenge existing mindsets, and cultivate self-awareness, thereby fostering environments where teams can thrive amidst uncertainty and change.
The training will be provided by our co-director, Sami Awad.
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Join us on April 23, for a webinar that delves into current Syrian realities and the impact of sanctions. Our experts include long time Syrian human rights leader Bassam Ishak, NVI Board Chair Rafif Jouejati (now in Syria), and our NVI Co-Director Michael Beer who has just returned from Syria.
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David Hartsough on left, along with Laurence Henry face down neo-Nazis at Arlington Virginia desegregation sit-in in 1961. Photo by Gene Abbott. Courtesy of the D.C. Public Library Washington Star Collection © Washington Post.
We share the passing of David Hartsough, a long-time supporter of Nonviolence International and the global nonviolence movement. David died at the age of 84 after a battle with cancer. He was a loving husband of Jan and of 2 children. He co-founded Nonviolent Peaceforce, Nonviolent Peaceworks, and World Beyond War, David was a Quaker who dedicated his life to nonviolence and a just world. His vision and commitment to nonviolence shaped countless movements. His memoir, Waging Peace: Global Adventures of a Lifelong Activist, tells the remarkable story of his decades spent on the front lines of nonviolent action. Can you believe he drove to Red Square in 1961 in a VW Bug from Berlin and protested against nuclear weapons?
Col. Ann Wright called him the “Forrest Gump” of the US Peace Movement implying that he had a knack for being present at so many historic anti-war events for 70 years. In addition to ubiquitous protesting he actively worked on numerous campaigns for peace and justice. In the late 1950’s, he was arrested for nuclear & chemical weapons ban protests, in the 1960’s, he was among the earliest to oppose the Vietnam War, through the then newly created Washington Peace Center and the Friends Committee on National Legislation. In the 1970’s he worked for the American Friends Service Committee where he opposed US wars in Central America and supported the pioneering use of nonviolence intervention by Peace Brigades and Witness for Peace. He became so enamored with nonviolent intervention that In 1996 he presented his idea of a large scale nonviolent army to intervene in conflicts around the world at NVI’s global conference Mainstreaming Peace Teams. His dream later came to fruition at the 1999 Hague Appeal for Peace where he met Michael Beer, Mel Duncan and Timmon Wallis and Nonviolent Peaceforce was provisionally born.
In 1996, he traveled to Kosovo to support and train the nonviolent student movement in its resistance to Serbian rule and repression. He then encouraged NVI Director, Michael Beer to follow to provide more coaching and training on nonviolent resistance. In the 2000’s, he was repeatedly arrested for opposing US wars against Muslim countries and co-led a peace delegation to Iran. He then helped David Swanson start the World Beyond War, for which NVI, through David’s suggestion, served briefly as a fiscal sponsor. He was a life-long war-tax resister and supporter of the Fellowship of Reconciliation.
But his legacy was not just about ending war. He met Dr. King in Alabama as a young teenager and was a courageous activist in the sit-in movement that ended segregation in the DC area. He was arrested uncountable times for environmental, poverty alleviation, anti-racism, and social justice issues. In 2011, he was one of the co-founders of the Occupy Movement in Washington DC. Although not a wealthy man, he was a generous financial supporter of all NVI initiatives including our projects in Russia, Iran, Kosovo, Tibet, Palestine, Burma, and Western Sahara. He donated his massive nonviolent training collection that has been partially digitized and uploaded to NVI’s Nonviolence Training Archives.
NVI is sad to see him leave us but grateful for his relentless support and encouragement. What a remarkable nonviolent life!
Job Fair at the US Senate Victory: Some Workers Getting Jobs Restored...
Co-Director Michael Beer helped lead some of the initial protests by Federal Workers in the Senate. Much work remains to reinstate workers and to challenge the illegal firings of tens of thousands of government workers and contractors. NVI remains committed to nonviolently mobilizing public support in the US and globally against criminal actions by the Trump administration.
Article on reinstating fired workers
https://www.reuters.com/legal/trump-administration-reinstating-24500-fired-workers-after-court-order-2025-03-18/
Job Fair at the US Senate to Protest Illegal Firings
This week, NVI Director Michael Beer, helped launch a “Job Fair” at the US Senate. Each day this week, illegally fired federal workers have walked into senate offices with resumes asking for jobs. These federal workers meet with Senators and staff and tell their stories of being fired from US Aid for International Development, Social Security, National Institutes of Health, and Department of Energy and many others.
Many of them had worked in the government for less than 2 years. Many have worked for decades and had strong job performance evaluations. All were highly skilled and some had previously worked for much higher salaries in the private sector. They fear that the vital work of their agencies will be dismantled and that people around the world will suffer because of the damage done to health and energy research or a sudden halt in humanitarian aid.
Here are some articles about the unconventional lobbying.
Here is a Washington Post Article.
You can hear some of these workers in their own words.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DGV7h1Gx2sR/
https://www.instagram.com/p/DGdvjVExh0L/
Most of these folks have never lobbied before. But they are angry and want to do something. Hopefully they can persuade/pressure Senators to stand up to Musk and Trump and stop these attacks on federal workers and on these congressionally funded agencies.
These firings are an attempt to cripple government services and force them to be privatized. Other agencies like the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau are cops who prevent and reverse financial fraud perpetrated by big firms and the oligarchs.
Others are doing a sit-in as we do this write-up.
Here is a good primer for those looking for something to do.
https://choosedemocracy.us/what-can-i-do/
Also, take a look at NVI’s huge database of 346 nonviolent tactics and get inspired and the number of things you can do.